Tonight the Kentucky Legislature voted to override Governor Beshear’s veto of House Bill 563. The bill will now become law, making Kentucky the 28th state to enact a private school choice program. Statement from John Schilling, President of the American Federation for Children: “Today lawmakers in Kentucky did the right thing by rejecting a veto by their Governor that would have…Read More
The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday that it was unconstitutional for university administrators to punish a Christian professor who wouldn’t use a “trans” student’s preferred gender pronouns. Dr. Nicholas Meriwether teaches philosophy at Shawnee State University. “The university punished Meriwether because he declined a male student’s demand to be referred to as a…Read More
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed a bill Friday that prohibits biological males from competing against females in sports. “I signed the bill to preserve women’s athletics and ensure fair competition,” Lee announced on Twitter. “This legislation responds to damaging federal policies that stand in opposition to the years of progress made under Title IX and…Read More
The State Board of Education has voted to settle a longstanding lawsuit by requiring that public charter schools be funded on an equitable basis with their traditional public-school counterparts. The agreement provides that charter schools will now receive per-pupil funding from local property taxes based on student enrollment, just like all other public schools. Board…Read More
A federal judge ruled against Washington D.C.’s onerous restrictions on churches Thursday, freeing up worshippers considerably just ahead of Holy Week. Judge Trevor McFadden wrote that D.C. lockdown orders “discriminate against houses of worship:” The District’s order states that “houses of worship may admit no more than” the lesser of 25 percent of their capacity…Read More
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed into law on Thursday a bill banning transgender female-identifying athletes from participating in women’s sports. The new law, meant to preserve the integrity of female sports and protect girls and women from competing against biological males, comes amid a push by state legislatures to enact similar protections. “Today, I have…Read More
Notre Dame Law School’s Religious Liberty Initiative filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday (March 11), representing the Council for Islamic Schools in North America, Partnership for Inner-City Education, and Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America. The case is an important parental choice case, Carson et al v. Makin, that seeks…Read More
Jack Phillips, a Christian cake baker, was again in court for declining to make a cake that expresses messages contrary to his religious beliefs after an attorney who identifies as transgender filed suit over the bakery’s refusal to make a cake to celebrate a gender transition. The civil trial began March 22, conducted virtually by…Read More
The State Board of Education has voted to settle a longstanding lawsuit by requiring that public charter schools be funded on an equitable basis with their traditional public-school counterparts. The agreement provides that charter schools will now receive per-pupil funding from local property taxes based on student enrollment, just like all other public schools. Board…Read More
The battle over abortion rights has a dramatic new front: the fight over whether the Biden administration will make pills available online. Even as they keep a sharp eye on the increasingly conservative Supreme Court, activists, lawmakers and medical groups are pushing Biden’s FDA to lift restrictions on a 20-year-old drug for terminating early pregnancies.…Read More
Cambridge, Massachusetts has redefined domestic partnerships to give relationships involving more than two people the same rights as a married couple. Home to Harvard University, Cambridge is the second city in the state, after its neighbor Sommerville, legally to recognize polyamory. During a March 8 meeting, the Cambridge city council voted to redefine “domestic partnerships,”…Read More
EWTN’s Kate Scanlon speaks with a family who suffered the violent murder of their daughter, yet hold true to the teachings of the church despite their pain – and reject the death penalty. Their journey to bring a pro-life message to the U.S., and the hope they say they are finding in the 2nd Catholic…Read More
The Biden administration announced Thursday that it would rewrite a Trump-era policy that barred federal family planning funding from going to Planned Parenthood and other clinics that refer patients to abortion. The Department of Health and Human Services will rewrite the 2019 rule that withheld federal funding through the Title X Family Planning Program from…Read More
The House of Representatives Thursday passed immigration bills that would protect millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation and offer them a pathway to stay in the United States permanently. The House approved the Dream and Promise Act, which would help more than 3 million so-called “Dreamers” and others gain legal status and a chance for citizenship, according to a…Read More
