A new Arizona law allows the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) to inspect abortion clinics without warning and without need for a court-approved warrant. Bryan Howard, president of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona, said he's appalled that Gov. Jan Brewer would sign such a bill that requires abortion clinics to be held to the same standards of any medical facility.
"It was brought to our attention that every health-care institution in the state is subject to unannounced inspections by [ADHS] if they have reasonable cause to believe something is going on inside, except for abortion clinics. We're almost saying we value the women that go into abortion clinics less than everyone else." -- Josh Kredit, legal counsel for Center for Arizona Policy
For background, click headlines below to read previous articles:
The law, which passed Arizona’s Republican-led Senate last week on a partisan vote, subjects abortion clinics to the same inspection requirements applied to other medical facilities, to which warrantless inspections are the norm. Opponents argued that it invites harassment in a state hostile to abortions. . . .
The new law nullifies previous measures that required judges to approve any potential inspection of the state’s nine registered abortion clinics.
“This legislation will ensure that the Arizona Department of Health Services has the authority to appropriately protect the health and safety of all patients,” said the Governor’s spokesman Andrew Wilder, according to Reuters.
Pro-choice advocates said the Republican Governor’s decision as part of her sustained attack on women’s health.
Arizona joins ten other states that allow for similar snap inspections of abortion facilities.
Supporters of the bill argued that abortion clinics should be subject to the same level of oversight as other medical facilities and that requiring court-approved warrants for unannounced inspections could delay such scrutiny.
[Critics] cast the measure as open to abuse by officials with an anti-abortion agenda who might use increased latitude for inspections to interfere with clinic operations, effectively restraining legal access to abortion in the state.
"We're not surprised that Governor Brewer signed this bill," Bryan Howard, president of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona, said in a statement. "She has been hostile to women's health care, including abortion and family planning, since the day she took office."
Backers of HB 2284 said there is no reason to exempt abortion clinics from the same regulations that apply to all other health-care facilities. Foes said the clinics need protection because there is a heightened need for privacy both for patients and staff.
In a 2004 ruling, a federal appeals court voided an identical provision, ruling the statute’s authorization of “boundless, warrantless search of physicians’ offices” by state health officials violates constitutional protections against unreasonable search and seizure.
But Cathi Herrod, president of the anti-abortion Center for Arizona Policy, which helped write the measure, said state regulatory policies have changed since then, legitimizing this version of the law.
Currently, according to the ADHS, the state can conduct warrantless, unannounced inspections of many facilities it regulates, such as hospitals, dialysis centers, nursing homes and child-care centers. But due to a court ruling, abortion clinics are treated somewhat differently; the agency can conduct scheduled visits, but it must get a search warrant for any unannounced inspections — even in response to a complaint of wrongdoing.
Planned Parenthood and ACLU of Arizona have said they are still considering whether they will file a legal challenge of HB 2284, but they do believe it is unconstitutional.
After a woman bled to death at a Phoenix abortion clinic, the Legislature in 1999 passed a law establishing a licensing process for abortion clinics and allowing unannounced inspections. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2004 struck down parts of the law, including the inspections, saying it was too broad and would give the state unauthorized access to patient information.
In 2009, the two sides reached a settlement that gave the state more oversight of clinics but did not include unannounced inspections. Since then, the Legislature has passed dozens of additional regulations of abortion clinics, some of which have survived court challenges.
Although all studies show that only one or two percent of the American population claims to be homosexual, the Obama administration celebrates deviant sexual behavior 100% of the time. Yesterday, President Obama and Gay Gene Robinson, retired bishop of the Episcopal Church, both claimed to represent Christianity at the annual White House Easter prayer breakfast.
Easter is about the Resurrection -- that is, eternal life in the kingdom of God.
"Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." -- 1 Corinthians 6:9,10 (ESV)
The breakfast marks the beginning of Holy Week at the White House, a tradition started by the Obama Administration in 2010 to celebrate the life and death of Jesus Christ.
“I want to thank you for your ministries, for your good works, for the marching you do for justice, and dignity and inclusion,” Obama told the gathered leaders, before closing with the facetious prayer, "Lord fill my mouth with worthwhile stuff and nudge me when I’ve said enough.”
Pastor Joel Hunter offered the opening prayer, and the sermon was delivered by Reverend Otis Moss, who replaced the controversial Jeremiah Wright at Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ. Carlos Whittaker, a Christian singer/songwriter performed.
When President Obama needed a preacher to fulfill the closing prayer duties at the annual White House Easter Prayer Breakfast, he turned to none other than the Episcopal Church’s first openly gay bishop — who said he was as shocked as anyone at the appointment.
