February 5, 2008

ABORTION
Kan. Court Blocks Abortion Grand Jury
Carl Manning/Associated Press (02/05/2008: ap.google.com)
TOPEKA, Kan. — The Kansas Supreme Court on Tuesday temporarily blocked a grand jury from obtaining patient records from a physician who is one of the nation's few late-term abortion providers. The grand jury is investigating whether Dr. George Tiller has broken Kansas laws restricting abortion, as many abortion opponents allege. The grand jury subpoenaed the medical files of about 2,000 women, including some who decided against having abortions.

MARRIAGE AND FAMILY
Maryland General Assembly today that would abolish civil marriage ceremonies
Lisa Rein/Washington Post (02/05/2008)
Advocates for same-sex marriage plan to introduce legislation in the Maryland General Assembly today that would abolish civil marriage ceremonies now confined to heterosexual unions in the state and replace them with domestic partnerships for all couples.

DOCTRINE AND PRACTICE
After protests, Pope changes Latin prayer for Jews
Philip Pullella/Reuters (02/05/2008)
VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict has ordered changes to a Latin prayer for Jews at Good Friday services by traditionalist Catholics, deleting a reference to their "blindness" over Christ, the Vatican said on Tuesday.

Scientology feud with its critics takes to Internet
Jim Puzzanghera/Los Angeles Times (02/05/2008)
Cyber attacks and threats against the church erupt after it asks YouTube to pull Tom Cruise clips.

ABUSE CRISIS
Sex abuse suit against Mormon church awaits Supreme Court ruling
Carson Walker/Associated Press (02/05/2008: sltrib.com)
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- A federal lawsuit filed by a man who accused a Mormon missionary of sexually abusing him in the 1960s is on hold until the South Dakota Supreme Court resolves a legal question.

FAITH LEADERS
New Mormon President, 80, Is Picked
Eric Gorski/Associated Press (02/05/2008: ap.google.com)
SALT LAKE CITY — The new president and prophet of the Mormon church is in some respects a throwback, an 80-year-old man with a fondness for talking in parables and quoting Charles Dickens. But Thomas S. Monson is also described as a student of a fast-changing world and his faith's place in it.

SCIENCE AND MEDICINE
Scientists make embryos with DNA from 3 people
Maria Cheng/Associated Press (02/05/2008: usatoday.com)
LONDON — British scientists say they have created human embryos containing DNA from two women and a man in a procedure that researchers hope might be used one day to produce embryos free of inherited diseases. Though the preliminary research has raised concerns about the possibility of genetically modified babies, the scientists say that the embryos are still only primarily the product of one man and one woman.