The 3 - August 21, 2022

After a week hiatus to accommodate the Summer 2022 Christian Product Expo in Kentucky, The 3 is back with three stories of relevance to the Christian community.  I am continuing to keep track of pro-life legislation in the aftermath of the Dobbs decision out of the U.S. Supreme Court: some laws have recently been allowed by courts to go into effect and another was passed recently, the first since the decision. Also, a federal agency has issued a proposal that would force health care professionals to perform gender change treatments.  And, a Texas fire department chaplain has been terminated due to his expression of opposition to biological boys identifying as female competing in firls' sports. 

More pro-life laws overcome court hurdles

After Indiana passed the first pro-life law enacted by a state legislature after the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court, more states saw pro-life legislation upheld by courts.

Even though the governor of North Carolina seems devoted to so-called "abortion tourism," the state Legislature had other ideas, and a court is letting a 20-week abortion ban go into effect. Alliance Defending Freedom, representing two Tar Heel state legislative leaders, according to its website, reported that: "A federal district court Wednesday lifted an injunction that prevented enforcement of North Carolina’s pro-life law protecting the lives of unborn children after 20 weeks gestation."

The website reports that the law had been placed on hold back in 2019, but with Roe being overturned, ADF had contended there was nothing to keep that prohibition in place.  A federal district court agreed.

In Kentucky, according to the Attorney General's website, last Thursday, "the Kentucky Supreme Court issued an order that keeps Kentucky’s Human Life Protection Act and Heartbeat Law in effect while the case before the Court is pending. With this ruling, the Kentucky Supreme Court has left in place a ruling by the Kentucky Court of Appeals that allowed the laws to be enforced after a Jefferson Circuit Court Judge’s order had temporarily blocked both laws."

The Indiana law was signed into law earlier this month; ChristianHeadlines.com reported on Monday, August 8:

Republican Governor Eric Holcomb signed the bill (Senate Bill 1) into law on Friday, restricting abortions from the moment a fertilized egg is implanted in the uterus. According to CBN News, exemptions are only made in cases of rape and incest or when the mother's life is at risk. At the same time, however, the victim must prove the attack by presenting documentation.

HHS pushes another SOGI policy

For a number of years, municipalities and government agencies have been enacting so-called "sexual orientation and gender identity" laws and policies.  The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has issued a proposed policy that would override the rights of health care providers regarding medical treatment to attempt to change a person's gender.  The National Religious Broadcasters website addresses this change to Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, reporting:

Under the new rule, “sex” would be redefined to include sexual orientation and gender identity, as well as pregnancy or related conditions, such as “pregnancy termination,” with critical implications for rights of conscience in healthcare.

The article goes on to say: "One of the most notable features of the updated Section 1557 interpretation is the requirement that any healthcare provider receiving federal funding perform gender transition treatment, including those who deem such services clinically inappropriate." NRB states that, in the proposal: "HHS departs from regulating healthcare to regulating the conscience itself, proposing that a healthcare provider who believes gender transitions are never “clinically appropriate”—for religious reasons or otherwise—may not adhere to that particular view or refrain from providing such services under the new Section 1557."   A public hearing period continues through October 3.

TX fire department chaplain pushes back after firing

Andrew Fox was a chaplain for the Fire Department in Austin, TX until he was fired.  A National Review article relates that Fox, in a blog post...

...used the new post to critique the growing trend of biological men transitioning and competing in sports as women. “The issue,” he wrote, “is about gender identity and how ridiculous it is becoming.”

He wrote about fairness as described in the Book of Proverbs. He wrote about the identity of men and women as described in Genesis and “echoed throughout the canon of Scripture.”

And then he was fired.

The reason?  Of course, there were complaints and allegations that he had offended members of the LGBTQ community.  But, Fox is fighting to be reinstated; the article states:

Fox and his lawyers with the Alliance Defending Freedom filed a federal lawsuit against the fire department, alleging the department violated Fox’s First Amendment rights to speak freely about his religious beliefs. They’re asking the court for a declaration that Fox’s rights were violated, and for an injunction ordering the fire department to take him back.

This is yet another case of a Christian being fired for expressing his Christian beliefs.  And as ADF Senior Counsel Ryan Bangert reports, it was outside of his regular on-duty time with the department.  Bangert is quoted as saying: “What they did was they punished him for simply speaking about his theological beliefs on his own personal blog, on his own time, unconnected to his volunteer role with the fire department,” adding, “They punished him for conducting a ministry. He is a minister. And he is talking about theology on a theology blog.”