Appeals court blocks Ohio law defunding Planned Parenthood

Denver Newsroom, Aug 24, 2020 / 07:19 pm (CNA).- Two weeks after a major storm system caused massive damage in the Midwest, residents of Iowa and other affected states are working to rebuild.

For fourteen hours over an 800-mile stretch, the Aug. 10 storm caused major damage and killed several people, with Iowa and northern Illinois the worst hit. The storm began in eastern Nebraska, and also hit Wisconsin and Indiana.

Its winds gusted to the strength of a strong tornado or weak hurricane, reaching speeds of over 100 miles per hour. The phenomenon, known as a derecho, is a chain of intense thunderstorms.

Kent Ferris, Director of Social Action and Catholic Charities at the Diocese of Davenport, told CNA Aug. 24 that “Though people in our diocese have endured days without power, (and) dealt with wind damage to crops and trees, they also have responded generously to people in need in the diocese with food, water and monetary donations,” Ferris said.

“Our terrain may have been battered by Derecho’s winds, but the Holy Spirit blows stronger to prompt heartfelt concern for all our neighbors,” he told CNA.

The storm left hundreds of thousands without power or access to phone and internet. Homes and cars were damaged by high winds, falling trees, and flying debris,

At least 10 million acres of crops were destroyed in Iowa, and many harvested crops in storage were destroyed. Damage to grain storage bins could top $300 million. Sixteen Iowa counties have been declared federal disaster zones, while 25 counties have been declared disaster areas by the State of Iowa.

In Iowa, nearly 8,300 homes were heavily damaged or destroyed.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’ request for federal assistance said the storm damage totaled nearly $4 billion.

While damage is still being assessed, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Dubuque has set up a relief fund for those affected, giving priority to those not eligible for state and federal aid.

The Catholic Charities affiliate said on its website, “we do know that the individuals and families most severely affected are the poor, and those struggling with the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic. And we know that the recovery process will be lengthy and costly.”

Some church buildings also were damaged.

In the eastern Iowa city of Grand Mound, the storm tore a hole in the roof of Ss. Philip and James Parish, allowing water to enter and soak the roof insulation and the floor. The wood in the ceiling is saturated, Peter Whitman, building committee chair at the parish, told the Diocese of Davenport’s newspaper The Catholic Messenger.

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CNA Staff, Oct 19, 2020 / 08:00 pm (CNA).- Abortion-advocacy groups have called for Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) to step down as ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee after the confirmation hearings for Judge Amy Coney Barrett. 

In an Oct. 16, statement, Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL, called for “new leadership” for Democrats on the committee following Feinstein’s polite tone in remarks at the conclusion of the four days of Senate hearings last week. 

During the hearing on Thursday, Feinstein thanked Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC), chairman of the Judiciary Committee, for presiding over “one of the best set of hearings that I’ve participated in.” 

“I want to thank you for your fairness and the opportunity of going back and forth,” she said.

“It leaves one with a lot of hopes, a lot of questions, and even some ideas–perhaps some good bipartisan legislation we can put together to make this great country even better,” said Feinstein, who is pro-choice, has not supported the nomination of Barrett to the Supreme Court, and has in the past criticized the judge’s Catholicism.

The two senators then shook hands and embraced. 

Feinstein’s remarks to Graham, Hogue alleged, lent an “appearance of credibility to the proceedings,” one that is “widely out of step with the American people.” 

“As such, we believe the committee needs new leadership,” she said, calling Barrett’s confirmation process “illegitimate” and “a sham.” 

Hogue said that Barrett, a Catholic, an appeals court judge, law professor, and mother of seven, poses “a grave threat to every freedom and right we hold dear and tears the very fabric of our democracy.” 

“Americans–whose lives hang in the balance–deserve leadership that underscores how unprecedented, shameful and wrong this process is.”

Barrett was nominated to the position of Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on September 26, eight days after the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. 

Feinstein has served as ranking member of the committee since January 2017. During hearings that year for Barrett’s confirmation to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, Feinstein challenged Barrett over her Catholic faith, observing to Barrett that “the dogma lives loudly within you, and that’s of concern.”

