The 3 - December 19, 2021

This week's edition includes some really good news out of Haiti: a group of 17 people, consisting of missionaries and family members, has been released by the gang that had kidnapped the group over two months ago.  Also, a federal agency has loosened restrictions on "abortion pill," that had previously required it to be administered in-person - now it can be mailed and supervised by telemedicine. Plus, more court action on the federal COVID vaccine mandate, as an appeals court has removed a halt on enforcement that another appeals court had instituted.

Remaining kidnapped missionaries now free from Haitian captors

Just over two months ago, a group of 17 people affiliated with Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries was kidnapped by a radical gang in Haiti - this included missionaries as well as several children, one as young as eight months when the captivity began. A ransom demand of $1 million per person had reportedly been made.  The gang then began to release hostages, and up until last week, five had received their freedom. 

This nightmare scenario is now over. The Christian Post reported that all 17 have now been released. It quoted David Troyer, who heads Christian Aid Ministries, who said on Friday, "A U.S.-flagged plane left Haiti with the remaining freed hostages yesterday afternoon. Everyone, including the 10-month-old baby, the 3-year-old and the 6-year-old boys, seem to be doing reasonably well..."

The story said that Troyer did not indicate if a ransom had been paid, but he did extend forgiveness to the captors, stating, "We do not know all of the challenges you face. We do believe that violence and oppression of others can never be justified. You caused our hostages and their families a lot of suffering. However, Jesus taught us by word and by His own example that the power of forgiving love is stronger than the hate of violent force. Therefore, we extend forgiveness to you. The hostages told you plainly how you can also be forgiven by God, if you repent...”

At a press conference earlier today, a spokesman for the ministry said the remaining 12 hostages actually escaped, aided by looking to the stars:  The New York Times states:

Twice when they planned to flee, God told them to wait. But during the night last Wednesday, the group of 12 missionaries who had been held hostage for two months in Haiti put on their shoes and packed water in their clothes.

“They found a way to open the door that was closed and blocked, filed silently to the path that they had chosen to follow and quickly left the place that they were held, despite the fact that numerous guards were close by,” Weston Showalter, the spokesman for Christian Aid Ministries, said on Monday, recounting the story for the first time at a press briefing.

They used a mountain as a landmark, and followed the light of the moon and “the sure guidance of the stars,” he said.

They zigzagged north and west for about 10 miles, carrying two small children, “traveling through woods and thickets, working through thorns and briers,” he said. 

Ultimately, they ended up finding someone who provided a way for them to phone for help.

FDA approves distribution of abortion pills by mail

The Food and Drug Administration has changed its policy to allow the abortion pill to be mailed to patients, a move that the pro-life research organization, the Charlotte Lozier Institute, an arm of the Susan B. Anthony List, says would "irresponsibly erode longstanding patient safeguards on the abortion pill, despite major U.S. and international research confirming that chemical abortion has led to a surge in emergency room visits and higher rates of complications."

Tessa Longbons of the CLI states:

“The FDA claims the abortion pill is safe, yet peer-reviewed research confirms a 500% increase in the rate of chemical abortion-related emergency room visits. The FDA claims that complications are rare, yet peer-reviewed research from the United States, Finland, and Sweden confirms the abortion pill has a much higher complication rate than surgical abortion..."

Franklin Graham, posting on Facebook, called the move, "Murder by mail," and posted a USA Today article; he wrote:

Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life education and defense fund said the decision “will lead to more lives lost to abortion, and will increase the number of mothers who suffer physical and psychological harm from chemical abortions." This USA TODAY article says this is a “key move by the Biden administration” as the Supreme Court is currently considering possible new abortion protections for the unborn. Abortion supporters try to make it sound more acceptable and less barbaric by saying that it “terminates a pregnancy.” But medication abortions, as they are called, are just another way to deliberately end the life of an unborn child—and that should be called what it is—murder. Pray that the minds and hearts of people across our nation would be awakened to the great sin and heartbreak of abortion. And pray for our Supreme Court to make changes that will protect and value the most vulnerable among us.

Federal appeals court allows vaccine mandate to move forward

Just weeks ago, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor had ceased its enforcement of an order that forces businesses who employ 100 or more employees to mandate COVID-19 vaccines. This came on the heels of a stay by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. After that, future cases were consolidated by a lottery at the Sixth Circuit, which lifted the stay and allowed the mandate to be enforced.

In a press release, Kelly Shackelford, President, CEO, and Chief Counsel for First Liberty Institute, stated, “The Sixth Circuit panel’s decision to end the stay is outrageous and endangers the freedom of all Americans...Few are aware that, in addition to the President’s OSHA mandate being clearly lawless, its takeover of American companies also includes all religious organizations of over 100 employees. Our clients simply cannot comply with a government mandate that forces them to violate the conscience rights of their employees. The Supreme Court must act, or there will be a Constitutional crisis.”  The organization has request an Emergency Application, which was directed to Justice Kavanaugh, who is the justice responsible for the Sixth Circuit.

 

First Liberty and Alliance Defending Freedom were among organizations who filed appeals at the U.S. Supreme Court. Both legal groups represent ministries whose number of employees exceed the threshold. ADF's website says, "Friday’s decision by the 6th Circuit panel prompted ADF attorneys to seek a emergency relief from enforcement of the mandate—and seek the Supreme Court’s direct review—on behalf of their clients who would be required to force unvaccinated employees to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, be subject to weekly testing and masking requirements, or lose their job."

ADF Senior Counsel Ryan Bangert states, "The government has no authority to unilaterally treat unvaccinated employees like workplace hazards akin to asbestos or toxic chemicals, or to compel employers to carry out the government’s unlawful national vaccine mandate. The profoundly negative effect of this upon those employers and the 80 million American workers who are impacted is just one reason the Supreme Court immediately should halt enforcement of the mandate,” adding, “The Biden administration’s decision to mandate vaccines through an OSHA emergency rule is the height of government overreach.”

Also, as the SCOTUS Blog notes:

On Thursday, the federal government asked the justices to allow it to temporarily enforce a vaccine mandate, with religious and medical exemptions, for health-care workers at facilities that participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Lower-court rulings have blocked the administration from enforcing that mandate in about half the states. The justices ordered the challengers in those cases to respond by the afternoon of Dec. 30.