The Right Rev. Gene Robinson said in a tweet, accompanied by a photo of Mr. Obama behind a podium at the event: “POTUS ‘preaches’ at the Easter prayer breakfast. Then, out of the blue, asks ME to close with prayer. OMG!”
The 66-year-old bishop, who retired from his New Hampshire diocese in 2013 and now works on faith and gay rights issues for the Washington Center for American Progress . . . has made waves by admitting that, like Obama, he originally thought marriage should be between only a man and a woman.
Though he knew he was gay, he has said he began dating his future wife, Isabella "Boo" McDaniel, when he was a University of Vermont chaplain. About "a month into their relationship," he told her about his sexuality.
With little debate or fanfare, attendees at Saturday's convention of the Nevada Republican Party overwhelmingly voted for a party platform that no longer supports natural marriage or opposes abortion. The state-wide vote followed the lead of the Clark County GOP platform adopted a few weeks earlier. The Nevada state constitution defines marriage as between one man and one woman, but as of February, the Nevada Republican governor declined to defend marriage at the 9th Circuit Appeals Court -- homosexualists win.
“I think it was about inclusion, not exclusion. This is where the party is going.” -- Michael McDonald, State Republic Party Chairman
Many Republicans are re-evaluating their strong stances on conservative social issues as public opinion shifts in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage. The topics have become a political liability for the GOP, especially among younger voters.
Approval of the platform was swift compared with a prolonged, bitter debate in which conservative grassroots loyalists batted back attempts by more moderate members to scrap endorsements of GOP candidates ahead of the upcoming primary.
State Party Chairman Michael McDonald opened the convention calling for unity and for the party that has been wracked by deep divisions in recent years to set aside disagreements and focus on bigger issues.
"If we fight among each other over small issues, they've already won," McDonald said . . .
By a show of hands, convention-goers adopted the platform as proposed by a separate committee without the two planks on marriage and abortion, following the Clark County GOP’s lead in removing hot-button social issues from the party’s statement of its principles. Some 520 delegates attended the convention, but less than half were present when the platform was adopted at about 7:30 p.m. Little debate preceded the vote, a far contrast to earlier in day.
Republicans who sat on the platform committee said they decided not to deal with social issues this year because the U.S. Supreme Court and lower courts have weighed in and it doesn’t make sense for the party of “personal freedom” to have the government or the political party get involved in people’s personal lives.
“The issue was how can we back out of people’s personal lives,” said Dave Hockaday of Lyon County, who sat on the platform committee. “We need to focus on issues where we can have an impact.”
Previously, the state party platform defined marriage as “between a man and a woman,” as does the Nevada Constitution. The past document also described the party as “pro-life,” or against abortion, a stance most Republicans still agree with.
The pro-life Chiaroscuro Foundation, via the Freedom of Information Act, documented the shocking record of lax abortion clinic inspections by the New York State Department of Health. This week, Dr. Nirav Shah, the State Health Commissioner, resigned just hours after the pro-life New York gubernatorial candidate, Rob Astorino, demanded as such.
“It’s kind of scary. The lack of inspections is really quite frightening. These are facilities where women are seeking medical care. We shouldn’t allow these medical facilities to take second fiddle to inspections for tanning salons and restaurants.” -- Sen. Diane Savino, Staten Island (Pro-abortion Democrat)
New York Health Commissioner Dr. Nirav Shah will step down in June to take an executive position with Kaiser Foundation Health Plan in California, the health department said Wednesday.
Republican candidate for governor Rob Astorino earlier Wednesday called for Shah to resign, citing a news report about department delays inspecting abortion clinics and delays in the department’s study on the health impact of deep drilling for natural gas by hydraulic fracturing, which is prohibited with the study pending.
Astorino was responding, in part, to documents obtained by a private organization that was the basis of a New York Post report this week that the state Health Department over the last decade has not inspected one-third of the 25 abortion clinics that it regulates. Astorino said the health of women served by the clinics could have been in jeopardy by failure to adequately monitor them.
In an editorial board meeting this morning with the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, [Gov.] Cuomo dismissed talk that Shah’s departure is any way linked to controversies surrounding the delays by his administration to decide whether to permit fracking or the abortion clinic inspection controversy.
Instead, Cuomo blamed the low pay he has to offer agency commissioners. . . .
Word of Shah’s resignation late Wednesday came as the Health Department announced it was scrambling to inspect 25 abortion clinics ”within the coming days” — after The Post reported that it hadn’t visited many of them in more than a decade.
The abortion clinic controversy also became a political hot potato for Gov. Cuomo when GOP gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino Wednesday accused the Health Department of neglect and called on Shah to resign.
