The Weird, Offensive Argument At The Heart Of The Supreme Court Case Against Birth Control

Pro tip: if you’re about to file a brief in the Supreme Court, it’s a good idea to make sure that you haven’t made any arguments that could give the Court’s blessing to race discrimination. Otherwise, you risk falling into the same trap that caught the lawyers behind a major challenge to women’s access to birth control now pending in the Supreme Court...
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2016/03/15/3760254/the-weird-offensive-argument-at-the-heart-of-the-supreme-court-case-against-birth-control/

Trump Takes His Fourth Position On Abortion In Three Days. He’ll Need To Change This One Immediately

Trump is having a lot of trouble making up his mind about where he stands on abortion...
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2016/04/01/3765914/trump-abortion-four-positions-three-days/

Jerry Coyne - Why Evolution is True and Why Many People Still Don't Believe It

Interview:
https://youtu.be/ijhQczcVJbU

Faith vs. Fact

Since Galileo's lifetime house arrest in 1632 for his claim of a sun-centered solar system, the question has remained: are science and religion compatible? Evolutionary biologist Jerry Coyne is unequivocal. "Absolutely not," he says. He discusses his book, "Faith vs. Fact: Why Science and Religion are Incompatible."
Interview:
https://youtu.be/y6T39bz7A4w

A Colorado School District Will Give Away Satanic and (Censored) Atheist Literature to Students

The School District has complained about two FFRF pamphlets: “An X-Rated Book: Sex and Obscenity in the Bible” and “What Does the Bible Say About Abortion?” 

Both of them are being limited to just the local high schools. The School District objects to the cartoon cover of “An X-Rated Book,” which shows a bible groping a young woman. 

“It is inappropriate in a school setting; we would not allow any of the high school students to wear or otherwise display such a cartoon,” says School District Attorney Andrew Clay. “Why would we allow them to carry it in the building? It may also qualify as hate literature, demeaning women.“

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2016/04/01/a-colorado-school-district-will-give-away-satanic-and-censored-atheist-literature-to-students/

Mississippi could now legalize discrimination against people who have premarital sex

...But as this bill is actually written, though, a whole lot of people in Mississippi besides sexual minorities could face discrimination, too — like the vast numbers of people who have had sex outside of marriage...
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/03/mississippi-could-now-legalize-discrimination-against-people-who-have-premarital-sex/

Fetal Tissue Research Uncovers New Information About Zika | ThinkProgress

New medical research has quickly advanced doctors’ understanding of how the Zika virus infects a fetus and how to detect its presence much earlier in a woman’s pregnancy. These findings — released Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine — would have been impossible to uncover without the help of one crucial, yet controversial, resource: tissue collected from an aborted fetus infected by Zika...
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2016/03/31/3765233/fetal-tissue-zika-study/

Blustering Barton: Religious Right Pseudo-Historian Claims Tithing Will Make Your Car And Clothes Last Longer

It’s alarming that a guy with these views and who has been accused of stretching the truth time and time again remains allied with politicians and is so beloved by the Religious Right...
https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/blustering-barton-religious-right-pseudo-historian-claims-tithing-will-make

Trump's Abortion Comments: A Closer Look

Seth takes a closer look at Donald Trump's controversial statement that there should be "some form of punishment" for women who seek abortions.
https://youtu.be/VpGJlZinFxk

Kansas Bill Would Pay Students A $2,500 Bounty To Hunt For Trans People In Bathrooms

The complementary bills (SB 513 and HB 2737) declare in no uncertain terms that transgender students are going to harm other students just by using the same facility alongside them. “Allowing students to use restrooms, locker rooms and showers that are reserved for students of a different sex will create potential embarrassment, shame, and psychological injury to students,” they read...
http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2016/03/22/3762490/kansas-transgender-ransom-bathrooms/

Spoiler Alert: Women Are Already Being Punished For Having Abortions | ThinkProgress

Multiple U.S. women -- with few options to get themselves to one of their state's dwindling legal clinics -- have been arrested for illegal abortions after they bought abortion-inducing medication online. And thanks to the growing number of laws aimed at protecting “fetal rights,” other women have been punished for doing activities that allegedly harmed their pregnancies. Americans have been charged with murder for allegedly seeking to harm their fetuses by attempting suicide, using illicit drugs, or even falling down the stairs...
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2016/03/30/3765073/women-punished-abortion/

Zika Is Headed For States With Harsh Abortion Restrictions. What Happens When It Gets There?

