by Susie Allen, host of the blog, Pro-Life in TN, and Kelli

• Americans United for Life urges pastors in Illinois to address a new bill from the pulpit:
  

  Illinois SB 1564, a bill that would dramatically reduce the state’s conscience protections for health care providers and pro-life pregnancy centers, continues to advance.Yesterday, the House Committee on Human Services voted along party lines to advance this dangerous bill to the House floor. If the bill passes the House, it will go to Governor Rauner for consideration.

  Download the Pastor’s Briefing Book on SB 1564 here.

by Kelli

• Down on the Pharm says a pair of Austrian scientists is asking for more research to be done on the effects of hormonal birth control on the human brain:
  

  Of particular interest are the social and behavioral effects of these hormones when used in younger patients whose brains are still undergoing major development and maturation….

  Changes in brain development in younger BC users may be more profound, with some expected to be irreversible.

The Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department sent Thomas More Society a letter today stating Fayetteville 40 Days for Life could resume holding signs at its prayer vigil outside the Fayetteville Planned Parenthood abortion facility.

“It appears that the communication from the AHTD district office was misinterpreted and/or misunderstood,” wrote Rita Looney, Chief Legal Counsel for AHTD.

With that, the Department’s violation of the pro-lifers’ right of free speech ended one week after it began.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous decision last week overturning Massachusetts’ 35-foot abortion clinic buffer zone law, which the court agreed unconstitutionally restricted the pro-life right to free speech, has implications far beyond similarly worded laws and ordinances around the country.

It’s amazing how persuasive attorney intervention can be.

After telling the Catholic group Peter’s Net it was barred from returning to the Walworth County Fair in Wisconsin this year, the fair board changed its mind upon hearing from the Thomas More Society, a pro-life legal group, and Wisconsin attorney Jerome Buting.

At issue was the pro-life component of Peter’s Net’s display…

On April 29 a federal appellate court panel deemed it “preposterous” that the National Organization for Women would challenge an invoice submitted by pro-life activists for expenses incurred during a lawsuit brought against them by the pro-abortion feminist group that lasted almost 28 years.

The court ordered NOW to pay defendants Joe Scheidler, Pro-Life Action League, Timothy Murphy, and Andrew Scholberg $63,391.45 – a pittance, really - for costs to successfully defend themselves in the now infamous NOW v. Scheidler anti-trust lawsuit, launched in 1986.

During that time the case received an unprecedented three hearings before the U.S. Supreme Court, with the pro-lifers getting support in the form of amicus briefs from unlikely places, including PETA and Martin Sheen, since the issue was free speech.

Read the history of NOW v. Scheidler here. In a nutshell, quoting the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin:

The title of my February 19 post, “High school censors pro-life club while promoting gay club,” pretty much sums up the backdrop to this follow-up.

At issue was the censorship by Wilson High School in Tacoma, Washington, of posters sponsored by Wilson Students for Life, while it allowed the same for the Wilson Gay Straight Alliance.

On February 24, Bryce Asberg (pictured right), founder of WSFL, and his parents met with principal Dan Besett.

Win for pro-lifers; loss for freedom of expression

Besett gave the Asbergs both good and bad news, according to a press release by Thomas More Society, the pro-life legal group representing WSFL:

On the heels of a public university censoring a pro-life club comes word of a public high school attempting the same.