New York City, N.Y., Aug 19, 2019 / 03:30 pm (CNA).- A New York City public arts program has said it will not build a statue in honor of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, despite the saint receiving the most nominations in a public poll.
She Built NYC… […]
Louisville, Ky., Aug 19, 2019 / 03:24 pm (CNA).- Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin’s administration has reportedly denied a Planned Parenthood clinic in downtown Louisville its license to perform abortions, doing so for the second time.
The Louisville Courier-Journal reports that Adam Meier, secretary of Kentucky’s Cabinet for Health and Family Services, informed Planned Parenthood via a letter on Friday that the state is denying the license because the clinic performed 23 abortions without a license between December 2015 and January 2016.
The state first denied the clinic’s license to perform abortions under a 1998 law requiring abortion providers to have what are known as “transport” and “transfer” agreements with an ambulance and hospital in the event of a medical emergency. A U.S. District Court Judge struck down that law in 2018 as unconstitutional, a decision the state has appealed.
The clinic opened in December 2015 and began performing abortions the following month.
In January 2016, acting state Inspector General Stephanie Hold ordered the clinic to cease performing abortions and the Bevin administration subsequently sued the clinic in February 2016, stating that abortion facilities are not allowed to commence performing abortions without a license. That lawsuit is currently pending in county court.
The clinic claimed at the time that it had received emails from the state saying that it could perform abortions while awaiting a state inspection of the clinic. The state responded saying that former inspector general for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Maryellen Mynear, was “wrong” when she told the clinic that they would have to be operating— i.e. performing abortions— for a state inspection to take place.
U.S. District Judge Greg Stivers had in June ordered the state to expedite its review of Planned Parenthood’s license application and report back to him no later than Aug. 19 with a decision, the Courier-Journal reported.
Planned Parenthood is challenging the licensing issue in federal court.
Gov. Matt Bevin signed into law in March a bill prohibiting abortions based on the race, gender, or a disability diagnosis of an unborn child. The law’s implementation has been blocked while legal challenges play out in court.
Federal Judge David J. Hale of the Western District of Kentucky in March blocked a law that would prohibit abortion after the detection of a fetal heartbeat.
The state’s only clinic licensed to perform abortions is EMW Women’s Surgical Center in Louisville, which performs over 3,000 a year.
Memphis, Tenn., Aug 19, 2019 / 11:10 am (CNA).- The Diocese of Memphis is supporting a pastor whose staff denied a job to a black housekeeper on the grounds that his dog was racist. The diocese says the dog had a history of aggression and tended to bec… […]
Cincinnati, Ohio, Aug 19, 2019 / 11:08 am (CNA).- A Cincinnati priest removed from ministry last month for grooming behavior has been indicted on nine counts of raping an altar server.
Fr. Geoff Drew was arrested Aug. 19 on allegations dating back 20 … […]
Columbus, Ohio, Aug 18, 2019 / 04:55 pm (CNA).- Ashley Bratcher, lead actress in the pro-life movie “Unplanned,” has helped establish a scholarship for women pursing an education during an unexpected pregnancy.
“Women can pursue their careers, live out their dreams, and have richer, more fulfilling lives while balancing motherhood. Sometimes, it just takes a little help,” Bratcher said in a recent press release from Heartbeat International.
“I wanted to be a part of empowering mothers to chase their dreams and to provide a means for those who choose life to continue their educations.”
The scholarship, called the Unplanned Movie Scholarship, will give $5,000 annually for a woman facing an unplanned pregnancy. It can go toward educational educational opportunities including college or trade school.
The project is backed by Heartbeat International, a pro-life agency providing pregnancy resources to expecting mothers in over 2,000 locations worldwide.
“Not only will the scholarship financially support the decision of mothers to continue their education, but it will also connect them to an organization that will support them throughout their pregnancy and beyond,” Bratcher added.
Jor-El Godsey, president of Heartbeat International, said the scholarship will help expecting mothers embrace education and life.
“Tucked into Unplanned is a vivid reminder that education can present an obstacle to accepting the new life within,” said Godsey.
“The Unplanned Movie Scholarship will be a lifeline to a young mom’s future as she makes the brave choice to embrace motherhood.”
Bratcher played Abby Johnson in the movie, “Unplanned.” The story follows the life of Johnson, a former clinic director for Planned Parenthood, who had a conversion experience after witnessing the horrors of abortion. Today, Johnson is a pro-life advocate and the director of And Then There Were None, a ministry that helps other abortion workers leave the industry.
Following the movie’s release, numerous women reached out to Bratcher to share their stories of difficult pregnancy situations. Andrea Trudden, director of communications for Heartbeat International, told CNA that many women shared a common conflict – they needed financial support to finish their education.
“After the release of ‘Unplanned,’ Ashley had a lot of different questions from moms who were reaching out sharing their stories about their unplanned pregnancies,” she said.
