The 3 - July 30, 2023

This week's edition of The 3, highlighting three relevant, recent news stories of interest to the Christian community, includes a victory initiated by a Veterans Administration employee, whose lawsuit forced the VA to institute a process through which a religious accommodation could be obtained by employees not wishing to participate in abortion.  Also, Christians are using the 303 Creative case in order not to be forced by government to communicate messages that violate their deeply-held beliefs.  And, Ohio voters are going to the polls next week in order to increase the percentage of voters who can vote to change the state constitution - potentially impacting a November vote that would allow abortion in all nine months of pregnancy and promote treatments that falsely promise to help a minor to change his or her biological sex.

VA nurse practitioner opens door for religious accommodations for VA employees nationwide

Stephanie Carter is a nurse practitioner for the Veterans Administration, and has worked for the VA for 23 years.  Last year, she filed a request for a religious accommodation so that she would not be forced to participate in the termination of a pre-born child's life through abortion.  That accommodation was denied, with the VA saying it did not have a process through which such a request could be granted.

That is according to the website for First Liberty, which provided assistance for Carter by filing a lawsuit against the VA. Danielle Runyan, Senior Counsel for the Christian legal advocacy organization, stated: “We’re pleased that the VA implemented a nationwide policy to protect the religious liberty rights of all VA employees,” adding, “Stephanie Carter is living proudly by her faith and should not be forced to choose between her faith and her career. Because of her courage, every VA employee in the nation can now seek a religious accommodation from participating in a procedure they find unconscionable.”

The Daily Signal noted that:

The VA first published an interim final rule in September allowing for the VA to provide abortion counseling and abortions up until birth. The interim final rule took effect 30 days after being published. It came just a few months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in late June 2022.

Members of the Senate had balked at the rule, claiming that the VA policy violated federal law prohibiting taxpayer-funded abortion. The VA had stated, “Abortion restrictions are creating a medical emergency for those we serve.” The Daily Signal said, "The VA claimed that restricting veterans’ and their beneficiaries’ access to abortions would subject them to 'increased risk of loss of future fertility, significant morbidity, or death.'”

SCOTUS free speech decision influencing other cases

Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has protected business owners from being compelled to communicate messages that violate their beliefs, that decision is continuing to produce waves of legal action across the nation.

Alliance Defending Freedom, which represented the plaintiff in the 303 Creative case, is continuing to pursue justice for another of its clients who has been harassed by the same governmental body in Colorado that was sued in that case. A report on the ADF website stated that the attorneys with the organization "...filed a supplemental notice...with the Colorado Supreme Court asking it to apply that ruling and similarly affirm the First Amend­ment rights of cake artist Jack Phillips and Masterpiece Cakeshop. An activist attorney and Colorado officials have misused the same state law that was at issue in 303 Creative to punish Phillips for more than a decade."

Alliance Defending Freedom also represents a Louisville, KY photographer named Chelsey Nelson. Oral arguments were held this past Friday before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.  The ADF website states:

ADF attorneys are asking the court to uphold the First Amendment rights of Chelsey Nelson and her photography studio and affirm a district court’s ruling in Chelsey Nelson Photography v. Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government. That court concluded Louisville cannot misuse its laws to compel Nelson to create photographs and blogs celebrating a view of marriage she does not believe. The city of Louisville then appealed that ruling to the 6th Circuit.

In the articles on both cases, ADF attorneys repeated a phrase at the center of the 303 Creative case, "Free speech is for everyone..."

Ohio voters to decide on revising state constitution and protect life

It's a two-pronged process, and it is vital that pro-life organizations and groups educate voters regarding what is a stake in Ohio, where early voting has already begun on a ballot measure that would affect the potential results of a vote in November.

The Daily Citizen explains:

Issue 1 is a legislatively referred ballot measure that would raise the threshold needed to change the state’s constitution from a simple majority to 60%. Issue 1 needs a simple majority to pass.

According to the official argument in favor of Issue 1,

A YES vote on Issue 1 protects our Constitution from deep-pocketed, out-of-state interests. By passing Issue 1, the People will ensure constitutional changes are widely accepted and declare that Ohio’s Constitution is not for sale.

The article goes on to say:

Issue 1 is designed to counter the extremist abortion lobby’s push to permit the killing of preborn life – at any stage in a pregnancy – this November. Abortion is currently legal in Ohio through 22 weeks of a woman’s pregnancy.

The Daily Citizen notes that, "the well-funded abortion lobby – which hired professional, out-of-state name gatherers – submitted enough petitions to place a pro-abortion measure on the state’s ballot in November."  And, LifeNews.com reported last week that the November ballot initiative has been officially certified by the Ohio Secretary of State.  It reported:

Ohio Right to Life released a statement on the Secretary of State’s announcement that the ACLU’s abortion amendment collected enough valid signatures and will be on the ballot this November. The pro-life group said this ballot measure would enshrine abortion until birth and remove all protections for the preborn—including a parent’s ability to stop their child from being pressured into an abortion. Additionally, it would enshrine the “right” for minors to receive harmful hormone-suppressing drugs, like Lupron, and undergo sex-change surgeries without their parent’s knowledge.

Ohio Right to Life CEO Peter Range noted to Life News, "Based upon the reality that the ACLU barely qualified for the ballot, despite spending millions of dollars, it is clear that a majority of Ohioans do not want this extreme amendment. We ask all Ohioans, who love life, to join us in rejecting this extreme amendment.”