The Weekly is a rundown of news by the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission highlighting the week’s top news stories from the public square and providing commentary on the big issues of our day.

5 Facts about Crisis Pregnancy Centers and the Supreme Court Case That Threatens Their Existence

On Wednesday, Congressmen Andy Harris, M.D. (R-MD) and Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) lead a special order in support of pro-life pregnancy resource centers involved in the NIFLA v. Becerra case. (You can watch a video of the event on C-Span.) Here are five facts you should know about pregnancy resource centers and the NIFLA case.

1. Pregnancy resource centers (PRC)—also sometimes known as a crisis pregnancy centers (CPC) or pregnancy help organizations (PHO)—are local, nonprofit organizations that counsel against abortion and provide support to women and men faced with difficult pregnancy decisions. Most PRC’s offer a wide range of services, including no-cost pregnancy tests, information about pro-life pregnancy options, pregnancy decision coaching by trained advocates, and post-decision support, such as parenting education and abortion recovery groups. Some also offer testing for sexually transmitted infections and diseases, consultations with licensed medical professionals, and limited ultrasounds for pregnancy confirmation.

2. The first modern crisis pregnancy center began helping women in California in 1968. Within three years there were 70 centers, many of which joined together to form Alternatives to Abortion (later known as Heartbeat International). In 1975, two years after the nationwide legalization of abortion, theologian Harold O. J. Brown formed the Christian Action Council, a group which would later adopt the name “Care Net.” Care Net opened its first PRC in 1983. In 1994 the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA) was established to provide legal counsel to PRCs. NIFLA later became the first national pregnancy center organization to promote the acquisition of ultrasound technology. Today, Heartbeat International, Care Net, and NIFLA are the three major PRC networks, operating nearly 2,000 pregnancy centers.

3. The PRCs operating in the United States are staffed by more than 70,000 volunteers who do everything from bookkeeping to pregnancy counseling. At most PRCs the medical services are also supplied by doctors, nurses, and other medical and management personnel who volunteer their time and talents to help women at risk for abortion. Many PRCs also share the gospel with their clients. According to Care Net, over the past seven years more than 1.2 million people heard the gospel from an affiliated PRC.

4. About half of PRCs in America offer ultrasound services to the women they serve at little or no cost. In 2010 alone, close to 230,000 ultrasounds were performed at PRCs. The use of ultrasounds helps to provide confirmation of pregnancy, verifies the developing baby’s gestational age, and provides essential information that can provide a new perspective for women thinking about having an abortion. (Through the Psalm 139 Project, ERLC seeks to save lives by donating an ultrasound machine to a PRC in the city hosting the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting.)

5. NIFLA v. Becerra is a case before the Supreme Court about a California law that threatens to shut down PRCs. In October 2015, California enacted the Reproductive FACT (Freedom, Accountability, Comprehensive Care, and Transparency) Act, which requires that licensed medical centers—including pro-life pregnancy centers—provide a notice to women stating, “California has public programs that provide immediate free or low-cost access to comprehensive family planning services (including all FDA-approved methods of contraception), prenatal care, and abortion for eligible women. To determine whether you qualify, contact the county social services office at [insert the telephone number].” The law also forces non-medical pregnancy centers to add to all advertisements a large disclosure in multiple languages about their non-medical status. Violation of this law results in a fine of $500 for a first offense and then $1,000 for each subsequent offense. NIFLA filed lawsuits to stop the law from going into effect, claiming the FACT Act is unconstitutional because it violates both their right to free speech and their free exercise of religion under the First Amendment. In deciding the case, the Supreme Court has said it will only consider the issues involving the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment and not the religious liberty implications.

This week on ERLC podcasts: Daniel Darling talks to Michael Kelley, director of discipleship at Lifeway, about demystifying discipleship. On the Capitol Conversations podcast, Greg Glod from Right on Crime joins Matt Hawkins to discuss criminal justice reform, the DC team chats about current policies on the ERLC’s front burner ) including the Conscience Protection Act) and about Billy Graham’s lying in honor at the U.S. Capitol. On the Countermoves podcast, Andrew Walker interviews Heritage Foundation Scholar Ryan T. Anderson on his new book, When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment. And on the ERLC podcast, John Stonestreet discusses how to help the next generation navigate today’s world.

Other Issues

American Culture

Food stamp administrators worry about food box proposal
ABC News

Food stamp administrators say their programs already are efficient.

Bioethics

Commercial surrogacy exploits women, opponents say
Baptist Press

The state of Washington last week legalized commercial surrogacy. Opponents argued the measure exploits women and children by commodifying the womb, but advocates in February successfully pushed the bill through the state House and Senate by narrow margins. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, signed it into law on March 6.

In 2017, 83 Dutch Mental Patients Were Euthanized
National Review Online

The Dutch plunge into the euthanasia moral abyss continues to accelerate, with the number of patients killed by doctors exceeding 6,000 in 2017.

