Abortion foes win a round in health overhaul , AP
Abortion foes have scored a victory and traditional allies of the Obama administration are grumbling about a decision to ban most abortion coverage in insurance pools for those unable to purchase health care on their own.The Catholic bishops “welcome this new policy,” said Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, although he added the organization remains concerned that other provisions of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul law will promote abortion.
Bus Driver Sues After Being Fired For Refusing To Take Women To Planned Parenthood , Austin-Statesman (Via: Religion Clause )
A former bus driver has sued the Capital Area Rural Transportation System, charging that the nine-county transit service discriminated against him based on his religion when he was fired for refusing to drive women to a Planned Parenthood clinic in January.Edwin Graning, who was hired as a driver on April 1, 2009, was “concerned that he might be transporting a client to undergo an abortion” when he was assigned to take two women to Planned Parenthood, according to his lawsuit, filed this week in U.S. District Court in Austin.
Chinese Turn To Religion To Fill A Spiritual Vacuum , NR
Alongside China’s astonishing economic boom, an almost unnoticed religious boom has quietly been taking place.In the country’s first major survey on religious beliefs, conducted in 2006, 31.4 percent of about 4,500 people questioned described themselves as religious. That amounts to more than 300 million religious believers, an astonishing number in an officially atheist country, and three times higher than the last official estimate, which had largely remained unchanged for years.
Pakistani Christians accused of blasphemy against Islam killed at courthouse , AP
Gunmen killed two Pakistani Christian brothers accused of blasphemy against Islam as they left court on Monday, a government minister and police said. The men were chained together when the attack took place in the eastern city of Faislabad as they were being taken back into custody after their court appearance.They were arrested a month ago after leaflets allegedly bearing their names and featuring derogatory remarks against the Prophet Muhammad were found in the town, said Shahbaz Bhatti, the minister for minority affairs. He said mosques in Faislabad had called for the men to be attacked.
