Two Democratic senators have introduced a bill they say is aimed to overrule the Hobby Lobby Supreme Court decision and force Christian business owners to pay for abortion drugs.
Anti-life Senators Patty Murray of Washington and Mark Udall of Colorado have created what they titled the “Protect Women’s Health From Corporate Interference Act.” Abortionists like Planned Parenthood have already praised the bill.
“After five justices decided last week that an employer’s personal views can interfere with women’s access to essential health services, we in Congress need to act quickly to right this wrong,” Murray said in a statement yesterday. “This bicameral legislation will ensure that no CEO or corporation can come between people and their guaranteed access to health care, period.”
“As the nation’s leading advocate for women’s reproductive health care, Planned Parenthood Action Fund is committed to making sure women can get the no-copay birth control benefit that we and others fought so hard to pass and protect,” Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards proclaimed. “No woman should lose access to birth control because her boss doesn’t approve of it.”
None of the Senators nor any of the groups speaking out in favor of the bill have mentioned that the Court’s decision only applies to 4 of the 20 contraceptives connected to the Affordable Care Act. This means that no women working for these companies is denied contraception.
The White House coordinator for the Middle East is blasting Israel, saying they’re to blame for the ongoing violence in the region.
Philip Gordon, a special assistant to President Obama, took multiple shots at Israel while at the same time claiming to be the country’s strongest defender.
“Israel confronts an undeniable reality: It cannot maintain military control of another people indefinitely. Doing so is not only wrong but a recipe for resentment and recurring instability,” Gordon said. “It will embolden extremists on both sides, tear at Israel’s democratic fabric and feed mutual dehumanization.”
Gordon called Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas a “proven…reliable partner” and singled out Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for criticism because he would not restart negotiations with the Palestinians.
“How will Israel remain democratic and Jewish if it attempts to govern the millions of Palestinian Arabs who live in the West Bank?” Gordon continued. “How will it have peace if it’s unwilling to delineate a border, end the occupation and allow for Palestinian sovereignty, security and dignity? How will we prevent other states from supporting Palestinian efforts in international bodies, if Israel is not seen as committed to peace?”
Gordon’s speech in Israel is the first time a senior White House official had addressed the Israeli people directly since President Obama’s visit in March 2013.
More than 60 girls who had been taken by the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram escaped over the weekend and are now under the protection of the Nigerian government.
A local official in the Chibok area of Borno state told the Associated Press Monday that the girls were being held by a group of terrorists who attacked a military outpost. The girls escaped when the terrorists left to launch the attack on the base.
Officials say most of the girls are in good health but about a quarter had to be hospitalized because of infections and wounds. Several of the girls reported being beaten by their captors.
The girls reported they were not part of a larger group, meaning the terrorists have broken the girls up into smaller groups. Boko Haram’s leader Abubakar Shekau has threatened to sell the girls into slavery if the government does not pay for their release.
Congregants of the Church of Christ in the Thiba Al Hamyida area of Khartoum stood by helplessly as Sudanese government officials destroyed their church building.
A church member told CNN that the government came in during Sunday mass and said they would be destroying the building. About 70 security personnel, some armed with guns and tear gas, used a bulldozer to destroy the building.
“They wanted to beat us or throw tear gas on us,” the church member said.
Reverend Kwa Shamal told the Morning Star News that government officials made it clear they were to not ask questions about why they were destroying the church. The government also gave no compensation to the church for the destruction of their building.
The pastor said the church’s congregation will meet in a tent this Sunday.
In a major victory for religious freedom, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that “closely-held” for-profit businesses can cite religious objections in order to opt out of a requirement in the Affordable Care Act to provide free contraceptive coverage.
The court’s decision came in the case of Hobby Lobby, the company that also owns the Mardel Christian Stores chain. The owners of the company said the health care law forced them to violate their religious faith by providing drugs that can induce abortions.
The challenge was the first major case related to the President’s signature law in the last two years.
The Supreme Court held that the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act protects the rights of for-profit businesses if they are run on a basic of religious principles. However, the Court’s ruling noted it was specifically applied only to the health care law and did not automatically mean other instances of religious issues and health care would be invalid.
The Obama administration had argued that the case was not really about birth control but rather a way that for-profit businesses could challenge other laws based on religious rights.
A petition calling for the White House to act in the case of Meriam Ibrahim, the Sudanese woman sentenced to death for her faith in Christ, has stalled at just over 50,000 signatures.
The petition needs to reach 100,000 signatures by June 27th to be guaranteed an official response by the Obama administration.
