Month: May 2020

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 4, 2020 / 04:00 pm (CNA).- The bishops of the United States are calling for an examination of why the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted African-American communities. 

“Our hearts are wound… […]

CNA Staff, May 4, 2020 / 03:00 pm (CNA).- Arkansas’ only remaining abortion clinic is suing over a state rule that patients must test negative for COVID-19 within 48 hours of any elective surgery, claiming that a lack of testing is preventing women from availing themselves of abortions before the state’s 20-week limit.

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson had on April 3 suspended all elective surgeries throughout the state, with “non-medically necessary surgical abortions” included in that prohibition. Arkansas already has a 72 hour waiting period for abortions.

On April 27, the state modified the order to allow asymptomatic patients to have elective surgeries if they have had a negative COVID-19 NAAT (Nucleic Acid Amplification) test within 48 hours prior to the beginning of the procedure.

The requirement for COVID-19 testing applies across the board to all elective surgeries, Hutchinson has said.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas claims that the abortion clinic has contacted more than 15 testing locations but has been “unable” to find one that will test asymptomatic people and have results within 48 hours.

Despite the initial state order halting abortions, Arkansas health department inspectors on April 9 arrived at Little Rock Family Planning Services unannounced and found that the clinic was still performing surgical abortions.

The next day, the health department sent the clinic a cease-and-desist letter ordering a stop to surgical abortions “except where immediately necessary to protect the life or health of the patient.”

The Diocese of Little Rock’s Respect Life Office told CNA on April 16 of a “particularly troubling” increase in abortions at the clinic, especially by women traveling from neighboring Texas and Louisiana, states which have halted elective abortions.

Though a federal district court had on April 14 put a temporary restraining order on the state order stopping abortions, a federal appeals court on April 22 allowed the state order to go into effect.

Amid national lockdowns and stay-at-home orders, abortion has become a subject of national debate.

Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolf on May 2 vetoed a bill promoting the use of telemedicine during the pandemic because it did not include provisions for at-home abortions.

An amendment to SB 857 banned the use of telemedicine for procedures that are not approved under the Food and Drug Administration’s Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS).

The abortion pill is not approved under REMS and thus would not be allowed via telemedicine under the new bill. At-home medical abortions are already banned under Pennsylvania law.

At least eight states have enacted temporary bans on abortion during the coronavirus pandemic and are subsequently contending with legal challenges. Judges have prevented many of the temporary bans from coming into effect, and some of the temporary orders simply have expired.

Last month in Texas, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that the state’s ban on elective abortions, including medical abortions, could be reinstated, though the order lasted only until April 22.

In Alaska, there was a move by state officials in early April to “delay” abortions until June, but Governor Mike Dunleavy on April 14 allowed elective procedures to resume in the state.

On April 12, a federal judge ruled that the state of Alabama cannot move to limit abortion procedures through measures intended to focus medical resources on fighting coronavirus. Governor Kay Ivey had issued a statewide order March 19 which stopped all medical procedures except for emergencies or those needed to “avoid serious harm from an underlying condition or disease, or necessary as part of a patient’s ongoing and active treatment.”

On April 17, a federal judge ruled that despite Tennessee’s temporary ban on nonessential medical procedures, the state must allow abortions to continue.

Governor Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma issued an executive order halting non-essential surgeries and minor medical procedures in the state during the COVID-19 pandemic, though that order only lasted until April 30.

In Ohio and Iowa, most surgical abortions are currently allowed despite state efforts to restrict them.

The Louisiana Department of Health on March 21 ordered all medical and surgical procedures be postponed until further notice, with exceptions for emergencies. Abortion clinics in the state have sued to block the measure.

Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves issued an executive order April 10 banning all “elective” medical procedures, including abortions, with the order expiring April 27.

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 4, 2020 / 01:35 pm (CNA).- The diocese of Buffalo is asking a federal court to halt all outstanding clergy sex abuse litigation against it as it navigates bankruptcy proceedings.

In a motion filed in federal bankruptcy court on Saturday, the diocese is seeking an injunction on the progress of all child sex abuse lawsuits filed under the Child Victims Act (CVA). The diocese has been named in more than 250 such lawsuits.

Once the diocese filed for bankruptcy, all the CVA lawsuits in which it was named a defendant were moved into bankruptcy court and permanently stopped from moving forward. 

However, its bankruptcy proceedings have only temporarily halted the CVA lawsuits against smaller entities named as co-respondents, such as parishes and parochial schools, which have not themselves declared bankruptcy. Such cases could be moved back into the state supreme court against the co-defendants at the end of bankruptcy proceedings, and the diocese is seeking a permanent injunction on litigating these cases in order to reach a “global resolution” for all cases.

Greg Tucker, a spokesman for the diocese, told CNA on Monday that the diocese is looking “to provide the same ‘breathing spell’ for parishes, schools and other Catholic entities in the hopes of achieving a global resolution” for all the cases, rather than “piecemeal litigation.”

Tucker added that continued litigation would deplete the diocese’s shared insurance reserves, affecting future settlements available to survivors.

