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BALTIMORE March 7, 2012 — The Alliance Defense Fund has announced that Maryland State Police may no longer illegally arrest and silence pro-life advocates, and the police will undergo training on constitutional rights as part of a settlement the state reached with ADF attorneys on behalf of Defend Life, a Maryland pro-life group, and nine individual plaintiffs. ADF is calling the police course “Constitution 101.”

The Maryland Board of Public Works, which includes Governor Martin O’Malley as one of its three members, announced today that it will grant a $385,000 settlement with nine individuals who were illegally arrested and jailed by Maryland State Police.

The case began when at least 12 state and municipal police officers handcuffed 18 participants in Defend Life’s annual Face the Truth Tour on August 1, 2008. The pro-lifers were holding large images of abortion victims along Route 24 in Bel Air, Maryland.

Details of the illegal arrests include the following offenses: No reason was given for arrests; phone calls were denied; a lawyer was denied access; and teenage girls were bra-searched.

Maryland State Police arresting Joan Walsh, age 18, for particpating in Defend Life's 2008 Face the Truth Tour.

Face the Truth Tours are a project of the Pro-Life Action League, Joe Scheidler’s national organization based in Chicago, in which other groups such as Defend Life participate.

Jack Ames is founder and director of Defend Life. He said, “Thanks be to God! The good news is that the First Amendment still lives in Maryland. Our founding fathers, who so wisely enshrined the right of free speech into our Constitution, would be extremely pleased.

“This historic decision should embolden pro-lifers all across America to continue to take to the streets, exposing the reality of pre-born child killing until the day comes that abortion is not only illegal in America, but also unthinkable!”

According to Fran Griffin, publicist for Defend Life, the settlement must still be approved by the individual plaintiffs. After transfer of funds has been accomplished, a news conference with more details will be held in Baltimore.

While 18 were arrested, only nine individuals in addition to Defend Life filed suit. Those arrested included five college students, a businessman, and a professional engineer.

On August 12, 2008, all charges were dropped in Harford County District Court against the 18 persons who had been arrested.

Defend Life and the individual persons filed suit against Harford County, Bel Air, and the Maryland State Police. In 2010, a settlement was reached with Harford County.

In 2011, after dismissing Bel Air from the lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Richard Bennett said in a summary judgment that the Maryland State Police had violated the plaintiffs’ First Amendment free speech rights and their Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable seizures.

Two of the most crucial parts of the out-of-court settlement are:

• The Maryland State Police cannot restrict speech, including speech employing images of aborted human babies, based on reactions of viewers or motorists to that speech.
• The Maryland State Police must agree to implement a training program within 120 days of settlement that will train its officials and employees on First and Fourth Amendment rights in a manner that is consistent with the District Court’s opinion. The program must be reviewed by plaintiffs’ counsel before implementation.

Both Faith and Action and the National Pro-Life Center on Capitol Hill congratulate Jack Ames, Defend Life and all 10 parties who sought justice in this case. This is a victory for all pro-life activists in Maryland.

Rev. Rob Schenck invites you to a premier event in Washington, D.C.

A few weeks ago I told you about my good friend, Eric Metaxas, author of the new blockbuster biography, “BONHOEFFER: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy,” and his prophetic message at the 2012 National Prayer Breakfast. As Eric stood at the podium, President Obama sat immediately to his right. In that moment, Eric delivered a powerful word to the president, the 4000 movers and shakers in attendance, and to the world via C-SPAN. It was a moment my hero, German pastor and Nazi-era martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer, would have called ‘status confessionis’–a time for God’s people to speak!

I’m writing now to invite you to meet Eric Metaxas personally in an intimate and dynamic setting as he hosts a forum in Washington called Socrates in the City. This is a unique approach to ministry–both to believers and nonbelievers.

