This week's edition of The 3, with three stories of relevance to the Christian community, includes an Alabama library's attempt to run afoul of new state standards by allowing objectionable books to remain in a section of the library making them more accessible to children. Also, the State of Tennessee is preparing to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court this week regarding the legality of legislation banning dangerous treatments and surgeries for minors wishing to change their gender. Plus, the new Department of Government Efficiency is considering ending taxpayer funding of abortion through Planned Parenthood.
Alabama library alters rules on removing certain objectionable books
The Alabama Public Library Service has set parameters for its affiliates governing the placement of material within the library, taking precautions to prevent material that would be inappropriate for children from being readily available to them.
1819 News reported recently:
Libraries must create policies to govern juvenile sections and protect youth from sexually explicit or inappropriate material. Libraries must have written guidelines to ensure minors do not come into contact with obscene materials and there must be library cards for minors under the age of 18 that require parental approval before checkout.
But, according to the article, in Fairhope, Alabama, there has been an attempt to bend the rules; it states:
Clean Up Alabama claims Fairhope Library director Tamara Dean has “rejected repeated requests to remove materials from the children’s sections of the library that contain disturbing content — such as sexual assault, drug abuse, pedophilia, child trafficking, and graphic depictions of gender transitioning.”
The article noted:
Fairhope Library Board of Trustees chairman Anne Johnson claimed the board created new rules to comply, but she said they tried to “loosen the language” so the rules weren’t so restrictive.
1819 News goes on to say:
An example of a book available in the library’s children’s section is “Parts and Hearts” by Jensen Hillenbrand. The book explains to children how “transitioning” with medication and surgery can make people healthier.
The book was challenged and remains in the juvenile non-fiction section of the library. Dean wrote in response to the challenge that the book is meant to educate on a sensitive topic and she said the book is exempt by the APLS board for educational purposes.
Really? APLS Board Chair John Wahl said he is not aware that the book is exempt. A Clean Up Alabama e-mail sent out recently said:
In their justification, the Fairhope library asserts that the APLS board granted the exemption of educational materials. Even if the dubious claim of Parts and Hearts being educational were true, no such exemption exists in the current APLS guidelines. The exemption in the code is ONLY for religious, history, anatomy and biology texts. These books fall outside of those categories.That e-mail also states that Fairhope library Board chair Johnson "also claims that the book Grown, which graphically depicts abuse and sexual assault, is 'entirely appropriate' for minors."
The Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments for Dec. 4 in the case challenging Tennessee’s law banning gender-affirming care for minors brought by three young people and their families.
The state law — which took effect on July 1 of last year — bars Tennessee doctors and nurses from providing medical care — including puberty blockers, hormones and surgeries — to transgender people under 18.
The article relates this information:
A federal court in Tennessee initially blocked the law in April. But, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals overruled that decision last year, allowing the law to go into effect while the Biden Administration appealed.Alliance Defending Freedom filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case. ADF Senior Counsel and Vice President of Appellate Advocacy John Bursch is quoted on the ADF website as saying:
“Relying on bad science, activists and the Biden-Harris administration have pushed these harmful medical procedures across the country and even taken steps to prevent state legislatures from regulating these procedures. These procedures have devastated countless lives, which is why countries that were previously leaders in so-called ‘gender affirming’ care are reversing course and curtailing these experimental efforts to permanently alter children’s bodies. We urge the Supreme Court to affirm the lower court’s ruling that Tennessee is free to implement laws that follow the best science available in protecting vulnerable children from high-risk medical procedures.”
DOGE proposes to defund Planned Parenthood and other progressive organizations that receive taxpayer funding
For years, pro-life organizations have been critical of the federal government's role in proliferating abortion by funding the nation's largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood. On the Friday before Thanksgiving, I featured part 1 of a two-part conversation with Seth Gruber, who has chronicled the life and philosophy of Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger. More of that conversation is coming up on the Tuesday edition of The Meeting House on Faith Radio.
Now, it seems like the Department of Government Efficiency may be looking into taxpayer funding of abortion. The Washington Stand reported recently that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy "...outlined their vision for the forthcoming Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal..., specifically underscoring plans to enact a host of policies long supported by pro-life advocates and government efficiency experts alike." They wrote:
“DOGE will help end federal overspending by taking aim at the $500 billion plus in annual federal expenditures that are unauthorized by Congress or being used in ways that Congress never intended, from $535 million a year to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and $1.5 billion for grants to international organizations to nearly $300 million to progressive groups like Planned Parenthood...
The article notes: "Planned Parenthood received $699.3 million in taxpayer funding...and carried out 392,712 abortions in its 2022-2023 fiscal year, according to its most recent annual report.
Mary Szoch, director of the Center for Human Dignity at Family Research Council, said: “It was beautiful to see that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have recognized that using American taxpayer dollars to fund the killing of unborn children is a complete waste of money. It is inefficient on so many levels — including that it robs Americans of future generations of children. I look forward to seeing the other areas DOGE recognizes as a waste of taxpayer dollars; this first announcement signaled that rebuilding a culture of life is part of taking back America.”- Defund Planned Parenthood.
- Defund international [organizations] at odds with our interests.
- Defund PBS/NPR.
- Mass rescissions of unconstitutional regulations that exceed the authority of the Executive branch.
- Return the federal workforce to the office five days a week, which “would result in a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome.”
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