1. Charges dropped against abortion clinic sidewalk preachers, By Sean Salai, The Washington Times, November 23, 2021, Pg. A7
New York Attorney General Letitia James has dropped charges against the pastor and 10 members of a nondenominational church accused of threatening women and bumping abortion clinic escorts during sidewalk preaching at a Queens facility.
In a document filed last week in federal court, Ms. James’ offi ce said all charges against the Rev. Kenneth Griepp and the Church@TheRock will be “voluntarily dismissed with prejudice” with regard to alleged incidents at the Choices Women’s Medical Center.
According to the court document, neither the state nor the church will seek reimbursement for court costs, and the church has agreed not to countersue the attorney general’s office as a condition of dropping the charges.
Stephen Crampton, a senior counsel for the nonprofit Thomas More Society that defended the Brooklyn church in court, said state officials had used hidden cameras, undercover investigators and a fake Facebook account to seek evidence of wrongdoing.
“The good news is that we had cellphone videos,” Mr. Crampton told The Washington Times. “That turned out to be the key evidence in the case, showing it was the clinic escorts who were the most aggressive.”
…
In addition to charges of impeding access and bumping into escorts, the state had accused the sidewalk preachers of making death threats against people entering the abortion clinic under the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, or FACE Act.
“The people who went to work on 9/11 didn’t know what was going to happen that day, you never know when you’re going to die,” preacher Ron George had told clinic visitors, according to court documents.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/nov/22/letitia-james-new-york-ag-drops-charges-against-ab/
___________________________________________________________
2. Pope sends message to Mass remembering slain UK lawmaker, By Associated Press, November 23, 2021, 8:19 AM
British politicians gathered Tuesday for a Mass to mourn the death of slain lawmaker David Amess, with Pope Francis sending a message calling for mourners to “combat evil with good.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, three former prime ministers and Keir Starmer, leader of the opposition Labour Party, joined others at Westminster Cathedral in London for the Requiem Mass for Amess, who was stabbed to death on Oct. 15 while holding a regular meeting with his constituents.
The attack, which took place in a church hall in Amess’ constituency in Leigh-on-Sea, shook Britain and raised questions about whether lawmakers need more security while carrying out their jobs. A 25-year-old man, Ali Harbi Ali, has been charged with murder and preparing acts of terrorism. He is due to enter pleas in December.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/pope-sends-message-to-mass-remembering-slain-uk-lawmaker/2021/11/23/eeae230a-4c5f-11ec-a7b8-9ed28bf23929_story.html
___________________________________________________________
3. Build Back Better, But Not For Religious Believers, By Josh Holdenried, Newsweek, November 23, 2021, 6:30 AM, Opinion
The Build Back Better Act won’t just fundamentally alter the scope and size of American government. It will also further the progressive campaign against religion. Buried in the fine print of a bill largely framed as support for families is a discriminatory provision that sidelines religiously affiliated child care providers. President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats are taking aim at care providers that millions of families strongly prefer—all while defying the Supreme Court and undermining religious liberty.
The discrimination can be found in the $390 billion section dealing with expanded child care and universal pre-kindergarten. A big chunk of that money is reserved for states, which can use it to distribute grants that “improve the quality and supply of child care services” through remodeling, repairs and renovations. But child care providers that are religious in nature are explicitly prohibited from spending a cent on facilities that “are used primarily for sectarian instruction or religious worship.”
At first glance, that language may seem unobjectionable. Why should the federal government support churches that also happen to offer child care? Yet that misses the whole point of why parents choose to send their kids to these providers. The promise of faith formation in a strong moral environment isn’t a secondary consideration—it’s the primary motivation for millions of parents. The Supreme Court has long protected religious liberty in situations like this, yet Biden and Congress don’t seem to care.
…
If the bill is passed into law, any discrimination against religious groups will swiftly lead to a slew of lawsuits. The federal courts would almost certainly rule that the offending section is unconstitutional. Yet even if it finds no success as policy, the Build Back Better Act sends a clear political signal—that religious belief is somehow inferior. Whether the bill passes or falls, the progressive campaign against religion and the rule of law will surely continue.
Josh Holdenried is vice president and executive director of the Napa Legal Institute, which educates faith-based nonprofits.
https://www.newsweek.com/build-back-better-not-religious-believers-opinion-1650959
___________________________________________________________
4. Just say no to paid abortion leave, By Tom Joyce, The Washington Examiner, November 23, 2021, 8:00 AM
In a few left-wing cities, paid abortion leave is now a reality.
Cities such as Boston, Pittsburgh, and Portland, Oregon, expanded their paid leave policies for city employees this year to include pregnancy loss. That includes abortion for any reason. The policies in question grant leave to both women and men.
While it’s respectable that a city policy would offer leave for a miscarriage , acknowledging the loss of human life and the sadness the parents feel, offering paid abortion leave is an insane policy. It’s something the pro-life movement needs to push back against to prevent it from happening elsewhere.
Tom Joyce ( @TomJoyceSports ) is a political reporter for the New Boston Post in Massachusetts. He is also a freelance writer who has been published in USA Today, the Boston Globe, Newsday, ESPN, the Detroit Free Press, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Federalist, and a number of other outlets.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/community-family/just-say-no-to-paid-abortion-leave
___________________________________________________________
5. Cordileone to Catholic students after boycott of pro-life assembly: ‘Do not be victims of the culture’, By Kate Olivera, Catholic News Agency, November 22, 2021, 7:19 PM
The archbishop of San Francisco has encouraged students at a local Catholic high school to reject the lies of the abortion industry and become courageous advocates for life, following a boycott of a pro-life assembly at the school.
“Do not be victims of the culture,” Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone wrote in an open letter to students at Archbishop Riordan High School.
Cordileone met with student leaders at the high school on Nov. 8 to discuss the incident.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/249676/cordileone-to-catholic-students-after-boycott-of-pro-life-assembly-do-not-be-victims-of-the-culture
___________________________________________________________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. |
