RELIGION HEADLINES SUN 7-6-25

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(SRN NEWS)  Charities received 593 billion dollars in donations in 2024, a 3.3 percent increase over 2023, after adjusting for inflation.  That’s according to the latest Giving USA report, which takes a comprehensive look at U.S. philanthropy.  However, donations to religious organizations saw an overall inflation-adjusted decline last year.  There were exceptions to that rule, including Compassion International, which had its best fundraising year ever.  Spokesman Mark Hanlon attributes that success to the organization’s ongoing engagement with donors.

(  )  The number of abortions in the U.S. grew in 2024 as more women obtained abortion pills through telehealth.  The latest We Count project for the Society of Family Planning finds that one-in-four abortions were carried out using medications prescribed by a provider who did not see the patient in person. That is up from one-in-20 in the months before the Supreme Court overturned Roe versus Wade in 2022. The number may explain why another recent study found that fewer women crossed state lines for abortion in 2024 than the year before.

(  )  A West Virginia woman has filed a lawsuit seeking a religious exemption from required school vaccinations for her young child.  Miranda Guzman alleges that the state’s vaccine mandate violates a 2023 West Virginia law that stipulates that the government must not substantially burden someone’s constitutional right to freedom of religion, unless doing so is “essential to further a compelling governmental interest.”  Guzman is suing the state and local boards of education and the county schools superintendent in Raleigh County Circuit Court.

(  )  Ten years after the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage, the split between Republicans and Democrats on the issue is wider than it’s been in decades.  Recent polling from Gallup shows a 47-percentage-point gap on the issue between Republicans and Democrats, the largest since it first began tracking this measure 29 years ago. The size of that chasm is partially due to a substantial dip in support among Republicans since 2023.  There is also an effort building at the state level to bring a new challenge before the Supreme Court to the 2015 gay marriage decision.