Same Sex Marriage; Definition of Marriage; Chick-Fil-A Day; New Abortion Center Rules, Planned Parenthood funding falling off; Contraceptive Controversy; and many others

Same Sex Marriage Passes in Four States.  Perhaps the biggest news of the year on the marriage front came on election day when allfour states that voted on the same-sex marriage question (Maine, Maryland, Washington, and Minnesota) rejected traditional marriage.  Same-sex marriage marriage advocates are touting the victories as a sea-change, but Brian Brown of the National Organization for Marriage said “all four of these states are the bluest of blue states.”  He said homosexual rights activists picked these states to mount a challenge this year for a reason.  Secondly, these votes do not undue the results of more than 30 other states that have voted in favor of traditional marriage.

Special-Protections Measure Fails in Alaska.  Family advocates won a huge victory in Alaska Apr. 3, when the residents of Anchorage resoundingly shot down a measure known as Prop. 5. The initiative sought to expand the city’s nondiscrimination ordinance to include ”sexual orientation and transgender identity.” Though backers of Prop. 5, which included Colorado gay-activist billionaire Tim Gill and both Alaska U.S. senators, Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich, vastly outspent pro-family advocates — raising some $340,000, about four times more than conservatives raised — the measure failed by a 16-point margin, 58 percent to 42 percent.  “It represents a triumph of common sense over cash,” said Jim Minnery, president of the Alaska Family Policy Council. “People are now able to have a firm understanding that they don’t have to check their faith at their place of worship to go out into the public market place.”  Mayor Dan Sullivan vetoed a similar measure when the city council passed it about three years ago, citing a lack of quantifiable evidence to show it was needed. He was re-elected Tuesday with about 59 percent of the vote.

Black Pastors Confront Obama On Marriage.  A national group of black clergymen is asking President Obama to reconsider his support for same-sex marriage. In a formal letter issued on May 22, the Coalition of African-American Pastors (CAAP) wrote, “We cannot and will not remain silent while marriage, the most fundamental institution in our — and any — nation, is undermined by our own President while using Christian language and relating it to civil rights.”  CAAP also is taking issue with the “unacceptable” way gay activists continually link their issues with the Civil Rights movement.  “For activists, politicians — and now the highest office in the nation to link sexual behavior God calls sin to the righteous cause Martin Luther King gave his life for is abominable in and of itself,” Rev. William Owens, Sr., CAAP’s  founder and president, wrote in a statement. “There is no civil right to do what God calls wrong.”  Owens, who was a leader in the civil rights efforts in Nashville, Tenn., in the 1960s, also pointed out that the president may find reduced support among black voters this year: The coalition’s own informal poll found 13 percent of blacks said they would “absolutely not” vote for Obama based on his support of same-sex marriage.

Pro-Marriage Supporters Turn Out For Chick-fil-A.  Americans flocked by the thousands to Chick-fil-A restaurants Aug. 1 in support of CEO Dan Cathy’s comments in favor of traditional marriage, sending lines sprawling through restaurants, parking lots, down sidewalks, and around street corners. This morning the company confirmed, without releasing numbers, that it was an “unprecedented” day.  “We are very grateful and humbled by the incredible turnout of loyal Chick-fil-A customers on August 1 at Chick-fil-A restaurants around the country. Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day was not a company promotion; it was initiated by others,” said Marketing Vice President Steve Robinson.  An Aug. 3 “kiss-in” event staged by homosexual activists to counter the Aug. 1 event generated little participation.

Court: Pharmacists Don’t Have to Dispense Certain Drugs.  A federal court ruled Feb. 22 that pharmacists in Washington state have the right to refuse to dispense “emergency contraception” drugs that could take the life of a preborn baby. Instead, pharmacists who object for religious or moral reasons to dispensing possible abortifacients have the right to refer customers to other pharmacies. The “decision sends a very clear message: No individual can be forced out of her profession solely because of her religious beliefs,” said Luke Goodrich, deputy national litigation director for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, one of the legal firms on the case. “If the state allows pharmacies to refer patients elsewhere for economic, business and convenience reasons, it has to allow them to refer for reasons of conscience.”

