Dr Paul Allen

GetEqual ENDA Protest (Photo credit: mattymatt ) The ACLU and other groups supporting gay rights have announced that they are withdrawing their support for the Employment Non-discrimination Act of 2013 (ENDA) . ENDA is a controversial measure because the bill would make it illegal for employers to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or sexual identity. Why would the ACLU and gay rights groups remove their support for such a measure? Because the current form of the bill provides an exemption for religious employers. The ACLU et al. have decided that the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobbydecision gives too much ground to religious liberty . To curtail that trend, these groups will not support the bill as long as it offers broad exemptions to religious employers. What does that mean? Until the Hobby Lobby decision, these groups were fine with religious exemptions. In fact, ENDA’s exemptions are based in part on the 1964 Civil Rights Act . But now, that has changed. Christian

English: Hobby Lobby store in Stow, Ohio (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Wheaton Logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Tyndale House Publishers won a temporary injunction against the Affordable Care Act 's (ACA) contraceptive mandate Friday, convincing the D.C. Federal District Court that the requirement violated its religious freedom. The injunction , which Judge Reggie Walton said he granted because the Bible and Christian book publisher self-funds its insurance , is temporary . However, it raises hope of legal victory for more than 110 hospitals, schools, and corporations that have filed lawsuits against the federal government over the healthcare law . (Catholic organizations have protested the law's requirement that insurance cover contraceptives; evangelical plaintiffs have more narrowly objected to the list of contraceptives that must be covered, including "emergency contraceptives" that may inhibit uterine implantation.) Early lawsuits against the healthcar