Elizabeth Wood

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) -- Southern Baptist executive Richard Land joined pro-life religious leaders and public figures in extolling the virtues of "our glorious First Amendment," calling Americans to stand up for religious freedom in light of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service's abortion/contraceptive mandate.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--On the heels of the placement of a portable ultrasound machine in Florida, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission's Psalm 139 Project quickly redirected its attention to raising funds for a similar machine to be placed in New Life Pregnancy Centers in Phoenix, Ariz.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Throughout this year's 40/40 Prayer Vigil, as individuals and churches prayed for spiritual revival and national renewal for 40 days and 40 hours, pastors across America have experienced the common theme of unity among their church staffs.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--When it comes to religious freedom, people of the Muslim faith have the right to build mosques in America that are convenient to their communities under local standards, Richard Land told Warren Olney, host of Public Radio International's "To the Point" radio broadcast Aug. 11.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--As a part of its effort to call students to "influence, stand, and lead," the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission announced a new partnership with NavPress and Student Leadership University in promoting the ERLC's Josiah Road initiative.

WASHINGTON (BP)–New draft laws tightening government control over faith groups are a threat to religious freedom in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, according to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. The Kyrgyz parliament has passed a new draft requiring a religious organization to have at least 200 members before it can legally operate, a dramatic increase […]

WASHINGTON (BP)--One of the most valuable aspects of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s vice presidential candidacy was her focusing national attention on the strengths and value of special needs children ...

WASHINGTON (BP)--Kadi Coe was almost midway through her pregnancy when she received the news her baby was diagnosed with Down syndrome. [QUOTE@left@150="There is nothing compassionate about eliminating entire categories of human beings.... The transforming effect of children with special needs is what this culture needs more of -- not less."
-- Marjorie Dannenfelser]     "When my husband and I first found out the news, we were devastated," Coe said, fighting back tears as she spoke on the phone from her Michigan home. "It felt like someone had died ... and we really struggled. I was 29 years old at the time, and I didn't think young women could have children with Down syndrome at that age."       The diagnosis was finalized after Coe received results from an amniocentesis test, a prenatal test designed to find conditions such as Down syndrome, which normally results when a person has three copies, rather than two, of chromosome 21.       Coe, whose daughter turned 1 year old in November, represents thousands of women who experience pain and grief upon receiving diagnoses of Down syndrome or other conditions for their children.       Thankfully, Coe's physician provided encouragement during her pregnancy, but many advocacy organizations believe doctors oftentimes deliver the diagnosis as "bad news" to parents instead of supporting mothers to follow through with their pregnancies.       The organizations see a great need for doctors to offer more accurate and complete information to parents whose children have been diagnosed with Down syndrome or other conditions. Down syndrome, for instance, typically is marked by mental and physical impairments, but people with the condition have a wide range of abilities.       Often, a doctor's delivery of the "bad news" results in parents making a lethal choice for their baby; an estimated 90 percent of children diagnosed with Down syndrome are aborted. That abortion rate holds for unborn babies diagnosed with spina bifida, cystic fibrosis and dwarfism, according to the office of Sen. Sam Brownback, R.-Kan.       Brownback, a pro-life leader in Congress, addressed the problem by sponsoring a bill that was signed into law Oct. 8 by President Bush.

WASHINGTON (BP)–The federal government asked the Supreme Court Nov. 4 to allow the punishment of broadcast TV stations for the use of “fleeting expletives.” The oral arguments in FCC v. Fox Television Stations focused on whether the use of “fleeting expletives” in prime-time television broadcasts violated federal restrictions. In 2004, the FCC decided the one-time […]

WASHINGTON (BP)–The Federal Communications Commission voted unanimously Nov. 4 to place unlicensed devices in broadcast TV spectrum, called white space. The FCC action’s will allow technology companies such as Google and Microsoft to use white, or open-air, space to deliver wireless broadband Internet into homes. White space serves to separate TV channels, preventing interference between […]