Worldviews in the News

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• (CNSNews.com) – House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said she stands with the White House in opposing a provision in the House defense authorization bill that would prohibit anyone in the military from ordering a chaplain to act against his or her "conscience, moral principles, or religious beliefs" or against the religious beliefs of the denomination to which he or she belongs. Pelosi described the conscience-protection provision as a “fraud."

  May 18, 2012 Pelosi: No to Provision Protecting Chaplains From Being Ordered to Act Against Faith: ‘It’s A Fraud’
  by Elizabeth Harrington Source: CNS News

• The New York State Senate passed a bill Tuesday making it illegal to view child pornography, in response to a recent court ruling that said simply looking at such content — but not printing or saving it — is legal. The bill makes it a felony to “knowingly access with intent to view any obscene performance which includes sexual conduct by a child less than sixteen years of age.”

  May 18, 2012 New York Senate Passes Bill Closing Child Porn Loophole
  by Steve Fountain Source: CitizenLink

• Pro-life pharmacists in Kansas gained further legal protections this week, after Gov. Sam Brownback signed a bill allowing them to refuse to dispense drugs that may cause abortions. The Health Care Rights of Conscience Act prevents anyone from being forced to prescribe, distribute or administer drugs they “reasonably believe” could kill a preborn child.

  May 18, 2012 Kansas Expands Conscience Protections for Pharmacists
  by Steve Fountain Source: CitizenLink

• A national group of black clergymen is asking President Obama to reconsider his support for same-sex marriage. In a formal letter issued on Tuesday, the Coalition of African-American Pastors (CAAP) wrote, “We cannot and will not remain silent while marriage, the most fundamental institution in our — and any — nation, is undermined by our own President while using Christian language and relating it to civil rights.”

  May 18, 2012 Black Pastors to President: Please Rethink Same-Sex Marriage
  by Steve Fountain Source: CitizenLink

• As faith-based organizations fight a First Amendment battle over federal health care mandates, the economic cost of meeting this year’s national health care law requirements has led Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, to drop student health insurance in the fall. The economic issue is clearly second to the Catholic university’s religious and moral opposition to the U.S Department of Health and Human Services mandate that all businesses provide coverage for contraceptives, sterilization and abortion-causing medications, a university official said.

  May 17, 2012 Franciscan University Drops Student Health Coverage
  by Steve Fountain Source: CitizenLink

• (CNSNews.com) – Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who recently had twin grandsons conceived through in vitro fertilization, has said it is okay for couples to "destroy' human embryos conceived through in vitro fertilization if they do not want to implant those human beings in a womb. On May 4, Romney’s son Tagg announced by Twitter the birth of the twin boys, David Mitt and William Ryder, who were gestated by an unnamed surrogate mother. Tagg’s wife is Jennifer Romney and they have four other children, one of whom was also gestated by the same surrogate mother, according to The New York Times.

  May 17, 2012 Romney Says It’s OK to ‘Destroy’ Human Embryos Created Through In Vitro Fertilization
  by Patrick Burke Source: CNS News

• (CNSNews.com) – The Obama administration “strongly objects” to provisions in a House defense authorization bill that would prohibit the use of military property for same-sex “marriage or marriage-like” ceremonies, and protect military chaplains from negative repercussions for refusing to perform ceremonies that conflict with their beliefs, according to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). In a policy statement released Wednesday, the OMB outlined numerous objections to aspects of the fiscal year 2013 National Defense Authorization Bill (H.R. 4310). The bill was reported out of the House Armed Services Committee last week and is set to be debated in the House, beginning Wednesday. (See related story)

  May 16, 2012 Administration Opposes Attempt to Bar SSM on Military Property and Shield Military Chaplains
  by Patrick Goodenough Source: CNS News

• A new Gallup poll shows that a slight majority, 54 percent, of Americans believe that homosexuality is acceptable. Forty-two percent say that homosexuality is morally wrong. In a Tuesday interview with The Christian Post, Frank Newport, editor in chief for Gallup, explained that support for same-sex marriage has tended to track closely with the belief that homosexuality is acceptable.

  May 16, 2012 Gallup: Slight Majority Say Homosexuality Morally Acceptable
  by Napp Nazworth Source: Christian Post

• During a fundraising event in New York City Monday, President Obama for the first time personally called for the repeal of the Federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The law, which President Bill Clinton signed in 1996, defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman for purposes of federal laws and regulations. It also protects individual states from being forced to recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere.

  May 16, 2012 Obama Calls for DOMA Repeal
  by Steve Fountain Source: CitizenLink