By Chun Han Wong, The Wall Street Journal, July 31, 2019, Pg. A10

The majority of people sent to re-education camps in China’s restive Xinjiang region have been released and found work, senior officials said, without offering specific numbers or evidence to support their claims that the program of mass internment of Muslims has been a success.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-offers-rare-update-on-detainees-in-xinjiang-detention-camps-11564490302
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2. Latest Italian migrant crisis may create opportunity for Pope, EU.

By John L. Allen Jr., Editor, Crux, July 31, 2019

In Europe today, much the same thing could be said of Matteo Salvini, Italy’s hardline Deputy Prime Minister, whose anti-immigrant stance routinely elicits concern and condemnation from so-called “responsible” European leaders. The thing is, Matteo Salvini isn’t a defector from the EU, he’s the verdict on its own failure to manage the continent’s migration crisis.

All this comes to mind in light of the latest political standoff involving a boat groaning with migrants refused entry by Salvini, in this case not a vessel belonging to a do-gooder NGO but part of the Italian Coast Guard’s own fleet, the Gregoretti. (The ship’s normal role is to police fishing activities in the Mediterranean.)

…
In trying to make that work, Pope Francis, already history’s most pro-migrant pope, could lend a helping hand. One could imagine, for instance, Francis volunteering the services of the Catholic Church in all member EU nations to take a lead role on the ground in providing care for the new arrivals, much as the Church in Italy has done for years. In effect, the offer would be: “If you let these people in, we’ll make sure they’re not a burden on the state.”

https://cruxnow.com/news-analysis/2019/07/31/latest-italian-migrant-crisis-may-create-opportunity-for-pope-eu/
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3. Planned Parenthood, ACLU sue Missouri over abortion restrictions.

By Tal Axelrod, The Hill Online, July 30, 2019, 7:26 PM

Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit against Missouri Tuesday over a slate of new laws aimed at restricting abortion in the state. 

The groups said the lawsuit centers around House Bill 126, legislation that would ban abortion after eight weeks without exceptions for rape or incest and includes criminal consequences for physicians who perform the procedure after a fetal heartbeat is detected.

…
Missouri’s abortion laws were thrust into the national spotlight after its lone abortion clinic was threatened with closure after the state refused to renew its license. An administrative panel ruled last month the facility could remain open until at least August while a dispute over its license is settled.

If the clinic were to close, Missouri would become the first state in more than 50 years without an abortion clinic.

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/abortion/455427-planned-parenthood-aclu-sue-missouri-over-abortion-restrictions
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4. Abortion Groups Release ‘Blueprint’ Calling for Unrestricted Abortion, The pro-abortion ‘wish list’ also targets Catholic hospitals, saying they should be forced to provide ‘a range of reproductive health-care services.’

By Lauretta Brown, National Catholic Register, July 29, 2019

A coalition of nearly 80 pro-abortion groups, including Planned Parenthood and NARAL, recently released a “Blueprint for Sexual and Reproductive Health, Rights and Justice” that outlines their vision for the future of abortion: no restrictions, no religious exemptions, and funded by the government.

The groups described the document as a “proactive policy agenda to advance sexual and reproductive health in the United States and around the world.”

The blueprint called for legislation to “end the Hyde Amendment and related restrictions and ensure that everyone has abortion coverage, regardless of their income or source of insurance.” Internationally, these groups would like to replace the Helms Amendment restriction on taxpayer funding for abortion overseas with an “endorsement of using U.S. funding for safe abortion services worldwide.”

That position is out of step with the views of the majority of Americans, including Democrats. January polling from Marist found that 54% of Americans oppose any taxpayer funding of abortion. A Politico/Morning Consult poll from June found that 41% of Democratic women support the Hyde Amendment compared to 39% who oppose it.

Dr. Donna Harrison, a physician and executive director of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, noted in response to the blueprint that “most Americans do not support killing human beings in the womb, especially after 22 weeks, when those tiny children could live outside of their mother’s womb.” 

“It is remarkable,” she added, “that the abortion groups’ blueprint could so arrogantly ignore the human being in the womb.”

https://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/abortion-groups-release-blueprint-calling-for-unrestricted-abortion
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