“The education aspect tended to be one of the hurdles.”
Trudden said the scholarship’s development is still underway. She said applicants will be recommended from one of the agency’s pregnancy help centers, where the mothers’ needs will be best addressed.
“[Pregnancy centers] provide parenting classes and financial classes. We are able to couple what we do through these pregnancy health organizations with the woman who wants to continue her education,” she said.
“We are really looking at exactly how to partner with our pregnancy help organizations in order to provide the funds to the women.”
She said the scholarship will begin accepting applicants at the end of this year, after the organization receives enough funds. The scholarship is now accepting donations at www.UnplannedMovieScholarship.com.
Trudden said the opportunity will provide women the support they need to pursue their education, but it also presents a bigger message.
“Women can have careers, they can have fulfilling lives and be mothers. It’s not an either-or situation,” she said.
“We want to do everything we can to support the mothers during these hard decisions, to help prepare her for motherhood and … [provide her with] everything she needs to get through her pregnancy in a loving and caring way so she can positive choices for her life.”
Washington D.C., Aug 17, 2019 / 04:07 pm (CNA).- Catholic Relief Services is speaking out against a potential reassignment of U.S. funds that Congress appropriated for foreign assistance programs, which aid agencies say could mean a loss of between $2 … […]
Washington D.C., Aug 17, 2019 / 08:00 am (CNA).- A three-month journey from California to Washington, DC, came to an end August 13, as 23 walkers of this summer’s Crossroads Pro-Life Walks made it to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Imm… […]
Metuchen, N.J., Aug 16, 2019 / 02:31 pm (CNA).- A judge in New Jersey has temporarily halted a law allowing physician assisted suicide, which had gone into effect August 1.
The law is being challenged by a physician who says that it is a violation of … […]
Washington D.C., Aug 16, 2019 / 10:15 am (CNA).- Planned Parenthood, the country’s largest provider of abortion services, has announced that it will withdraw from the federal Title X family planning program, ending its access to millions of dolla… […]
Washington D.C., Aug 15, 2019 / 04:00 pm (CNA).- The Department of Labor announced Wednesday that it is considering a new rule that would allow federal contractors who identify as religious to hire employees based on faith and religious practice.
The new policy would expand a Johnson-era executive order protecting the rights of religious employers with federal government contracts to hire from within their religious group.
The new proposal, announced August 14, the Department of Labor said the new policy “clarifies the scope and applications of the religious exemption contained in section 204(c) of Executive Order 11246.”
Executive Order 11246 forbids federal contractors from engaging in discriminatory hiring on the basis “race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.” An exemption for religious-based employers allowed them legally to hire only people of a certain faith if they so choose, but the executive order did not fully define as to what “religious-based” meant.
The proposed new rule takes steps to better define the term, saying that the “religious exemption covers not just churches but employers that are organized for a religious purpose, hold themselves out to the public as carrying out a religious purpose, and engage in exercise of religion consistent with, and in furtherance of, a religious purpose.”
The new definition also includes companies that claim to be religious “in response to inquiries from a member of the public or a government entity.”
Additionally, the new rule states that “employers can condition employment on acceptance of or adherence to religious tenets without sanction by the federal government,” meaning that a federal contractor can make hiring decisions based upon how devoutly an employee practices a certain religious faith.
All companies are still barred from discriminating on other grounds.
The Department of Labor cited recent Supreme Court cases, including Masterpiece Cakeshop v Colorado Civil Rights Commission and Hobby Lobby v. Burwell as having underscored constitutional religious freedom protections.
Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Patrick Pizzella said in a released statement that “As people of faith with deeply held religious beliefs are making decisions on whether to participate in federal contracting, they deserve [a] clear understanding of their obligations and protections under the law.”
About a quarter of workers in the United States are employed by a company that is contracted with the federal government.
LGBT-rights activist groups like the Human Rights Campaign, who called the change a “license to discriminate,” came out strongly against the policy shift.
Louise Melling, acting deputy legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union told a press call that the rule was “just the most recent in an ever-lengthening list of actions by this administration to authorize discrimination in name of religion.”
The White House responded to the criticism in a statement Wednesday, saying “In no way does today’s announcement by the Department of Labor undermine the President’s promise and commitment to the LGBTQ community.”
“The proposed rule will continue to responsibly protect religious freedom and members of the LGBTQ community from discrimination,” the statement said.
While some activist groups have criticized the new rule as a license for widespread discrimination, Luke Goodrich, senior counsel and vice president of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, told CNA that he believes the policy is a far from controversial.
“When a religious group hires people of the same religion to carry out their mission, it’s not ‘discrimination,’ it’s common sense,” Goodrich told CNA.
“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.
The new rule is open for comment in the Federal Register until September 16.
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