CONGRESS-BIRTH CONTROL
Senate GOP blocks bill on contraception coverage
WASHINGTON (AP) β Senate Republicans have blocked a bill that would have forced employers to provide coverage for contraceptives that violate their religious beliefs.
The vote was 56-43 to move ahead on the bill, but that was short of the 60 votes necessary to proceed.
Senate Democrats continued to argue that companies don’t have religious rights, although the Supreme Court ruled in its Hobby Lobby decision that individuals don’t lose their rights when they go into business.
Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah said the Democratic bill could be seen as amending the words of Jesus to read, “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there is the IRS in the midst of them.”
Sound:
292-w-32-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor, with Senator Edward Markey, D-Mass., and Senator Mike Lee, R-Utah)–Senate Republicans have blocked a bill that would have forced employers to provide coverage for contraceptives that violate their religious beliefs. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (16 Jul 2014)
< 271-w-34-(Jerry Bodlander, AP correspondent, with Senator Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H. and Senator Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.)–Senate Republicans have stymied a Democratic effort to move ahead with a measure to reverse the Supreme Court’s recent decision in the Hobby Lobby case. AP correspondent Jerry Bodlander reports. (16 Jul 2014) < 222-a-06-(Senator Deb Fischer, R-Neb., during debate)-“use birth control”-Senator Deb Fischer says Democrats are creating an issue where none exists. (16 Jul 2014) < 221-a-13-(Senator Patty Murray, D-Wash., at news conference after vote)-“health care coverage”-Senator Patty Murray says the vote makes clear who is most important to Republicans. (16 Jul 2014) < 223-a-03-(Senator Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., announcing the vote)-“nays are 43”-Senator Tammy Baldwin announces the Democrats effort to reverse the Hobby Lobby ruling has failed to clear a procedural hurdle. (16 Jul 2014) < 218-w-37-(Jerry Bodlander, AP correspondent, with Senator Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Senator Deb Fischer, R-Nev.)–Senate Republicans blocked a Democratic effort to reverse the impact of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in the Hobby Lobby case. AP correspondent Jerry Bodlander reports. (16 Jul 2014) < 219-c-24-(Jerry Bodlander, AP correspondent)-“vote this fall”-AP correspondent Jerry Bodlander reports Senate Republicans blocked a bill aimed at restoring free birth control for women who work at certain companies. (16 Jul 2014) < 220-a-13-(Senator Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., during debate)-“under federal law”-Senator Jeanne Shaheen says women should be allowed to get the birth control coverage that’s guaranteed by the health care law. ((longer version of cut in wap)) (16 Jul 2014) < PRIEST-BASEBALL ANNOUNCER Parish priest is announcer for minor league team SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) β An Iowa pastor has two congregations β the parishioners at his church and the fans at Sioux City’s minor league baseball park. When he’s not in the pulpit preaching at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Father Craig Collison is rallying the faithful in the bleachers. He’s been the Sioux City Explorers’ public address announcer for the last ten years. Collison tells The Catholic Globe it’s less a calling for him than an enjoyable hobby, and he always puts ministry first. But Collison says when fans see their stadium announcer wearing a priest’s collar, they usually “get a big kick out of it.” Sound: 272-w-33-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor, with Father Craig Collison, Catholic priest and baseball public address announcer)–An Iowa pastor has two congregations – the parishioners at his Roman Catholic church and the fans at Sioux City’s minor league baseball park. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (16 Jul 2014) < 276-a-06-(Father Craig Collison, Catholic priest and baseball public address announcer, in interview)-“always comes first”-Father Craig Collison says announcing baseball games is an enjoyable hobby. COURTESY: The Catholic Globe ((Mandatory on-air credit)) (16 Jul 2014) < 273-r-13-(Father Craig Collison, Catholic priest and baseball public address announcer, rallying fans at Sioux City’s ballpark)-“Sioux City Explorers (applause fades)”-Sound of Father Craig Collison rallying fans of Sioux City’s baseball team. COURTESY: The Catholic Globe ((Mandatory on-air credit)) (16 Jul 2014) < 275-a-04-(Father Craig Collison, Catholic priest and baseball public address announcer, in interview)-“be a calling”-Father Craig Collison says he’s been the public announcer for Sioux City Explorers home games for the past 10 years. COURTESY: The Catholic Globe ((Mandatory on-air credit)) (16 Jul 2014) < 274-a-12-(Father Craig Collison, Catholic priest and baseball public address announcer, in interview)-“Explorers baseball team”-Father Craig Collison says he’s known for two things in his Iowa town. COURTESY: The Catholic Globe ((Mandatory on-air credit)) (16 Jul 2014) < YOUNG-CAPITOL INCIDENT Young spokesman: Capitol incident misunderstanding WASHINGTON (AP) β A spokesman for Congressman Don Young says an incident in which Young crossed police tape intended to keep people away from an asbestos accident at the U.S. Capitol was overblown. Roll Call, citing “multiple sources,” said the Alaska Republican cursed at an officer who tried to stop him from entering the building. An accident involving asbestos work forced a