. . . sources say it’s unusual for a commissioner to resign while his boss is running for re-election.
“It doesn’t look good,” said one political strategist.
. . . Of the 225 providers that pro-abortion advocates claim are in New York, health inspectors regulate only 25, and of that 25, none were inspected regularly.
“Eight of the 25 clinics were never inspected over the 2000-12 span, five were inspected just once, and eight were inspected only twice or three times — meaning once every four or six years,” the Post said.
Just 45 inspections were conducted among the 25 clinics in the 12-year period. Meanwhile, tanning salons are required to undergo inspection every other year.
A pro-life nonprofit organization known as the Chiaroscuro Foundation submitted a Freedom of Information Law request to the New York Department of Health on April 11, 2013, to acquire state inspection records of both licensed and unlicensed abortion facilities from as far back as Jan. 1, 2000.
Among the 17 licensed abortion clinics that were inspected, the Chiaroscuro Foundation says the state found "cringeworthy violations," including an "anesthesiologist cited for relying on a broken monitor to assess the patient's vital signs, failure to ensure a registered professional nurse is present in the recovery room to monitor postoperative patients and unsanitary practices of reusing suction tubing for aspiration of human contents."
"These revelations are very concerning," said Greg Pfundstein, president of the Chiaroscuro Foundation. "It doesn't matter where you stand on the issue of abortion; this is a gross failure of our public health system and puts women's safety at risk. It's absurd that restaurants and tanning salons are routinely inspected, yet the State Health Department has completely abdicated its responsibility to monitor providers of medical procedures that involve anesthesia."
“Everyone on all sides of the abortion question was horrified by the revelations in the trial of Kermit Gosnell last year,” said Greg Pfundstein, president of the Chiaroscuro Foundation.
He told LifeNews.com: “As we learned about the house of horrors he ran in Philadelphia, and as it came out that the state of Pennsylvania had made a political decision to stop inspecting abortion clinics, we began to wonder whether any inspections were being done in New York. We are encouraged to know that some inspection is done in New York, but we can’t say on the basis of what the State has done over the last 13 years that anyone should be confident there is not a Kermit Gosnell at work somewhere in New York.”
The State refuses the reveal the names of the clinics which were inspected, the Chiaroscuro Foundation said.
According to the group, there have been 1,145,261 abortions reported in New York City alone since 2000, during which time the Department of Health executed only 45 inspections.
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) was tipped off by homosexualists that Peter LaBarbera, who heads Americans for Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH), was bound from Chicago to the Regina airport en route to speak at the Saskatchewan Pro-Life Association (SPLA) conference in Weyburn. When LaBarbera's plane landed Thursday night, customs officials detained him for several hours while they rifled through his luggage, books, paperwork, cellphone, computer files, and interrogated him about his Christian beliefs and alleged "hatred of gays" until 1am Friday morning. Later that afternoon, LaBarbera was allowed a hearing to appeal the detention, which he won, and then proceeded to Weyburn (where angry homosexualists stood ready to "greet" him).
"It felt like being in North Korea, not Canada." -- Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH
[Peter LaBarbera] was detained by the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA), and had his bags and laptop searched; the agency also watched a DVD of a speech he gave on Wednesday at a college in Dayton, Ohio, and looked at his website.
Earlier in a tweet posted after his release, LaBarbera said, after going through all his stuff and his website, “a preliminary decision was made to deny my entrance into Canada on the basis that my speech at the SPLA would violate Canada’s “Hate Propaganda” law (essentially the potential for “public incitement of hatred” against a group of people based on their “sexual orientation”).
“The Orwellian experience at Customs dragged on for more than three hours as a formal document was issued outlining my denial of entry under Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (citing the Hate Propaganda code). Finally, after 1 a.m., I was released pending my appeal of the decision today. My passport was seized until I arrive back at Customs today at noon for my appeal before a ‘minister’s delegate review’.”
Peter LaBarbera, president of the group Americans For Truth About Homosexuality, said officials detained him because he planned to give a speech critical of "homosexual activism" and for a while it looked like he would be sent home on a plane.
LaBarbera's planned visit sparked an outcry around Saskatchewan earlier this month. Some say his anti-gay views constitute hate speech.
A protest had been planned in Weyburn for today, also organized by Intolerance-Free Weyburn.
In efforts to bar [LaBarbera's] speech, a petition by [pro-homosexual] Intolerance Free Weyburn has more than 1,300 signatures.
LaBarbera described Intolerance Free Weyburn as “cowardly” by lobbying the government to block a viewpoint.
