Leigh Jones/WORLD News Service

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, Calif. (BP) -- Homeschooling opponents in California seized on the horrific case of child abuse discovered Jan. 14 in Riverside County to call for more oversight of parents who teach their children at home. But homeschooling advocates say policymakers need to consider one key fact obscured by emotional reactions to the Tupin case: None of the organizations that track child abuse list homeschooling as a risk factor.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (BP) -- A Christian student group at the University of Iowa has filed suit against the school after losing its status as an official on-campus organization because it requires leaders to hold Biblical beliefs about sexuality. Oral argument took place earlier today (Jan. 18) in federal district court in Davenport. A decision is expected sometime next week. Business Leaders in Christ launched in 2015 and has about 10 members. In February, the group denied member Marcus Miller a leadership role after he revealed he was gay. Miller filed a complaint with university administrators, who decided in November the group had violated the school's nondiscrimination policy.

BREMERTON, Wash. (BP) -- Former high school football coach Joe Kennedy lost his appeal Wednesday (Aug. 23) at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled he did not have a right to pray at the 50-yard line after games. A three-judge panel of the court said Kennedy's prayers did not amount to constitutionally protected free speech because he was acting as a public employee when he offered them. "By kneeling and praying on the 50-yard line immediately after games while in ...

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (BP) -- The National Park Service has agreed to let a Christian geologist collect rock samples from the Grand Canyon for research. Andrew Snelling, who has a Ph.D. in geology from the University of Sydney, tried for four years to get permission to collect the samples. The park service only agreed after lawyers with Alliance Defending Freedom filed a federal lawsuit.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday (June 28) in favor of a North Carolina religious liberty law protecting county magistrates. The law allows the public officials to recuse themselves from performing marriage ceremonies for or issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

A Wisconsin high school girl who identifies as a boy should be allowed to use the boy's restroom, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today.

AUSTIN, Texas (BP) -- A federal judge on Jan. 19 blocked an effort by the state of Texas to strip Planned Parenthood of Medicaid funding. State officials announced plans last month to cut $3 million in funding, the final step in a long process to pull all government money from the nation's largest abortion provider. In 2010, Planned Parenthood centers in Texas received $27 million in state funding. Texas launched its final defunding effort after the pro-life group Center for ...

NAIROBI, Kenya (BP) -- Conservative Anglicans reiterated their frustration with the U.K.-based Anglican Communion over the growing divide on same-sex marriage. Six primates with the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), an organization representing archbishops and their provinces around the world, met April 18-21 in Nairobi, Kenya, to discuss the group's future and its ongoing response to the January meeting of Anglican bishops in Canterbury, England. See related [http://www.bpnews.net/46156/episcopal-church-censured-for-gay-marriage-stance]story[/URL].

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (BP)-- Planned Parenthood filed suit Jan. 14 in federal court against the Center for Medical Progress, accusing the group of conducting "a complex criminal enterprise conceived and executed by anti-abortion extremists."

WHEATON, Ill. (BP) -- A panel of Wheaton College faculty will meet within the next 30 days to consider whether to recommend termination for one of their colleagues, political science professor Larycia Hawkins. Administrators placed Hawkins on paid leave in December after she made comments on social media about Muslims and Christians worshipping the same God. The scheduled hearing is part of the evangelical university's standard process for terminating a tenured professor. Hawkins' statements were part of a campaign of solidarity with Muslims sparked by recent debates about refugees and terrorism. To show support for her Muslim ...