Second-grade teacher Carie Charlesworth was fired by Holy Trinity School in San Diego because of the events that followed her reporting her husband’s domestic abuse. Her termination, which took full effect in April, has prompted her to speak out against the district’s decision.
On Thursday, Rhode Island became the tenth state to legalize same-sex marriage. In a vote of 56 to 15, the Rhode Island state House approved changes in a bill approved by the state Senate. That evening Governor Lincoln Chafee (I) signed the bill into law. Governor Chafee, who has been pushing for marriage equality since […]
Eden Foods, a popular supplier of organic food items, has filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration over contraceptive coverage under the Affordable Care Act. The Michigan-based company says that the contraception clause of the Affordable Care Act violates religious freedom. In the words of Eden’s lawsuit, the clause “attacks and desecrates a foremost tenet […]
Three priests have been removed from the priesthood in the archdiocese of Philadelphia in response to allegations of sexual abuse. Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia declared the retired Monsignor Richard T. Powers, Father Joseph J. Gallagher and Father Mark S. Gaspar “unsuitable for ministry.” Gallagher and Gaspar had been suspended from the ministry since March 2011. Their […]
Debate is scheduled to begin today in the French Senate on a bill that would grant same-sex couples the right to marry and adopt children. The bill has already been passed in the National Assembly, the lower chamber of French parliament. The Roman Catholic Church has been very vocal in France against the measure, alongside […]
A group of Boston College students are facing possible punishment from the university’s administration for passing out condoms. The group, Safe Sites, founded a network of eighteen dorm rooms and additional spaces near the campus that provide condoms to students. A spokesperson for the college, Jack Dunn, told students in an email that, “As a […]
On Thursday, the Federal Council of Medicine in Brazil announced their support for legislative reform of the country’s current abortion laws. The proposed legislation being debated in the Brazilian Senate would legalize abortion within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. It would also expand a current exception that allows abortion in only in the case […]
The Philippine Supreme Court on Tuesday temporarily blocked the implementation of the Responsible Parenthood Bill to allow for the opposition to present arguments against the law. The bill would provide access to state-funded contraception and would provide it free of charge to those who cannot afford to pay. Requirements for comprehensive sex and family planning […]
Yesterday Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina, was elected to replace Pope Benedict XVI. After two days of discussion, the conclave announced that they had selected Cardinal Bergoglio to lead the Catholic Church and assume the name Pope Francis. He is the first Latin American pope, as well as the first Pope […]
A new public opinion poll released by the Pew Research Center on Wednesday found that the majority of Americans believe that the historic Supreme Court case that legalized abortion, Roe v.Wade, should not be overturned. The poll conducted [PDF] between January 9th and January 13th of 2013, found that 63% of those interviewed believed that […]
A teacher who alleges that he* was fired from a school where he had worked for over 30 years has filed charges against the Catholic New York City school for damages. Mark Krolikowski was terminated from St. Francis Preparatory School in August of 2012 after a parent complained about his feminized appearance. Krolikowski confided to […]
Tom Monaghan, founder of the Domino’s Pizza franchise, was awarded a temporary restraining order by a federal judge on Sunday against the provision under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that requires employers to provide birth control coverage. Federal Judge Lawrence Zatkoff, who issued the temporary restraining order while Monaghan’s lawsuit against the federal government is […]
Yesterday the Philippine House of Representatives passed the Reproductive Health Bill (RH Bill), which will provide government-funded sex education and birth control across the country. After sitting in the Philippine Congress for almost 15 years, the RH Bill will be sent to President Benigno Aquino on Wednesday after a reconciliation committee condenses differences between the […]
On Thursday, the Philippine House of Representatives passed the second reading of a controversial bill known as the Reproductive Health Bill (RH Bill) which would provide contraception to poor citizens free of charge, despite pressure from the Roman Catholic church. The RH Bill requires that the government provide contraceptives to the poor free of charge […]
On Thursday, Praveen Halappanavar announced that he will take the Irish government to the European Court of Human Relations over his wife’s death after she was denied an abortion last month. According to Gerard O’Donnell, Halappanavar’s lawyer, Halappanavar believes the government did not investigate Savita Halappanavar’s death in October sufficiently. As a result, he plans […]
Today, Irish Deputy Prime Minister Eamon Gilmore urged the Irish Parliament to clarify the restrictive abortion laws that lead to the death of Indian national Savita Halappanavar in Ireland last month. “It is time to bring legal clarity to the issue,” he said. “Although we will not know the full details until the investigation has […]
Savita Halappanavar died last month in Ireland after she was denied an abortion while miscarrying her pregnancy. She was 17 weeks pregnant when she arrived at University Hospital Galway complaining of severe back pain. Hospital staff determined she was miscarrying, however, doctors refused to remove the pregnancy until three days later. After the pregnancy was […]
Today, Northern Ireland opened its first private abortion clinic, the Marie Stopes Family Planning Center, in Belfast. The center will operate in accordance with the laws of both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, which permits strictly restricted abortions. The center will offer surgical abortion within the first nine weeks of pregnancy and administer […]
Schools in East Aurora, Illinois, will implement a policy that supports transgender and gender nonconforming students after the school board voted unanimously in favor of it Monday. The policy states that transgender and gender nonconforming students have the right to be addressed by the name and gender pronoun with which they identify. According to the […]
Today the Virginia Board of Health met and voted 13-2 to reverse their June decision to grandfather in existing clinics, exempting them from new, hospital-like restrictions for the state’s abortion clinics, commonly called TRAP laws or Targeted Regulations of Abortion Providers. Instead, the board has allowed existing clinics to come into compliance with regulations within […]
