1. California plans to be abortion sanctuary if Roe overturned, By Adam Beam, Associated Press, December 9, 2021 With more than two dozen states poised to ban abortion if the U.S. Supreme Court gives them the OK next year, California clinics and their allies in the state Legislature on Wednesday revealed a plan to make the state a “sanctuary” for those seeking reproductive care, including possibly paying for travel, lodging and procedures for people from other states. The California Future of Abortion Council, made up of more than 40 abortion providers and advocacy groups, released a list of 45 recommendations for the state to consider if the high court overturns Roe v. Wade — the 48-year-old decision that forbids states from outlawing abortion. https://apnews.com/article/abortion-california-sanctuary-625a118108bcda253196697c83548d5b ___________________________________________________________ 2. If the Supreme Court Overturns Roe v. Wade, Yes, the end of Roe would disrupt U.S. politics and the idea that no liberal policy can ever change., By Daniel Henninger, The Wall Street Journal, December 8, 2021, 4:48 PM, Opinion Historians of our era will forever try to pinpoint the event that caused Americans to reduce their politics to a constant lunge at one another’s throats. Always in the running for that catastrophe is the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision establishing a constitutional right to abortion. This country’s politics will stay polarized until the broad consequences of the Roe decision are resolved. … Overturning Roe would erode the foundations not only of abortion but of an entire philosophy of American governance. Liberals abhor federalism. They don’t trust the states on abortion, voting or anything else. What they trust and want is single-authority government. … Addressing abortion in the Dobbs oral arguments, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said that Roe created an “entrenched set of expectations in our society that this is what the court decided, this is what we will follow.” She aptly summarized the liberal idea of how the U.S. works: If a liberal idea, policy or law remains in place long enough, “we will follow.” In other words, nothing can change. But when nothing can be changed or challenged, when the passage of time alone means a public policy is “entrenched,” polarization is inevitable. … Would a Supreme Court decision sending abortion policy back to the states disrupt American politics? Yes, though its effect on abortion itself would likely be less than the apocalypse the left purports. The greater good would come from using the country’s longest political war to prove to the American people that change is possible, if not in Washington, then in the states where they choose to live. https://www.wsj.com/articles/if-the-supreme-court-overturns-roe-v-wade-dobbs-jackson-mississippi-federalism-abortion-biden-11638995447? ___________________________________________________________ 3. Court suggests religious schools OK to get Maine tuition aid, By Mark Sherman, Associated Press, December 8, 2021, 4:30 PM The Supreme Court appeared ready Wednesday to rule that religious schools can’t be excluded from a Maine program that offers tuition aid for private education, a decision that could ease religious organizations’ access to taxpayer money. After nearly two hours of arguments, the court’s six conservative justices seemed largely unpersuaded by Maine’s position that the state is willing to pay for the rough equivalent of a public education, but not religious inculcation. The court’s three liberal justices signaled they were more aligned with the state’s arguments. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/supreme-court-takes-up-religious-rights-case-from-maine/2021/12/08/4f1cf12c-57e5-11ec-8396-5552bef55c3c_story.html ___________________________________________________________ 4. Man attacks DC basilica’s Our Lady of Fatima statue by cutting off hands, hammering face, By Katie Yoder, Catholic News Agency, December 8, 2021, 11:21 AM Security-camera footage shows a man attacking a statue of Our Lady of Fatima by cutting off her hands and hammering at her face, according to a statement by the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. … In October, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) found 100 incidents of vandalism reported at Catholic sites in the U.S. since May 2020. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/249822/man-attacks-dc-basilicas-our-lady-of-fatima-statue-by-cutting-off-hands-hammering-face ___________________________________________________________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. |