Family Watch Newswire

Ecuador’s President Vows to Veto Abortion Bill. President Guillermo Lasso of Ecuador declared that he will veto a bill that Congress is debating to regulate abortion in cases of rape. Read more here.

UN Human Rights Body Gives Pass to Iceland’s Targeting of Disabled Children. At a UN human rights meeting in Geneva, only two governments criticized Iceland on its extremely high rate of selective abortion of children with Down syndrome. Read more here.

FDA Data on Chemical Abortions Scrutinized in New Study. A new study claims to have found a “significant” gap in the federal government’s reporting on complications from the abortion pill known as mifepristone, raising questions about how informed officials were when they deregulated its use. Read more here.

South Carolina Defends Heartbeat Law in Court. The U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments for and against a South Carolina law which bans most abortions after a baby’s heartbeat can be detected. Read more here.

Alabama Abortion Facility Cited Again for Using Rusty Surgical Instruments. An Alabama abortion facility has failed a licensing inspection after staff were found to be using rusty, unsanitary surgical equipment on women. Read more here.

Gov Declares Nebraska a Pro-Life State. Acting Gov. Mike Foley, with the support of Gov. Ricketts, declared Nebraska to be a pro-life state with a proclamation recognizing the “human dignity of the unborn.” Read more here.

CA Transgender-Identifying Child Molester Gets Two Years in Juvenile Facility. A Los Angeles County judge ordered a 26-year-old biological male who identified as female after being taken into custody to serve two years in the female section of a juvenile facility after pleading guilty to child molestation. Read more here.

Parents’ Lawsuit Claims Child’s Suicide Attempts Occurred After Gender Identity Meetings With School Staff. Florida parents have filed a lawsuit against Clay County Schools, claiming their 12-year-old daughter attempted suicide after having weekly meetings for months with a school counselor who affirmed her identity as a boy without the parents’ knowledge. Read more here.

UK Schools and Nurseries Record ‘Self-Declared’ Gender Instead of Biological Sex. The UK Department for Education is under fire for recording children’s “preferred gender” rather than their biological sex on the national school census. Read more here.

UPenn Swimmer Says Team Members Uncomfortable Having Lia Thomas in Locker Room. Some University of Pennsylvania female swimmers are reportedly uncomfortable having a biological male with male anatomy who identifies as female in the locker room. Read more here.

German Catholic Bishops Welcome Initiative Seeking Change in Church Teaching on Sexuality. German Catholic bishops welcomed an initiative that is calling for the revision of what it described as “defamatory and outdated” expressions of Catholic doctrine related to sexuality and gender identity. Read more here.

Michigan Settlement Lets Faith Agencies Deny Adoptions to LGBT Couples. Faith-based adoption agencies that contract with the state of Michigan can refuse to place children with same-sex couples under a proposed settlement filed in federal court. Read more here.

Court Overturns $135K Fine for Christian Bakery. An Oregon appeals court told a state agency to reconsider its order for a Christian couple to pay $135,000 in damages for refusing to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding. Read more here.

UK EHRC Calls for Securing Religious Liberty Amid ‘Conversion Therapy’ Debate. The Equality and Human Rights Commission has told the UK government that any proposal to ban “conversion therapy” must only target harmful practices and not the ordinary work of churches. Read more here.

Why Accepting Child Transgenderism Will Pave the Way for Accepting Pedophilia, by Spencer Lindquist. “The push for childhood transgenderism is predicated on a perverse and extreme individualistic sentiment, specifically that children’s rights as individuals imply an autonomous ability to make irreversible decisions regarding their health… The dangerous claim that children can meaningfully consent to puberty blockers, hormone replacement therapy, or genital mutilation is … also leading our society down a sinister path towards accepting pedophilia. Here’s how.” Read more here.

NCAA, Leaders Are Deliberately Turning a Blind Eye to Injustices in Women’s Sports, by Chelsea Mitchell. “They used to call me ‘the fastest girl in Connecticut.’ But I couldn’t outrun an injustice… At the end of the race, it’s about biology, not gender identity. And no amount of testosterone suppression can change a male’s innate physical advantages, like bone structure and muscle mass. And fast as I am, I can’t outrun those advantages. Or the injustice that protects them. For saying that out loud, I’ve been branded by some as a sore loser and a hater.” Read more here.

Inter-American Court of Human Rights Decriminalizes Infanticide, by Stefano Gennarini, J.D. “The court’s sentence described the strict abortion laws of El Salvador as part of a pattern of systemic gender discrimination rooted in El Salvador’s pro-life laws and law enforcement protocols. The Inter-American Court ultimately told El Salvador to revise its infanticide laws, which currently allow the imposition of the full 30- to 50-year prison sentence foreseen in cases of homicide. Manuela had been sentenced to the minimum 30 years when she was found guilty of infanticide in 2008. But the court didn’t stop there.” Read more here.