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U.S.
Texas AG sues NY doctor for prescribing abortion pills to woman in Dallas
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit on behalf of the state against a New York state doctor for prescribing abortion pills to a woman near Dallas, his office said Dec. 13. “In this case, an out-of-state doctor violated the law and caused serious harm to this patient,” Paxton, a Republican, said in a statement regarding the lawsuit, which he filed Dec. 12 in Collin County. “This doctor prescribed abortion-inducing drugs — unauthorized, over telemedicine — causing her patient to end up in the hospital with serious complications.” New York Attorney General Letitia James said Dec. 13 that “abortion is, and will continue to be, legal and protected in New York.” The lawsuit is in effect a test case about what may happen when various state abortion laws passed since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization contradict one another. It is also a test of so-called shield laws, passed primarily by Democratic-led states in an effort to prevent the prosecution of abortion providers within their states by states with bans or other restrictions. The Catholic Church teaches that all human life is sacred from conception to natural death, and therefore opposes direct abortion. After Dobbs, Church officials in the United States have reiterated the Church’s concern for both mother and child. (OSV News)
3 dead, including suspect, in mass shooting at Wisconsin Christian school
MADISON, Wis. — Police in Madison, Wisconsin, said they are investigating a mass shooting at that city’s Abundant Life Christian School Dec. 16 that left at least two killed and six injured, authorities said. The suspected gunman, identified as a 15-year-old female student, is also dead, they said. Abundant Life Christian School is a community Christian school with students from kindergarten through 12th grade. Bishop Donald J. Hying of the Madison Diocese said that the Catholic community mourned the violence and was praying for the healing of the injured and the comfort of the afflicted families. A candlelight vigil was planned in Madison for Dec. 17. (OSV News)
SCOTUS to hear Wisconsin Catholic Charities case
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Dec. 13 to hear a case in which the Catholic Charities Bureau of the Diocese of Superior, Wisconsin, argues that it was wrongly denied an exemption from the state’s unemployment insurance program by the Wisconsin Supreme Court. In March, the state court ruled that the Catholic Charities Bureau does not qualify as a religious entity under state law because its operations are “primarily charitable and secular,” not religious. The court found that the organization’s services would be the same regardless of religious motivation. The Catholic Charities Bureau seeks the exemption to participate in the Church Unemployment Pay Program, a state-approved alternative established by Wisconsin’s bishops in 1986. They argue the program offers the same benefits as the state’s unemployment system but is more efficient. The group contends that penalizing it for its religious identity is unjust. Joshua Kaul, Wisconsin’s attorney general, argued against an exemption in documents filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, noting the Catholic Charities Bureau receives public funding, serves Catholics and nonCatholics, and has paid the unemployment tax since 1972. The case is expected to be heard by the high court in the spring. (OSV News)
WORLD
Pope: Nativity scenes are reminder of Lord’s love and tenderness
ROME — Making his customary visit to the Rome Basilica of St. Mary Major to pray before his trip to the French island of Corsica, Pope Francis also met and prayed with dozens of actors staging a living Nativity scene. For the third year in a row, the basilica and an Italian association that promotes the tradition of Nativity scenes, including living representations, turned the neighborhood around the basilica into a small Bethlehem with the manger on the basilica’s steps. With the couple playing Mary and Joseph holding a baby and standing alongside him, Pope Francis met the participants and told them, “Christmas always brings us joy. Christmas brings us the tenderness of a baby.” (CNS)