Please make a sacrificial commitment to register and attend the March 15 Socrates in the City forum with my friend, Eric Metaxas. He and I will both appreciate your prayerful presence. Of course, if you have an interest in Intelligent Design–the case for the Creator’s mark on the natural world and the truth of the Bible’s account of creation–you’ll get even more out of this presentation.

Eric is not only very smart–he’s very, VERY-funny! I guarantee you won’t be disappointed–and you’ll wish you had brought others when it’s over. (Having said that, why not invite family, friends and fellow church members to join you? Especially your pastor!)

Your grateful missionary to Washington, D.C.,

Rob Schenck

Event: Is It Anti-Science to Question ‘Consensus’ Science?

Growing voices in the media and elsewhere claim it’s “anti-science” to question the “scientific consensus” on such varied issues as climate change, embryonic stem-cell research, and Darwin’s theory of evolution. But is challenging “consensus” science really anti-science? And is it good public policy for public officials to ignore dissenting voices in the scientific community?

Rob invites you to join Faith and Action’s Peggy Nienaber in welcoming Eric Metaxas and Dr. Stephen Meyer to Eric’s premier Washington Socrates in the City event.

Join us for a talk and conversation with Stephen C. Meyer, Ph.D., director of the Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture. Dr. Meyer is a Cambridge University-trained philosopher of science, and author of “Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design.” He’s an editor of “Darwinism, Design and Public Education,” and co-wrote “Science and Evidence of Design in the Universe.”

Is It Anti-Science to Question ‘Consensus’ Science?
When: Thursday, March 15, 2012
-Dr. Meyer will begin speaking at 6 p.m. sharp
-He will sign books at 8 p.m.

Where: The University Club of Washington, D.C.
1135 16th Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20036

Admission is $25 per person for those who register by Feb. 29, 2012
$35  for those who register March 1-10
$45 March 11-13 or at the door

Peggy looks forward to seeing you! Register by clicking here

On this Friday of February 24, 2012, the White House should have received the Church Declaration of State of Emergency and Status Confessionis by Reverend Rob Schenck on behalf of the National Clergy Council.

For history of the emergency declaration and the White House refusing its delivery on Ash Wednesday, please see our previous article Clergy Declare State of Emergency Over Obama Demands.

The full text of the emergency declaration follows. To download the actual declaration on letterhead with Rob’s signature, click on NCC-EMERGENCY-DECLARATION.

Faith and Action humbly requests your prayers for President Obama and everyone affected by his actions.

——————
February 22, 2012

President of the United States of America
The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Washington, DC 20500

VIA HAND DELIVERY

Re: Church Declaration of State of Emergency and Status Confessionis

Dear Mr. President,

Your recent announcements regarding the policies of your administration on compliance with certain mandates related to health insurance and the implications of these policies for certain religious institutions, and the churches, clergy, and individuals related to them, have induced this DECLARATION.

I send this to you today in my capacities as an ordained minister of 30 years, a missionary to elected and appointed officials here in Washington, DC, as president of the National Clergy Council, each of the constituencies I serve through have, by overwhelming majorities, expressed alarm over the nature of your decisions and the possible consequences of your actions. In this instance, our concerns relate to the way in which your actions have broadly intruded on the sacred and constitutionally protected rights of Americans to religious freedom, and not necessarily to any particulars to the agency of that intrusion.

Mr. President, your recent dicta requiring religious employers to provide certain insurance products to their employees which violate the religious, moral, and ethical teachings and most deeply held convictions of the respective employers, their churches and institutions, is a flagrant abrogation of the First and preeminent right among those adopted by the Constitutional Convention as amendments to the Constitution “in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers” and, with a view toward the purpose of “extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, [that] will best ensure the beneficent ends of its institution.”

