By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor NEW ORLEANS, La. (LBM) – Steve Horn, executive director for Louisiana Baptists, said he was thrilled the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled that Louisiana can cut off funds to Planned Parenthood. “We are a staunch pro-life state and we do not believe our healthcare dollars should support abortion providers,” he told the Baptist Message. Horn made his statement after the federal appeals court in New Orleans voted 11-5, just days before Thanksgiving, that Louisiana and Texas could ban Planned Parenthood from receiving government money. The majority included five judges appointed by President Trump. The full court overturned a three-judge panel that had ruled against Louisiana’s ban, upheld by a 7-7 deadlock of the full court in 2017. Planned Parenthood is the largest single provider of abortions in the United States, performing 40 percent of all abortions in the country, nearly 346,000, in 2018 (most recent available data). The organization received more than a third of its $1.6 billion budget in Medicaid reimbursements and Title X grants, $616 million (or 38 percent) in 2019, although that money could not be used directly for abortions. The Louisiana law to … [Read more...]

By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor CINCINNATI (LBM) – A three-judge panel of a federal appeals court has ruled, 2-1, that a “reason ban” that prohibits abortion based on a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome is valid while other pro-life provisions in the Tennessee law are awaiting a ruling. The panel included 2 Republican-appointed judges (one nominated by President Trump), and a Democrat appointee. The panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also allowed a reason ban in the Volunteer state based on abortions sought because of the race or gender of the unborn child. The ruling means Louisiana’s 2016 “Jacob’s law,” named by its House sponsor after Jacob Hall (Philadelphia Baptist Church Horseshoe Drive in Alexandria), will not be challenged for the moment. Officially registered as Act 563, the legislation was championed by Rep. Rick Edmonds, retired pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Shreveport and former vice president of Louisiana Family Forum. As he was pushing the legislation through committee, Edmonds asked the then 19 year old and his father, Will Hall, director for the Office of Public Policy for Louisiana Baptists, to testify. His legislation prohibited the abortion of an unborn baby … [Read more...]

By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor WASHINGTON (LBM) – Amy Coney Barrett, a native of New Orleans, joined her fellow Trump-appointed U.S. Supreme Court associate justices, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, to rule against New York’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, who had set a 10- and 25-person cap on attendance at houses of worship in COVID-19 hotspots according to the severity of the public outbreak as indicated by a color-coded map developed by his office. The case, brought by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and the Orthodox Jewish group Agudath Israel of America, asserted that the governor’s restrictions violated the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment and treated houses of worship more harshly than comparable secular facilities. The two religious organizations testified “without contradiction,” according to the 5-4 decision, that they have complied with all public health guidance, have implemented additional precautionary measures, and have operated at 25% or 33% capacity for months without a single outbreak.” Agudath Israel also produced evidence that Cuomo had drawn the map intentionally to include the Orthodox Jewish communities in Brooklyn without cause. The decision was announced the night … [Read more...]