The 3 - May 26, 2024

This week's edition of The 3, highlighting three stories of relevance to the Christian community, includes a new law in Louisiana that places restrictions on the distribution of the abortion pill. Also, a missionary couple in Haiti, along with a missions leader there, were slain recently. Plus, the responses continue to swirl around Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker, who received some affirmation from people with the organization recently, based on his character, but not necessarily his views, which are consistent with a Biblical perspective. 

Louisiana governor signs bill preventing fraud regarding abortion pill, reclassifies abortion pill as controlled substance

While the Food and Drug Administration on the federal level has expanded the availability of the abortion pill, an issue that has been heard by the U.S. Supreme Court, a key piece of state legislation seeks to restrict the pill's distribution.

The state is Louisiana, where, according to LifeNews.com, Governor Jeff Landry just signed into law the "Abortion by Fraud Criminalization Act (SB 276) after it received final passage through the Louisiana Legislature."

The article goes on to say:

The legislation is important because it will stop predators from forcing women to take the abortion pill for children they don’t want. The bill’s text states that it seeks “to create the crime of coerced criminal abortion by means of fraud.”

Life News also reported:

The new law would classify the dangerous abortion-inducing drugs mifepristone and misoprostol as Schedule IV controlled substances. It would cement Louisiana’s status as the first state in the nation to classify abortion pills as Schedule IV drugs.

Under the measure, “[a] person in Louisiana caught with mifepristone or misoprostol without a prescription could face up to 10 years in prison.”

Missionary couple victims of violence in Haiti

Davy and Natalie Lloyd are young people in their twenties who have been doing missions work in the nation of Haiti, working with the ministry founded by Davy's parents, Missions in Haiti, according to an article in The Christian Post. 

The Lloyds were married in 2022 and moved to Haiti soon thereafter. Last week, they lost their lives, along with the Haitian director Jude Montis. The article says that they were "ambushed by armed men at the mission's compound Thursday night." And, it goes on to note that "A video reviewed by The Wall Street Journal shows three victims sprawled on the floor, with two of the bodies appearing to have been set on fire."

The ministry has an orphanage is in the city of Lizon, north of the capital of Port-au-Prince. The Christian Post said that, "Natalie Lloyd was the daughter of Missouri state Rep. Ben Baker, who expressed his grief on Facebook, stating, 'My heart is broken in a thousand pieces. I've never felt this kind of pain.'"

The article also says:

According to Missions in Haiti, the couple was attacked by three truckloads of armed men. The incident escalated into a chaotic scene as Davy Lloyd was tied up and beaten by gang members who stole trucks and other belongings from the mission. Subsequently, another armed group arrived, leading to a gun battle in which the Lloyds and Montis were killed.

It also quoted from Franklin Graham, who wrote on Facebook: "As a father, I cannot imagine the pain that this family is feeling right now," adding, "Pray for God to comfort and strengthen them in the difficult days ahead. 'God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.' (Psalm 46:1)"

Chiefs' kicker has friends in high places

The kicker for the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs, Harrison Butker, delivered the commencement address at Benedictine College, and the pro-life and pro-Biblical sexuality speech, which challenged men and women to explore their God-given roles, has continued to reverberate.  Not all approved, to say the least, but he is continuing to garner support for sharing his convictions.  A FoxNews.com piece related some of the affirmation the kicker has received.

Even after an NFL official had attempted to distance the league from the comments, as People Magazine had reported, Commissioner Roger Goodell, took a different approach.  The Fox article stated:

"We have over 3,000 players. ... They have a diversity of opinions & thoughts just like America does. I think that's something that we treasure & that's part of ultimately what makes us as a society better," Goodell said on Wednesday, via Yahoo Sports.

Goodell's comments echoed the sentiments of Butker's quarterback and coach, Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid.

Mahomes shared with reporters last week, "Even though there’s vast differences as far as those speeches happening at the same time, you get to talk to guys and get knowledge, and you make your own decisions at the end of the day."  Even though the article did not get into specifics, it did report that Mahomes didn't agree with everything his teammate said in the speech.  

Coach Reid said, "Everybody’s got their own opinion, and that’s what’s so great about this country. You can share those things, and you can work through it. That’s what guys do."

Even Travis Kelce was complimentary, according to the Daily Wire.  On the podcast he co-hosts with his brother, he said that “I cherish him as a teammate," and said that Mahomes "said it best," when the QB said that Butker is "is every bit of a great person and a great teammate. He’s treated friends and family that I’ve introduced to him with nothing but respect and kindness.”

He said regarding the views in the speech, "those are his. I can’t say I agree with the majority of it or just about any of it outside of just him loving his family and his kids. And I don’t think that I should judge him by his views, especially his religious views, of how to go about life, that’s just not who I am.” Kelce then went on to comment on his "beautiful upbringing," saying his parents were "homemakers and providers.”