Pro-Life Groups Challenge New York Law Forcing Them to Hire Abortion Advocates– www.lifenews.com Source Link Excerpt:
Last week, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled to reinstate a legal challenge brought by several pro-life organizations against a New York law that undermines their First Amendment rights to employ people who agree with their religious beliefs and mission. The Second Circuit reversed a district court’s 2020 dismissal of the case and sent it back to the lower court with instructions to adjudicate the challenge under a more recent 2023 precedent that may give their First Amendment claims merit.
In CompassCare v. Hochul, the case centers around New York Labor Law Section 203-e, which remains effect, and prohibits employers from engaging in “discrimination based on an employee’s or a dependent’s reproductive health decision making.” CompassCare, a pro-life pregnancy care center, the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA), a nationwide association of pro-life pregnancy care centers, and First Bible Baptist Church brought the case to protect their ability to employ only like-minded people who will not take part in abortion themselves. The organizations seek an injunction to render the law unconstitutional by contending the law infringes on their First Amendment freedoms of expressive association. They argue the law forces them to employ and associate with those who do not share the organizations’ beliefs regarding abortion, contraception, and sexual morality.
Religious Leaders Experiment with A.I. in Sermons– www.nytimes.com Source Link Excerpt:
To members of his synagogue, the voice that played over the speakers of Congregation Emanu El in Houston sounded just like Rabbi Josh Fixler’s.
In the same steady rhythm his congregation had grown used to, the voice delivered a sermon about what it meant to be a neighbor in the age of artificial intelligence. Then, Rabbi Fixler took to the bimah himself.
“The audio you heard a moment ago may have sounded like my words,” he said. “But they weren’t.”
The recording was created by what Rabbi Fixler called “Rabbi Bot,” an A.I. chatbot trained on his old sermons. The chatbot, created with the help of a data scientist, wrote the sermon, even delivering it in an A.I. version of his voice. During the rest of the service, Rabbi Fixler intermittently asked Rabbi Bot questions aloud, which it would promptly answer.
People Now Hold Suicide Parties to Celebrate Killing Themselves in Assisted Suicides– www.lifenews.com Source Link Excerpt:
Back in 1991 or so, I was invited by an elderly and ill suicidal friend — along with about 20 of her other pals — to gather in her apartment for a suicide party. Frances’ idea was that she would tell us how much we meant to her, we would reciprocate, and she would swallow pills.
Instead, all her friends were appalled and held an intervention. Soon, the suicide was off. (Frances did the deed the next year, after telling her friends she wouldn’t, under the influence of proselytizing literature published by the assisted suicide Hemlock Society, a sad tale recounted in my book Forced Exit.)
Back then, celebrating or otherwise honoring a suicide was unthinkable. Today, thanks to the assisted suicide movement, suicide parties and ceremonies are becoming common (and increasingly reported in the media). From a syndicated story that ran in the Rome (Georgia) News Tribune:
In early August, Christina Werner, a retired operating room nurse, met up with a close friend for a walk through the redwoods in Marin County. It’s a common pastime for many people in the Bay Area, but this walk was different, Reasons to Be Cheerful reports .
The state of Oregon is pushing for a change in their rules, a regulation change, that will force healthcare companies to pay for giving children puberty blockers and/or mutilating their genitalia and/or removing their breasts because the “World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH)” declared that destroying children is “medically necessary.”
Oregon is a “Transgender Sanctuary State,” meaning it is compelled to force trans preferences on everyone else in their state, using violence in the form of the state gun to do so. It should be noted that “transgenderism” is a social construct, not a scientific “fact,” a construct that violates the religious and ethical standards of many of the peoples under Oregon’s oppressive thumb.
Oregon to Force Health Insurers to Cover Trans Surgeries for Minors › American Greatness– amgreatness.com Source Link Excerpt:
The state of Oregon is proposing a rule that will force all health insurers in the state, public and private alike, to cover genital mutilation surgery for minors who believe they are “transgender,” threatening the loss of state licenses for insurers who refuse.
According to the Washington Free Beacon, the proposal from Oregon’s Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS) follows the guidelines set by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), which declares that the removal of children’s genitals are “medically necessary.” Following a law passed in 2023 making Oregon a so-called “trans sanctuary state,” the state has largely followed the orders of WPATH and other medically dubious organizations that support the false and scientifically-debunked idea of “transgenderism.”
Oregon has already forced insurers to guarantee that children can receive puberty blockers and other forms of hormone treatment. The escalation to full genital surgery, set to take effect next year, would be the most radical move yet. DCBS spokesman Mark Peterson said that this rule will dictate “what insurance companies are required to cover and how they provide that coverage.”
The new rule will also force insurers to contract with multiple “gender doctors” in order to prevent long wait times. Any health plan employees who are responsible for denying such claims have to take WPATH’s training sessions in order to “demonstrate their experience with gender-affirming treatment.”
