The 3 - June 30, 2024

This week's edition of The 3, featuring three stories of interest to the Christian community, features a dismissal from the U.S. Supreme Court regarding emergency room doctors' ability to perform abortions under federal law and the state's pro-life law.  Also, a federal judge has blocked a federal agency from forcing companies to grant time off to employees wishing to have abortions.  Plus, public school students in Oklahoma will have the ability to go off-campus for religious instruction.

U.S. Supreme Court rules in Idaho case involving emergency rooms and abortion

For the second consecutive time, the U.S. Supreme Court has declined to get involved in a case about abortion.  In this case, the Court sent a challenge related to federal law on emergency room procedures and Idaho's strong pro-life law down to a lower court.  The good news: the case is far from over.  The bad news: emergency room physicians will be able to perform abortions in the state - at least for now. 

Liberty Counsel, on its website, stated...

...the U.S. Supreme Court decided to dismiss two consolidated cases in Moyle v. United States and Idaho v. United States and send them back to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals which has not yet had a chance to hear arguments or decide on the merits of the dispute. In the absence of a Ninth Circuit decision, the High Court dismissed the cases as “improvidently granted,” or mistakenly granted. The decision, issued without a vote, leaves a preliminary injunction in place that allows emergency abortions in Idaho despite the state’s near-total abortion ban.

The Alliance Defending Freedom website related a quote from Idaho's Attorney General, Raul Labrador, who stated, in part:

“The Supreme Court sent the case back to the 9th Circuit today after my office won significant concessions from the United States that Justice Barrett described as ‘important’ and ‘critical.’ Today, the court said that Idaho will be able to enforce its law to save lives in the vast majority of circumstances while the case proceeds. The Biden administration’s concession that EMTALA will rarely override Idaho’s law caused the Supreme Court to ask the 9th Circuit for review in light of the federal government’s change in position..."

EMTALA is an acronym for a federal law called the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act. John Bursch, Senior Counsel and Vice President of Appellate Advocacy for ADF stated, "As Justice Barrett noted in her opinion, ‘even with the preliminary injunction in place, Idaho’s ability to enforce its law remains almost entirely intact.’ The Biden administration can’t manipulate federal law to wipe out state protections for unborn children and force emergency room doctors to perform abortions. Under Idaho’s law, doctors will continue to provide care to women experiencing ectopic pregnancies, miscarriages, and life-threatening conditions."

Positive ruling regarding forced insurance coverage of abortion

A new rule was scheduled to be implemented by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently that would have forced employers to provide "accommodations" for employees wishing to have abortions.

That's according to LifeNews.com, which stated in an article published on June 21:

The rule was scheduled to take effect on Tuesday and would have dictated that abortions be included under the definition of “pregnancy, childbirth or related medical considerations,” thereby requiring that employers with at least 15 employees provide time off to their workers for abortions and related recovery.

Federal Judge David Joseph, according to the article...

...found that the EEOC exceeded its statutory authority in its implementation of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, usurping congressional authority in the process, according to court filings. As a result of this finding, he ordered the agency to pause the implementation of its abortion rule in Louisiana and Mississippi while its legality is litigated in the courts.

As The Christian Post had reported, the case involving the two states was combined with a lawsuit involving several Catholic organizations.  

OK okays release time for public school students for off-site religious instruction

There is now another state that has a requirement for public school districts to offer students what is called "release time," which provides off-campus religious instruction opportunties for students. 

The Religion Unplugged website notes:

Oklahoma is the most recent state to allow school boards to implement “release time”: off-site classes with religious or moral instruction that K-12 students can attend for part of school days with parental consent. Gov. Kevin Stitt signed House Bill 1425 into law, which authorized the program...

The article notes:

Oklahoma’s law requires school boards to adopt policies permitting students to attend release-time classes for up to three class periods per week. Sessions must be taught at independent entities not on school property. Instructors need not be certificated educators but must keep attendance records, and students are responsible for making up classwork they miss.

The article reported that Oklahoma's new law brings the total to 12 states who require that "release time" be offered.  Religion Unplugged stated that...

...in Zorach v. Clauson, the Supreme Court reviewed the constitutionality of a different type of release time program from New York City. This program allowed officials to release students from their public schools to attend off-site religion classes.

This time, the justices affirmed that public school officials could accommodate the religious wishes of parents by releasing their children for off-site instruction.