European Commission Funds Abortions.  The European Commission is using economic development funds to pay for abortions, according to a report from European Dignity Watch.  The report, “The Funding of Abortion through EU Development Aid,” says Marie Stopes International, one of the world’s largest abortion providers, received over $30 million from the European Union. The Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition, a partnership that includes the United Nations Population Fund, provides abortion kits to developing countries and was given close to $32 million over a 30-month period ending in June 2011.

Mississippi Governor Signs Abortionist-Certification Bill.  Gov. Phil Bryant signed a bill Apr. 16 making Mississippi the first state to require abortionists to be board-certified obstetrician-gynecologists with admitting privileges at hospitals close to their clinics.  The state has only one abortion clinic — the Jackson Women’s Health Organization, where only one of the four doctors on staff has admitting privileges at a local hospital. It could be forced to close under the new law.  “I believe that all human life is precious, and as governor, I will work to ensure that the lives of the born and unborn are protected in Mississippi,” Bryant said when signing the bill, HB 1390.  The law took effect July 1.

Abortion Facility Surrenders License.  A Birmingham, Ala., abortion business surrendered its license to the state’s Department of Public Health and ceased operations on May 18.  New Woman All Women (NWAW) Heath Care came under scrutiny in January after life advocates videoed two women being carried out of the back of the building to waiting ambulances. A review of 911 calls revealed both women had overdosed on a drug administered by the clinic.  A subsequent month-long investigation and inspection by the Department of Public Health found many violations — including a third overdose victim — that ran the gamut from lack of properly trained staff to doctors falsifying patient charts to use of equipment that lacked current inspections.  “The regulators were able to discern for the first time how horrific this abortion clinic was,” said Troy Newman, president of Operation Rescue. “The number of health code violations [and] drug violations were so numerous that they simply could not be rehabilitated and had to be shut down.”  An attempt to reopen under new ownership failed after pro-lifers pointed out a connection between the applicant and owner Diane Derzis – which ran afoul of requirements set up by the state.

Court Upholds South Dakota’s Informed-Consent Law.  Despite years of legal attack from Planned Parenthood, South Dakota may continue requiring abortion doctors to inform pregnant mothers that abortion may increase their risk of suicide.  The full 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling July 24 means that the last remaining contested provision of the state’s informed-consent law, passed in 2005, is constitutional.  “A woman’s right to make a fully informed choice is more important than Planned Parenthood’s bottom line,” said Steven H. Aden, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) senior counsel. “If Planned Parenthood truly cared about the well-being of women, it would not try to prevent them from being informed of the well-documented risk of suicide that accompanies abortion.” Planned Parenthood sued South Dakota over the law in 2006.

North Carolina Pulls Plug on Planned Parenthood.  North Carolina has joined a growing list of states that don’t want to support Planned Parenthood with taxpayer dollars. Under a new budget approved in early July, the state will send the $434,000 that was formerly sent to Planned Parenthood to county health departments in the next fiscal year. Though Gov. Beverly Perdue vetoed the budget, lawmakers banded together to override her.  In 2011, eight states passed legislation that diverted a combined $61.7 million in family-planning funds from Planned Parenthood to state or county agencies for health screenings and other services that don’t include abortion; today, the Obama administration bypassed the law in Tennessee to directly fund Planned Parenthood Greater Memphis.  This year, Arizona, Iowa, Ohio, Oklahoma and New Hampshire joined North Carolina, according to the Susan B. Anthony List (SBA), which has aided all the states defunding the abortion seller.

Temporary Repeal in Contraceptive Mandate Case.  The first ruling from a circuit court on the healthcare law’s contraceptive mandate went against the Obama administration on Nov. 28. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a temporary injunction against the mandate on behalf of O’Brien Industrial Holdings, a Catholic-run mining company in St. Louis. On its website the business says its mission is “to make our labor a pleasing offering to the Lord.” The Catholic owner, Frank O’Brien, objected to covering contraceptives for his 87 employees.  A federal judge dismissed O’Brien’s lawsuit in October, saying that because the owner was only indirectly paying for contraceptives, the mandate was not a burden on his religious freedom. But now the Catholic company is exempt from the mandate while the circuit court considers the merits of its case.

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