The 3 - September 5, 2021

In this week's edition of The 3, highlighting three significant stories of relevance to the Christian community, pro-life people and groups across America are celebrating the Texas law banning abortion after a heartbeat is detected, which was allowed by the U.S. Supreme Court to be implemented this past week.   And, the southern California church pastored by John MacArthur received financial compensation from county and state officials after the church faced opposition for its rejection of COVID protocols and was open for a number of months during the pandemic.  And, two teachers in Virginia would would not call students by pronouns not corresponding to their biological gender are seeking relief in the court system in the state; one recently received a positive ruling from the VA Supreme Court. 

Texas abortion law goes into effect; SCOTUS rejects appeal

As planned, the bill passed by the Texas Legislature that would prevent abortion from the moment that a heartbeat can be detected in an unborn child, somewhere around 6 weeks' gestation, went into effect on September 1, despite a last-ditch effort by abortion advocates to have the U.S. Supreme Court prevent its implementation.

A FoxNews.com story featured comments from both sides of the debate. Jeanne Mancini, President of March for Life, stated: "The law currently in effect in Texas highlights the humanity of children in the womb who have a detectable heartbeat by six weeks of development," adding, "States have the right to act on what science and ethics clearly tell us, which is that these children have their whole life ahead of them and deserve our protection. Pro-life legislators in Texas and Governor Abbott deserve credit for their efforts to defend vulnerable human life."

Opponents of the bill swung into action. LifeSiteNews.com reported that:

Web domain hosting giant GoDaddy is deplatforming a website run by Texas Right to Life through which people can submit tips about violations of the Lone Star State’s robust new pro-life law that protects babies with beating hearts from being aborted.

A GoDaddy spokesman said in an email to the New York Times and The Verge, “We have informed prolifewhistleblower.com they have 24 hours to move to another provider for violating our terms of service.”

And, President Biden, who has experienced setbacks at the high court due to actions the court has found to be unconstitutional, has unleashed Justice Department to try to blunt or shut down the law, according to LifeSiteNews.com, which reports that: 

During a press conference at the White House, Biden noted that he has asked his Justice Department to investigate whether the federal government can restrict a provision in Texas’ new fetal heartbeat law that allows private citizens to sue anyone who facilitates an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy.

The President, who had previously said the Texas law was an “unprecedented assault on a woman’s constitutional rights under Roe v. Wade...," also noted, “I respect those who believe life begins at the moment of conception,” adding, “I don’t agree, but I respect that. I’m not going to impose that on people.”

MacArthur's church to receive $800,000 payment over COVID debate

The congregation of Grace Community Church in southern California, pastored by John MacArthur, who is heard weekdays at 1:30pm on Faith Radio, believing the state's restrictions on public gatherings due to COVID were unconstitutional, had met for several months during the pandemic, which placed the church at odds with public health officials. ReligionNews.com reported that the church's actions were indeed allowable under a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in February. The article said that Los Angeles County and the state of California would each be paying the church $400,000, and related:

This agreement, county officials said, was reached in the context of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in February that told California it couldn’t enforce a ban on indoor worship because of the coronavirus pandemic. LA County modified its health order and lifted the indoor worship ban after the ruling.

The story, released last week, stated: 

MacArthur on Sunday said the settlement money would go to the Thomas More Society, which represented the church in this court case.

“Nothing will come to us except the affirmation that the Lord preserved and protected us through this,” MacArthur said.

Virginia Supreme Court sides with teacher who stood against transgender pronouns, another case on the way

Teachers who have taken a stand against calling students by pronouns based on their so-called "gender identity," rather than their biology, are now working through the court system in Virginia.

Tanner Cross of Loudoun County received a major victory from the Virginia Supreme Court, according to the Alliance Defending Freedom, which is representing him.  The ADF website reports that: 

The Virginia Supreme Court issued an order Monday that affirms a lower court’s decision to temporarily reinstate Leesburg Elementary School physical education teacher Tanner Cross after Loudoun County Public Schools suspended him for voicing objections to a proposed policy during the public comment period of a school board meeting. The lower court ruled that the school district’s actions were likely unconstitutional, and the state high court agreed.

ADF has added two other teachers as plaintiffs in their challenge to the policy, which was approved by the local school board.

Meanwhile, a case involving a teacher in the County of King William, Peter Vlaming will be heading to the state's Supreme Court after his case was dismissed by a lower court. Alliance Defending Freedom reports that: 

The West Point School Board fired Peter Vlaming, who taught French in the district for seven years, after he stated he couldn’t in good conscience comply with the superintendent’s order to refer to a female student as a male. Vlaming consistently used the student’s preferred name instead of the student’s given name, and although he attempted to avoid the use of any pronouns in an effort to accommodate the student, he was nonetheless directed to cease “avoiding the use of male pronouns” to refer to the student, even when the student wasn’t present.