The 3 - October 22, 2017

In this week's edition of The 3, highlighting three stories of relevance to the Christian community, there is a positive development involving legislation posing a threat to religious liberty; a bill vetoed by the governor.  Also, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case involving a Ten Commandments monument in New Mexico.  Plus, an appeals court has put on hold a lower court decision providing for an undocumented immigrant teenager to have an abortion, but the appeals court has directed the government to find a sponsor in order for the abortion to take place.

3 - CA Governor vetoes bill posing threat to religious liberty

There was good news about legislation affecting the family out of California, of all places.  According to the Family Policy Alliance website, Governor Jerry Brown vetoed a bill that, according to the site, "aimed to criminalize any contracts or employee codes of conduct related to abortion and sex outside of marriage."

That's based on a conversation with Jonathan Keller, president of California Family Council, who stated, "Every organization that promotes a pro-life message must be able to require its employees to practice what they preach,” adding, “The right to freely exercise one’s religion is enshrined in our Constitution, and has always protected every American’s ability to freely associate around shared beliefs and practices.”

Elissa Graves, litigation counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, is quoted on that organization's website as saying: "The First Amendment doesn’t allow the state to order churches and other faith-based groups to violate their most deeply held convictions. They have the freedom to live according to their faith and to require those who work for them to do the same.” The site provides a brief description of the vetoed bill, saying it "would have prohibited churches, religious colleges, religious non-profit organizations, and pro-life pregnancy care centers from having faith-based codes of conduct with regard to abortion and sexual behavior..."

2 - U.S. Supreme Court decides not to hear Ten Commandments monument case

One of the areas of religious liberty that has caused contention in the courts is the display of the Ten Commandments on public property.  And, Baptist Press reports that the U.S. Supreme Court declined an opportunity to provide clarity in the matter.  It says that:

The court declined without explanation Monday (Oct. 16) to hear an appeal of a lower court ruling against a Ten Commandments monument outside the Bloomfield, N.M., City Hall. In lower courts, two Wiccans represented by the American Civil Liberties Union successfully challenged the five-foot monument, complaining that it constitutes the government's establishment of religion.

The article points out that in 2005, there were two cases involving the Ten Commandments: a "granite monument on the lawn of the Texas state capitol in Austin" was ruled to be constitutional by a 5-4 decision. Conversely, the court ruled that "the posting of the Ten Commandments inside Kentucky courthouses in McCreary and Pulaski counties was unconstitutional."

Bloomfield City Manager Eric Strahl spoke with Baptist Press and stated: "The monuments went there originally because they were of a historical significance," adding, "And since Christianity did play such a big part in the formation and the development of the country, one of the monuments was the Ten Commandments."  Strahl also said, "...as far as the city is concerned, it wasn't a religious issue."

1 - Judge rules that undocumented teen can have abortion; appeals court puts ruling on hold

Last week, Liberty Counsel reported that:

An Obama-nominated federal judge ordered the U.S. government to pay for an undocumented illegal immigrant teenager’s abortion at taxpayer expense in Texas. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered the government to transport the teenager to have the abortion — or allow her guardian to transport her — “promptly and without delay.”

The Justice Department appealed the decision to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. The
Texas Tribune said that the appeals court "gave the federal government until Oct. 31 to find a sponsor to take custody of the teen and take her to an abortion clinic to have the procedure."

The article also states that the court "noted that the federal government assumed that" the teenager has the "constitutional right to obtain an abortion in the United States."

But, the Justice Department attorney, Catherine Dorsey, according to the Tribune, "went on to argue that what is actually blocking Doe's abortion is her status as a minor under federal custody and that the government is not required to facilitate her abortion."  She added, "What's happening here is the government refusing to facilitate the abortion and that is not an undue burden."

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, expressing his "disappointment" for the decision, stated, "Unlawfully-present aliens with no substantial ties to the U.S. do not have a right to abortion on demand. Texas must not become a sanctuary state for abortions."

This is a decision that seems to have made no one happy - the ACLU, representing the teen, is opposed to the delay, and the Justice Department is arguing that the government should not be involved in this teen's abortion.

Liberty Counsel points out that:

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has now implemented a new policy under President Trump which discourages abortions among undocumented minors residing in federally-funded shelters. The policy prevents pregnant, unaccompanied minors in shelters from seeking abortions and instead directs them to crisis pregnancy centers where they are encouraged to forgo the abortion.