The 3 - October 7, 2018

In this week's edition of The 3, there is a story out of north Alabama involving prayer before football games and community response to the school board's ban on the practice.  Also, the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed a lower court ruling in favor of a Tennessee pro-life amendment to stand.  And, the governor of California has vetoed a bill that would have authorized on-campus medical abortions.

3 - School prayer ban in Alabama county yields strong response from community

In Blount County, Alabama, the school board put an end to prayer before football games, even if led by a student or volunteer, an incorrect response to a threat from the so-called Freedom from Religion Foundation.  Parents responded by saying their own prayer in the stands at the county's Locust Fork High School, according to the Christian Examiner.  It reported:

Gregg Armstrong, a parent of a Locust Fork High School student and the county revenue commissioner, vowed to a local ABC News station after the announcement last week that he and other Christians around the county would say the Lord's Prayer in unison during the moment of silence.

"We are not doing this by any way to be negative or anything like that," Armstrong explained. "We are just doing this with love and doing what we feel like God has called us to do. I believe if you have 1,000 people in those bleachers saying the Lord's Prayer vocally, not over a PA system, that is probably going to be a little bit more moving than just one person praying."

Area churches banded together and sold over a thousand "We Believe" t-shirts and the article says, "An online video shows a spectator leading the crowd at the Locust Fork game by reciting the Lord's Prayer through a megaphone."

The article points out that, "Critics of the school district's decision include Roy Moore...," who "argued at a news conference in Montgomery last week that it's constitutional for students to pray over the loudspeaker before games as long as it's done so free of influence from school officials."

2 - U.S. Supreme Court allows TN pro-life amendment to stand

In 2014, voters in Tennessee amended the state constitution, according to a Baptist Press article; the amendment, "removed a right to abortion and a requirement for abortion funding from the Tennessee constitution."

The article states that:

The effort to pass the amendment followed a decision by the Tennessee Supreme Court in 2000 that struck down state restrictions on abortion and ruled the state constitution provided stronger protections for abortion rights than the U.S. Constitution, The Tennessean reported. In the wake of the ruling, an analysis by the newspaper showed more than 25 percent of abortions sought in the state were from women who lived in states where abortion restrictions were in effect.

Those challenging the amendment were essentially trying to get it thrown out on a technicality - the 6th Circuit found in favor of the state and on the first day of the new term of the U.S. Supreme Court, the justices said they would not review the lower court decision.

That Tennessee amendment was influential on an Alabama lawmaker, Matt Fridy, who proposed the constitutional amendment that Alabama voters will be considering on November 6, according to LifeNews.com, which reports:

The proposed amendment says the Alabama Constitution does not protect a right to abortion or taxpayer-funded abortions. It also directs state policy “to recognize and support the sanctity of unborn life and the rights of unborn children, including the right to life.”

The LifeNews.com article says:

State Rep. Matt Fridy, a Republican, said he had the future in mind when he proposed the amendment, according to AL.com. He told the local news that he was thinking about Tennessee where the state Supreme Court ruled that a woman has a “right” to abortion under the state constitution.

That ruling made it basically impossible for Tennessee lawmakers to pass even moderate abortion regulations, such as parental consent for minors or a ban on taxpayer-funded abortions. In 2014, Tennessee voters approved a ballot measure to amend their constitution to make it clear there is no right to abortion.

1 - CA Governor vetoes bill allowing abortion pills to be distributed at colleges

It is a bill that is not really unexpected out of California. According to a Fox News story, a bill, "would have required university health centers to offer women medical abortions on campus by Jan. 1, 2022. The majority of the funds-- $9.6 million-- would come from private donors, The Sacramento Bee reported."

Governor Jerry Brown vetoed the bill.  Fox reports that:

In his veto message, Gov. Brown called the bill “unnecessary,” noting that abortions are a “long-protected right in California.” He said most abortion providers are within a reasonable distance from campus communities.

So, not a pro-life epiphany for the governor, but a positive step for life nevertheless. The article quotes the San Francisco Chronicle: The bill was drafted after a failed effort in 2016 by students at UC Berkeley to provide medical abortions on campus, according to The Chronicle. Medical abortions differ from surgical abortions in that the former requires taking a pill over two days during the first 10 weeks of a pregnancy to trigger a miscarriage.