“It’s the farthest thing from tolerance that I’ve ever seen,” he said. “Why can’t they just let the pro-life group have their speakers and then they can hold their own event?”
LaBarbera and [SPLA's Bill] Whatcott will informally address students at the U of R on Monday afternoon and the University of Saskatchewan on Tuesday.
Background on Bill Whatcott: The Supreme Court of Canada unanimously ruled that citizens are NOT free to quote the Bible regarding the sin of homosexual behavior. Bill Whatcott's pamphlets (from 2001) using the word "sodomites," and criticizing the Gay Agenda in public schools, were deemed to incite hatred against homosexual people. The ruling requires Whatcott to pay a fine to two homosexuals who claimed to be offended, plus six-figure loser-pays legal costs.
As the Saskatchewan Pro-Life Association (SPLA) prepared to welcome about 150 participants to its annual conference Friday afternoon, a couple blocks away members of the ad hoc Intolerance Free Weyburn group congregated in a square next to City Hall.
"They basically wanted us to be quiet. To not be talking about this issue," said SPLA president Marcy Millette.
At his speech this morning, LaBarbera intends to speak about the connections between the pro-life movement and homosexuality. It's a connection that sparked a close examination by some SPLA members, said convention organizer David Sidloski.
Sidloski, wary of LaBarbera's appearance on U.S. hate watch websites, investigated the speaker and phoned him up, a conversation he said convinced him LaBarbera is not a hateful man. Sidloski said his appearance at the convention is ultimately an opportunity to highlight the homosexuality-pro-life connection. For the City of Weyburn, it has sparked a different discussion: Which events the city will officially support. The council in February approved a $1,000 grant to the association through a program that encourages provincial and national events come to Weyburn.
The council will discuss at its meeting on Monday the possibilities of retracting the SPLA's grant, and rejigging the grant program policy.
The formal document issued by CBSA agent Darren Banick for the initial denial of entry into Canada expressed concern that LaBarbera "may commit acts which would be against the Criminal Code of Canada."
Section 319(1) of Canada’s Criminal Code bars “public incitement of hatred … against any identifiable group where such incitement is likely to lead to a breach of the peace.” One of the categories of identifiable groups include those based on ‘sexual orientation’. Breaching the law carries a punishment of up to two years imprisonment.
Exemptions contained in the law include:
(a) if he establishes that the statements communicated were true;
(b) if, in good faith, the person expressed or attempted to establish by an argument an opinion on a religious subject or an opinion based on a belief in a religious text;
(c) if the statements were relevant to any subject of public interest, the discussion of which was for the public benefit, and if on reasonable grounds he believed them to be true
Just under 200 people attended the Saskatchewan Pro-Life Association’s annual conference, held at McKenna Hall on Friday and Saturday, with four keynote speakers, said organizer John Sidloski.
In a scrum with reporters, LaBarbera said, “It was a great crowd. We’re trying to show the issues of pro-life and defending marriage against the homosexual agenda are related. People who fought against same-sex marriage are fighting the same issues that pro-lifers faced.”
Asked about being accused of bringing a hate message here, LaBarbera said the protesters are trying to redefine the very term “hate”.
“What our message is, it’s okay to stand up for marriage between one man and one woman, to stand up for healthy identities. It’s okay to oppose homosexual behaviour, to oppose gay activism, and that’s just my moral belief. … The problem is the left, like this group Intolerance Free Weyburn, is defining hate by ideology, and therefore if you hold a position and dare to defend that position in public, you’re by definition a hater. That’s a new definition of hate. They also have a new definition of tolerance. Tolerance used to be me and you could disagree but we could have a civil discussion … so I would like us to return to the old definition of tolerance, which is me and the leader of this group could sit down have a discussion. I’m not going to try and ban him from speaking; he shouldn’t try to ban me.”
Police arrested two anti-gay advocates after they refused to leave the University of Regina, where they had set up an anti-abortion display to hand out material about what they call the dangers of homosexual relationships.
"The materials were graphic and the materials were disturbing," said Thomas Chase, U of R provost and vice-president academic, after the two-hour ordeal had ended.
"The materials, we felt, could harm members of this campus community who we have a duty to protect and support."
Students in Regina had braced themselves for Bill Whatcott and Peter LaBarbera's visit to campus.
"I'm so saddened to hear we still have to discuss these things, these archaic views," said Rob Hillstead, a U of R filmmaking student and resident of Weyburn, who debated the pair.
"The idea that you can't have an open debate on homosexuality at a college campus and that some speech code is brought in to kick people off because they have a viewpoint that most students probably haven't heard - it seems to me it's pretty undemocratic," said LaBarbera . . .
