The 3 - July 1, 2018

In this week's edition of The 3, highlighting three stories of relevance to the Christian community, there is news out of Iowa, where the state Supreme Court has voided a pro-life law.  Also, hundreds are dead in an attack on Christians in Nigeria.  And, the U.S. Supreme Court had a flurry of activity during its final days - some highlights ahead, including rulings impacting religious liberty.

3 - Iowa Supreme Court strikes down abortion law

Last year, legislators in Iowa passed a 72-hour waiting period before a woman could have an abortion.  The state's Supreme Court struck that down in the past week, according to the Des Moines Register, which reports that:

The landmark 5-2 decision tossed out a 72-hour waiting period requirement, which legislators passed in 2017. Experts said the justices' decision could dim the chances for a 2018 "fetal heartbeat" law, which would ban most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Cady, writing the majority opinion, stated, "We conclude the statute enacted by our legislature, while intended as a reasonable regulation, violates both the due process and equal protection clauses of the Iowa Constitution because its restrictions on women are not narrowly tailored to serve a compelling interest of the state..."

The Register article also said:

Chuck Hurley, vice president of the conservative group the Family Leader, told reporters he was shocked to read the majority opinion in the case. He said that despite the setback, conservatives would push forward with defending the 2018 fetal heartbeat law. “This makes the heartbeat bill — the heartbeat law — and litigation even more important,” he said.

2 - 200 dead in Nigerian attack

The persecution of Christians continues to be pronounced in the African nation of Nigeria, and a Morning Star News article appearing at ChristianHeadlines.com reinforces this notion, reporting that:

Muslim Fulani herdsmen with machetes and firearms slaughtered more than 200 people in 10 predominantly Christian communities near Jos, Nigeria on Saturday and Sunday (June 23-24) in what a cattlemen’s spokesman admitted was likely retaliation for stealing cows.

The article says that:

Istifanus Gyang, a member of Nigeria’s National Assembly, on Monday (June 25) issued a statement in Jos decrying the attacks, which took place in the areas he represents in Plateau state, describing it as “…painful holocaust, ethnic cleansing and genocidal killing of my people under the watch of a government that has abdicated its primary constitutional responsibility of safeguarding lives of law-abiding citizens.”

It appears as if the Christians in particular areas are being blamed for the theft of cattle.  The article quotes a cattle breeders' organization spokesman:

“Fulani herdsmen have lost about 300 cows in the last few weeks – 94 cows were rustled by armed Berom youths in Fan village, another 36 cows were killed by Berom youths. In addition to that, 174 cattle were rustled.”

The story continues:

Area Christians question how villagers untrained to handle cattle could have “rustled” the high number of cows that Ciroma claims, especially with military check-points mounted throughout the state that would make it difficult to move such a quantity of livestock.

1 - High court rules on free speech, religious freedom

There was plenty of news out of the U.S. Supreme Court during the preceding week, including the announcement that Justice Anthony Kennedy would be retiring at the end of July.  President Trump has already said that he would be making the choice of a replacement soon, indicating he would be announcing that new prospective justice on July 9.

In addition, the high court upheld the President's so-called "travel ban" on accepting potential refugees from countries that research indicates are most likely to have terror connections.

And, the Christian Educators Association International is celebrating a ruling that said, according to its website: "that unionized public sector workers do not have to join, or pay agency fees, to unions. This ruling has significant implications for many public school teachers from faith backgrounds who have long struggled with the legal requirement to support unions that often contribute money to causes to which they object."

David Schmus, CEAI Executive Director, is quoted as saying, “Justice delayed was not justice denied for our teachers, who are now free to direct their hard-earned pay according to the dictates of conscience,” adding, “For years many teachers, including me, have been legally required to financially support unions as a condition of their employment, knowing that their money was going to Planned Parenthood or similar causes—no more.”

There was also a ruling concerning California's law that would have forced pro-life pregnancy resource centers to direct clients where they could get an abortion - the high court overturned that law.  Alliance Defending Freedom represented National Institute of Family and Life Advocates. ADF President, CEO, and General Counsel Michael Farris, stated: “In this case, the government used its power to force pro-life pregnancy centers to provide free advertising for abortion. The Supreme Court said that the government can’t do that, and that it must respect pro-life beliefs.”

And, at the end of the session, there was a ruling on prayer in the home: First Liberty represented a client, Mary Ann Sause, who had been ordered not to pray in her own home.  The organization's website stated:

Attorneys for Sause had asked the Supreme Court to reverse the appellate court’s ruling that the police officers, who in 2013 entered Sause’s home to investigate an alleged minor noise complaint, harassed her, and ordered Sause, a devout Catholic, to stop praying in her home were entitled to qualified immunity. The Supreme Court’s decision sends a clear signal that citizens are entitled to religious liberty in their own home.

The court ruled in Sause's favor.  In another prayer case out of North Carolina, the high court decided not to hear a case out of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in which the full court held that the commissioners in Rowan County were in error when they allowed prayer at public meetings.  Alliance Defending Freedom said on its website that it was involved in the North Carolina case as well as "the 2014 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Town of Greece v. Galloway that upheld prayer at public meetings, which both a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in the Rowan County case and a recent decision by the 6th Circuit in a different case cited as critical precedent for their decisions in favor of legislator-led prayer policies. The full 4th Circuit, however, later reversed the 4th Circuit panel’s decision, creating a split between the circuits."

So, now the focus about the Supreme Court for the next few months will be on the replacement for Anthony Kennedy, who was not a reliable vote on abortion and gay marriage, but who was fairly strong on religious liberty issues.  He was regarded a "swing" vote on the court, and it is speculated that whoever is nominated as his replacement will be a solid conservative, a "strict constructionist" regarding the Constitution.  The Hill reports that the President has indicated that he has narrowed his list to "about five," including two women, from a list of 25 potential nominees he had released during the campaign.