Around the Web This Week

Here are some news stories involving law and religion from this past week:

• A new study suggests that attendance at more liberal churches is declining, while conservative churches are growing.
• The Kentucky legislature moved closer to approving two new restrictions on abortions.
• The Pew Research Center has analyzed the religious composition of the 115th Congress; as in the past, it is overwhelmingly Christian.
• A federal judge in Texas extended a restraining order preventing new regulations on the disposal of fetal remains from taking effect.
  • Another federal judge, this one in New Jersey, ruled that a small town in that state had unconstitutionally prevented the building of a mosque by refusing to issue a building permit on discriminatory grounds.
• The U.S. Army has expanded religious freedom protections by allowing lower-level commanders to approve accommodations which previously required Secretary-level approval.
• Dylann Roof, the man who killed nine black worshippers in a South Carolina church, claimed during the death penalty phase of his trial that he is not mentally ill.
• The Shakers, a strict American religious sect which practices celibacy, lost one of its three remaining members.
• Desmond Tutu indicated his support for a “right to die” and asked that he himself be allowed to choose the manner of his death.