The pair were at the university with a poster depicting a child killed by abortion and a sign saying "sodomy is a sin." A video of the incident shows that at first Whatcott was asked to leave the campus by campus security, who were accompanied by police. Whatcott responded that he had won two court cases on freedom of speech. “I do believe I have a charter right to speak here," he said.
Whatcott said that they would have to remove him from campus, because in addition to his charter right, he said, “I believe I have a moral responsibility to share the Gospel with these students.” He added, “I believe this university would not be as rich as it could be if it did not allow me to stay here and speak.”
LaBarbera, surrounded by police, can be heard on the video saying, “I would rather stay in solidarity with him,” referring to Whatcott. Then he too was arrested.
During Whatcott’s arrest a couple of students can be heard saying that he deserves freedom of speech. But many others, as the two are led away handcuffed, hoot cheers and clap. Hate messages threatening Whatcott and LaBarbera with death can be read in tweets pointing to coverage of the arrest.
Whatcott uttered "thank the Lord" after Judge Marylynne Beaton delivered her verdict.
LaBarbera, who lives in Illinois and heads Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, was not present, but "I'm sure he'll be relieved," said Whatcott.
"I find that the purpose of (their) attending the University of Regina was to communicate information and their actions were passive and non-aggressive," Beaton wrote. "The university's response was disproportionate to the peaceful distribution of flyers."
The police originally arrested the two men for assault by trespass, but that charge was determined to be defunct and mischief charges were laid instead later that same day.
The Lumberton, Texas school superintendent has dismissed concerns of local parents that Kurt Klug, 52 (a.k.a Laura Jane Klug) should not be a substitute teacher at an elementary school while he's dressed as a woman. After last night's school board meeting, Klug's three-day suspension was lifted for the sake of political correctness.
"If students are sent home over dress code, why keep a man in the hallways who dresses as a woman?" -- Concerned parent
Thirteen people addressed the school board during a regularly scheduled meeting Thursday night about the her [his] suspension. . . .
Superintendent John Valastro said after the meeting that no decision would be made in open session because the item was not on that night's school board agenda.
Chip Darby, who is with the radio station Freedom 1300, said that the supporters of Klug were attempting to bully the school board. Each parent has the right to determine at what age it is appropriate for children to be exposed to certain things, Darby said.
CBS affiliate KFDM spoke with the teacher, who says she [he] is a recent hire to the district and has been told she [he] will find out if she [he] gets to keep her [his] job later this week.
Laura Jane Klug says she [he] was subbing for a 5th grade teacher at Lumberton ISD last Thursday when she [he] first found out there had been an issue with her [him] being transgender.
Some concerned parents had come to KFDM, saying they were worried that their child had been supervised by a teacher who was transgender. They say they have no problem with the teacher herself [himself], just that she [he] might be confusing 11-year-olds regarding their own identities.
Texas state law does not protect employees based on their sexual orientation or identity.
A school district in Texas that made the news when students were told to wear Muslim burqas as part of their lessons now is in the headlines with a man-turned-woman substitute teacher who enraged parents of fifth-graders.
One community member identified as Barbara McIntosh Mcewin said on social media, Klug’s class “spent more time staring at him” than taking their test “so he was pulled out for hall duty.”
On Facebook, Klug has readily revealed worries and concerns, stating at one point: “My ex-wife has a boyfriend in California and is visiting him right now. I am feeding her dog (was ours) and mowing the grass (she pays me a little) My lease is up at the end of this month, I don’t want to stay in this area. My ex want (sic) me to rent her (used to be our) house. As affordable as she is making it, I can not live there, the memories of happier times are to (sic) painful to bear.”
Klug continued: “I pray with all my heart and might to God thru Jesus, but He has yet to answer me.”
[At the school board meeting] Crowds of people, many of whom wore purple shirts or even purple hair dye, spilled into the hallways of the Lumberton administration building after coming out to support Laura Klug.
“I really wish this hadn’t come out," Klug said Thursday night. "It’s nobody’s business."
In a Facebook group aimed at supporting her employment, Klugg wrote: "I can tell just how passionate you are for the equal treatment of not only me, but all LGBT people in this area. That is all I seek, Equal Rights."
After a teacher showed Principal William Mudlock at Shafer Elementary School in the Nazareth (Pennsylvania) Area School District one of the Valentine's Day cards that J.A. Abramo was about to hand out to friends, all of the Christian messages were confiscated and the devastated boy was told that Bible verses are forbidden in school.
