The 3 - March 24, 2019

This week's edition of The 3, highlighting three stories of relevance to Christians, features a British journalist who is being investigated by law enforcement because she used the wrong pronoun or pronouns to describe a person who has had surgery in an attempted gender change.  Also, Christians are being targeted in the nation of Nigeria, with hundreds losing their lives in just the last couple of months.  And, state legislatures are continuing to consider and pass pro-life legislation that protects unborn children once a heartbeat is detected.

3 - British journalist under investigation for "misgendering"

Caroline Farrow is a journalist in the U.K., writing for the Catholic Herald.  And, she is trouble with authorities, according to a report on The Christian Post website. Last September, according to the website, she debated Susie Green, the head of a "transgender advocacy group" called Mermaids on Good Morning Britain.

In the interview, Farrow made the case, among other things that, as the Post put it, "single-sex spaces in children's schools and in other places of public accommodation should be maintained."

But the article says that law enforcement got involved because "Farrow allegedly referred to Green’s child, who is now called 'Jackie,' a biological male who underwent a surgical procedure in Thailand several years ago...with incorrect pronouns on Twitter."

The article goes on to quote Farrow:

"I do not know what I am supposed to have done but the police told me that 'you appeared on 'Good Morning Britain' with Susie Green and made some tweets misgendering her daughter,'" Farrow said in an interview with The Christian Post...

Farrow says, "I have to go and be interviewed under caution, a taped interview where I will be shown offending tweets which supposedly constitute the offence of Malicious Communications. If you look up the offence you’ll see that I am not in breech. I haven’t threatened or said anything that I know to be untrue or is indecent or grossly offensive."  The piece points out, "Meanwhile, Farrow has been regularly harassed and threatened by transgender activists."

2 - Nigerian Christians face mass persecution

Christians in Nigeria continue to face stiff and violent persecution, and there has been a recent series of tragic incidents in the country, according to Baptist Press, which reports that:

As many as 280 people were killed in Christian communities in several attacks spanning February through mid-March in Nigeria's Middle Belt, according to varying reports from Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), Morning Star News and International Christian Concern (ICC). Militants destroyed hundreds of homes and displaced residents.

Baptist Press reports that a recent attack in Kaduna state by Fulani militants resulted in the loss of ten lives on March 16, according to Morning Star News.  And, Baptist Press had reported that two attacks in the same region took 40 lives in February.

And, there is criticism of the Nigerian government for failing to protect Christians. International Christian Concern had stated, "There have been no major attempts by the Nigerian government to hold the Fulani accountable or disarm them," adding, "The re-election of President Buhari ensures that the government will remain dormant as the perpetrators continue to inflict suffering in Nigeria." Buhari was re-elected February 26.

The article also reports that, "a regional Nigerian court ruled that the national government failed to protect victims when militant Fulani killed 500 people, most of them Christian civilians, in several Middle Belt attacks in Benue State in 2016."

1 - Heartbeat bills progress in several states

There is a huge divide that is occurring among U.S. states on the issue of abortion.  New York's legislature gleefully passed a bill to legalize abortion in that state, and there have been bills introduced into legislatures in states including Virginia, Rhode Island, and Illinois, that would liberalize their abortion laws.

Meanwhile, other states are going in the other direction, attempting to ban the barbaric practice, that terminates a human life, once a heartbeat is detected in the unborn child.  Late last Friday, as The Hill and other outlets reported, the Georgia Senate passed a such a bill, reporting, "The bill passed the state Senate in a party-line vote of 34-18 and now heads back to the House to concur Senate changes." Newly-elected Governor Brian Kemp has maintained his support of the bill.

Last week, Mississippi's Governor, Phil Bryant, signed a heartbeat bill passed by that state's legislature.  He was quoted in the Clarion-Ledger as saying: "We think this is showing the profound respect and desire of Mississippians to protect the sanctity of that unborn life whenever possible," adding, "It also protects, we believe, the physical and mental health of the mother. We here in Mississippi believe in protecting and defending the whole life of that child."

And, Kentucky's Governor, Matt Bevin, also signed a heartbeat bill a few days before that.  The same day as his signature went on the bill, the ACLU went to court, according to The Blaze:

At 7:40 p.m., U.S. District Judge David Hale issued a temporary restraining order to prevent the state from enforcing Senate Bill 9, the so-called "fetal heartbeat" legislation, the Louisville Courier-Journal reported. Under the new law, it is illegal to terminate a pregnancy once a baby has a heartbeat, which occurs around six weeks' gestation.

The American Civil Liberties Union Reproductive Freedom Project sued to halt the law on behalf of the Kentucky's only abortion clinic, the EMW Women's Surgical Center. The health care provider canceled abortion appointments on Friday in compliance with the new law but resumed services by Saturday after Judge Hale's decision.

Hale put the law on hold for 14 days before going into effect.