Zika’s Spread Across The U.S. May Change The Narrative Around Abortion.
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2016/03/30/3764270/zika-comes-to-anti-abortion-states/

Transparent Trickery: Claims Of ‘Persecution’ In Idaho Fail To Sway Court

ADF’s stunt was extremely transparent. It had two goals: One, exempt the Hitching Post from having to perform same-sex marriages and two, try to create a case in which a Christian ministry was being persecuted for its beliefs.
https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/transparent-trickery-claims-of-persecution-in-idaho-fail-to-sway-court

Ted Cruz Just Gave an Unbelievably Hypocritical Answer to a Question About Church/State Separation

Earlier tonight, during a Town Hall with CNN, student Thomas Dougherty asked Ted Cruz about his stance on church/state separation (13:00 mark)...
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2016/03/29/ted-cruz-just-gave-an-unbelievably-hypocritical-answer-to-a-question-about-churchstate-separation/

Brazil Confiscates Abortion Pills From Pregnant Women Exposed To Zika

“I contacted Zika four days ago. I just found out I’m about six weeks pregnant. I have a son I love dearly. I love children. But I don’t believe it is a wise decision to keep a baby who will suffer. I need an abortion. I don’t know who to turn to. Please help me ASAP.”
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2016/03/28/3763898/brazil-abortion-pill-confiscated-zika/

Why pediatricians care so much about the Supreme Court’s birth control case - The Washington Post

For the second time in two years, the Supreme Court justices tangled over a question about personal beliefs and birth control: Must employers who are religiously opposed to it cover it in their health plans? A prominent group of pediatricians hopes the answer will be yes...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/03/24/why-pediatricians-care-so-much-about-the-supreme-courts-birth-control-case/

Denied contraception, Catholic mother of disabled child questions church teachings — at her peril

Sonia Guizar used to attend mass regularly and teach at a Catholic school. But her Catholic employer’s refusal to cover birth control brought her an ill-timed pregnancy and a child with developmental challenges that stretch her family thin. When she publically shared her experience and questioned Church teachings in a Washington Post story, what she got from fellow Catholics was a heap of abuse from people whose urge to defend religious dogma and authority trumped their kindness and compassion...
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/03/denied-contraception-catholic-mother-of-disabled-child-questions-church-teachings-at-her-peril/

Water Works & Indiana Death Threats (Freedom From Religion Foundation, Forethought Radio)

FFRF staff attorney Sam Grover updates us on our amended complaint adding more plaintiffs to our lawsuit (filed along with the ACLU) challenging the live nativity scene performed by Concord High School in Elkhart, Indiana, and the accompanying harassment and death threats. Then Abigail Cantor, an award-winning national water management expert (as well as musician) tells us about the science behind what needs to be done in Flint, Michigan (and other cities) to improve water quality.
Interview:
https://ffrf.org/news/radio/show-items/item/25767-freethought-radio-february-13-2016

Can Religious Groups Ignore All Laws They Don’t Like?

Or just those related to women’s health?
http://www.thenation.com/article/can-religious-groups-ignore-laws-they-dont-like/

A Once-Devout Catholic Woman Says She’s “Disillusioned” by the Church’s Anti-Contraception Stance

"The extreme measures the church is taking to block women’s access to common health care — including the 98 percent of Catholic women of reproductive age who have used a method of contraception other than natural family planning — is turning me away from the Catholic Church. I no longer celebrate Mass. They are out of touch with the people they claim to represent, and this time they’ve gone too far. I hope the Supreme Court recognizes that and protects my right to access the care that we’re promised under the law."

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2016/03/23/a-once-devout-catholic-woman-says-shes-disillusioned-by-the-churchs-anti-contraception-stance/