The rule was unveiled on October 30th, with public comment closing on Tuesday. It will formally take effect on January 1st.
Oregon is following WPATH’s orders even despite the organization coming under greater scrutiny. A report from the Economist detailed how WPATH manipulated its own research to produce the outcome it desired based on ideology rather than hard science. The group also suppressed a commissioned research report regarding transitioning minors due to the report’s failure to show benefits that were initially promised. Even the Biden-Harris Administration has cracked down on the group, forcing it to raise the minimum age for recommended “transgender care.”
Rep. Chip Roy urges colleagues to axe Clinton law used to toss peaceful pro-lifers in prison– www.theblaze.com Source Link Excerpt:
Texas Rep. Chip Roy (R) is urging his colleagues to vote before year end or in early January on the repeal of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. While Republicans might have enough votes — and will have a trifecta as of January — it is unclear whether they have the requisite will.
“We’re after the election now, so I feel like we ought to put it out there this year. Go ahead and vote on it,” Roy told the Daily Signal, “so that more Americans can’t get persecuted.”
The FACE Act, ratified by President Bill Clinton in 1994, is supposed to protect access to churches and abortion facilities but has been weaponized by the Biden Department of Justice to lock up peaceful pro-life protesters, such as Paulette Harlow, 75; Jean Marshall, 74; Joan Bell, 76; John Hinshaw, 69; Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising director of activism Lauren Handy; and 89-year-old concentration camp survivor Eva Edl.
According to the legal organization Alliance Defending Freedom, “the DOJ brought at least 26 charges against pro-life individuals under the FACE Act in 2022. What were the total number of charges against abortion activists who obstructed or vandalized pro-life pregnancy centers in the wake of the Dobbs decision that year? Zero.”
‘Free Americans should never live in fear of their government targeting them because of their beliefs.’
Chicago’s Incoming Top Prosecutor Vowed To Target Pro-Lifers Amid Rampant Crime– dailycaller.com Source Link Excerpt:
The incoming top prosecutor for Chicago will set up a special office to target pro-life demonstrators while the city continues to reel from crime.
Eileen Burke, former Cook County assistant state attorney and judge in the First District Appellate Court, will replace Kim Foxx as Cook County state attorney, winning 60.82% of the vote, according to the unofficial tally. One of her flagship policies is the creation of a “Choice Protection Unit” that would specifically target pro-life activists with potential prosecution, according to her campaign platform. Pro-life demonstrators have long faced prosecution from federal and state authorities for protesting near abortion clinics.
“Illinois has had a 70% increase in out-of-state visitors coming to our state for abortion services. Inevitably, we will also see an increase in Anti-Choice protesters attempting to interfere with that right,” Burke’s campaign website reads. “In order to do that and fulfill the mission of the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office to protect victims and uphold the laws of the State of Illinois, Eileen O’Neill Burke will create the office’s first CHOICE PROTECTION UNIT (CPU).”
The office also plans to train its prosecutors to defend hospitals sued by pro-life organizations for malpractice, according to her campaign website.
Biden Takes Parting Shot at Catholics With His Vile Medal of Freedom Choice – RedState– redstate.com Source Link Excerpt:
Lest we feel too kindly towards feeble old Joe Biden after he was unceremoniously dumped by his own party in favor of his mid-wit vice president, with some even surmising that Biden could have voted for Donald Trump, consider this: He just awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Cecile Richards.
Richards, of course, is the staunch pro-abort who was the longtime president of Planned Parenthood. RedState has written extensively about this vile woman, with our own Brandon Morse having this to say about her back in 2016:
Many of you already know her as the director of Planned Parenthood, the abortion giant. I like to refer to her as the most unelected official in America.
The United States put an end to a UN resolution that would have required an “immediate and unconditional ceasefire” in Gaza. The resolution had secured 14 votes before the U.S. veto ended the whole process. As the UN pushes for ceasefire, the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister and Minister of Defense.
The ICC might be pushing as hard as they can before Trump returns to the White House. While he was in office, ICC officials faced sanctions over what it deemed “malicious prosecutions” that affect America and her allies. It is expected the powerless court will face significant sanctions come January 20, 2025.
ICC Issues Arrest Warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant over Gaza War– www.breitbart.com Source Link Excerpt:
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants on Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant for supposed war crimes committed in Gaza.
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan, who faces sexual misconduct allegations, brought the application for the warrants earlier this year, along with applications for warrants against Palestinian terrorists, all of whom have since been killed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
In a massive legal bombshell, the International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant, the first time the court has ever issued such warrants against leaders of a democratic country.
The three judges of the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber I issue the warrants unanimously on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes that the court’s prosecutor Karim Khan alleges were committed during the prosecution of the current war against Hamas in Gaza.
Both Netanyahu and Gallant will be liable for arrest if they travel to any of the more than 120 countries that are party to the ICC.