On August 19th, the U.S. Department of Education announced that it is reviewing and anticipates rescinding parts of a regulation enacted by the Trump administration that, among other things, forces universities to financially support religious student groups that discriminate.  [See details.]

A plethora of author celebrities, activists, and state/church attorneys will be served up at the 44th annual convention of the FFRF [Freedom From Religion Foundation], taking place in person on Friday, Nov. 19 thru Sunday, Nov. 21, 2021, at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel. (The event is limited to those who are fully vaccinated for Covid-19.)” [See details.]

On August 18th, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals became the first federal court in the U.S. to uphold a ban on the standard method of abortion after approximately 15 weeks of pregnancy. Just last year, a 5th Circuit panel of judges struck down this ban as unconstitutional. [Read details.]

When an atheist refused to attend worship services at the Christian mission where his parole officer had ordered him to live, the officer revoked his parole and sent him back to jail for another five months. On August 6th, a federal appeals court rebuked the parole officer and affirmed one of our most fundamental and enduring constitutional commands: The government cannot punish you for refusing to pray. [Read details.]

On August 5th, the full Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a district court decision striking down a 48-hour, mandatory waiting period for abortion in Tennessee. The Sixth Circuit had allowed the law to take effect in April 2021 on a temporary basis pending the state’s appeal. [Read details.]