NARAL has consistently endorsed Feinstein during her time in the Senate, saying in 2018 that she is “at the forefront of the movement to safeguard our rights.” 

“We need leaders in the Senate like Senator Feinstein who will stand up for the rights of women and families across California,” said NARAL in their 2018 endorsement. 

NARAL was not the only organization calling for Feinstein to step down from her position. The group Demand Justice started a petition drive calling for Feinstein to resign from the committee, stating that the senator’s “behavior during Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearings demonstrates that she is only standing in our way of fighting to protect our courts.”

“Sen. Feinstein has undercut Democrats’ position at every step of this process, from undermining calls for filibuster and Court reform straight through to thanking Republicans for the most egregious partisan power grab in the modern history of the Supreme Court,” said the petition.

Justice Democrats, which aims to elect progressive candidates to Congress, echoed the calls for Feinstein to depart from the Judiciary Committee, tweeting “Dianne Feinstein must step down.”

Feinstein, who has consistently supported pro-abortion policy in the Senate, opposed Barrett’s nomination since the president announced it, calling it “unprecedented” and criticizing the speed at which it was happening. 

“The rush to confirm Judge Barrett to the Supreme Court is unprecedented in my time on the committee,” said Feinstein on October 15. 

“The process exists for a reason, so we can adequately question and evaluate a nominee. There’s absolutely no need to jam this nominee through before a consequential election.”

While NARAL says Feinstein has not done enough, the senator has indicated repeatedly that she will not be voting to confirm Barrett to the Supreme Court. 

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CNA Staff, Dec 8, 2020 / 10:00 am (CNA).- The Labor Department (DOL) finalized a rule on Monday that allows faith-based government contractors to make employment decisions based on their religious beliefs.

The rule clarifies existing protections for faith-based contractors that date back to the Johnson era. It allows them to hire only people of a certain faith without regard to an anti-discrimination requirement of the government.

Exempt contractors can also make employment decisions based on an employee’s “acceptance of or adherence to religious tenets.”

The final rule retains most of the proposed rule, with some alterations regarding the scope of the religious exemption, DOL said.

Religion, according to the rule, includes “religious belief” as well as “all aspects of religious observance and practice.”

Eligible religious groups are not limited to churches and similar bodies, DOL said, but can be “a corporation, association, educational institution, society, school, college, university, or institution of learning” that is “organized for a religious purpose.”

The rule also says that “the contractor must engage in activity consistent with, and in furtherance of, its religious purpose” and is exempt when it “makes it reasonably clear to the public that it has a religious purpose.”

The agency says it would not challenge a group’s “sincere” claim of religious character, but a “sincere” claim must be more substantial than a group adding “a religious purpose to its documents after it becomes aware of potential discrimination liability or government scrutiny.”

Eligible contractors would not necessarily be non-profits, as some religious groups may operate small stores or could be entities such as hospitals, the agency said. However, any for-profit group would need to present “strong evidence” of their religious character, DOL said.

The group First Liberty Institute welcomed the new rule on Monday.

“Religious organizations should never be forced to abandon their religious identity and mission in order to be eligible to partner with the federal government,” said Stephanie Taub, Senior Counsel at First Liberty Institute. 

There were more than 109,000 comments on the proposed rule, according to the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.

“When a religious group hires people of the same religion to carry out their mission, it’s not ‘discrimination,’ it’s common sense,” said Luke Goodrich, senior counsel and vice president of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, to CNA when the rule was first proposed in Aug., 2019.

“And when the government refuses to work with religious groups that do the best job of caring for the needy, it’s not ‘equality,’ it’s nonsense,” he added. 

In May, the agency issued broad new religious freedom protections for federal employees and faith-based grant recipients, including by implementing religious freedom into the daily operations of the agency and establishing “reasonable religious accommodations” for employees and applicants.

Under the guidance, religious groups had to have equal access to federal grants as their secular counterparts.

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