Steve Boyd, an attorney representing abuse survivors in some of the CVA cases against the diocese, said on Sunday that by filing for an injunction on all cases, the diocese was trying to prevent survivors having their day in court.

“This is another legal financial maneuver by the diocese designed to keep juries from hearing what the priests and bishops did, and what they failed to do to protect kids,” Boyd said in a video posted on Facebook on Sunday.

The diocese has been named in more than 250 lawsuits under the Child Victims Act which created a one-year “lookback” window for child sex abuse lawsuits.

The window, which began in August of 2019, allows a year-long period for lawsuits to be filed in cases of alleged child sex abuse where the statute of limitations had already expired.

In February, already facing hundreds of sex abuse lawsuits, the diocese filed for bankruptcy.

As part of its bankruptcy proceedings, the diocese cut off around two dozen accused priests from financial assistance and health benefits on May 1; the priests had “substantiated” allegations of the sexual abuse of children and had been removed from active ministry, but had not been laicized, leaving the diocese with a canonical obligation to provide for their basic sustenance.

In its filing for a stay, the diocese argued that it would not be regarded as distinct from the parishes and schools in court, and that it “is the real target defendant in the CVA cases.”

The “core allegations” in the lawsuits that were filed against parishes or schools “make no distinction” between their actions and those of the diocese, the motion stated. Furthermore, “moving forward” with the cases “would force the Diocese to participate in each CVA Case to the detriment of its estate’s assets and the reorganization process.”

“Continuing the CVA Cases during the pendency of this Chapter 11 Case will be burdensome on the Diocese and will disrupt the administration and expeditious reorganization of the Diocese’s estate to the detriment of all creditors,” the motion stated.

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 4, 2020 / 11:00 am (CNA).- The state of Indiana is hopeful the Supreme Court will hear their case on whether the state can block Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers from receiving Medicaid funding. 

Stat… […]

CNA Staff, May 4, 2020 / 10:00 am (CNA).- The Justice Department (DOJ) is backing a small community church suing Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, arguing that the state cannot single out churches for public health restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic.

Lighthouse Fellowship Church on Virginia’s Eastern Shore filed suit last week against Northam’s stay-at-home order prohibiting church gatherings with more than ten people inside. The DOJ filed a statement of interest on Sunday in the case.

“The United States has a substantial interest in the preservation of its citizens’ fundamental right to the free exercise of religion, expressly protected by the First Amendment,” the brief states.

Although the state can lawfully restrict gatherings during a public health emergency, it must do so without discriminating against religion, the DOJ argued in its brief. So far, Virginia has not shown that it applied restrictions evenly for secular and religious gatherings, as many exemptions exist for various businesses but not for churches, the DOJ said.

The church sued the state after its pastor received a summons for hosting a 16-person Palm Sunday service on April 5 at the church. Gov. Northam had issued a stay-at-home order prohibiting gatherings of more than 10 people, including in churches.

At the Palm Sunday service, a police officer entered the church and told attendees they were in violation of the governor’s order, threatening arrest for attendees who violated the order in the future. Pastor Kevin Wilson faces up to one year in prison or up to $2,500 in fines.

Lawyers representing the church say that its congregation is disproportionately poor and vulnerable, that attendees of the Palm Sunday service were spaced out within the church sanctuary, and that congregants don’t have the means of watching or listening to church services remotely.

“Some of them [congregants] are former drug addicts, that have come out of drug addiction; others are some people who have been in prostitution—not all of the people in the church, but some of them are from that background,” Matt Staver, chairman and founder of the Liberty Counsel which represents Lighthouse Fellowship Church, told CNA in a previous interview.

“For some of those individuals, the church is the only family that they have and they rely upon the church for support.” 

According to the DOJ’s statement of interest, the state has not yet responded to allegations that it treated the church differently than it did other secular establishments such as law and accounting offices that were allowed to hold gatherings of more than 10 people.

For instance, Gov. Northam’s order allows staff gatherings at certain businesses with no limit on the number of employees; it also exempts beer, wine, and liquor stores, hardware and home improvement stores, and laundromats and dry cleaners from restrictions to which churches are subject.

The state does have legitimate authority to take “necessary, temporary measures to meet a genuine emergency,” the DOJ argued, but such restrictions must be “balanced” against constitutional rights and cannot discriminate against religion.

By singling out religious institutions, the state now has the “burden of proof” that its order has “compelling reasons” to treat religious services differently than other secular gatherings, the DOJ argues, and so far the state has failed to prove its case.

The brief is part of Attorney General William Barr’s April 27 initiative to clarify constitutional rights during the pandemic.

The DOJ has also supported a Mississippi church in its case against the city of Greenville; the church held drive-in services that were curtailed by the city as a public health risk, with police issuing fines of $500 to participants who remained in their cars even as local restaurants were allowed to serve drive-in patrons. The mayor later said the city would not collect on the fines and would allow such services to continue in future.

Also, on Saturday the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals granted an injunction against a state order to Maryville Baptist Church in Kentucky, saying that “[t]he Governor has offered no good reason so far for refusing to trust the congregants who promise to use care in worship in just the same way it trusts accountants, lawyers, and laundromat workers to do the same.”

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