RELIGION HEADLINES SAT 11-8-25

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(SRN NEWS) A network of abortion clinics in Maine is shutting down because of the Trump administration’s cuts to abortion providers. Maine Family Planning operates 18 clinics in the state and receives about 1.9 million dollars in Medicaid reimbursements per year. The network fought the halting of Medicaid dollars in federal court, but it suffered a setback in August when a federal judge ruled against restoring funding during the network’s ongoing lawsuit against the Trump administration. The network appealed to a higher court, and that legal fight is still ongoing, but for the moment it will close its doors.

( ) The Trump administration is moving ahead with plans to eject some nonprofits from a popular student loan forgiveness program if their work is deemed to have a “substantial illegal purpose”. New rules will give the Education Department expanded power to ban organizations from the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. Targeted groups include those which engage in child trafficking, perform sex-change operations on kids, promote illegal immigration or support terrorist organizations. President Trump has said that he will prevent American taxpayers from footing the bill for such activities.

( ) A lawsuit filed by three Dallas residents seeks to strike down dozens of city ordinances they say violate a law that prevents Texas cities from adopting liberal policies. The law, passed two years ago, made it illegal for cities and counties to enact statutes that promote the LGBT agenda and other ideologies if they violate state law. The Texas Public Policy Foundation, which represents the plaintiffs, says “Cities don’t get to pick and choose which state laws they follow. This suit is about protecting Texans’ freedom to live and work without being smothered by layers of needless local regulation.”

( ) It’s official: Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia basilica is the world’s tallest church, now that a part of its central tower has been lifted into place. The masterwork of architect Antoni Gaudí now rises to 534 feet above the city, just beating out the tip of the spire of Germany’s Ulmer Munster which tops out at 530 feet. And the Sagrada Familia is still growing. The central “Tower of Jesus Christ” that is rising from the top of the church will reach 564 feet when it is completed in the coming months. The first stone of the Sagrada Familia was placed in 1882 and Gaudí never expected it to be completed in his lifetime.