"St. Valentine was imprisoned and martyred for presiding over marriages and for spreading the news of God's love. In honor of St. Valentine's Day, I want you to know that God loves YOU!!! '. . . God so lived the world that he gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not parish but might have eternal life.' John 3:16" -- Abramo's forbidden message
For background, click headlines below to read previous articles:
According to the suit, [Donald and Ellen Abramo's] three other school-aged children were permitted to hand out the notes with Valentines to their classmates, but only because teachers didn't notice their religious nature, school officials said.
The suit says Ellen Abramo helped her children create the notes to fill an empty slot in their store-bought cards — left when they removed a piece of candy to comply with a separate policy banning sweets.
The lawsuit, which identifies the Abramos' first-grade boy only as J.A., notes that other students at Shafer Elementary were permitted to hand out cards with human skulls, guns and other weapons, and with rub-on tattoos.
But elementary school Principal William Mudlock told Ellen Abramo that because J.A.'s cards were religious and might be offensive to someone, the school would not allow them to be distributed, the lawsuit says.
The Abramos' cause has been taken up by an organization called the Alliance Defending Freedom [ADF], which wrote to Nazareth Area superintendent Dennis Riker in December 2013 urging him to change the policy banning the distribution of religious materials, the suit says. When the family reached out to him to intervene on Feb. 19, Riker allegedly told them he forwarded the matter to the district attorney to handle, the suit says.
School district solicitor Gary Brienza followed up with an email to the Abramos saying he was looking into the matter and said it is "being taken seriously."
According to the suit, J.A. cried when he wasn't allowed to distribute the notes. The teacher tried to explain the rules and console him, but their conversation left the boy "extremely upset and humiliated," the suit says. According to the suit, the boy no longer prays over his meals at school because he is "afraid of getting in trouble."
A meeting with Brienza and principal William Mudlock on Feb. 28 failed to satisfy the Abramos.
The lawsuit was filed by attorney L. Theodore Hopp Jr., of Media, PA.
Matt Sharp, an attorney with the Georgia-based nonprofit Alliance Defending Freedom, said Donald and Ellen Abramo have been personally impacted by the district's policy.
The couple moved to Upper Nazareth Township a year ago and this is their first-grade son's first year in the district. They also have a third-grader at Shafer in Nazareth.
The suit challenges the school district to revoke its policy on religious material. Sharp claims similar cases have been successful in Pennsylvania and he is hoping the same for the Abramos.
“A Bible verse and a reference to God does not make such a card unconstitutional,” said ADF Legal Counsel Matt Sharp. “Religious expression is just as protected by the First Amendment as other messages that students communicate.”
ADF Senior Legal Counsel Jeremy Tedesco said that to “single out a faith-based message for censorship is exactly the type of hostility to religion that the First Amendment forbids.”
[School] Officials cited their Policy 220, “which states that the school officials can prohibit student expression that seeks ‘to establish the supremacy of a particular religious denomination, sect or point of view.’”
But the complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, noted that the same federal court struck down an identically worded policy in 2008, because it restricted “what effectively amounts to all religious speech, which is clearly not permissible under the First Amendment.”
It's well known that "sex sells" in advertising and mass media, but the consequence of the sexual revolution is a difficult sell -- ergo, STD Awareness Month. Latching onto this in-all-appearances, well-intentioned campaign are the likes of Planned Parenthood and others in the sex and abortion industries. The federal government reports that sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) cost Americans $16 billion annually -- mostly involving the "young invincibles."
The Department of Public Health wants to encourage the community to “get tested.” Chlamydia and gonorrhea can cause infertility in women, and these and other STDs can increase HIV transmission in both men and women.
“STDs pose a serious public health threat to county residents, particularly adolescents and young adults,” said Meaghan Ellis, Community Health Services and Health Center director for the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health. “Many STDs often have no signs or symptoms, but can be effectively treated once diagnosed.”
The goal of the campaign is to encourage people to get tested, start treatment right away if they test positive for an STD and learn how to be STD free.
The Wood County Health Department says half of sexually active young people will get a sexually transmitted disease (STD) by age 25. Rates of Chlamydia and Gonorrhea have risen dramatically in recent years. Additionally, more cases of Hepatitis C are being seen.
The Healthy People Wood County Healthy Growth and Development Team is working through many different venues to reduce rising STD rates in Wood county.
The first endeavor will be to raise awareness about STD's, offer free testing for HIV and Hepatitis C and spread the word about Get Yourself Tested (GYT) at local colleges.
Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky (PPINK) announced today that it will mark the sixth annual GYT: Get Yourself Tested campaign in April-STD Awareness Month-by offering free STD and HIV tests at 18 of its Indiana health centers.
