Free Republic

GOP Gov. Bill Haslam cites law’s requirements for referrals, helping at-risk individuals. Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam signed a law Wednesday that allows professional counselors to use personally held principles as reasons to refuse clients and refer them on, projecting his state into the national debate over measures affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina legislators enacted a law in June giving magistrates and staffers in county register of deeds offices a way to avoid participating in same-sex weddings if they have religious objections to gay marriage. But officials said Thursday that the law is different from what's on the books in Kentucky, where a clerk who defied court orders to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples has been jailed, and they don't foresee a similar standoff occurring in North Carolina. U.S. District Judge David Bunning said he had no choice but to jail Rowan County (Ky.) Clerk Kim Davis...

If you have ever complained that the bishops haven’t done enough on a particular issue, now’s your chance to prove that you weren’t just complaining. Imagine the president were backing a bill to force Jews to eat pork — or to make Muslims desecrate the Koran. Obama is doing worse with an effort to force Catholic doctors to kill unborn children. The bishops have reacted with intelligence, imagination and boldness. Here’s the webpage they have set up. http://www.usccb.org/conscienceprotection/ There find reasons to stand up for conscience rights — given in written and video form, and even in Spanish. Find links...