Mr. President, it is with this sense of alarm that the constituents I serve, and that are represented among the Executive Committee of the National Clergy Council, reflecting church leaders of Catholic, Evangelical, Orthodox, and Protestant traditions, declare to the churches a State of Emergency and a Status Confessionis, a Time for Speaking, during which we must take extraordinary action to respectfully resist your decrees, state our deeply held and felt reasons for doing so, and call our coreligionists, and all people of conscience, to stand with us in doing so. With one voice we object to your interference in the affairs of religious institutions; and, we state to you our unwavering position on the sanctity of our constitutionally protected right to espouse certain principles of conscience; and, we maintain and insist on our God-given moral rights to act upon these principles of conscience within our respective institutions and in keeping with their attendant prerogatives. Furthermore, while we hope for a resolution to this crisis that includes the rescinding of your directives, we must hold to our convictions and positions and act according to our prerogatives no matter the legal, social, pecuniary, or political consequences.

Mr. President, I remind you of your attendance and words at the National Prayer Breakfast, February 2, 2012, where you expressed your thanks to the keynote speaker, Eric Metaxas, for his address to the attendees. His comments were related, in part, to the story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor and martyr, who is an exemplar of what it means to hold to and to exercise one’s religious, moral, and ethical convictions, even to the surrender of every other right, including the right to one’s life. Mr. Metaxas gave you a copy of his biography of Pastor Bonhoeffer, which you held up to the audience and to the cameras. I urge you to read the book with this declaration in mind.

Mr. President, please be assured of our highest respect for the office you hold and exercise. Know also, that it is out of this respect that I humbly inform you of these matters and convey to you their meaning and purpose, as an aid to you in understanding the words and actions of late by so many American citizens, institutions, and church leaders. Be assured, as well, of our constant prayers for you in compliance with our Biblical mandate and heartfelt pastoral concern for your soul as you continue to lead our great nation.

My constituents look forward to your personal reply.

I am,

Very truly yours,

Rev. Rob Schenck

LINCOLN Feb. 23, 2012 — Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning and six other state attorneys general filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska requesting a permanent injunction of the federal regulation that forces religious-affiliated organizations to support activity violating “the sacred beliefs of millions of Americans.” The filling includes Nebraska-based co-plaintiffs Pius X Catholic High School, Catholic Social Services, the Catholic Mutual Relief Society of America, and private citizens Stacy Molai and Sister Mary Catherine, C.K.

“This regulation forces millions of Americans to choose between following religious convictions and complying with federal law,” said Bruning. “This violation of the First Amendment is a threat to every American, regardless of religious faith. We will not stand idly by while our constitutionally-guaranteed liberties are discarded by an administration that has sworn to uphold them.”

The lawsuit is filed against the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Treasury, and Labor, plus all their respective secretaries: Kathleen Sebelius, Timothy Geithner, and Hilda Solis.

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi said, “Government has no business forcing religious institutions and individuals to violate their sincerely held beliefs. This lawsuit is about protecting religious liberty and the rights of conscience, our most basic freedoms as Americans.”

“Religious liberty is America’s first freedom. Constitutional rights cannot be finessed. Religious liberty cannot be compromised,” said Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette. “Any rule, regulation or law that forces faith-based institutions to provide for services that violate their free exercise of religion, or that penalizes them for failing to kneel at the altar of government, is a flat-out violation of the First Amendment.”

“The unfortunate reality is that many religious organizations will cease to offer health insurance and charities will stop offering services to the less fortunate because of this mandate,” Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said. “This is another example of why Obamacare is bad policy, and it is another reason why I have joined attorneys general across this county to protect American families from its illegal overreach.”

Oklahoma Attorney General E. Scott Pruitt said, “Any regulation that requires a religious group to violate their lawful beliefs and practices goes directly against the ideals that our founding fathers set in place to protect Americans from an overbearing and intrusive government. It conflicts with the most basic elements of freedom provided to all Americans to practice their lawful religion wherever, whenever and however they choose. For that reason, we have filed a lawsuit asking the court to find the regulation unconstitutional.”

