Here are some important law-and-religion news stories from around the web:
- President Trump addressed thousands of demonstrators at Friday’s March for Life in Washington, vowing to reject any legislation that “weakens” the campaign to prevent abortion access.
- A federal judge in Missouri held that the Fair Housing Act does not protect against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, dismissing a claim brought by a lesbian couple who were turned away from a retirement home.
- The Fifth Circuit lifted an injunction forbidding Texas from stripping Planned Parenthood of Medicaid funds.
- The Freedom From Religion Foundation sent letters to 1,000+ public school districts in Kentucky and four other states, claiming that field trips to the Ark Encounter—a theme park in Northern Kentucky that features a 510-foot-long replica of Noah’s Ark—violate the Establishment Clause.
- A coalition of ultra-Orthodox Jews filed a lawsuit against Chestnut Ridge (NY) under RLUIPA, contesting the village’s five-acre minimum for houses of worship.
- A Democratic member of New Hampshire’s House of Representatives proposed a bill to repeal a statute that permits recitation of the Lord’s Prayer in public schools.
- Catholic leaders have denounced New York’s proposed Reproductive Health Act, which, if passed, would declare abortion a fundamental right in New York state.
- In recent weeks, five states have increased protections for LGBT people through executive orders and state legislatures—predominantly, policies preventing discrimination against LGBT state workers.
- A New Jersey appeals court ruled that a Buddhist woman did not waive her right to sue her former employer (Pfizer), enabling her to move forward with her religious discrimination claim.
- Greece’s parliament is expected to vote on an agreement next month that would make the country neutral toward religion, frustrating many Orthodox Christian clergy.
- A psychotherapist filed a lawsuit in federal court Friday, challenging Maryland’s ban on treating minors with conversion therapy, a practice that seeks to change one’s sexual orientation.
- The Vatican published two new resources on migration and human trafficking, urging international collaboration and prosecution of traffickers.