Federal court restores Utah polygamy ban
(WNS)–A federal court upheld Utah’s ban on polygamy Monday, adding to the drama surrounding the TLC reality television show, Sister Wives. The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a lawsuit filed six years ago by Kody Brown and his four “wives” to challenge the Utah law and re-instated a statute that makes bigamy a third-degree felony. Salt Lake City is home to the Mormon church, which sanctioned polygamy until 1890 when Utah sought statehood. But some breakaway groups still encourage the practice. Kody Brown is legally married to Meri Brown, but “spiritually married” to three other women. The Browns and their collective 17 children are members of the Apostolic United Brethren, a small sect of Mormonism that upholds the original doctrine of plural marriage.
California AG seizes undercover videos from David Daleiden’s apartment
(WNS)–Center for Medical Progress (CMP) director David Daleiden revealed on April 5 that agents from the California attorney general’s office searched his Orange County apartment, seizing “all video footage” related to CMP’s investigation into Planned Parenthood’s involvement in the fetal tissue trade.Reporting the raid on CMP’s Facebook page, Daleiden characterized the search and seizure of the videos as an “attack on citizen journalism.” He blamed the decision for the raid on the close alliance between California Attorney General Kamala Harris and Planned Parenthood. “Kamala Harris, who was elected with tens of thousands of dollars from taxpayer-funded Planned Parenthood … has steadfastly refused to enforce the law against the baby body parts traffickers in our state,” Daleiden wrote. On several occasions, Harris has publicly defended Planned Parenthood, and the abortion industry giant donated thousands of dollars to the Democrat’s successful 2014 re-election bid.
Mississippi governor signs religious liberty law
(WNS)–A new state law known as the Religious Liberty Accommodations Act will now protect business owners in Mississippi who believe in traditional marriage. The state’s Republican governor, Phil Bryant, said he signed Mississippi House Bill 1523 on April 5 “to protect sincerely held religious beliefs and moral convictions of individuals, organizations and private associations from discriminatory action by state government or its political subdivisions. …” The Religious Liberty Accommodations Act cites cases where the government fined or forced closure of wedding-related businesses because they would not participate in ceremony involving a homosexual union. The law protects the convictions of those who believe marriage is between one man and one woman, that sex is for marriage alone, and that “maleness” or “femaleness” refers to a person’s actual biology.
