Dump Netflix: Movie mocks Jesus at most holy time of year
Source: American Family Association
December 18, 2019
Netflix has released a "Christmas special" movie that depicts Jesus as a homosexual and the Virgin Mary as an adulteress.
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Alabama, Louisiana, and South Dakota File Legal Challenge to Stop Activists from Illegally Rewriting the U.S. Constitutions
Source: Alabama Attorney General's Office
December 18, 2019
Alabama, Louisiana and South Dakota have filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Archivist of the United States — the federal officer who oversees the ratification process for constitutional amendments — seeking to prevent him from illegally adding the long-failed Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the U.S. Constitution
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Fifth Circuit Court Decision Perpetuates Uncertainty For Americans, Insurance Industry
Source: American Association of Family Physicians
December 19, 2019
Wednesday’s Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Texas v. Azar prolongs the uncertainty that millions of Americans face about whether they will have access to health care. The Fifth Circuit upheld the district court’s decision that the individual mandate was unconstitutional. However, the judges remanded the case to the lower court to analyze and explain whether any or all of the law’s other provisions are severable from the individual mandate and thus can remain operative as a law without the mandate.
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Internists Say Court’s Decision on ACA Potentially Could Put Health Care for Millions at Risk
Source: American College of Physicians
December 19, 2019
The American College of Physicians (ACP) is greatly concerned that the decision of a federal appeals court that the individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is unconstitutional could place health care for millions at risk, should the courts rule that the coverage requirements and other provisions of the ACA also must be overturned because they can’t be “severed” from the mandate. The court sent back the “severability” question to a lower court. What’s at stake is whether the ACA’s pre-existing condition protections, essential benefit requirements, funding for Medicaid expansion, and other provisions will be upheld or overturned, with the health and lives of the millions of patients being at risk depending on what the courts decide.
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AOA statement on Congressional health care spending agreement
Source: American Osteopathic Association
December 19, 2019
The American Osteopathic Association commends Congressional leaders on their work to achieve a bipartisan agreement on an annual appropriations and other public health legislation. The package includes funding for crucial public health programs and addresses several important public health issues.
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APA Applauds Mental Health Funding in Federal Spending Bill
Source: American Psychiatric Association
December 19, 2019
This week Congress passed a $1.4 trillion fiscal year 2020 spending bill that includes several provisions that will fund medical research and treatment programs for people with mental illness and substance use disorders (SUD).
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ASAM Commends Congress for Strengthening Addiction Treatment Workforce
Source: American Society of Addiction Medicine
December 19, 2019
The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) commended Congress for expanding funding to strengthen the nation’s addiction treatment workforce in a bipartisan, end-of-year appropriations package that passed last Thursday. The Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 (H.R. 1865) includes significant funding for policies that bolster the addiction treatment workforce to help increase access to care for people living with addiction.
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ASCO Applauds Congress for Raising Minimum Age to Purchase Tobacco and Boosting Cancer Research Funding
Source: American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)
December 19, 2019
The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) applauds Congress for working across party lines to raise the minimum age for purchasing tobacco products to 21. A longtime advocate on this issue, ASCO believes this important change will delay and reduce the use of tobacco and help prevent tobacco-related cancers. A 2015 report from the Institute of Medicine predicted that raising the minimum age for the sale of tobacco products to 21 would, over time, reduce the smoking rate by about 12 percent and cut smoking-related deaths by 10 percent. We commend Congress for taking this important step and look forward to continuing to work with lawmakers and regulators in service of our longstanding commitment to reducing and eventually eliminating tobacco-related cancers.
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ADF: Federal Equal Rights amendment is legally suspect, threatens equal opportunities for women
Source: American Immigration Lawyer’s Association
December 20, 2019
Litigators from the Justice Action Center (JAC), the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), and Innovation Law Lab, with pro bono counsel Sidley Austin LLP and Latino Network as the organizational plaintiff, welcomed the Ninth Circuit 2-1 decision to refuse the federal government an administrative stay pending appeal of the preliminary nationwide injunction in Doe v. Trump. The administration had sought an emergency stay of the injunction granted on November 26, 2019, by the U.S. District Court in Portland, OR. The stay would have immediately implemented President Trump’s October 4 proclamation requiring legal immigrants to prove they hold an “approved” health insurance plan, or can pay for health care out of pocket, in order to be allowed entry to the U.S. This unconstitutional health care ban would affect approximately 375,000 people each year, immediately separate families from loved ones, harm businesses seeking to employ international talent, and undermine our nation’s commitment to equal rights. The Ninth Circuit agreed with the U.S. District Court in Portland, OR, and the proclamation remains enjoined.
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Trump's Attempt to Make Legal Immigrants Prove They Have Health Insurance Thwarted
Source: Alliance Defending Freedom
December 20, 2019
Even though it pretends to protect women, a federal ERA could be used to allow boys to compete in girls’ sports, unfairly taking away opportunities and denying girls a fair playing field in athletics. It could also threaten women’s homeless shelters who seek to provide a safe place for survivors of domestic abuse and sex trafficking. Instead, ERA proponents are actively striving to redefine “sex” as a subjective belief that has nothing to do with the biological reality of being male or female. Additionally, the ERA could also require Americans to pay for abortions with their hard-earned tax dollars, including abortions up to the moment of birth—a move that most Americans oppose. Women knew the ERA was a bad idea in the 1970’s, and it’s an even worse idea today.
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20 ALEC Lawmakers Say NO to Importing Price Controls and Socialized Medicine to America
Source: American Legislative Exchange Council
December 20, 2019
For months, some in Congress have tried to advance socialist healthcare policies that have failed overseas and would leave Americans with fewer treatment options. In doing so, they are rejecting free-market principles that have led to lifesaving and life-enhancing medical discoveries. With passage of H.R. 3 in the U.S. House of Representatives, these lawmakers have led us one step closer to a command-and-control, single-payer healthcare system that imposes European-style price controls on America’s medical innovations and cures.
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APA Commends Congress for Allocating Federal Funds for Gun Violence Research
Source: American Psychological Association
December 20, 2019
The support from Congress is a key step in allowing agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health to take a public health approach by conducting research on the causes of gun violence that can lead us to evidence-based solutions that will ultimately save lives.
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You can’t buy honesty
Source: American Economic Association
December 23, 2019
Denmark is the least corrupt country in the world, its Ministry of Foreign Affairs declares. It consistently tops Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index. And while the country isn’t perfect, the government manages to attract an honest workforce that rarely takes bribes or kickbacks.
The fact that they pay their public servants less than private sector wages could be part of the reason, according to a paper in the November issue of the American Economic Journal: Economic Policy.
