Some things never change.
As Texas attorney general, now Texas Governor Greg Abbott liked to say, “What I really do for fun is I go into the office, and I sue the Obama administration.”
Ken Paxton, the current Texas attorney general, is picking up where Gov. Abbott left off:
- Texas sues Biden administration for requiring abortions in medical emergencies
From the Washington Post:
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) sued the Biden administration over federal rules that require abortions be provided in medical emergencies to save the life of the mother, even in states with near-total bans.
“The Biden Administration seeks to transform every emergency room in the country into a walk-in abortion clinic,” Paxton said in a statement announcing the lawsuit on Thursday.
The suit follows new guidance from the Department of Health and Human Services that asserted federal law requiring emergency medical treatment supersedes any state restrictions on abortion in cases where the pregnant patient’s life or health is at risk.
Earlier this week, the Biden administration sent a memo to state officials reminding them of an existing law called the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, which “requires that all patients receive an appropriate medical screening examination, stabilizing treatment, and transfer, if necessary,” according to the HHS guidance. That requirement exists “irrespective of any state laws or mandates that apply to specific procedures,” the memo said.
RELATED:
House Vote Expected Today to Codify Abortion – But it’s DOA in Senate
From PBS:
The bill, known as the Women’s Health Protection Act, would bar states from from imposing restrictions on abortions that could make them more difficult or costly to obtain. The legislation is not expected to get traction in the Senate, however.
At Thursday’s press briefing Pelosi echoed the White House in urging women to make abortion a key issue in the midterm elections. She also defended President Joe Biden’s response to the recent Supreme Court decision that struck down the constitutionality of Roe v. Wade.
“I have no question about this administration’s support for a woman’s right to choose and to take the necessary actions to ensure that this is something that is core to who we are,” Pelosi said. “It’s about freedom, it’s about health care, it’s about respect for women. And that is something that the president is wedded to.”
- U.S. Senator Proposes Bill to Protect Pregnancy Resource Centers and Churches from Abortion Terrorism
From the Daily Citizen:
Following the leaked draft of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization on May 2 that foreshadowed the overturning of Roe v. Wade, more than 80 pregnancy resource centers (PRCs), churches and other pro-life organizations have been vandalized. The centers windows have been broken, their buildings have been graffitied, and in some cases, vandals have committed arson.
Militant pro-abortion activist groups such as Jane’s Revenge have claimed credit for much of the violence and have promised more.
Responding to the wave of violence and dangerous climate for pro-life facilities and churches, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley, R-Mo., has introduced a bill, the Pregnancy Resource Center Defense Act, which amends existing federal law by increasing penalties for damaging or destroying clinics or places of worship.
3. Big government still isn’t the answer, even after Roe
From the Deseret News:
Conservatives do not believe that expanding the role of government into that of caretaker is beneficial to anyone but the government. We see the effects of universal health care and the ineffectiveness of child care programs like Head Start, we see how dysfunctional government-run schools are, and we’d like to tap the brakes on further expansion of government into the lives of the American people. We don’t think government is the answer; it’s why we’re conservatives in the first place.
Conservatives could, of course, turn these accusations on their head. They could say if these groups and individuals really supported choice, abortion-rights supporters would promote and donate to crisis pregnancy centers. These centers provide potential new mothers with health care, baby items like diapers and strollers, parenting classes and support. Instead, in the wake of Roe’s reversal, we’ve seen crisis pregnancy centers attacked, in theory and physically. The Family Research Council is keeping an exhaustive list of dozens of attacks at crisis pregnancy centers, in addition to attacks on anti-abortion organizations and churches.
If politicians truly supported choice, they’d speak out against these attacks. Instead, we see prominent Democrats like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., trying to use the force of government to bully these centers further by establishing federal penalties for any advertising that the Federal Trade Commission deems “disinformation.”
4. Broken Family, Broken Civilization
From the American Conservative:
When it comes to confronting some of our country’s most serious problems – from child poverty to school failure to mass incarceration to the fading of the American dream – one of the biggest factors driving these problems cannot be uttered in our national conversation.
It’s verboten.
This is a factor that predicts school suspensions, neighborhood trends in incarceration, state patterns in child poverty and the health of the American dream in communities across the country better than many of the factors that dominate that conversation.
In mainstream media outlets, on college campuses, in public schools and the halls of Congress, we hear that race is the critical issue, or poverty, or income inequality or inadequate public spending on issue after issue.
All the while, the social factor that often supercedes these other factors is left unmentioned.
We’re talking about the F-word. Family. For all of the problems mentioned above, for instance, family stability is a better predictor than factors like race, government spending and education. In other words, whether or not children grow up with two stably married parents or live in neighborhoods dominated by lone-parent families often ends up being more important than many of the factors that occupy the attention of our ruling class.
- New Suicide Prevention Hotline ‘988’ Goes Live on July 16
From the Daily Citizen:
Now, for individuals in desperate emotional or mental distress, there is a new number for individuals to call: 988.
The 988 number has been designated as the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline and will route callers to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
According to the website for the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, anyone who calls, texts, or chats 988 will be connected to trained counselors that are a part of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline network.
The Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for callers in emotional or mental distress, as well as prevention and crisis resources.
