RELIGION HEADLINES WED 6-25-25

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(SRN NEWS  )  The Kentucky county clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples after the Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling legalizing the practice is still in court.  Kim Davis became a cultural lightning rod 10 years ago, bringing national attention to the same-sex marriage debate and losing her job.  Davis’ lawyers are again trying to get her case before the high court, after the justices declined to hear an appeal from her in 2020.  A federal judge has ordered her to pay a total of 360,000 dollars in damages and attorney fees to one gay couple.

(  )  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.