This week's edition of The 3, with three stories of relevance to the Christian community, includes an action by the governor of Kentucky that has serious negative implications for Christian counselors who help minors deal with gender confusion. Also, two Georgia ladies have died from complications resulting from the abortion pill - not because of the state's pro-life heartbeat law. Plus, a Seattle pastor who had been arrested twice for reading from the Bible in public has received a positive outcome from the courts.
KY governor issues order that bans therapy to help minors overcome gender confusion
Christians are called to speak God's truth and to share a message that the presence of Jesus can help a person overcome sin. But, in Kentucky, if a minor sees a counselor to help him or her overcome sinful sexual desires, including same-sex attraction, it's against the law for a counselor to help that minor to win victory over these desires.
Liberty Counsel reports: "Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear signed an executive order...banning counseling for minors who want to overcome unwanted same-sex attractions, behaviors, and gender confusion. The governor’s action sidesteps the Kentucky legislature after it has repeatedly protected children by denying attempts to enact an actual law banning counseling."The Christian legal organization stated:
Liberty Counsel has represented licensed counselors who have used talk therapy to help many people. Through Liberty Counsel’s efforts, city ordinances in Florida and Iowa banning this type of counseling have been struck down or repealed preserving the free speech rights of counselors so they can help their clients to reduce or eliminate unwanted same-sex attractions, behaviors, or gender confusion.
Mat Staver, heard on Freedom's Call on Faith Radio, who is the Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel, is quoted as saying: "Governor Beshear’s executive order is unconstitutional. He should wise up because his executive order will cost the Commonwealth of Kentucky. He will lose. Counselors and their clients should have the freedom to choose the counsel of their choice. Gov. Beshear has no business inserting himself between a client and a counselor.”
Abortion pill usage, not Georgia's heartbeat law, results in deaths of two ladies
Amber Nicole Thurman was a 28-year-old woman who was pregnant with twins. She was past six weeks, so Georgia's pro-life, heartbeat law prevented her from taking their lives. So, she went to North Carolina. The Daily Citizen reported that, according to a New York Times article: "...she felt she needed an abortion to preserve her newfound stability.” The Daily Citizen continued:
According to the story, Thurman missed her appointment. Instead, the clinic gave her the abortion pill, which she took – but then proceeded to suffer serious effects in the days following.The article said, "Thurman was eventually hospitalized back in Georgia, diagnosed with sepsis and died following emergency surgery." It continued:
The New York Times speculates that Georgia officials may have delayed performing a D&C out of “fear” – but offer no evidence to back up the accusation. Despite claiming otherwise, D&C’s are not illegal in Georgia to save a mother’s life – they’re only illegal if they’re specifically performed in order to kill the preborn baby.
The Times also glosses over the risks of chemical abortion itself – even though the pills have been known to cause serious problems. Goldberg claims that abortion pills are “safer than penicillin or Viagra and significantly less perilous than childbirth.”
LifeNews.com stated, "Doctors monitored her condition and hospitalized her but she died before they could do a D&C medical procedure to remove the parts of the unborn babies left inside her and finish the incomplete abortion caused by the failed abortion pill."
The article also reported:
Now, a Georgia woman named Candi Miller has died following a botched aboriton [sic] due to the abortion pill.
According to multiple reports, the 41-year-old woman ordered abortion pills online, but they caused an incomplete abortion, leaving parts of the baby’s body inside her. She would need a would need a dilation and curettage procedure, which is not an abortion, to remove the parts of the baby, but she stayed at home and did not go to the emergency room or a doctor for the care, which is fully allowed under Georgia law.
The article quotes from Ingrid Skop, an OB-GYN who serves as Vice-President and Director of Medical Affairs for the Charlotte Lozier Institute:
“The tragic deaths of Amber Thurman and Candi Miller in Georgia demonstrate conclusively how dangerous medically unsupervised, ‘self-managed’ abortion drugs are, as we have been warning for years. Yet, the FDA has steadily removed important safeguards on these drugs, allowing them to be ordered online and delivered in the mail without a single in-person doctor visit. Both women suffered failed abortions requiring surgical treatment. Amber died from sepsis, a complication the FDA alerts physicians to watch for in its ‘black box’ warning on mifepristone. Physicians must be aware of this risk and swiftly intervene.
“Candi’s family states she did not seek medical care because she was worried about prosecution, but every pro-life state law prohibits prosecution of women for seeking an abortion. Intentional misinformation by pro-abortion media regarding criminal penalties and claims that abortion drugs are ‘safer than Tylenol’ frighten women so that they do not seek medical care when they suffer complications like severe pain and heavy bleeding. This misinformation is to blame for these women’s tragic deaths, not pro-life state laws protecting them and their unborn children.”
Samuel Sey at the Slow to Write blog took issue with attempts to blame Georgia's heartbeat law fo4 Thurman's death. He stated:
...MSNBC published an article saying:
“If the Christian right had not had its way at the Supreme Court, Amber Nicole Thurman would be alive today. She would have been able to get the medical care she needed in 2022…The true crime is that Thurman’s life was cut short because of ideologues who for 50 years trumpeted ‘biblical’ values as they sought to make women pay for unwanted pregnancies, even with their lives.”The author’s hatred for Christianity is clouding her judgment. Amber Thurman didn’t die because of Christians or Georgia’s pro-life laws. She died because people like MSNBC refuse to tell the truth about the abortion pill.
Seattle pastor arrested for reading Bible in public vindicated
A pastor in Seattle who had been arrested for reading the Bible in public has been completely cleared, according to a piece at the First Liberty website, which said:
In the summer of 2022, Seattle police arrested Pastor Matthew Meinecke for sharing the Gospel at two public events. This week, First Liberty entered a consent order that represents a complete victory for the Pastor, who brought his case against the City of Seattle.The article states that the pastor "...went to a Seattle pro-abortion rally to read the Bible aloud, hold up a sign and hand out literature. He was censored and arrested on two separate occasions for simply reading the Bible to others because his Gospel-oriented message triggered hostile reactions from activists." That included some Antifa members, who defaced the Bible, tore out pages, and knocked the pastor to the ground. Two days later, he experienced more harassment when he attempted to share God's Word at the Seattle PrideFest event.
The consent order provides Pastor Meinecke all the relief he sought in the case. He is now free to read his Bible or share the gospel on the streets of Seattle without fear of arrest. He also received monetary damages for the two false arrests, along with reasonable attorney fees and expenses.
In April, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Pastor Meinecke, concluding that the city’s policy amounts to an unconstitutional heckler’s veto and remanded the case with instructions for the district court to enter a preliminary injunction for Meinecke.The recently-released consent order "mirrors the decision of the appellate court," according to the Christian legal organization.
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