Taxpayer Funds Used to Fund Abortions? Say It Ain’t So!

Abortion, , , ,

The following blog post is by Family Council staff member Luke McCoy.

Arkansas and 32 other states have successfully passed legislation prohibiting taxpayer funds from being used for certain abortions, excluding a minority of abortions from rape, incest and a mother’s ability to survive the pregnancy.

The Hyde Amendment, which is the federal provision that prohibits certain federal taxpayer funds from being used for certain abortions originated in 1976 and has been attached to federal appropriation bills throughout the years. With that said we can rest easy knowing taxpayer money is not used for abortions in those 33 states and focus on other pro-life measures, right? Don’t get comfortable yet.

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Updated Policy for Religious Expression in the Military

Religious Freedom, ,

Last week the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) approved a new policy to allow accommodation for religious expression in the military.

“The new policy states that military departments will accommodate religious requests of service members, unless a request would have an adverse effect on military readiness, mission accomplishment, unit cohesion,” U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Nathan Christensen, a Pentagon spokesman, said.

The policy was mainly expected to affect Sikhs, Muslims, Jews, and members of other groups that wear beards or articles of clothing as part of their religion.  Accommodation will have to be requested with each change in assignment and will be determined by the new unit’s commander to assure that physical appearances “do not interfere with good order and discipline.”

Many are cautiously optimistic that the DOD’s new directive will protect service members’ freedom to practice and express their faith.

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Should the Government Force You to Bake Cake?

Religious Freedom, ,

Should gay people be able to force Christian business owners to violate their religious beliefs? Liberal judges seem to think so.

We’ve heard stories about photographers, bakers, or Christian camp operators being forced by judges to accommodate gay weddings. Never mind the fact that these individuals have clear religious convictions about marriage and homosexuality. Some have found themselves in court, where judges fined them and told them they had to do business with same-sex couples in spite of their religious beliefs.

What person, gay or straight, would want their wedding photographed by a person being forced to take their picture? I can only imagine the quality of the photos. Would you want to eat a wedding cake that a judge had forced someone to bake for you? Of course not.

The goal is not pictures or cake. The real goal is to use the courts to impose a social and political agenda on people who oppose that agenda—people who oppose it not because of arbitrary bias, but because of a sincerely-held religious belief.

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