The 3 - October 27, 2024

On this week's edition of The 3, spotlighting three stories of relevance to the Christian community, there are three states who are suing the FDA due to its loosening of restrictions concerning the distribution of the abortion pill. Also, there's a ruling from the federal court that enables a major Christian satire site to continue to post its content, even in light of a new California law that threatens to prevent that.  And, a university in the U.K. has placed a warning on certain classic literature due to Christian themes.

Three states take FDA to court over abortion pill regulations

After the U.S. Supreme Court refused to rule on the legality of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's loosening of restrictions on availability of the abortion pill earlier this year, three state attorneys general have gone back to court to try to tighten up its distribution.

The states are Missouri, Kansas, and Idaho, and Liberty Counsel reports on its website:

The new amended lawsuit, which could end up back at the Supreme Court in the future, asserts that the three states have legal standing because the relaxed restrictions undermine state pro-life laws protecting women, girls, and unborn children by putting lives and health at risk.

The article notes the high court did not rule in the abortion pill case this year because it deemed that the pro-life doctors who brought the action did not have "standing."

Liberty Counsel states:

From 2016 to 2021, the FDA deregulated Mifepristone so it could be used through the 10th week of pregnancy, rather than only through the 7th week; allowed healthcare providers who are not physicians to prescribe the drugs; relaxed adverse reporting requirements; and allowed the drug to be prescribed online through telehealth appointments and sent through the mail defying the federal Comstock Act that prohibits sending abortion through the mail. The FDA made these changes despite the drug’s questionable safety record.

The Christian legal organization says, "The states are asking U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, who presided over the original abortion pill case, to impose a preliminary injunction that reinstates Mifepristone’s regulations that were in place prior to 2016."

Bee stings California officials

With free speech becoming an increasing concern in our country, according to a recent survey, The Babylon Bee turned back an attempt to curb its freedom of speech. Alliance Defending Freedom reports:

Less than one month after Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed a lawsuit challenging two California laws that censor online content, including political satire and parody, California officials agreed they cannot enforce one of those laws against The Babylon Bee and Kelly Chang Rickert, a California attorney and blogger, after a federal district court ruled that the law likely violates the First Amendment. The Babylon Bee and Rickert are now free to post their political content online during the current election season without fear of violating the law while the case continues.

ADF attorneys representing The Babylon Bee and Rickert filed the lawsuit after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the two laws, AB 2839 and AB 2655, that censor freedom of speech by using vague standards to punish people for posting certain political content online, including political memes and parodies of politicians. Because one of those laws, AB 2839, went into effect immediately, The Babylon Bee and Rickert—as well as a plaintiff in another case—asked the federal judges to immediately put that law on hold.

Bee CEO Seth Dillon said, in response: “Our job is hard enough when our jokes keep coming true, as if they were prophecies...But it becomes significantly more difficult when self-serving politicians abuse their power to try to control public discourse and clamp down on comedy. Unfortunately for them, the First Amendment secures our right to tell jokes they don’t like.”

British university calls out and issues warning about classic literature due to Christian content 

A university in the U.K. has issued a warning about content found in certain literature at the school.  International Christian Concern reports:

The University of Nottingham in England has issued a “trigger warning” to students studying various medieval literature, in part because of Christian themes in the texts. The Daily Mail on Sunday discovered the warning through a Freedom of Information Act request.

The British university warned students that the course “Chaucer and His Contemporaries” contained issues of “violence, mental illness, and expressions of Christian faith.”

The article refers to Geoffrey Chaucer as "a Christian," and notes that he "...is referred to by some as 'the father of English poetry' and is said to have influenced C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien."

It goes on to say:

According to Frank Furedi, a professor at the University of Kent, placing a trigger warning on Chaucer is a strange phenomenon.

“Warning students of Chaucer about Christian expressions of faith is weird,” Furedi stated. “The problem is not … student readers of Chaucer but virtue-signaling, [and] ignorant academics.”

As ICC notes in the article:

Whether subtle or outright insidious, the grouping of violence and mental disorders with Christianity draws a psychological line between the three as though there was some shared common ground. The warning also draws stealthily close to censoring Christian voices, which continues to elicit concern among Christians and anyone concerned with basic human rights.

The 3 - October 20, 2024

This week's edition of The 3, which features three stories of relevance to the Christian community, features news on a ministry organization that has filed a lawsuit against two federal government agencies regarding policies that promote abortion and possible sex change procedures.   Also, a lawsuit has been filed claiming fraud in the gathering of signatures to put a pro-abortion constitutional amendment on the ballot in Florida.  And, a man in Iran who founded a Christian ministry and was imprisoned for it, has been released after serving around half of his 10-year sentence. 

