Newly released data from an ongoing Pew Research Center study shows that government restrictions on religion around the world have risen to a record level amid increases in government restrictions on religion in Asia and Pacific countries, most notably. The nonpartisan polling organization published on Tuesday results from its 11th annual study of restrictions on religion. The series of annual reports are part of the Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures project and analyze the extent that societies worldwide infringe on religious beliefs and practices.
The most recent data available is from 2018 through a study that rates 198 countries and territories by the levels of government restrictions on religion and also the levels of social hostilities toward religion in those countries. All the studies over the last decade-plus have been based on the same 10-point index.
“In 2018, the global median level of government restrictions on religion — that is, laws, policies and actions by officials that impinge on religious beliefs and practices — continued to climb, reaching an all-time high since Pew Research Center began tracking these trends in 2007,” the authors of the new report wrote.
According to CBS, abortions are resuming in South Dakota after a seven-month halt:
For decades, patients seeking an abortion have faced barriers in South Dakota — a state that’s home to dozens of restrictions and only one clinic — but the coronavirus proved to be an obstacle too much to overcome. After years of flying out-of-state doctors to its lone health center in Sioux Falls, Planned Parenthood halted abortion services there in March, citing travel concerns caused by the virus. For seven months this year, abortion wasn’t available in South Dakota, marking the longest a state has gone without the procedure since it was legalized nationwide nearly 50 years ago.
Abortion services resumed in October, but only for one day a month. Sarah Stoesz, who leads the clinic, says there aren’t enough appointments for everyone that’s called to request one. Instead, they’ve had to tell patients to wait until the next month or go out of state. She says she’s sure that not everyone who wants an abortion in South Dakota is able to get one.
Hopefully, many children were saved during this period. All of the data indicates that when abortions are harder to obtain, fewer people get them.
Argentina’s President Alberto Fernández is to present a new bill to Congress on legalising abortion – a campaign pledge delayed by the coronavirus outbreak. He says the measure will help save lives, as every year almost 40,000 women are treated in hospital after botched illegal procedures.
Abortion in Argentina is currently allowed only in cases of rape, or if the mother’s health is in danger. It is largely prohibited across Latin America, except in restricted cases. If the bill is passed, Argentina – an overwhelmingly Roman Catholic nation – will become the largest country in the region to legalise abortion.
Since 2018, when the Argentine senate voted narrowly against legalizing abortion in the first three months of pregnancy, pro-lifers have taken to the streets in their millions (the largest day of protest put four million people on the streets across the nation.) Pray that they might overcome this latest threat, as well.
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Great news out of Tennessee:
Part of a Tennessee law banning abortions based on a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome or a fetus’ race or sex, can take effect, a federal appeals court ruled Friday. The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals lifted part of a lower court’s preliminary injunction that blocked the law from being enforced, allowing a portion of the law to take effect while the case continues to be litigated between the state and abortion rights groups.
The legislation, signed into law by Gov. Bill Lee this summer, was among the so-called “heartbeat bans” passed by a number of states blocking abortions after the detection of a fetal heartbeat, which can occur as early as six weeks into a pregnancy and before many women know that they’re pregnant. Legal challenges from abortion rights advocates have so far stopped the laws from taking effect in at least nine states, including Tennessee…
Gov. Lee celebrated Friday’s ruling on Twitter, writing, “Every life is precious and every child has inherent human dignity.”
“Our law prohibits abortion based on the race, gender, or diagnosis of Down syndrome of the child and the court’s decision will save lives,” the governor said. “Protecting our most vulnerable Tennesseans is worth the fight.”