The Problem with Surrogacy: A Brief Sketch
Mere Orthodoxy

This will, hopefully, be brief. I wanted to briefly articulate what the core good of the Christian vision of sexuality is so that we can then connect that good to the problems of IVF and surrogacy.  

Mississippi moves to ban abortions after 15 weeks
The Week

On Thursday, the Mississippi House of Representatives voted 75-34 in favor of a bill that bans women from having abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The state Senate approved the bill Tuesday with a 35-14 vote, and the office of Gov. Phil Bryant (R) said he plans to sign it into law next week, to take effect immediately.

Christianity and Culture

How Trump Is Remaking Evangelicalism
The Atlantic

This fall, Christian students at Princeton dropped the word “evangelical” from the name of their fellowship. They felt the term is increasingly “confusing, or unknown, or misunderstood,” the director, William Boyce, told The Daily Princetonian. 

Family Issues

The Crisis of Fatherless Shooters
The Daily Signal

In the wake of the Parkland massacre, the age-old question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” has a newfound relevance. As another mass school shooting stuns Americans, it is time to talk about not just how to protect students from shooters, but also about what must happen so that fewer students become shooters in the first place. 

Okla. Senate votes for adoption protection
Baptist Press

Legislation to preserve the religious freedom of faith-based adoption agencies in Oklahoma took an important step toward becoming law Tuesday (March 13) with the support of national and state Baptist leaders.

International Issues

American pro-life leaders urge Irish Prime Minister not to repeal abortion ban
Crux

NEW YORK — Ahead of a May referendum that would overturn Ireland’s ban on abortion, a group of prominent American pro-life leaders are urging Ireland’s Prime Minister to uphold his country’s 8th amendment. On Thursday, a letter signed by 17 notable pro-life leaders was hand delivered to Prime Minister Leo Varadkar a day before he is scheduled to visit the White House for its annual Saint Patrick

Turkey Wants to Keep American Pastor Behind Bars for Life
Christianity Today

American officials and supporters say Andrew Brunson has been “unjustly imprisoned” under false charges. Turkish prosecutors demanded life imprisonment for jailed US pastor Andrew Brunson in an official indictment presented to Izmir’s 2nd Criminal Court on Tuesday. 

Rwandan Government Closes Over 700 Churches
Religion Clause

RNS reports that on Tuesday, the government of Rwanda shut down 714 of the more than 1300 churches in the country's capital city of Kigali. The Rwanda Governance Board says that the closings were the result of building safety, hygiene and noise violations. Most of the churches affected were small Pentecostal congregations that have multiplied in recent years. 

Marriage Issues

Child marriage on chopping block in some U.S. states
Baptist Press

Child marriage is legal in most U.S. states, but a growing number of legislatures are changing the laws that have disproportionately harmed girls as young as 11.

Religious Liberty

Religious liberty ruled no basis for transgender policy
Baptist Press

Religious freedom provides no legal basis to discipline transgender workers who violate workplace gender policies, a U.S. appeals court has ruled in a groundbreaking decision.

Will Trump’s New Secretary of State Prioritize Religious Freedom?
Christianity Today

Fired Rex Tillerson was still shuffling strategy. Now experts are looking to Mike Pompeo to set the tone. Top advocates have spent much of President Donald Trump’s time in office waiting for his administration’s international religious freedom efforts to fall into place.  

My University Stripped a Campus Ministry of Recognition, Until It Fought Back
The Daily Signal

My school, Wayne State University, doesn’t typically get much media attention. It’s the third-largest university in Michigan, with over 27,000 students, yet it often gets overshadowed by the bigger universities in the state. So I was surprised last week to see Wayne State make national headlines for reinstating a Christian student group on campus.  

Group seeks new U.S. religious freedom post for Nigeria
Baptist Press

A religious and secular coalition will urge Congress to create a U.S. coordinator for religious freedom in Nigeria as terrorism against Christians and other religious minorities intensifies in the African nation.

Sexuality Issues

I Am a Survivor of Human Trafficking: Natalicia’s Story
The Atlantic

This is one of three first-person accounts written by survivors of human trafficking. The others, as well as background about the project, can be found here. My mother used to tell me, “I want you to go to school for me.” She herself had never had the chance. She came from a family of 10 children, and became a domestic worker, caring for another family’s children, by age 8. She stayed with them

I Am a Survivor of Human Trafficking: Judith’s Story
The Atlantic

This is one of three first-person accounts written by survivors of human trafficking. The others, as well as background about the project, can be found here. I arrived in New York on September 15, 2005, at age 38, clutching a personal statement I had written for myself. It read, “I am going to America for the future of my kids. I am going to give them a good future. This is my purpose.”  

I Am a Survivor of Human Trafficking: Nena’s Story
The Atlantic

This is one of three first-person accounts written by survivors of human trafficking. The others, as well as background about the project, can be found here. I come from a family of teachers: father, husband, sisters, and daughter. I taught for 32 years at an elementary school in the Philippines. Somehow, that added to the shame I felt for being a survivor of trafficking.