ABORTION ANNIVERSARY
Demonstrators crowd National Mall in annual March for Life
WASHINGTON (AP) — Young Catholics at the annual March for Life in Washington say one-third of their generation has been lost to abortion.
This year’s march on the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision was led by the 400 students of Shanley High School, who arrived from Fargo, North Dakota, in eight buses.
Shanley High School Senior Julia Johnson said, “We refuse to stand by and watch the lives of innocent children be discarded as nothing more than medical waste.” She said that with more than a million abortions a year, “We are living in a modern-day holocaust.”
Other speakers included women from the group Silent No More, who say they regret their abortions.
Sound:
267-a-14-(Julia Johnson, a senior at Shanley High School in Fargo, N.D., whose 400 students took part in the march, addressing March for Life)-“babies each day”-Julia Johnson, a senior at Shanley High School in Fargo, N.D., whose 400 students took part in the march, says today’s young people are survivors. ((longer version of cut used in wrap)) (22 Jan 2015)
< 270-a-11-(The Reverend Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Christian Hispanic Leadership Conference, praying at March for Life)-“womb without exception”-The Reverend Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Christian Hispanic Leadership Conference, prays that young people will oppose abortion. (22 Jan 2015) < 269-a-10-(Nancy Kreuzer (KROO’-zur), a leader of Silent No More, addressing March for Life)-“of my abortion (applause fades)”-Nancy Kreuzer, a leader of Silent No More, says she regrets the abortion she had years ago. (22 Jan 2015) < 268-a-15-(Julia Johnson, a senior at Shanley High School in Fargo, N.D., whose 400 students took part in the march, addressing March for Life)-“of our generation”-Julia Johnson, a senior at Shanley High School in Fargo, N.D., whose 400 students took part in the march, says the entire student body came to Washington on 8 buses. ((longer version of cut used in wrap)) (22 Jan 2015) < 266-w-31-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor, with Julia Johnson, a senior from Shanley High School in Fargo, N.D.)–Young Catholics at the annual March for Life in Washington say one-third of their generation has been lost to abortion. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (22 Jan 2015) < 151-v-34-(Jerry Bodlander, AP correspondent)–House Republicans have changed plans with regard to an abortion bill designed to coincide with today’s anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court ruling legalizing abortion. AP correspondent Jerry Bodlander reports. (22 Jan 2015) < ANTI-GAY CAKE DISCRIMINATION Baker faces complaint for refusing anti-gay message on cake DENVER (AP) — A dispute over a cake in Colorado raises a new question about gay rights and religious freedom: If bakers can be fined for refusing to make cakes for same-sex weddings, can they also be punished for declining to make a Bible-shaped cake that condemns gay marriage? A baker in suburban Denver who refused to make a cake for same-sex weddings has been fighting a legal order requiring him to do so even if that violates his Christian beliefs. In a separate case, Denver bakery owner Marjorie Silva says she refused to put an anti-gay message on a Bible-shaped cake for a customer, who has now complained that she discriminated against his religious beliefs. Colorado’s Civil Rights Division will decide soon whether to hear the case. Sound: 280-v-34-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor)–A dispute over a cake in Colorado raises a new question about gay rights and religious freedom. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (22 Jan 2015) < JINDAL-PRAYER RALLY Jindal to address prayer rally as supporters back presidential bid NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Speakers at a prayer rally Saturday on the Louisiana State University campus will include Gov. Bobby Jindal, who has described the gathering as “a time of worship, prayer, fasting and repentance.” The Republican governor stressed last month that the gathering, called The Response, is “not a political event, it’s a religious event.” But Saturday’s prayer rally is expected to raise Jindal’s profile with Christian conservatives. Texas Gov. Rick Perry headlined a similar prayer rally in 2011 only a few days before launching his White House bid. Jindal supporters announced Thursday that they had created a political action committee to back a possible 2016 presidential campaign by the Republican governor. The committee, called Believe Again PAC, will be able to raise unlimited amounts of money to help Jindal but won’t be able to coordinate with him directly. STOLEN JESUS FIGURINE 2 Dubuque women charged