RELIGION HEADLINES

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(SRN NEWS) – Republican lawmakers in Kentucky have added several medical exceptions to the state’s near-total abortion ban.  They say they want to provide clarity to doctors now fearful of breaking the law for terminating pregnancies while treating expectant mothers with grave health complications.  GOP supporters say the bill offers clear guidelines for doctors in medical emergencies while maintaining Kentucky’s strict prohibitions against abortion.  Kentucky bans abortions except when the procedure is carried out to save a mother’s life. 

The Trump administration wants United Nations agencies that receive or disburse U.S. funding to explain what they are spending it on.  A questionnaire has been sent to the agencies, and it includes questions about a wide range of issues, including whether they provide any abortion-related services or do work on DEI or so-called “gender ideology” issues.  This is the latest effort by President Trump to root out waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government, and get a better handle on where taxpayer dollars are actually going overseas. 

The North Dakota state Senate has rejected a measure that would have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn its landmark 2015 ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.  A vote to approve would have made North Dakota the first state to make such an overture to the court.  The state House passed the resolution last month.  Massachusetts-based MassResistance, a pro-family group, promoted the resolution in North Dakota and is doing so in other states.  There are no gay marriage cases before the Supreme Court or in the legal pipeline at this time. 

Mainline Protestant denominations are losing ground.  When the Episcopal Church announced cuts to its national staff last month, it was the latest in a long-running cycle:  Declines in membership leading to declines in funding and thus in staff.  The Presbyterian Church USA announced similar cuts to staff at its headquarters and in its global missions’ program recently.  And the United Methodist Church, after undergoing a major schism, has settled into a historically low budget.  It has cut the number of bishops and other positions.