GYT is a national campaign to promote sexual health and address the disproportionately high rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) - including HIV, chlamydia, and gonorrhea - among young people under 25.
Half of the estimated 20 million sexually transmitted diseases contracted each year occur among the under-25 age group, although they only represent one-quarter of the sexually active population. In fact, one in two sexually active young people in the U.S. will contract an STD by the time they're 25 - and most won't know it.
Just about any sexual behavior carries a risk of infection, but STDs fit into a particular category of being passed only through sexual contact.
Women ages 15-25 are at the highest risk for chlamydia, which is easily treated with antibiotics if caught in time. Gonorrhea and syphilis also respond well to treatment with early detection. HIV, the virus causing AIDS, has no cure, but can be managed with medication.
Infections of human papillomavirus (HPV), a common disease that can cause cervical cancer in women, can be prevented through immunization. The vaccine has been the subject of controversy, because some believe it encourages girls to become sexually active.
The best defense against STDs is abstinence, but that might be an unreasonable expectation among adults. The most effective countermeasures for the sexually active are a barrier, such as a male or female condom, and being tested twice a year or if symptoms arise.
Approximately 110 million Americans – more than a third of the entire U.S. population - were infected with a sexually transmitted disease (STD) as of 2008, the latest date for which figures are available, the CDC spokeswoman confirmed. That includes more than a million Americans living with HIV.
CDC estimates that nearly 20 million new STD cases are contracted annually . . .
Women aged 20 to 24 have the highest chlamydia infection rate (3,695.5 cases per 100,000), more than twice the rate as men of the same age (1,350.4 cases per 100,000), according to the report, which added that “during 2008-2012, the chlamydia rate in men jumped 25%, compared with an 11% increase in women during this period.”
In 2012, the average chlamydia infection rate in the U.S. was 456.7 per 1,000 population. Mississippi had the highest rate (774.0 per 1,000) while New Hampshire had the lowest (233.0 per 1,000).
CDC also reported 334,826 new cases of gonorrhea (up 4.1% since 2011) and 15,667 new cases of primary and secondary syphilis (up 11.1% percent since 2011, primarily among gay and bisexual men, who account for 75% of all new cases), noting that “antimicrobial resistance remains an important consideration in the treatment of gonorrhea.”
After most of the 1,000 Charlotte, North Carolina parents who came to a special meeting lambasted the Charlotte Catholic High School for a speech by a visiting nun entitled "Masculinity and Femininity: Difference and Gift," the school's chaplain apologized. In her speech to students, Sister Jane Dominic Laurel, assistant professor of theology at Aquinas College in Nashville, TN explained Church teaching on marriage, divorce, parenting, etc. and provided empirical evidence and secular science concerning homosexuality. Needless to say, the speech was NOT politically correct, and although Sr. Laurel has been forced on indefinite leave by the college, the bishop of the Charlotte diocese said the speech was theologically sound and presented accurate information.
"I understand that Sister used data from the Linacre Quarterly, a reputable journal, and from other sources. That data can be debated and, in fact, is debated back and forth by scholars who are researching the areas of human sexuality. Because of the ongoing debate, it would have been better if these studies and data were omitted from the presentation to the students." -- Father Roger Arnsparger, Charlotte Diocese
About half of the one-hour talk centered on homosexuality, according to a statement from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte's official newspaper.
Some parents at the 1,400-student school say they wanted to know about the topic of the assembly ahead of time and would not have allowed their kids to stay.
After the talk, students launched a Change.org petition calling her talk "both offensive and unnecessarily derogatory." The petition, which has more than 4,000 signatures, didn't call for change but listed 10 objections to the talk.
A counter-petition supporting Laurel has collected more than 1,800 signatures. A message left at Laurel's office was not returned Wednesday.
Diocese spokesman David Hains acknowledged after the meeting that the Rev. Matthew Kauth, the school’s chaplain, apologized to the parents for a March 21 speech by Sister Jane Dominic Laurel that was not the one he expected her to give.
Hains also said the high school committed to developing new policies that would better scrutinize visiting speakers in the future. He said the school also wants to do a better job of communicating with parents ahead of time when such speeches will deal with sensitive subjects such as sexuality.
During her speech, Laurel quoted studies that said gays and lesbians are not born with same-sex attractions, and that children in single-parent homes have a greater chance of becoming homosexual, Hains and others said.
She is now taking a sabbatical from her teaching position at a Nashville college.
Last month, Sister Jane Dominc Laurel told students at Charlotte Catholic homosexuality comes from a lack of a father figure and a lack of masculinity.