Three U.S. Bishops Conference chairmen on March 15 gave their support for First Amendment protections for faith-based foster care and adoption providers with legislation introduced that aims to ensure those institutions continue to receive funding. The Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act of 2021 would prevent both the federal and state governments from taking action against…Read More
The New Mexico state Senate has passed a bill to decriminalize assisted suicide, which the state’s Catholic bishops had strongly opposed. The bill, known as the “Elizabeth Whitefield End of Life Options Act,” allows licensed physicians, osteopathic physicians, nurses, and physician assistants to prescribe a lethal drug to people with a terminal illness and the…Read More
Governor Kevin Stitt announced he is nominating Scott Williams to the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board. Williams has served with several criminal justice organizations and has been the Campus Pastor at Life.Church. “I am thrilled that Scott Williams will soon join the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board,” said Stitt. “Scott is the perfect fit for…Read More
The governor of Utah is considering signing a bill that would make pornography filters mandatory and switched on by default on cell phones sold in the state. The bill would require smartphone manufacturers automatically to enable filters on devices “activated” in Utah that prevent “the user from accessing or downloading material that is harmful to…Read More
Attorney General Merrick Garland faces his first test on federal executions as the Supreme Court considers reinstating a death sentence for the Boston Marathon bomber. The court since October has been mulling a Trump-era federal appeal to rehear a death penalty case against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who, along with his brother, killed three people and injured…Read More
Governor Kevin Stitt announced he is nominating Scott Williams to the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board. Williams has served with several criminal justice organizations and has been the Campus Pastor at Life.Church. “I am thrilled that Scott Williams will soon join the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board,” said Stitt. “Scott is the perfect fit for…Read More
After weeks of White House pushback, President Biden has signaled his support for a Senate reform that could make it possible for Democrats to ram their legislative agenda through Congress. Biden and White House press secretary Jen Psaki have been pummeled with questions regarding the president’s position on the filibuster, each time insisting he wasn’t…Read More
The U.S. bishops’ conference is urging congressional lawmakers to oppose the proposed Equal Rights Amendment, a measure they say could threaten religious freedom and fund abortion. Some members of Congress are pushing for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the United States Constitution. The amendment states that “[e]quality of rights under law…Read More
Centrist Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin is expected to cast a crucial vote in favor of advancing the nomination of Xavier Becerra to head the Department of Health and Human Services, clearing his path to confirmation. Manchin had resisted publicly disclosing whether he will support Becerra, whose nomination deadlocked in the Senate Finance Committee last week…Read More
Legislation that would expand an existing tax-credit program and encourage more donations to public schools and scholarship-granting organizations is drawing opposition from establishment “education” groups, such as teachers’ unions and their allies. But the bill is quietly receiving support from many Oklahomans who work on the front lines in schools who have seen the real-world…Read More
Arkansas is the latest state to pass legislation banning almost all abortions, in an effort to prompt the Supreme Court to revisit and overturn Roe v. Wade. Governor Asa Hutchinson on March 9 signed Senate Bill 6, also known as the Arkansas Unborn Child Protection Act, which bans abortions except when medically necessary to save…Read More
The Oklahoma House of Representatives today approved two bills to reduce abortions in the state. House Bill 1102, authored by Rep. Jim Olsen, R-Roland, directs the Board of Medical Licensure and Supervision and the State Board of Osteopathic Examiners to revoke the licenses of physicians who perform abortions for at least one year. The bill…Read More
The Oklahoma House of Representatives today approved two bills to reduce abortions in the state. House Bill 1102, authored by Rep. Jim Olsen, R-Roland, directs the Board of Medical Licensure and Supervision and the State Board of Osteopathic Examiners to revoke the licenses of physicians who perform abortions for at least one year. The bill…Read More
The Supreme Court on Monday allowed a former college student to pursue a remedy against school officials who restricted when and where he could evangelize on campus. In Uzuegbunam v. Preczewski, the court ruled 8-1 that Chike Uzuegbunam, who was restricted from evangelizing on a public college campus, could sue school officials for nominal damages due…Read More
