Explainer: Congress considers including women in the military draft

The Senate Armed Services Committee included in its version of the annual defense policy bill a provision that would require women to register with the Selective Service System. All 13 Democrats on the committee voted in favor of the provision, as did eight of the 13 Republicans.

This Week in Washington, D.C.

On July 30, the Department of Justice, dismissed a lawsuit filed by its Civil Rights Division against the University of Vermont Medical Center (UVMMC) which stated that UVMMC, in forcing a staff member to participate in an abortive procedure despite her stated moral objections, violated “the federal anti-discrimination statute known as the Church Amendments.” UVMMC’s actions were a clear violation of the law, but ended with “no admission of guilt, no injunction, no corrective action, no settlement.”

In 2019, the Office for Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), determined that UVMMC “violated the Church Amendments by forcing a nurse to assist in an elective abortion procedure over the nurse’s conscience-based objections.” This case highlights the need for Congress to swiftly pass the Conscience Protection Act “to protect healthcare providers, including health care professionals, entities, and health insurance plans from government discrimination if they decline to participate in abortions."

Read more about the UVMMC case here.

From The Public Square

Tennessee sued over 'bathroom bill' for public schools
Associated Press

Tennessee is being sued over a law that puts public schools and their districts at risk of legal consequences if they let transgender students or employees use multi-person bathrooms or locker rooms that do not reflect their gender at birth.

Don’t Rain on Fulton’s Parade: Religious Freedom Is Winning at the Supreme Court
Public Discourse

Defenders of the free exercise of religion need to accept that we are playing a long game. Religious freedom is winning, even if the Court’s religious freedom jurisprudence develops over the span of more than one term.

5 Foundations That Lead to Compromise on Sexual Ethics
The Gospel Coalition

Even if all roads eventually lead to the sexual-ethics-line-in-the-sand, they don’t all originate in the same place. It’s helpful to consider some of the different, subtle shapes Christianity can take that at first might seem benign—but will later set up a Christian for compromise.

Biden nominates first Muslim to religious freedom ambassador role
Deseret News

The Biden administration on Friday announced its nominees for two key faith-related posts at the State Department, signaling an interest in stepping up its efforts to combat religious persecution around the world.

What You Need to Read

Jason Thacker with How Christians can combat the dangerous reality of (COVID) disinformation

As Christians, we must strive to verify the information we share online, for the sake of our neighbors and the way in which we represent Christ to the world around us. It is unbiblical to speak in ways that are contrary to the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23) and to spread misleading information in order to gain a political edge. In reality, it is also a rejection of Christ’s atoning work on our behalf; if we are people changed by the gospel, then we should reflect Christ throughout our lives, especially in how we interact online.

Alex Ward with What modern Baptists can learn from Thomas Helwys: Religious liberty, thoelogical conviction, and perseverance

The work of individuals such as Helwys, and those who came after him, laid a foundation for the American principles of religious liberty enshrined in the First Amendment. This theological conviction that the state could not interfere because it would not answer for the souls of men and women was born out of a theological conviction that each individual must give their own account for their works before God at judgment.

ERLC Staff with Do state-level anti-abortion laws reduce abortion rates?

The importance of state-level anti-abortion laws will also be made clear when Roe v. Wade is overturned. These types of pro-life restrictions lay the essential groundwork for the types of legislation that will be needed when the Supreme Court puts abortion law back in the hand of state governments. States that have developed the processes and alliances necessary to pass abortion restrictions today will likely have more success implementing similar restrictions in the future.

This Week at the ERLC