Free Republic

A federal appeals court has issued a shocking opinion forcing a church in Washington state to fund abortions. A Seattle-area church has sued to stop a Washington state law that forces churches to fund abortions in their health care plans. Cedar Park Assembly of God challenged the Washington state law that requires nearly all health plans to cover abortion. Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys fought in court for the church after a lower court ruled that the church must violate its constitutionally protected, pro-life religious beliefs and abide by the state’s mandate that most Washington employers provide abortion coverage for employees....

PHOENIX (AP) — A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that Arizona doesn’t have to give voters who forget to sign their mail ballot time after the election to resolve the issue, rejecting a lawsuit filed by Democrats. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, overturned a lower-court ruling that found it’s unconstitutional for Arizona to give voters time after an election to resolve mismatched signatures but not missing signatures. The appellate judges said Arizona’s interest in reducing the burden on busy poll workers justifies the disparity. The overwhelming majority of Arizona voters cast mail ballots, which...

The U.S. government can’t be held liable for the death of Kate Steinle on a San Francisco pier based on a federal ranger’s negligent storage of a gun that was stolen and used to shoot her, a Ninth Circuit panel ruled Tuesday.Steinle was killed by a bullet that ricocheted off a concrete walkway and struck her in the back on Pier 14 in San Francisco on July 1, 2015. . . . In arguments before a three-judge Ninth Circuit panel last month, a lawyer for Steinle’s parents argued U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) ranger John Woychowski had a duty...