In this week's edition of The 3, featuring three stories of relevance to the Christian community, the U.S. Supreme Court has continued to allow the sale of the abortion pill until the appeal of a lower court ruling against the FDA's original approval of the pill winds its way through the courts. Also, a new law in Washington state would allow parents to lose custody of their children if they don't allow their children to try to change their sex. And, in Kentucky, three church members who were ordered to quarantine after attending an Easter Sunday church service, have received a financial award from the state of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
U.S. Supreme Court allows abortion pill to be sold, for now
After a federal judge in Texas ruled that the abortion pill should never have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, the case went on to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which put a hold on a portion of the ruling, but prevented the broader provisions of FDA approval implemented during the pandemic and even earlier, such as mail order abortions, from going back into place.
So, after an emergency appeal by the Administration and the manufacturer of the pill, the case ended up at the U.S. Supreme Court, which late Friday ruled that the distribution of the abortion pill could continue for now as the case works its way through the Fifth Circuit.
The SCOTUS Blog reported:
The battle over medication abortions, which account for over half of all abortions performed in the United States each year, now returns to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, which is scheduled to hear oral argument in the case next month. The order means that the drug will remain widely available while litigation continues.
Two justices indicated that they would have denied the requests. Justice Clarence Thomas did not elaborate on his reasoning, but Justice Samuel Alito penned a four-page dissent in which he questioned the need for the court to act now.
Alito had issued the original stay of the lower court decision on April 14, which remained in effect until last Wednesday; the Court then extended its self-imposed deadline until last Friday.
Alliance Defending Freedom, which filed the suit on behalf of a group of pro-life organizations and physicians, posted a quote from its Senior Counsel, Erik Baptist, on its website; he said:
“As is common practice, the Supreme Court has decided to maintain the status quo that existed prior to our lawsuit while our challenge to the FDA’s illegal approval of chemical abortion drugs and its removal of critical safeguards for those drugs moves forward...He added, "The FDA must answer for the damage it has caused to the health of countless women and girls and the rule of law by failing to study how dangerous the chemical abortion drug regimen is and unlawfully removing every meaningful safeguard, even allowing for mail-order abortions. We look forward to a final outcome in this case that will hold the FDA accountable.”
There are people in power in government who are so dedicated to furthering the LGBTQ+ agenda that they actually want to supersede parental rights. That is the case in Washington, where, according to an article at Townhall.com:
Washington state passed a bill allowing children to legally be taken away from their parents for not consenting to gender transition procedures on their child.That phrase, "gender-affirming care," is, of course, a misnomer - it does not "affirm" a child's gender, but erroneously seeks to change it. And, it certainly cannot be consider "care." The article refers to the comments of Senator John Braun, who "said the troubling legislation 'clears the way' for kids to 'game the system' by taking away parent's God-given rights. He said, "The only thing SB 5599 would do is cause harm by driving a wedge between vulnerable kids and their parents, at a time when a teen lacks the perception and judgment to make critical life-altering decisions."
According to Senate Bill 5599, shelters could contact the Department of Children, Youth, and Families instead of parents for minors seeking reproductive health services or gender-affirming care.
Kentucky congregants receive positive outcome in COVID restriction case
During the COVID pandemic, you saw governors across America abuse the executive power of their office to enact a variety of restrictions. Using an "emergency" as an excuse, governors bypassed their own legislatures, violated the separation of powers and placed impractical restrictions on their citizens.
And, very few governors in America were less restrictive than the governor of Kentucky, Andy Beshear. In case after case, churches found themselves slapped with draconian restrictions, while businesses were able to remain open.
One such example was Maryville Baptist Church, where congregation members were actually contacted and told to quarantine after attending church on Easter Sunday. Three attendees sued the state, and earlier this month, according to CNSNews.com, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld a lower court ruling granting the trio a reward of in excess of $272,000 in attorneys' fees.
The article states:
The fees were initially awarded after the plaintiffs successfully sued on the grounds that the governor violated their constitutional rights, The Daily Caller explains:“Randall Daniel, Theodore Roberts, and Sally O’Boyle sued in August 2020 after they received notices logging their attendance at Maryville Baptist Church’s Easter Service and informing them they must quarantine or face “further enforcement measures.”
The Daily Caller article said that, "The group alleged...Beshear’s bans on religious gatherings and interstate travel violated their constitutional rights, which the Sixth Circuit affirmed in May 2020, according to court documents.”
CNS News notes: that in the "ruling, the appeals court notes that the initial decision reasoned that Gov. Beshear’s ban 'likely violated the Free Exercise Clause because it treated religious gatherings less favorably than comparable secular gatherings.'”
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