TCA Podcast, – “Conversations with Consequences,” Episode 168 – Kathryn Lopez On A Post-Roe World & Dr. Donna Harrison Debunks Myths About Roe’s Reversal
As we move forward in a post-Roe world, Dr. Grazie Christie and Ashley McGuire reflect with Kathryn Jean Lopez of the National Review on the long road we walked to get to this moment–and the real work still aching to be done to build a true culture of life. With so many lies and fallacies being spread about pregnancy and care for the mother, Dr. Donna Harrison joins to debunk the most outrageous claims being made by the pro-abortion lobby. Father Roger Landry also offers an inspiring homily to prepare us for this Sunday’s Gospel. Catch the show every Saturday at 7amET/5pmET on EWTN radio!
https://thecatholicassociation.org/podcast/ep-168-kathryn-lopez-on-a-post-roe-world-dr-donna-harrison-debunks-myths-about-roes-reversal/
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1. Will Abortion Save the Democrats?, A new poll says 75% of women favor abortion policies that Roe v. Wade deemed illegal, By The Wall Street Journal, July 8, 2022, Pg. A14, Editorial
Four months from the November midterm elections, President Biden is plumbing the depths of unpopularity. Only 39% or so of Americans approve of the job he’s doing.
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Some Democrats appear to think abortion politics will save them, as suburban women revolt against the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade.
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Not to spoil the progressive reverie, but look again at the polling, starting with the latest Harvard/Harris survey, which was conducted after the Court overturned Roe. Fifty-five percent of voters, including 61% of women, say they oppose that reversal. Yet many people, as usual, don’t seem to understand what exactly Roe enshrined, which was an unrestricted right to abortion before about 23 or 24 weeks.
When, specifically, do the respondents think abortion should be legal? Starting with the most restrictive, 37% say only after rape or incest. Another 12% say until six weeks of pregnancy, and 23% say up to 15 weeks. Add those figures together and it’s nearly three quarters of voters (including 75% of women) who desire a policy that Roe deemed illegal.
As for the furious response to the loss of Roe, 59% of voters, including 61% of independents, say it’s “wrong” for Democrats to call the Supreme Court “illegitimate.” Also, 62% say people shouldn’t be allowed to protest outside the Justices’ private homes, and 51% believe such activists should be arrested. As for the election, 36% say Roe’s reversal makes them more likely to vote for Democrats, 36% say the same for Republicans, and 29% say it won’t matter.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-abortion-wont-save-democrats-harris-poll-roe-v-wade-supreme-court-11657229040?
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2. Religious Liberty Divides American Jews, By Nathan Lewin, The Wall Street Journal, July 8, 2022, Pg. A13, Opinion
In Kennedy v. Bremerton, a decision upholding a public school football coach’s right to kneel in prayer after a game, the Supreme Court buried Lemon v. Kurtzman, a constitutional precedent conceived in 1971 by Chief Justice Warren Burger. For decades this opinion’s three-part test for determining whether a governmental action violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment dominated religious-liberty litigation. From the beginning it divided the American Jewish community.
Some Jewish groups see Lemon’s overturning as a blow to the First Amendment.
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On the other hand, Orthodox Jewish groups such as Agudath Israel and the Orthodox Union believe that Lemon confounded American courts and led to countless bad judicial decisions. For them, Kennedy v. Bremertonis reason to celebrate.
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Lemon v. Kurtzman has finally been formally overruled. Any remaining influence has been obliterated. Orthodox Jews can now push to establish local laws like those nullified by the court’s 1971 decision, which would provide important funding to Jewish day schools and other religious educational options. As the brief I wrote in Lemon noted, denying state financial support for mandated secular instruction in religious schools while granting it for secular instruction in public schools violates the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause. It compels parents to pay from their own pockets for instruction in secular subjects that government requires them to give their children. If the parents were not required by religious observance to enroll their children in religious schools, this mandated instruction would be financed totally from the public treasury.