Ministry organization sues two federal agencies

The Dr. James Dobson Family Institute, along with a consortium of businesses called PublicSquare, described as "a values-based commerce ecosystem," have filed a lawsuit in federal court in Texas challenging three directives of federal agencies.

That is according to the Institute's website, which states that in the spring, the Department of Health and Human Services and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission "...issued several regulations advancing the administration’s radical agenda regarding abortion services and gender transition. These mandates attempt to force JDFI, PublicSquare, and other Christian-based ministries and businesses to violate our religiously-based biblical values and moral conscience."

Senior Director at JDFI, Owen Strachan is quoted as saying:

“This radicalized immoral movement often speaks in the dulcet tones of tolerance and inclusivity concerning public morality; it often seeks to bind society to its vision and punish anyone who dares dissent with severe consequences. This is evident in HHS’s regulation requiring employer health plan coverage of abortion and so-called gender-affirming care, as well as in the EEOC’s regulation requiring employer accommodation of abortion and immoral infertility treatments, and its enforcement guidance requiring employers to grant access to bathrooms and other single-sex spaces to those of the opposite sex. Such rules crush the liberty that aligns with the order of creation as defined by God and reflected in nature.”

Dr. James Dobson's Family Talk can be heard weeknights at 8:30 on Faith Radio.  

Fraud charged in abortion amendment petitions in Florida

In state by state, amendments have been placed on ballots that would allow abortion throughout a woman's pregnancy.  So far, including last year in Ohio, all such ballot initiatives have been approved by the voters.

This year, Florida voters have the chance to vote on what is called the “Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion." It is Amendment 4, and according to Liberty Counsel, "Amending the state’s constitution requires approval by a 60 percent majority." The Christian legal organization's website states:

Amendment 4 would make abortion a constitutional right in Florida up to birth at any time for any reason. If passed, the misleading amendment would then nullify Florida’s six-week “heartbeat” law, invalidate parental consent laws allowing minors unfettered access to abortion independently of their parents, and would also invalidate all health and safety regulations protecting women and girls during abortion procedures. Specifically, it would remove the physician requirement that mandates only licensed physicians are to perform abortions.

Abortion supporters have collected signatures to get the amendment on the Florida ballot, but Liberty Counsel reports that a lawsuit has now been filed, stating: "The citizen plaintiffs seek an injunction to invalidate the amendment citing the state’s preliminary audits that found pro-abortion petitioners knowingly used forged petitions and other fraudulent means to reach the threshold number of constitutionally-required signatures." The language of the lawsuit says, "...without the substantial fraud and illegality in the petition gathering process in support of Amendment 4, it never would have qualified for ballot placement.”

As Liberty Counsel points out, even though it appears Amendment 4 will still be on the ballot, the results could be invalidated if the courts find that fraud existed, according to the attorney for the plaintiffs.

Ministry founder released from prison in Iran

Even though he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for launching a Christian ministry in Iran, a man has been released from prison after serving only about five years. 

Worthy News cites a report from Church in Chains, or CIC. The Worthy News article states:

A convert to Christ from Islam, Mehdi Akbari was released from Evin prison in Tehran on September 29, having served four years and nine months of his sentence, CIC reports. The reduction of Akbari’s sentence by Branch 21 of Tehran’s Appeals Court followed repeated court applications.

The article notes:

Akbari was arrested in January 2019 during a raid on his home in Tehran in January 2019. He was sentenced to ten years in prison for “acting against national security by forming an illegal evangelical Christian group,” CIC reports.

The 3 - October 13, 2024

In the latest edition of The 3, featuring three stories of relevance to the Christian community, there's a story about a ruling by a federal judge in New York upholding the free speech rights of pro-life pregnancy centers to promote abortion pill reversal.  Also, the U.S. Supreme Court has announced it will not hear a challenge to an appeals court ruling involving a Texas case in which the federal government was attempting to force emergency room doctors to perform abortions. And, four schools on the collegiate level have announced their plans not to compete against a ladies' volleyball team that has a male member identifying as female.

Federal judge in New York allows free speech of pro-life pregnancy centers to promote abortion pill reversal

A federal judge in New York has issued another temporary ruling protecting the rights of pro-life pregnancy resource centers to share information about abortion pill reversal, according to Liberty Counsel's website, which outlines that the reversal process can be implemented within 72 hours after the first dose of the abortion pill regimen. 

This ruling follows a similar ruling in another case involving 51 pro-life centers, which has now been consolidated with the case of two more centers.  Liberty Counsel relates:

The preliminary injunction protects Summit Life Outreach Center and The Evergreen Association from the state’s attempts to silence them with threats, intimidation, and prosecution under the state’s false advertising law. New York’s attorney general claims APR is “unproven” and has accused pregnancy centers across the state of fraudulent business practices and false advertising.