in baby Jesus figurine theft DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — Police in Dubuque, Iowa, say two women have been arrested for allegedly stealing a baby Jesus figure from a church’s outdoor Nativity scene. Thirty-five-year-old Sarah Maus and 19-year-old Taiana Butler are each charged with one count of fourth-degree theft for nabbing the figurine from the Church of the Resurrection during the Christmas season. Surveillance footage showed a person taking the figurine and getting into a car. Police say they used the footage to match the vehicle that was later found in Maus’ driveway. Authorities say Maus admitted to driving the vehicle during the theft and said Butler took the figurine. The figurine was found on a sidewalk a few days after it was stolen. UNITED NATIONS-COMBATTING ANTI-SEMITISM UN holds first-ever meeting on anti-Semitism on Thursday UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The first U.N. General Assembly meeting on anti-Semitism has featured calls for global action to combat the rising hatred of Jews and a surprising denunciation from the world’s 57 Islamic nations of all words and acts that lead “to hatred, anti-Semitism, Islamaphobia.” U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power said the statement delivered by Saudi Arabia’s U.N. Ambassador on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation was “extremely significant,” especially since the United Nations has often been a venue to try to de-legitimize Israel. The assembly met at the request of 37 mainly Western countries including the United States who urged the world body to address the “alarming outbreak of anti-Semitism worldwide.” It was an informal meeting, attended by about half the 193 member states, so no resolution could be adopted. But 40 mainly Western countries issued a joint statement afterward urging all nations to “declare their categorical rejection of anti-Semitism,” strengthen laws to combat discrimination, and prosecute those responsible for anti-Semitic crimes. ISRAEL-IRAQI TORAH Iraqi Torah scroll makes mysterious journey to Jerusalem JERUSALEM (AP) — A 200-year-old Torah scroll has taken an unusual and mysterious journey from Baghdad to Jerusalem, where it was greeted with candies and song in a jubilant dedication ceremony Thursday. Israeli experts in Jewish scribal tradition who restored the Hebrew parchment say it was written two centuries ago by two different scribes in northern Iraq using pomegranate ink, a rarely-used writing material. The scroll is a remnant of Iraq’s 2,500-year-old Jewish community, one of the world’s oldest, which all but disappeared when large numbers of Jews left for Israel following the creation of the Jewish state in 1948. Only a handful of Jews are left in Iraq today, following decades of war and instability. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said the scroll’s journey from Iraqi intelligence storage to a synagogue in the ministry “represents the fate of the Jews.” Jews have been persecuted, he said, but “in the end they come to Israel.” DAVOS FORUM-EGYPT Egypt’s president says Egypt & France battle the same enemy DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi says his nation and France are battling the same enemy by waging war against Islamic extremism and terrorism. He says the crowds who took to the streets of France in the wake of the militant attacks that claimed 17 victims are an extension of the massive 2013 demonstrations against Egypt’s former Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. The rallies prompted el-Sissi, then the defense minister, to oust Morsi. El-Sissi told the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday “the struggle is one” and that Islam is a religion of tolerance that should not be viewed through “the acts of criminals and murderers.” UNITED STATES-MYANMAR-WOMEN KILLED US calls for Myanmar to probe killings of 2 Kachin women WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. has called on Myanmar to investigate the killings of two Baptist teachers, amid allegations by activists that the ethnic Kachin women were raped and murdered by government forces. The bloodied corpses were discovered earlier this week in a village in northern Shan state. Zau Ra, secretary of the Kachin Baptist Convention, said this is the first time the group’s religious staff has been attacked. He said a medical report indicated the volunteer teachers died from penetration wounds to their liver, lungs and head, and that their private parts also had been violated. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki called on Myanmar authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice. She said Myanmar has told the U.S. it is looking into the case, and the facts of what happened are still being determined.