The petition to the White House says in part “We strongly urge the administration to take action in the case of Dr. Meriam Ibrahim, the Sudanese mother who with her toddler and newborn baby (who pending the proper documentation are American citizens), is languishing inside a prison in Khartoum.”
Over 40 Christian groups calling on the Obama administration to stand up for Ibrahim and to finally stand up for religious freedom in general held a rally outside the White House.
Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, who attended the rally, said that Ibrahim represents a major need for the U.S. to stand for religious freedom around the world. He said that the administration has been especially lax when it comes to American Christians who are being persecuted.
If you wish to sign the petition, visit the White House petition site:
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/act-case-meriam-ibrahim-sudan-and-her-baby-and-toddler-prison/D1x1q4VG
A recent Supreme Court ruling that Christian prayer was legal at government meetings is having a trickle-down effect in government operations.
Stanley Grot, clerk for Shelby Township, Michigan, has added the phrase “so help me God” to the end of all oaths of office for the township. Grot said that while the phrase is officially included in the oath, an office holder can refuse to say the phrase if they wish to refuse.
“We are a nation built on Judeo-Christian values and political correctness should not play a role in invoking the Lord’s name,” Grot said. “We should honor the nation’s traditions and never compromise on our principles. America is, after all, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
The Detroit News reported the first person sworn in after the oath was changed had no problem saying the phrase.
“My faith in Jesus Christ and God is very important to me,” Laura White said. “And as a public servant, I have no problem adding that onto my oath.”
The North Carolina House of Representatives has passed a bill that would protect the rights of students to express their religion along with allowing teachers and staff to voluntarily participate in student-led religious activities at schools.
The bill, SB370, was presented to the House after an elementary school student was banned from reading a self-written poem about her grandfather. The grandfather was a World War II veteran who often cited his prayers for protection as part of his stories of service. The school said the student could not mention God.
The bill states that students may “[e]xpress religious viewpoints in a public school to the same extent and under the same circumstances as a student is permitted to express viewpoints on nonreligious topics or subjects in the school.”
The bill also prohibits any teacher from issuing a bad grade to a student because they may not like a student’s religious beliefs. In addition, the bill includes protections for teachers and staff to be a part of student-led activities in schools that include religious worship.
“Local boards of education may not prohibit school personnel from participating in religious activities on school grounds that are initiated by students at reasonable times before or after the instructional day so long as such activities are voluntary for all parties and do not conflict with the responsibilities or assignments of such personnel,” the bill states.
The ACLU has taken issue with the bill.
The bill is expected to be approved by the Senate.
A new crisis between Israel and its closest ally is developing because of the Obama Administration’s glowing support for a Hamas-supported government in Palestine.
Several key Israeli officials expressed their anger publicly concerning the U.S. State Department saying they are willing to work with the new Palestinian unity government that was built with the help of Hamas. Even U.S. officials identify Hamas as a terrorist group yet the State Department ignored that in their endorsement of the new government.
“I have to say I do not understand this American announcement,” said Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz. “You cannot present it as a Hamas government internally, then present it publically as a government of technocrats. If these (ministers) are people who identify with Hamas, Hamas identifies with them and appointed them, then they are representatives of Hamas. This is a Hamas government, and Hamas is a terror organization.”
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki tried to avoid reporter’s questions about Hamas’ intimate involvement with the new Palestinian coalition.
“At this point, it appears that president Abbas has formed an interim technocratic government that does not include ministers affiliated with Hamas,” she said. “With what we know now, we will work with this government.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly was “betrayed and deceived” by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry who told him that the U.S. would not recognize the new government immediately but then did so within five hours.
A recent panel discussed the massive expansion of Christianity in China even as the government increases their crackdown on Christ’s people.
One of the panelists talked of the persecution as a source of joy for many of the Chinese Christian leaders because it’s bringing forward the true followers of the faith.
“Chinese Christian leaders look at this as a winnowing effect, so those who are not true Christians will leave the churches; the ‘Sunday Christians,'” said Professor Carsten Vala of Loyola University Maryland. “The really committed, devout believers will be increasingly strengthened in their faith by this ‘winds of persecution’ and honestly the church buildings may be torn down, but that doesn’t mean the congregations themselves have scattered.”
Reverend Zhang Boli spoke about the growth in the underground church movement that is surpassing the “registered” and “official” churches according to the Chinese government. He attributed the crackdown to the growth.
“Recently we have seen some changes in the Chinese government’s policy towards religion,” said Boli via an interpreter. “The reason that caused them to decide to make those changes is because Christianity is moving very, very quickly in China.”
Official government statistics say there are 33 million Christians in the country but panelists say that because of unregistered “house churches” the amount is likely higher.