Referencing New York Attorney General Letitia James, the website notes: 

However, Summit and Evergreen allege the state’s actions violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments and that James’ illegal targeting of pregnancy centers unconstitutionally censors their speech about the safety and efficacy of abortion pill reversal. In the previous ruling, District Judge John L. Sinatra, Jr. stated that pregnancy centers are “likely to succeed on the merits” with their Free Speech claims since restricting speech about APR “casts a chill” on the First Amendment.

And, CBNNews.com reports on a similar lawsuit out of California, reporting:

The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a non-profit legal group, has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates and SCV Pregnancy Center in Santa Clarita, California, against state Attorney General Rob Bonta.

As CBN News reported, Bonta filed a lawsuit last year against Heartbeat International (HBI) and RealOptions, two faith-based pregnancy centers, to stop them from advertising abortion pill reversal services, claiming that the natural hormone used to reverse the abortion pill is "risky" and "has no credible scientific backing."

SCOTUS says "no" to hearing abortion ER case out of Texas

Just months after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to rule on a similar case out of Idaho, it has decided not to hear a case out of Texas, in a ruling that would, according to the Alliance Defending Freedom website, "deny the federal government’s request to hear the case Becerra v. State of Texas, upholding the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit’s ruling, which prevented the federal government from 'illegally using federal law to force emergency room doctors to perform abortions...;"

ADF Senior Counsel Matt Bowman is quoted on the website, stating, "Hospitals—especially emergency rooms—are tasked with preserving life. For this reason, the 5th Circuit correctly ruled that federal bureaucrats have no business compelling doctors or hospitals to end unborn lives...Emergency room physicians can, and do, treat life-threatening conditions such as ectopic pregnancies. And every state allows doctors to do whatever is necessary to preserve the life of a mother. But elective abortion is not life-saving care—it ends the life of the unborn child—and the government has no authority to force doctors to perform these dangerous procedures. We are pleased that the Supreme Court decided the 5th Circuit’s ruling should stand, allowing emergency rooms to fulfill their primary function—saving lives.”

Four collegiate volleyball teams refuse to play team with male member

Last week, I spotlighted the brave stand taken by a school in Vermont, in which it did not allow its girls' basketball team to play in a game in which a male athlete was allowed to participate.  This resulted in a suspension for the school in numerous sports.

There are developments now on a collegiate level, with four teams announcing they would not compete against a team with a male athlete presenting as female.

FoxNews.com recently reported that:

The Utah State Aggies are the latest women’s volleyball team to choose not to participate in a scheduled match against San Jose State University due to a biological male playing on its women’s team.

The university issued a statement saying it would not be participating in its Oct. 23 volleyball match at SJSU.

Utah State joins Southern Utah, Boise State and the University of Wyoming in refusing to compete against SJSU.

The Fox piece, as well as a Christian Post story noted that a teammate of the male player, Blaire Fleming, is part of a lawsuit against the NCAA.  The Post article related:

One of Fleming’s SJSU teammates, Brooke Slusser, is a plaintiff in a class action lawsuit filed against the National Collegiate Athletic Association over alleged violations of Title IX.

Filed in March by the group Independent Council on Women’s Sports, the lawsuit alleges that the NCAA has violated Title IX by allowing men to compete in women’s sports.

Slusser told OutKick that she joined the lawsuit because “it's something I truly believe in” and that this was “something that so many people do care about,” saying that having Fleming on her team was “a really hard pill to swallow.”

"I couldn't comprehend the fact that there was a man on the team, and it was almost as if I was in denial for a really long time that this was happening," Slusser said. "So it was just really hard for me to wrap my head around.”

Writing for FoxNews.com, Macy Petty, a legislative strategist for Concerned Women for America and former NCAA volleyball player, stated:

Without any underlying research to justify it, the NCAA has compromised women’s sports to the detriment of female athletes around the world. Despite an outcry of public opposition, the NCAA has continued to invite men into women’s private spaces and competition. 

Petty laments the lack of prior notice about men identifying as women playing on female sports teams; that previous Fox piece stated that Petty...

...spoke with Fox News Digital’s Sarah Rumpf-Whitten about how players are feeling "blindsided" because the NCAA has not informed teams of the presence of transgender players on opposing squads.

"There's no informed consent for the schools or for the female athletes here. They're totally blindsided when they walk up to the court, and they see that there's a male athlete on the other side," Petty said.

In her Fox op-ed, Petty writes: 

Women’s voices in college sports matter. We fought hard for – and deserve – the right to say no when we do not consent to playing alongside men. It’s time to hold the NCAA responsible for this reckless disregard for women’s safety and fair play in college sports.

