(SRN NEWS)-( ) Pro-life advocates say they have nearly 100,000 signatures to challenge Massachusetts’ new abortion law. The coalition claims that it exceeds the number needed to suspend the statute and put repeal before voters in 2028. They hope to suspend the law that gives doctors greater discretion over late term abortions — those that […]
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RELIGION HEADLINES TUE 11-3
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(SRN NEWS)-( ) Pro-life advocates say they have nearly 100,000 signatures to challenge Massachusetts’ new abortion law. The coalition claims that it exceeds the number needed to suspend the statute and put repeal before voters in 2028. They hope to suspend the law that gives doctors greater discretion over late term abortions — those that are requested at 24 weeks of pregnancy or later. State officials still must verify enough certified signatures before the referendum qualifies. Massachusetts is one of several states that have sought to promote and expand abortion since the Supreme Court repealed Roe versus Wade.
( ) The Supreme Court is working on another case touching religious freedom, centered on Colorado’s publicly funded preschool program. Catholic parishes and parents are challenging a state requirement that participating schools give same-sex couples the same opportunity to enroll their children. They argue the mandate violates their First Amendment religious protections, while Colorado says it ensures equal access to publicly funded services. The Trump administration is backing the religious groups, arguing the state should make an exception for faith-based schools. The case could have broader implications for other states.
( ) Pope Leo is now the first pontiff to ever vote in a U.S. election. The American-born pope cast an absentee ballot in Illinois’ midterm election as part of his “belief in the right and the duty of citizens to participate in democratic processes.” The ballot, sent in last week, traveled from Vatican City to Joliet, Illinois, where Leo, born Robert Francis Prevost, holds registration. Public records show the pope also voted absentee during his years of residence in Peru. No other pontiff has ever voted in a U.S. election because no other pontiff has been born in this country. Pope Leo did not disclose who he cast his ballot for.
( ) A federal appeals court has paused a judge’s earlier ruling that ordered Idaho to allow exceptions to its abortion ban in cases where a doctor deemed it medically necessary. In a two-to-one decision, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that a doctor who sued over the state’s ban was unlikely to win on claims that the right to an abortion to preserve the health of the mother is constitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in its 2022 Dobbs versus Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision that there is no constitutional right to an abortion, overturning its landmark 1973 Roe versus Wade decision.