Expert: Adoption blesses children & parents
WASHINGTON (BP) — Faith Hill. Steve Jobs. Babe Ruth. They all have one thing in common. They were adopted. There are an estimated 107,000 children and youth waiting in the United States’ foster-care system to be adopted, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The actual number of children and youth […]
Women’s lives ‘destroyed’ by China’s one-child policy, House panel told
WASHINGTON (BP) -- A five-time victim of China's coercive abortion program told a congressional panel she is only one among many women devastated by her home country's coercive, population control program.
Supreme Court weighs gov’t role in church hiring
WASHINGTON (BP)--The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments Oct. 5 in a case that could have a serious impact on what the definition of a minister is and who has defining rights. The case was brought before the Supreme Court to decide if a teacher "called" to serve at a Lutheran school in Michigan should have been considered a minister at the time she was fired. The deeper issue in the case, however, is whether the federal government should have the authority to interfere and decide for faith-based institutions what defines a minister and who can be hired and fired. Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church considered Cheryl Perich a minister when it commissioned her to teach at its school in Redford, Mich. When she became ill, she took a medical leave of absence for diagnosed narcolepsy that was extended for more than six months. When Perich returned to the school after her doctor cleared her for work, the school had already hired a replacement teacher and had no available positions. Perich threatened to sue the school for discrimination and was fired for going against the church's teachings that forbid going to outside help to settle disputes. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati overturned a federal judge's decision in a suit brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and determined Perich's responsibilities did not constitute those of a minister. The debate before the Supreme Court focused on what is known as the "ministerial exception," a long-standing principle in the federal courts that prohibits the government from using job discrimination laws against churches and other religious bodies in their hiring and firing of ministers.
40 Days for Life set for next campaign
WASHINGTON (BP) -- Beginning Wednesday, the pro-life outreach known as 40 Days for Life will hold its latest prayer campaign in the United States and across the world in an effort to end abortion.