- In God—and Sound Money—We Trust
From the Wall Street Journal:
Sound money is crucial for economic justice. Without a stable currency, the wages of laborers are “kept back by fraud” (James 5:4). This is a form of theft, prohibited by the Ten Commandments. While landed magnates were usually behind ancient wage deprivations, the modern culprits are monetary technocrats and budget-busting politicians.
Despite the recent steep rise in prices, nominal wages have increased only about 5% over the past year. Honest laborers are losing purchasing power through no fault of their own. Low-wage or economically marginalized workers will feel the effects hardest.
The difficulties of the “unbanked”—the 5.4% of U.S. households in which no one has a checking or savings account—are particularly severe. Without access to interest-bearing forms of saving, inflation eats away at their stored wealth. The more fortunate use banks and brokerage firms, meaning they can better weather inflation.
As Jesus said about those at the margins of the economy, whatever “you did to one of the least of these my brethren, you did to me” (Matthew 25:40). Christian tradition affirms this: “the honor which is paid to the image passes on to that which the image represents” (introduction to the Canons of the Second Council of Nicaea). Every person, including the poor, equally bears the image of God. It is a grave injustice for monetary-policy makers to lay burdens on those least capable of bearing them.
Some will object that the Bible’s teachings on money are irrelevant in a world of globalization and complex financial engineering. It is true that much has changed. Instead of precious metal coins, governments issue paper money. In the place of warring kings, democratically elected representatives and duly appointed bureaucrats determine policy. But the underlying moral principle—prohibition of theft and fraud through currency debasement—persists. Depriving the poor of the fruits of their labor is always wrong.
Inflationary policy makers are modern-day King Davids. They chose a response to market turmoil with dire consequences for those with little or nothing to spare. What policy wonks call “regressive policy,” Scripture calls “an abomination to the Lord” (Proverbs 20:10). Interagency memos and policy papers have their place, but the Bible’s insights also can help craft a humane inflation strategy.
- Black Lives Matters, But Only If They Say the Right Things
From the Daily Citizen:
The renowned Savanah College of Art and Design (SCAD) dedicated one of the buildings on its lovely campus to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. That is because the second black man to sit on the highest court in the United States grew up in Savanah and attended elementary school at St. Benedict the Moor which was previously a Missionary Franciscan convent. The building is now owned by SCAD and the college ceremoniously dedicated it the “The Clarence Thomas Center for Historic Preservation” on January 4, 2010. Thomas attended the dedication ceremony.
It was certainly a fitting honor to a profoundly accomplished child of that beautiful Southern city. But things change.
Following the Dobbs decision, SCAD removed the sign in front of the building featuring the jurist’s name and there is a movement afoot to remove Thomas’ name from the building and the campus altogether. Why? Well, according a petition on change.org, the reason is because,
- U.S., Israel sign joint pledge to deny Iran nuclear weaponry
From Reuters:
U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid signed a joint pledge on Thursday to deny Iran nuclear arms, a show of unity by allies long divided over diplomacy with Tehran.
The undertaking, part of a “Jerusalem Declaration” crowning Biden’s first visit to Israel as president, came a day after he told a local TV station that he was open to “last resort” use of force against Iran – an apparent move toward accommodating Israel’s calls for a “credible military threat” by world powers.
“We will not allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon,” Biden told a news conference following the signing of the declaration.
Washington and Israel have separately made veiled statements about possible preemptive war with Iran – which denies seeking nuclear arms – for years. Whether they have the capabilities or will to deliver on this has been subject to debate, however.
9. I Miss Charles Krauthammer
From the Daily Citizen:
When he died in 2018 of stomach cancer, Charles Krauthammer was hailed as one of the nation’s most celebrated conservative columnists, political analysts, and independent thinkers.
A non-religious son of Jewish parents, Krauthammer’s approach to issues seemed to mimic the counsel from the apostle Paul. “Let your reasonableness be known to everyone,” wrote Paul to the church at Philippi (4:5). It was the rare critic of Charles’ conservatism who doubted his sincerity or good sense.
Some favorites:
In explaining any puzzling Washington phenomenon, always choose stupidity over conspiracy, incompetence over cunning. Anything else gives them too much credit.
You can have the most advanced and efflorescent cultures. Get your politics wrong, however, and everything stands to be swept away. This is not ancient history. This is Germany 1933… Politics is the moat, the walls, beyond which lie the barbarians. Fail to keep them at bay, and everything burns.
But perhaps one of the most impressive and inspirational things about Charles Krauthammer was how he accomplished so much for so long in spite of being paralyzed from the neck down. While in medical school, he dove off a diving board and hit his head on the bottom of the pool. He spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair.
The indomitability of the human spirit was on display with each column and television appearance – and even at each Washington Nationals game, a favorite pastime of the writer. To him, every minute of every day was a gift – a reminder we should all take to heart.
10.Costco’s $1.50 Hot Dog Combo Remains ‘Sacrosanct’ Amidst Record-High Inflation
From the Daily Wire:
In the midst of economic uncertainty, one thing remains true — Costco will not be raising the price of its $1.50 hot dog and soda combination anytime soon.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that Richard Galanti, chief financial officer at Costco, assured customers that they can still rely on seeing the incredible deal that they’ve come to love since 1985 inside its stores across America.
“That $1.50 price point has been sacrosanct from the very beginning,” Gallanti told the paper.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index report announced on Wednesday that inflation rose 9.1% between June 2021 and June 2022, marking a 40-year high.
Hope you have a great weekend!