Two bills to abolish the death penalty in Virginia won final approval in the state General Assembly on Monday and were headed to Gov. Ralph Northam (D), who is expected to sign them. Virginia — historically one of the nation’s most prolific death penalty states — would then become the first in the South to…Read More
The state Pardon and Parole Board on Monday voted to further review the commutation application of Julius Jones, a death row inmate who claims he was framed for murder and whose cause has been taken up by celebrities and criminal justice reform advocates across the country. In a first-stage vote that was streamed publicly via…Read More
Monday all eyes will be on the Pardon and Parole Board as they consider Julius Jones commutation application. He sits on death row for the 1999 murder of an Edmond businessman Paul Howell. News 9 was told this process is a first in the state for a death row inmate, and this case has been…Read More
Lawmakers in Mississippi and Alabama have been debating bills concerning children who identify as transgender. The governor of Mississippi pledges to sign a bill that would prohibit males who identify as females from participating on girls’ sports teams. “I will sign our bill to protect young girls from being forced to compete with biological males…Read More
Monday all eyes will be on the Pardon and Parole Board as they consider Julius Jones commutation application. He sits on death row for the 1999 murder of an Edmond businessman Paul Howell. News 9 was told this process is a first in the state for a death row inmate, and this case has been…Read More
For almost a year now, several major Oklahoma school districts have not provided full-time, in-person instruction to students. Parents and state officials alike have wondered how that is impacting academic progress. A midyear report recently released by Tulsa Public Schools provides the answer in that district. Nearly every other student in Tulsa schools was recently…Read More
It’s been nearly one year since long-term care facilities in Oklahoma closed their doors to visitors. Some families have gone almost that long without seeing their loved ones. While they are now getting a bit more access with outdoor visits, a new bill would make sure this isolation never happens again. “It’s terrible,” said Paula…Read More
Christopher Jordan, Julius Jones’ co-defendant in the 1999 slaying of Edmond businessman Paul Howell, admitted in prison to killing Howell and letting Jones take the fall for crime, according to an inmate who served time in an Arkansas prison with Jordan. The revelation was made last year in a series of letters and video interviews…Read More
The White House refused to deny that the Equality Act’s “pregnancy discrimination” clause would require doctors to perform abortions, sex change operations, or sterilizations. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki offered no reassurances Tuesday when EWTN White House correspondent Owen Jensen asked if the Equality Act would violate doctors’ conscience rights. “Pro-life groups right now…Read More
President Joe Biden cited Our Lady of Guadalupe and displayed his rosary beads in a conversation with the president of Mexico on Monday. In the virtual conversation with Mexico’s President López Obrador, Biden—a Catholic—claimed a devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe from his previous travels to Mexico as vice president. “During my visits, I got…Read More
For almost a year now, several major Oklahoma school districts have not provided full-time, in-person instruction to students. Parents and state officials alike have wondered how that is impacting academic progress. A midyear report recently released by Tulsa Public Schools provides the answer in that district. Nearly every other student in Tulsa schools was recently…Read More
It’s been nearly one year since long-term care facilities in Oklahoma closed their doors to visitors. Some families have gone almost that long without seeing their loved ones. While they are now getting a bit more access with outdoor visits, a new bill would make sure this isolation never happens again. “It’s terrible,” said Paula…Read More
A Supreme Court order issued Friday reiterated that houses of worship in the State of California are free to gather at 25% capacity. The unsigned order spoke for the majority, with Justices Elena Kagan, Stephen Breyer, and Sonia Sotomayor dissenting. The news comes days after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals opted to allow California’s…Read More
An effort to restore strong religious freedom protections in Iowa has the backing of the state Catholic conference and others who say there should be a high threshold for any state interference with the free exercise of religion. While the legislation does not mention LGBT issues, LGBT advocates have tried to portray it as harmful…Read More
The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a California county’s continued ban on indoor worship services due to the coronavirus pandemic, drawing the praise of a local bishop. “I join all Catholics and people of faith in Santa Clara County in expressing our satisfaction in tonight’s U.S. Supreme Court decision,” said Bishop Oscar Cantú of San…Read More