#417 US Supreme Court Roundup - June 29, 2018
SCOTUS: Good News The U.S. Supreme Court decided that people working for nonviolent alternatives can’t be mandated to advertise the violence they’re opposing. In NIFLA v. Becerra, the court affirmed the free-speech rights of Pregnancy Resource Centers; they don’t have to advertise abortion availability.
SCOTUS: Bad News In Trump v. Hawaii, commonly known as the Muslim Travel Ban case, the Court decided to allow the ban. Our member group Pax Christi USA comments. Under current conditions, denying admission to the U.S. can be the same as leaving people in war zones, or putting them back there, which is life-threatening to them. In Yemen, especially, the U.S. has been fueling the shockingly brutal war – literally giving fuel for the airplanes.
SCOTUS: Next Nominee Justice Anthony Kennedy has announced he is retiring July 31, and our member groups Secular Pro-Life and Rehumanize International are among those sponsoring a petition drive: Nominate a Pro-life Woman for the Next Supreme Court Vacancy. The web page gives information on the six women on Trump’s list of 25 judges. None are consistent-life advocates, unfortunately. We still await the day when we can be entirely pleased with a specific nominee.
Families Belong Together Rally, June 30 Tomorrow is the national rally at the White House to protest separation of immigrant families. We’re co-sponsors of the pro-life meet-up initiated by our member group Rehumanize International (RI). We'll gather at 10:15 AM before joining up with the main rally. Here's a link to Google Maps with the meetup location. See updates on RI’s Facebook Event page.
Meanwhile, our endorser Shane Claiborne (fourth from left in the photo) reports on Facebook that a dozen faith leaders were arrested in a protest at the White House. We also note endorser Jim Wallis (center) in the picture. We haven’t found news coverage of this. They each hold a sign that together says “We will not cooperate with policies that separate families.”
Pro-life Women’s Conference At this third annual conference with about 500 people attending, Rachel MacNair gave a plenary address about our campaign, Grassroots Defunding: Finding Alternatives to Planned Parenthood. Abby Johnson, former PP clinic director and CLN endorser, and an organizer of the conference, let people know before and after how important the initiative is. As always, we and several of our member groups had tables there.
Rachel MacNair and Julia Smucker, Consistent Life Network
Aimee Murphy and CJ Williams caught dancing, Rehumanize International
Kelsey Hazzard and Stargift Tarakasha, Secular Pro-Life
Christine Mellick and Cynthia Wood, Feminists for Life
Destiny Herndon-De La Rosa with baby Faustina (baby’s mother not in picture), New Wave Feminists
Latest CLN Blog Post: Planned Parenthood Reducing Abortions? Planned Parenthood operates the largest chain of abortion centers in the world. Yet PP advocates frequently argue that by preventing unintended pregnancies with contraception, they’re also preventing abortions that would otherwise have occurred. Rachel MacNair considers: Does Planned Parenthood Reduce Abortions by Preventing Pregnancies?
Dems for Life Expanding Republicans for “Choice” Closing Our member group Democrats for Life is having a conference in July. Meanwhile, the group “Republican Majority for Choice” is closing its doors. Organizers explain in the New York Times that though they once had a million dollars to work with, they’ve now given up.
Quotation of the Week James Wilson, U.S. Supreme Court Justice, signer of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution "Lectures on Law," 1791 With consistency, beautiful and undeviating, human life from its commencement to its close, is protected by common law. . . . By law it is protected not only from immediate destruction, but from every degree of actual violence.
Responses/News tips/Questions to share are all welcome.
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