After a public meeting with diocesan and school officials turned ugly, with parents and students alike shouting at administrators over what they perceived as “hateful” remarks criticizing homosexual behavior, divorce and extra-marital sex, a spokesman for the diocese told LifeSiteNews that the nun in question, Sr. Jane Dominic Laurel, did nothing wrong and will be welcome to speak on the issue again if she chooses.
“I was in attendance at the same presentation when given on Long Island, NY a few months ago,” Dr. Gerard Nadal told LifeSiteNews. “In that meeting, Sister Jane gave medical and scientific data that came from reputable sources and were presented as examples of the consequences for human behavior that contravenes the moral magisterium of the Church. As a Ph.D. in medical science, and as a Catholic schooled extensively in my faith, I saw no contradictions, but rather a seamless presentation.”
The Diocese of Charlotte’s newspaper, the Catholic News-Herald, reported that the meeting was acrimonious, with those who dared to speak out in support of Sr. Laurel or the Church being shouted down by an angry mob. The paper’s sources called the atmosphere “disrespectful” and “hate-filled.”
[Diocese of Charlotte Communications Director David] Hains said Bishop Peter Jugis is expected to make further public comment on the situation soon.
In an April 4 statement, the president of Aquinas College defended the school's curriculum and Sister Jane's credentials as a theologian, but acknowledged that the portion of Sister Jane's presentation of social science data about the alleged causes of same-sex attraction – which prompted many of the concerns from parents and students – was outside the scope of her academic background.
[At the contentious meeting,] Parents heard apologies and statements from Father Kauth, as well as from Father Roger Arnsparger, diocesan vicar of education, and Charlotte Catholic's dean of students and two assistant principals.
. . . many parents' emotions boiled over, with arguments even carrying over into the school's parking lot when the meeting ended after two hours. Two observers called the meeting's climate "disrespectful" and "hate-filled."
. . . His intention, Father Kauth explained, was to bring back a popular speaker to give a different voice on the topic of sexuality to students. Sister Jane's talk last fall at Charlotte Catholic was so well received, he said, that he invited her back to deliver a presentation to the entire school.
He defended Sister Jane's presentation on same-sex attraction as it related to Church teaching, but he distanced himself from the social science data she quoted as being appropriate for the forum of the student assembly.
. . . I heard Sister speak in the Fall at St Patrick’s. While I had given so many talks on this topic in so many different ways I found her approach just different enough - a new voice and the added perspective coming from a woman. I decided to bring her here. As you recall, I wanted the boys and girls separate and thought it would be a time for families to address these topics in a more intimate setting. . . . It was so well received that at the request of parents and students alike I decided to have her back for the whole school.
I asked her to give the same talk she gave while here before. By this time I had heard it 3 times. There was nothing in it which to my mind would require notification anymore than other assembly speakers we have had this year. However, Sister asked me a few days before the talk if it was ok for her to give a different talk. I asked why and she said it would be too difficult in that venue. I encouraged her to give the talk. The kids who had been there had even asked me if she was giving the same talk since they wanted their friends to hear it. Right before she began she asked me once again, are you sure you want me to give the same talk with the discussion on same - sex attraction? I said yes. Here is where two ships passed seemingly in the sunlight but actually in the night. What I didn’t know was that Sister has a section that she sometimes inserts into her talk that focuses on the leading studies of the CMA on same sex attraction. She simply assumed that is what I meant for her to do. Now I understand her initial hesitation. I didn’t know such a section existed. In that sense I was as stunned as anyone. I was not stunned by what she said per se as I had read similar things in various medical/theological journals. . . .
. . . Nothing in the Church’s teaching harms us - it gives life. Nevertheless those teachings if not transmitted in a way which is prudent, timely, and precise making the distinctions necessary can appear as a weapon of war and not a surgeon’s tool for healing. It was no one’s intention to do so - quite the opposite.
The Light has come into the world, St. John tells us, and the darkness has not overcome it, but sometimes it can be eclipsed by ignorance or by sinfulness. If in any of my sins I have eclipsed that truth - if I have been a momentary obstacle to His light for you or anyone else because of my weaknesses or sinfulness I am heart-fully sorry. Sister and I are both quite aware of the biblical admonition from our Lord about what happens if one leads a little one astray and I am not fond of the mixture of millstone and water. The intent is and has only been to shine so as to set them free. However to hide Christ’s saving teaching is also a means to lead them astray by allowing them to be led away by another - and as you know as parents, there are many who would take your children where you do not want them to go. Christ is light and in Him there is no darkness. His light sets us free to love as we were made to love - in the full dignity and beauty of the sons and daughters of God. His light also exposes and that can be painful. . . .