The 3 - October 6, 2024

This week's edition of The 3, with three stories of relevance to the Christian community, includes good news for a teacher in Virginia fired for declining to use "gender" pronouns of a female student presenting as male.  Also, a local judge in Georgia has struck down the state's pro-life heartbeat law. Plus, a consortium of Christian employers have won a court case against a federal government agency. 

Fired VA French teacher receives massive payday in pronoun flap

Peter Vlaming was a French teacher in Virginia, but he lost his job because he chose not to lie to a student on the basis of biology.  The Daily Citizen reports that Vlaming...

...was a well-liked teacher at West Point High School. In 2018, when one of his female students began presenting as a male and using masculine pronouns, Vlaming wrestled with how to respond. He believes – for religious, philosophical and scientific reasons – that sex is an innate biological trait.

He chose to call the student by her new, assumed name, but did not use the requested pronouns.

But that wasn't satisfactory. The article says, "The superintendent demanded Vlaming refer to the student using pronouns inconsistent with her sex. When he refused, the school board fired him. In response, Vlaming filed a lawsuit against the school board with the help of Alliance Defending Freedom..."  The article says:

Last December, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled in Vlaming’s favor, issuing a landmark decision affirming that the Virginia Constitution protects public employees’ right to free speech and freely exercise their religion.

And, the news got better.  As The Daily Citizen notes:

Following that decision, the West Point School Board agreed to pay $575,000 in damages and attorneys’ fees to settle the lawsuit. The school board also cleared Vlaming’s record and changed its policies to conform to Virginia’s new education policies protecting parental rights.

Local judge strikes down Georgia's heartbeat law

The Georgia law that had as its goal to protect life, banning abortion after a heartbeat is detected, has been under scrutiny recently.  There has been misinformation about the law's protection of not only unborn children, but of women in emergency situations concerning their pregnancy.

Now, a local judge has decided that the law is unconstitutional.  Live Action News reports:

Fulton County Superior Judge Robert McBurney, who struck down Georgia’s LIFE Act in 2022 before the state Supreme Court reversed his decision, has again ruled to strike down the Act as unconstitutional. This means abortion is now legal in Georgia up to 22 weeks gestation.

The article says: 

McBurney noted in his ruling that the plaintiffs in the case had asked the court to declare that a ‘right to abortion’ is included within the state constitution’s “protections for liberty and privacy.” And, consistently, McBurney repeatedly emphasized the ideas of a woman’s liberty and privacy over the very existence of a developing human being.

In its analysis, Live Action News also relates that the judge...

...went on to argue that until a preborn child is ‘viable’, the only person who can assume that child’s care is the mother, and she cannot be forced to do so… because she has “fundamental rights” to make “healthcare choices” that include ending the life of her child in the womb until that child can be cared for by someone else.

Of course, intentionally and directly killing a defenseless human being cannot reasonably be considered “health care.”

The article, published last Monday, included these responses:

Governor Brian Kemp sent a statement to Newsweek today following Judge McBurney’s decision, with spokesperson Garrison Douglas stating, “Once again, the will of Georgians and their representatives has been overruled by the personal beliefs of one judge. Protecting the lives of the most vulnerable among us is one of our most sacred responsibilities, and Georgia will continue to be a place where we fight for the lives of the unborn.”

NBC News reports the state’s plans to appeal, writing, “Kara Murray, a spokesperson for Georgia Attorney General Christopher Carr, said, ‘We believe Georgia’s LIFE Act is fully constitutional, and we will immediately appeal the lower court’s decision.'”

On Monday afternoon, October 6, the Georgia Supreme Court, for the second time, overruled Judge McBurney, and reinstated Georgia's pro-life heartbeat law.  

Christian employers' lawsuit finalized after positive ruling

An organization representing Christian businesses, coming off a court ruling in its favor, has been on the receiving end of an agreement from a federal agency to pay an amount of $210,000 for "attorneys' fees and costs."  The Alliance Defending Freedom website notes that...

...a federal district court decision earlier this year that stopped the administration from forcing nonprofit and for-profit religious employers and health care providers to violate their religious beliefs by paying for and performing harmful “gender transition” surgeries, procedures, counseling, and treatments.

The website reports: 

The lawsuit, Christian Employers Alliance v. U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, filed in October 2021, argued that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is misinterpreting and improperly enforcing discrimination based on sex in Title VII to force religious employers to pay for and provide health insurance coverage for such surgeries and procedures. Additionally, the lawsuit challenged the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ reinterpretation of “sex” in federal law to include gender identity, thereby forcing religious healthcare providers who receive federal funding to physically perform or facilitate surgeries and procedures that conflict with their deeply held beliefs.

The article quotes Shannon Royce, Christian Employers Alliance President, who said: “We are overjoyed our members will not have to choose between the biblically based employee benefits and quality healthcare they provide, and the threat of federal enforcement and massive costs for practicing their faith..."