No statement was available from South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, but his colleague, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, said, “Obamacare’s latest mandate tramples the First Amendment’s freedom of religion and compels people of faith to act contrary to their convictions. The president’s so-called ‘accommodation’ was nothing but a shell game: The mandate still requires religious organizations to subsidize and authorize conduct that conflicts with their religious principles.”

Attorney General Abbott listed the states’ legal challenges to the new federal rule:
• The rule conflicts with the First Amendment’s basic elements of the freedoms of religion, speech and association.
• The rule violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act by requiring the federal government to troll through an organization’s religious beliefs to determine whether the organization is religious enough to be exempt from the rule’s mandates.
• The rule’s practical effect will force religious employers and organizations to drop health insurance coverage, which will effect increased enrollment in state Medicaid programs and state-subsidized hospitals and medical centers.

Click here for the complaint

WASHINGTON, D.C. Feb. 22, 2012 — The National Clergy Council, representing church leaders of Catholic, Evangelical, Orthodox, and Protestant church traditions, has declared a State of Emergency for the Churches in response to the order by President Barack Obama for religious organizations to compromise their religious and moral beliefs by complying with a mandate to provide employees with certain forms of insurance coverage.

In recent days, Jewish rabbis have joined all Catholic bishops in the United States in expressing alarm over the president’s “healthcare” mandates and other violations of the Constitution. The National Clergy Council deliberated for the last week on what it would do, consulting pastors, moral theologians, organizational executives and activists from around the U.S. As a result, the Reverend Rob Schenck, president of the Washington, D.C. based group, will begin the holy season of Lent 2012 by appealing to President Obama for answers with a “State of Emergency and Time for Speaking” declaration to be hand-delivered to the White House on Ash Wednesday, February 22.

Video update: White House refused delivery

Speaking for the council, Rev. Schenck says in his communiqué to the president,  ”[W]e state to you our unwavering position on the sanctity of our constitutionally protected right to espouse certain principles of conscience; and, we maintain and insist on our God-given, moral rights to act upon these principles of conscience within our respective institutions and in keeping with their attendant prerogatives. Furthermore, while we hope for a resolution to this crisis that includes the rescinding of your directives, we must hold to our convictions and positions and act according to our prerogatives no matter the legal, social, pecuniary, or political consequences.”

As Rev. Schenck explains in the document, the action he and his committee have taken is inspired by the Nazi-era hero Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “the German pastor and martyr, who is an exemplar of what it means to hold to and to exercise one’s religious, moral, and ethical convictions, even to the surrender of every other right, including the right to one’s life.” Bonhoeffer wrote on the “status confessionis,” a time when churches must speak out. Schenck says in his letter this is such a time, “during which we must take extraordinary action to respectfully resist your decrees, state our deeply held and felt reasons for doing so, and call our coreligionists, and all people of conscience to stand with us.”

On February 2, President Obama was publicly given the biography “BONHOEFFER: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy: A Righteous Gentile vs. the Third Reich” by its author, Eric Metaxas, when he and the president shared a podium at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington. In the State of Emergency declaration sent to President Obama, Rev. Schenck urges the president to read the book for insights to the National Clergy Council’s declaration.

Rev. Schenck, also president of Faith and Action, is currently writing his doctoral thesis on Dietrich Bonhoeffer at the Faith Evangelical College and Seminary of Tacoma, Washington.  See more about Confronting the President on Rob’s blog.

The spokespersons for the National Clergy Council on this subject are the Reverend Dr. Charles Nestor, senior fellow for Public Policy, available at 863-698-2270 or magrev1@yahoo.com; and the Reverend Norm Lund, Ph.D., Lutheran moral theologian and advisor on the Theology of Church and State, available at 425-402-9624 or NLund@OxfordTutor.org.

Faith and Action’s partner organization Priests for Life, led by Father Frank Pavone, filed the federal lawsuit Priests for Life v. Sebelius in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn), on February 15, 2012.

It names Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius because she issued President Obama’s order mandating houses of worship to pay for abortion pills, among other unethical and deadly procedures. Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare, HHS secretaries are entitled to issue unconstitutional mandates and ration or deny health care to Americans.

