by Andrew Halloway
Texas bans abortion after six weeks
Babies to be spared if a foetal heartbeat can be detected
The US State of Texas has passed the strongest pro-life legislation in a generation.
Despite media uproar, the Supreme Court refused to block the legislation in a close 5-4 vote.
However, President Biden’s pro-abortion administration is challenging the Texas law, and the Department of Justice obtained a temporary halt to it on 14 September.
Texas voted to ban abortions after a foetal heartbeat can be detected – usually at about the sixth week of pregnancy. The law was signed by Governor Greg Abbott in May. Twelve other states have previously passed foetal heartbeat laws and all have been struck down by the courts, so the battle is far from over.
Satanists “should be allowed” to buy abortion pills in Texas for use in their Temple’s ‘abortion rituals’
Meanwhile, left-wing pro-abortionists are looking to Satanists as the potential saviours of abortion in Texas. The Satanic Temple has written to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) arguing Satanists should be allowed to buy abortion pills in Texas under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), for use in the Temple’s ‘abortion rituals’. Fortune magazine ran an article titled: “Why Satanists may be the last hope to take down Texas’s abortion bill.”
US funded Covid experiments at Wuhan lab
The USA’s chief medical advisor, Dr Anthony Fauci, has been accused of hiding government-funded Covid research at the Chinese laboratory where the Covid-19 outbreak may have begun.
According to the Christian Post, a media watchdog says that news agencies have been silent on 900 pages of official US documents showing the US funded ‘gain-of-function’ research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Dr Fauci, the pandemic advisor to both Presidents Trump and Biden, has repeatedly denied that the government has supported such research.
The experiments alter naturally occurring animal viruses to infect humans
Fauci is accused by the Media Research Centre of being fully aware of the funding and the experiments that alter naturally occurring animal viruses to infect humans.
The Centre’s report, titled ‘Nets censor evidence Fauci lied about funding Wuhan Covid experiments’, says the three major news networks, ABC, CBS and NBC, completely ignored the release of the documents in September, which were obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Christian wins Aussie talent show
A member of the international church network Hillsong has won the Australian edition of the talent show The Voice.
Bella Taylor Smith and her coach are both Christians and in a TV interview, Smith said she is “shocked and thrilled”. The music teacher’s winning performance was of classical singer Andrea Bocelli’s song, ‘The Prayer’ – a duet with her coach.
The night before the final, Smith acknowledged the support of her friends, family and church and in a social media post gave her thanks “most honestly and most importantly to Jesus for giving me hope and a beautiful life to live”.
Smith helps lead worship at the Hillsong Sydney church. The singer added that she had no plans to give up her job as a music teacher despite the fame, prize money and recording career that beckons. Her first single will be called, appropriately, ‘Higher’.
Netflix show is “child porn”
A Netflix cartoon aired in both the US and UK has been accused of child pornography by a parents’ group.
The American organisation Parents Television and Media Council says the animated series ‘Big Mouth’ depicts minors in sexually explicit scenes. Faithwire reports that on several occasions the 12 to 13-year-old characters have performed sexual acts, discussed masturbation and been shown naked.
The parents’ report says: “Depicting the full-frontal nudity of little boys — some with erections, no less — can only be intended to shock, titillate and pander to the viewer. Such material falls squarely within most definitions of pornography… we believe this qualifies as child pornography.”
It is the second time in a year that Netflix has faced criticism for the sexual portrayal of children. Previously the streaming platform ran the film ‘Cuties’ – a French movie featuring scantily clad under-age girls performing sexualised dance routines.
French Protestant Church blesses same-sex pastors’ union
The Protestant Church of France has made history by ‘blessing’ the nuptials of two lesbian pastors.
A Facebook post on 28 July titled “Good news” celebrated the fact that Agnes Kauffmann and Emeline Daude, two lesbian pastors, had just tied the knot – with the Church’s blessing.
Pope: “Abortion is murder”
Pope Francis stood firm on abortion under questioning by journalists on a papal flight to Rome from Slovakia in September.
In tackling the debate over whether the Roman Catholic Church should offer communion to politicians who support abortion, the pontiff said: “Abortion is more than an issue. Abortion is murder.
“Scientifically it’s a human life. The textbooks teach us that. But is it right to take it out to solve a problem? And this is why the Church is so strict on this issue because (it is kind of like) accepting this is accepting daily murder.”
Scientifically it’s a human life
But he emphasised that bishops and priests should act as pastors, not politicians: “Be a shepherd, do not go around condemning.”