1. Guardians Of The Churches, By Jennifer Harper, The Washington Times, August 18, 2022, Pg. A2
CatholicVote, a national faith-based advocacy organization, has launched a seven-figure TV and digital ad campaign that the group says highlights “President Biden’s failure to protect Catholic churches and pregnancy centers that are under widespread attack.”
The organization is very specific about what kind of attacks it’s referring to. They include “fire bombings, property destruction and death threats,” the group said.
“In the months following the leaked draft Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, attacks on churches and pregnancy resource centers have multiplied. Pro-abortion domestic terrorists have claimed responsibility for many of the 64 incidents against pro-life organizations and 69 incidents against Catholic churches. To date, not a single person has been arrested and Biden’s DOJ has prosecuted zero individuals responsible for these attacks,” the organization said in a statement shared with Inside the Beltway.
The new ad campaign — titled “Churches Burning” — will be posted online and broadcast in Arizona, Wisconsin and Washington, D.C.
…
It was signed by 26 high-profile, pro-life leaders, including Brian Burch, president of CatholicVote; Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA Pro-Life America; Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation; Ben Carson, founder and chair of the American Cornerstone Institute; Star Parker, president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education; Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life Education & Defense Fund; Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life Action; Brent Bozell, founder of the Media Research Center, Parents Television Council, and CNSNews.com; Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch; Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council; Jordan Sekulow, president and CEO of ACLJ Action; and Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/aug/17/inside-beltway-guardians-churches/
__________________________________________________________
2. Judge reinstates North Carolina’s 20-week abortion ban, By Hannah Schoenbaum, Associated Press, August 17, 2022
Abortions in North Carolina are no longer legal after 20 weeks of pregnancy, a federal judge ruled Wednesday, eroding protections in one of the South’s few remaining safe havens for reproductive freedom.
U.S. District Judge William Osteen reinstated an unenforced 20-week abortion ban, with exceptions for urgent medical emergencies, after he said the June U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade erased the legal foundation for his 2019 ruling that placed an injunction on the 1973 state law.
His decision defies the recommendations of all named parties in the 2019 case, including doctors, district attorneys and the attorney general’s office, who earlier this month filed briefs requesting he let the injunction stand.
“Neither this court, nor the public, nor counsel, nor providers have the right to ignore the rule of law as determined by the Supreme Court,” wrote Osteen, who was appointed to the court by Republican President George W. Bush.
Unable to pass abortion restrictions that would survive Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto, the Republican General Assembly leaders urged Osteen to restore the ban in a July 27 friend-of-the-court brief after the state’s Democratic attorney general, an outspoken abortion rights supporter, rejected their demand that he bring the ban before a judge himself.
https://apnews.com/article/abortion-health-north-carolina-government-and-politics-59ec5074eb84f16aa614276c7c3fa24d
__________________________________________________________
3. Medical groups, 20 states weigh in on Idaho abortion lawsuit, By Rebecca Boone, Associated Press, August 17, 2022, 3:58 PM
A legal battle over abortion rights pitting one of the reddest states in the nation against the U.S. government has dozens of states and major medical associations seeking to weigh in.
Twenty states, Washington, D.C., the American College of Emergency Physicians, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and others are among those to have filed “friend of the court” briefs as of Wednesday, siding with the federal government’s claims that Idaho’s near-total abortion ban violates federal health care law.
…
The Idaho abortion ban makes performing nearly any abortion a felony, but allows physicians to defend themselves in court by showing that the procedure was necessary to save a patient’s life. The federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act requires Medicaid-funded hospitals to provide “stabilizing” treatment to patients experiencing medical emergencies, and the U.S. Department of Justice says that includes some abortions.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/medical-groups-20-states-weigh-in-on-idaho-abortion-lawsuit/2022/08/17/fa0ae29a-1e66-11ed-9ce6-68253bd31864_story.html
__________________________________________________________
4. S.C. court blocks abortion law as Senate considers new one, By James Pollard, Associated Press, August 17, 2022, 5:56 PM
The South Carolina Supreme Court on Wednesday temporarily blocked the state’s “fetal heartbeat” law banning abortion around six weeks as lawmakers across the street were considering new restrictions.
The restrictions, previously blocked by federal courts, took effect shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. With federal abortion protections gone, Planned Parenthood South Atlantic sued under the state constitution’s privacy protections. For the time being, abortion is once again legal from 20 weeks of pregnancy in the state.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/sc-court-blocks-abortion-law-as-senate-considers-new-one/2022/08/17/70b2f964-1e6c-11ed-9ce6-68253bd31864_story.html
__________________________________________________________
5. DeSantis sued by prosecutor suspended over stance on abortion-related crime, By Kim Bellware and Lateshia Beachum, The Washington Post, August 17, 2022, 8:45 PM
A Florida prosecutor has sued Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in a bid to be reinstated after he was dismissed from his post for pledging he would not prosecute cases stemming from Florida’s 15-week abortion ban and potential bans on gender-affirming care.
Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren (D) argued his Aug. 4 suspension was unlawful on First Amendment grounds and characterized his removal as “retaliation” by DeSantis against a critic and political rival, according to a federal complaint filed Wednesday in the Northern District of Florida.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/08/17/andrew-warren-desantis-lawsuit/
__________________________________________________________
6. Each of Louisiana’s abortion clinics are leaving the state, By Jonah McKeown, Catholic News Agency, August 17, 2022, 4:00 PM
The three abortion clinics in Louisiana are leaving the state following the state’s Supreme Court Aug. 12 decision that an abortion ban will remain in effect while it is being challenged in the judiciary.
It is unclear when the clinics will have finished the process of leaving and where they will relocate, per a report from WWNO.
Under Louisiana’s trigger laws, abortions may be provided only when “necessary in reasonable medical judgment to prevent the death or substantial risk of death due to a physical condition, or to prevent the serious, permanent impairment of a life-sustaining organ of a pregnant woman.”
The laws will continue to be challenged by the state’s three abortion clinics: Hope Medical Group for Women in Shreveport, Women’s Health Care Center in New Orleans, and Delta Clinic of Baton Rouge.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252060/each-of-louisiana-s-abortion-clinics-are-leaving-the-state
__________________________________________________________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. |