As Faith and Action explained, after hundreds of religious leaders, faith-based and pro-life organizations publicly refused to comply with the mandate, President Obama announced an “accommodation” exempting houses of worship. Now he requires all health insurance companies to provide so-called ‘contraception’ “free of change.” This “accommodation” exempts no one and the number of religious leaders protesting it has grown to thousands.

The Priests for Life lawsuit is the first to be launched subsequent to the announcement of the “accommodations” and addresses policy as it currently stands.

Thus, Priests for Life said, “One part of their lawsuit seeks injunctive relief from the ‘forced speech’ aspect of the controversial Health and Human Services ruling. According to the HHS regulations, virtually all U.S. employers will not only be forced to pay for 100% of an employee’s prescription for abortion-causing drugs, but also be forced to instruct the employee on how to obtain these morally-objectionable prescriptions and get them for free.”

Priests for Life is headquartered in Staten Island, New York and has a Washington office in the headquarters of Father Paul Schenck’s National Pro-Life Center on Capitol Hill.

WND covered the lawsuits by Priests for Life and EWTN, the global Catholic media network, noting that the Obama mandates violate universal human rights.

As Faith and Action further reported, many members of Congress reject the Obama mandates and seek to pass remedial bills until the Affordable Health Care for America Act can be completely repealed.

On Ash Wednesday, a “State of Emergency” declaration from Faith and Action’s Rev. Rob Schenck will be delivered to President Obama.

Faith and Action also is lodging formal complaints; working with members of Congress to “check” the executive branch; and signing-on to lawsuits to block these actions. Likewise, we’ll continue to mobilize religious leaders to speak out, pray and resist these unconstitutional violations of the First Amendment and other human rights.

Lawmakers in both houses of Congress are attempting to nullify President Obama’s latest so-called ‘healthcare’ mandate requiring all heath insurance companies to provide abortion pills “free of charge.”

On February 10, after Catholic bishops and other Christian and Jewish leaders publicly had refused to comply with a January 2012 mandate requiring them to pay for abortion drugs and other unethical procedures, President Obama announced an “accommodation.” However, while the president and White House say the latest  mandate exempts places of worship, they also say insurance companies must provide “free” “contraceptive coverage” and this really means no one is exempted from the unconstitutional mandate.

Members of our Faith and Action team were part of a special briefing with U.S. senators to discuss strategies for protecting religious leaders and institutions against the severe punishments threatened by the Obama administration should churches refuse to cooperate with him.

We made the point that this battle isn’t about birth-control pills or devices or “preventative care” – as the Obama administration sometimes coins it. After all, birth-control pills and interuterine devices don’t prevent pregnancy, they abort newly-conceived human persons.

This conflict is about the constitutionally guaranteed freedom to exercise our natural rights without government interference.

Recently, we began a new project at Faith and Action, the William Bentley Ball Memorial Archive. The archive contains all the files, case briefs and legal resources of the late attorney William Bentley Ball – a pioneer in defending religious liberty at the U.S. Supreme Court. The archive is being used to assist attorneys, lawmakers and judges in religious liberty cases.

Little did we realize when we began this project how crucial it would soon be to the preservation of our freedoms.

While at the meeting in the U.S. Senate offices discussing ways to resist the Obama administration’s unprecedented executive order, we were stunned to hear the members of the Senate refer to Wisconsin v. Yoder, the historic case argued at the U.S. Supreme Court by William Bentley Ball. We were stunned to hear that it’s the centerpiece of their efforts to end this presidential bullying of churches and religious leaders. In the trial, Mr. Ball defended the religious rights of three Amish families and won the case.

Incidentally, President Obama’s recent announcement backtracking on this issue is not the end of the story. We strongly believe this is just political maneuvering to buy time – and members of Congress agree.

