1. Supreme Court poised to rule on abortion pill restrictions, By Mark Sherman, Associated Press, April 19, 2023, 5:38 AM The Supreme Court is deciding whether women will face restrictions in getting a drug used in the most common method of abortion in the United States, while a lawsuit continues. The justices are expected to issue an order on Wednesday in a fast-moving case from Texas in which abortion opponents are seeking to roll back Food and Drug Administration approval of the drug, mifepristone. … Alliance Defending Freedom, representing anti-abortion doctors and medical groups in a challenge to the drug, is defending the rulings in calling on the Supreme Court to let the restrictions take effect now. … https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/04/19/supreme-court-mifepristone-abortion-drug/f4402cae-de95-11ed-a78e-9a7c2418b00c_story.html__________________________________________________________ 2. Supreme Court case tests religious tolerance on Sunday work, By Jessica Gresko, Associated Press, April 18, 2023, 4:24 PM The Supreme Court on Tuesday wrestled with the case of a Christian mail carrier who refused to work on Sundays when he was required to deliver Amazon packages. While the court seemed in broad agreement that businesses like the Postal Service can’t cite minor costs or hardships to reject such requests to accommodate religious practices, it was less clear what they might do about the particular worker’s case. … During the arguments, the justices struggled with the question of when employers have to accommodate employees’ religious needs. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said the circumstances of each case matter and that “the answer is: it depends.” … But a Supreme Court case from 1977, Trans World Airlines v. Hardison, says in part that employers can deny religious accommodations to employees when they impose “more than a de minimis cost” on the business. Three current justices have said the court should reconsider the Hardison case. And on Tuesday other justices also suggested the “more than de minimis cost language” was problematic. … The justices seemed less in agreement, however, about what to do on the facts of the case in front of them involving Gerald Groff, a former employee of the U.S. Postal Service in Pennsylvania’s Amish Country. … https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/04/18/supreme-court-mail-carrier-christian-sunday-work/eeeefe40-dd9d-11ed-a78e-9a7c2418b00c_story.html__________________________________________________________ 3. Former German bishops’ chairman faces ‘Vos estis’ probe, By Luke Coppen, The Pillar, April 18, 2023, 11:13 AM Former German bishops’ conference chairman Archbishop Robert Zollitsch is facing a Vatican investigation into claims that he covered up abuse. Zollitsch was heavily criticized in a report published Tuesday on the handling of abuse cases in the Archdiocese of Freiburg, which he led from 2003 until his retirement in 2013. Presenting the almost 600-page study at an April 18 press conference, independent commission chairman Magnus Striet estimated that there had been more than 250 possible perpetrators of abuse and at least 540 victims in the archdiocese in southwestern Germany since 1945.  Archbishop Stephan Burger, who has led the archdiocese since 2014, said that his two immediate predecessors — Zollitsch and the late Archbishop Oskar Saier — had “simply ignored Church law that provided for intervention and reporting of cases.” … https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/former-german-bishops-chairman-faces__________________________________________________________ 4. Kansas and Arizona governors veto bills to protect babies born alive after botched abortions, By Peter Pinedo, Catholic News Agency, April 18, 2023, 8:50 AM Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly on Friday vetoed a “born-alive” bill protecting babies who survive botched abortions. This comes the week after Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed a similar bill mandating doctors’ care for abortion survivors. Both Kansas and Arizona have majority Republican legislatures but Democratic governors. … https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/254120/kansas-and-arizona-governors-veto-bills-to-protect-babies-born-alive-after-botched-abortions__________________________________________________________

TCA Media Monitoring provides a snapshot from national newspapers and major Catholic press outlets of coverage regarding significant Catholic Church news and current issues with which the Catholic Church is traditionally or prominently engaged. The opinions and views expressed in the articles do not necessarily reflect the views of The Catholic Association.
Subscribe to the TCA podcast!
“Conversations with Consequences” is a new audio program from The Catholic Association. We’ll bring you thoughtful dialogue with the leading thinkers of our time on the most consequential issues of our day. Subscribe today or listen online and enjoy our entertaining and informative weekly episodes.