temporary closure of the House side of the Capitol last week. Young spokesman Matt Shuckerow said Young had volunteered to look for an alternate room for a weekly Bible study group to meet and briefly crossed a sectioned-off area to reach an adjacent part of the Capitol. He called it a misunderstanding and said Young meant no disrespect. CATHOLIC GRANT-GAY MARRIAGE Nonprofit loses grant over gay marriage stance PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) β A Catholic organization has decided to cut off long-standing funding to a Portland, Oregon, immigrant rights group over its affiliation with an organization that supports same-sex marriage. Voz Workers’ Rights Education lost a $75,000 grant in June from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, the anti-poverty program of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The Catholic Campaign said it asked Voz to cut ties with the National Council of La Raza, a Latino civil rights organization that endorses same-sex marriage. When Voz refused, it was disqualified from the Catholic group’s funding process. The bishops had supported Voz since 1994. Voz is one of 10 nonprofits to lose church funding since 2010 because of ties to organizations that endorse same-sex marriage or other issues the church disagrees on. JOHN PAUL II RELIC-PHILADELPHIA John Paul II relic on display at Philly cathedral PHILADELPHIA (AP) β A relic of the recently canonized Saint John Paul II will be displayed for public veneration this weekend in Philadelphia at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul. The relic is a vial of John Paul II’s blood. It is normally housed at a shrine in Washington administrated by the Knights of Columbus but has been on display this summer in various American cities. Church officials say there will be a blessing with the relic at the conclusion of each Mass on Saturday and Sunday. HOUSTON-SUBURBAN SHOOTINGS Funerals being held for slain family near Houston SPRING, Texas (AP) β Six white caskets containing the bodies of a suburban Houston couple and four of their five children have been wheeled into a church for funeral services not far from where the family was gunned down at their home a week ago. Thirty-nine-year-old Stephen Stay, his 34-year-old wife Katie, and their four youngest children are being buried in a private ceremony after services Wednesday at their Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The couple’s 15-year-old daughter, Cassidy, survived a gunshot wound by playing dead, then called police and identified her aunt’s ex-husband, 33-year-old Ronald Lee Haskell, as the gunman. Records show he had a history of domestic violence. Haskell was arrested a few hours later after a police standoff and now is facing multiple charges of capital murder. BAPTISTS-CAMPBELLSVILLE U Campbellsville Univ. to break with Baptist church LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) β A Christian university in Kentucky is changing its longstanding relationship with Kentucky Baptists so it can appoint its own trustees, but it will also be giving up about $1 million in annual church funding. Campbellsville University board of trustees Chairman Joseph L. Owens and President Michael V. Carter wrote in a letter Wednesday that the move is to “avoid undue influence and the imposition of theological and doctrinal control.” It says the board voted to phase out the money over four years. Under a 1986 agreement, the Baptist Convention approves the members of the board of trustees. Baptist Convention President Chip Hutcheson says he is “terribly saddened” by the move and added that the university has made the decision “without so much as a conversation” with the convention. TURKEY-US Turkish protesters disrupt US-sponsored iftar meal ANKARA, Turkey (AP) β Turkish media and U.S. officials say some 200 protesters denouncing Israel’s military operations in Gaza threw eggs and firecrackers and destroyed chairs and tables that were set for a Muslim fast-breaking dinner sponsored by the U.S. Consulate. The state-run Anadolu Agency said seven people were later injured in fighting between some of the protesters and security officials employed by the municipality, which owned the tables and chairs. The incident occurred late Tuesday in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir as organizers were preparing to host the iftar, or Ramadan meal. John Espinoza, who heads the U.S. Consulate in the nearby city of Adana, condemned the incident. He said the U.S would not allow “the acts of a few childish cowards to hurt the strong friendship” between the U.S. and Turkey. HAITI-VOODOO Annual voodoo festival held at Haitian waterfall PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI (AP) β Devoted followers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel have travelled to the Saut d’Eau waterfall in Haiti to pay her tribute and make requests. The Haitian worshippers performed voodoo cleansing rituals in the water by stripping off their clothes and using leaves to wash away their sins and bad luck. They also made requests to the saint to improve their lives in various ways. Thousands come to Saut d’Eau every year to honor the virgin, who is said to have appeared on a palm tree in 1847. Sixty-two-year-old Lionel Saint Jean said that, after losing his house in Haiti’s catastrophic 2010 quake, he asked the saint for a new one and she granted it. Voodoo is a mix of African religions and Roman Catholicism and evolved in the 17th century among African slaves, who were forced by French colonizers to practice Roman Catholicism. Many slaves secretly held onto their African religions by using images of Catholic saints to serve as African spirits.