This constitutional argument was fortified by the court’s decision last month in Carson v. Makin, invalidating Maine’s refusal to fund tuition for private “sectarian” high schools. It is time to recognize that the Constitution forbids denying parents public funds to pay the teachers of secular subjects in sectarian schools to educate their children. That would be a victory for religious liberty.
Mr. Lewin is a Washington lawyer with a Supreme Court practice.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-jewish-divide-on-religious-liberty-orthodox-adl-kennedy-v-bremerton-carson-makin-education-funding-church-state-lemon-burger-11657222846?
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3. Biden to Sign Order Stepping Up Efforts to Protect Access to Reproductive Care, Some Democrats have urged a more robust administration response to the Supreme Court’s overturning Roe v. Wade, By Tarini Parti, The Wall Street Journal, July 8, 2022, 7:00 AM
President Biden is expected to sign an executive order directing agencies to take steps to protect access to reproductive-health care and the privacy of patients seeking those services, following the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
Friday’s order is expected to direct Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra to submit a report within 30 days on additional action the agency can take to protect and expand access to contraceptives and abortions, including an abortion pill approved by the Food and Drug Administration, the White House said.
The executive order is also expected to call on HHS to launch a public-education campaign on access to reproductive-health services. It also seeks to bring together pro bono lawyers and public-interest organizations to represent patients and abortion providers on issues such as a helping women travel out of state to get an abortion.
The White House said Mr. Biden will ask the Federal Trade Commission to consider measures to protect the privacy of those seeking information about reproductive-healthcare services. The order will also direct HHS and the White House Gender Policy Council to create a task force that would coordinate interagency efforts on the issue.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-to-sign-order-stepping-up-efforts-to-protect-access-to-reproductive-care-11657278000?
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4. Pope schedules back-to-back Italy trips after pandemic lull, By Associated Press, July 8, 2022, 6:55 AM
Pope Francis plans to restart his pilgrimages within Italy after a pandemic-induced lull, with the Vatican saying Friday he would make back-to-back September day trips to the hilltop town of Assisi and the southern city of Matera.
Francis is scheduled to participate in a Sept. 24 Assisi conference of young people who have met virtually for the past two years on building a more socially just and equal economy, an initiative dubbed “The Economy of Francis.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/pope-schedules-back-to-back-italy-trips-after-pandemic-lull/2022/07/08/73d3e6f6-feac-11ec-b39d-71309168014b_story.html
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5. European Parliament calls on Vatican to support Cardinal Zen, By Catholic News Agency, July 8, 2022, 4:24 AM
The European Parliament has called on the Vatican “to give full support to Cardinal Zen” and told the Holy See it should “strengthen its diplomatic efforts and its leverage on the Chinese authorities”.
In a resolution passed on July 7, the parliament condemned the arrest of the 90-year-old former bishop of Hong Kong by Chinese authorities and demanded that all charges against him be dropped.
Cardinal Zen was charged in a Hong Kong court on May 24 with four other prominent democracy advocates who were all trustees of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, which helped pro-democracy protesters to pay their legal fees.
In the non-binding resolution passed on Thursday, the EU parliament decried the arrest of Zen as “an attack on the freedoms guaranteed in the Hong Kong Basic Law, including the freedom of religion or belief”.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251745/european-parliament-calls-on-vatican-to-support-cardinal-zen
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6. Rubio urges that Biden administration honor Hyde amendment regarding abortion travel, By Maisy Sullivan, Catholic News Agency, July 7, 2022, 1:30 PM
Florida Senator Marco Rubio urged Tuesday that the Biden administration clarify that it will not pay for federal employees’ sick leave while traveling for an abortion.
“The federal government has no business promoting the killing of unborn children,” he wrote in a July 5 letter addressed to Kiran Ahuja, the director of Office of Personnel Management (OPM). “I demand that the agency clarify that the federal government will not provide sick leave for travel related to abortion services.”
In the letter, the Republican senator expressed his concern that providing sick leave for employees obtaining abortions could violate the Hyde Amendment. The legislative provision bars federal funding of abortion, with exceptions in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251740/rubio-urges-that-biden-administration-honor-hyde-amendment-regarding-abortion-travel
__________________________________________________________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. |