As a result of the Senate meeting, members of the Faith and Action team spoke with senior lawyers from one of America’s premier pubic interest constitutional law firms to discuss strategies to fight the president’s executive order.

So our William Bentley Ball archive has already become an invaluable resource in defending the free exercise of religion in America.

Bills and the Obama ‘Accommodation’

On January 30, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida introduced the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 2012 (S. 2043). So far, the bill is cosponsored by 29 of his colleagues. In brief, it would amend the Public Health Service Act to provide religious conscience protections for individuals and organizations.

In reaction to President Obama’s announcement of an “accommodation,” Sen. Rubio said, “It’s good that the president reaffirmed that the federal government cannot force faith-based institutions to provide services that they teach are wrong. Unfortunately, as more of these rules are written, our constitutional rights will continue to be threatened by the administration’s policy goals. This issue exemplifies the problem with putting the federal government in charge of health care and shows why we must fully repeal Obamacare.”

On February 15, Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska held a media conference featuring House and Senate colleagues of both parties and called for swift action on his bill, the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act (H.R. 11790), which he introduced last March to protect the religious liberties and conscience rights of every American. The bill has 190 cosponsors in the House and Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri is moving the legislation (S. 1467) forward in the other chamber with 37 cosponsors.

(Sen. Blunt also added the full text of Fortenberry’s bill to the Transportation Authorization Bill (S. 1813). On February 16, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois announced the Senate will vote on Blunt’s Senate Amendment 1520 after recess, most likely February 27 or 28.)

“The final rule that was filed last Friday did not make any changes to the HHS mandate,” said Rep. Dan Lipinski of Illinois. “We still need to pass the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act in order to protect the conscience rights of all Americans.”

Congressman Bob Latta of Ohio essentially condemned the president’s “accommodation.” He said, “It is an accounting gimmick that ignores the conscience rights of Americans. The Obama administration has gone against 30 years of federal conscience protections with this rule. I am extremely disappointed that this regulation departs from that tradition and the religious liberty that is enshrined in the First Amendment to the Constitution.”

Faith and Action’s president, Rev. Rob Schenck, said, “It’s ludicrous for President Obama to offer a so-called compromise on this egregious violation of religious freedom. The First Amendment expressly forbids him from prohibiting the free exercise of religion. The U.S. founders were crystal clear on that. What’s there to compromise? Certainly not a constitutionally-guaranteed liberty. This action is reason for all religious people – all people of goodwill – to declare a state of emergency. We must speak now or be forever forced to hold our peace.”

Faith and Action was strongly represented at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, DC today. Peggy Nienaber, Chief of Program, and Patty Bills, Supporter Relations Specialist, joined with other notable political and civic leaders, including the President of the United States, Barack Obama, as the nation was reminded of our dependence upon God.

Congressman Mike McIntyre called on people of a faith to “build a wall of prayer” around our nation. Senator Tom Coburn reminded Americans to “love your neighbor as you love yourself.”

The featured speaker at the Prayer Breakfast, Eric Metaxes, author of Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy, is a friend of Faith and Action Lead Missionary Rob Schenck, who prayed with Eric about his presentation. Rob challenged Eric to follow the lead of the subject of Metaxes’s books, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and “speak with conviction the truth, no matter who may be present.” Eric thanked Rob and today declared an uncompromising message of God’s grace to all sinners who seek is face.

Also at the National Prayer Breakfast was Mr. Steve Green, president of the crafts store chain, Hobby Lobby. Mr. Green is working to build the largest Biblical antiquities museum in America, if not the world. Rob Schenck has been strategically assisting Mr. Green in locating potential properties to house the museum in the hopes it will be located in the nation’s capital.

Today was an extraordinary day in Washington, DC and Faith and Action was actively engaged in working to give the National Prayer Breakfast a true national impact.

The following is a reprint of the Pennsylvania House Resolution calling for 2012 to be the “Year of the Bible”. We congratulate the courageous men and women of Pennsylvania for taking this bold stand.