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Supreme Court Takes Up Colorado Preschool Case Testing Religious Freedom
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Supreme Court Takes Up Colorado Preschool Case Testing Religious Freedom

By Lindsay Whitehurst | The Denver Gazette WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court will hear from Catholic preschools that say Colorado violated their religious rights by excluding them from a state-funded “universal” pre-kindergarten program over their admission policies. The court agreed on Monday to take up the appeal from St. Mary Catholic Parish in its challenge against a state program. That challenge is supported by the Trump administration. Joined by the Archdiocese of Denver, two Catholic institutions, St. Mary Catholic Parish in Littleton and St. Bernadette Catholic Parish in Lakewood, filed a lawsuit against the state of Colorado, alleging their preschools cannot participate in the publicly funded program because the church’s religious views on sexual o...
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Colorado bills spark concern over parental rights and religious freedom
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Christian Home Educators of Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado bills spark concern over parental rights and religious freedom

By Colleen Enos | Commentary, Christian Home Educators of Colorado Colorado is becoming much more antagonistic towards families and people of faith. Our leadership appears to place more importance on ideology, secrecy, and crime when introducing and debating bills. The last few weeks have been an example of that mindset. The legislative session crossed the halfway mark in mid-March and is racing towards the finish line of May 13. SB26-018, Legal Protections for the Dignity of Minors, passed out of committee on March 25 and is headed for second and third reading in the State House this week. The most problematic section of the bill was stripped out in the Senate, but the secrecy provision for minors who request a name change for reasons including conforming to their new ...
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High Court Strikes Down Colorado Therapy Law in 8-1 Free Speech Ruling
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The Daily Signal, Approved, State

High Court Strikes Down Colorado Therapy Law in 8-1 Free Speech Ruling

By Fred Lucas | The Daily Signal The Supreme Court held in an 8-1 ruling on Tuesday that a Colorado ban on “conversion therapy” for counselors unlawfully regulates speech and is viewpoint discrimination.  Justice Neil Gorsuch, a President Donald Trump appointee, issued the majority opinion. Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor—both appointees of President Barack Obama—issued concurring opinions.  Only Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson—an appointee of President Joe Biden—dissented.  The Chiles v. Salazar case involved a challenge to a Colorado law that allows licensed counselors to address issues of sexuality and gender only from the state’s approved perspective.  READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT THE DAILY SIGNAL
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CIA report flagged motherhood as extremism indicator before quiet retraction
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The Christian Post, Approved, National

CIA report flagged motherhood as extremism indicator before quiet retraction

By Ryan Foley | The Christian Post The Central Intelligence Agency retracted a Biden-era internal document warning about female “racially and ethnically motivated violent extremists" that listed the prioritization of “motherhood and homemaking," raising the concern of a conservative legal group.  In a thread posted to X last week, the legal organization America First Legal, founded by Trump adviser Stephen Miller in 2021, shared screenshots of a now-retracted intelligence assessment compiled during the Biden administration. The document, titled “Women Advancing White Racially and Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists,” outlines concerns about women’s participation in “white racially and ethnically motivated violent extremism.” The intelligence assessme...
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Abortion Coverage Mandates in 13 Democrat-Led States Face Federal Civil Rights Review
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Washington Examiner, Approved, National

Abortion Coverage Mandates in 13 Democrat-Led States Face Federal Civil Rights Review

By Gabrielle M. Etzel | Washington Examiner The Trump administration is launching civil rights investigations into the 13 Democrat-led states that require private health insurance plans to pay for abortions, arguing that state mandates for abortion insurance coverage violate religious and conscience rights protections. The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights sent 13 states letters late Wednesday evening, opening investigations into whether their requirements violate conscience protections under federal rules prohibiting state and local governments from discriminating against healthcare entities that refuse to facilitate abortions.  Paula Stannard, Director for HHS’ OCR, said in a press release that th...
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Colorado Democrat Shelves Prostitution Decriminalization Effort Amid Growing Criticism
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The Daily Signal, Approved, State

Colorado Democrat Shelves Prostitution Decriminalization Effort Amid Growing Criticism

By: Tyler O'Neil | The Daily Signal Colorado’s Republican House leader is calling foul after a Colorado state senator says he is effectively killing his own bill to decriminalize prostitution—in order to protect “sex workers” from the trauma of having to testify. State Sen. Nick Hinrichsen, the main sponsor of SB26-097, told the Colorado Sun that his bill lacks the necessary support to clear the Senate Judiciary Committee, so he will ask to delay the measure until after the 2026 legislative session, effectively killing the bill. He said the “sex workers” who persuaded him to bring the bill also persuaded him to effectively kill it. “Ultimately, we all decided that having a very tense, long committee hearing, where they’d have to be in a room with a ...
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After 47 years: Could Iran be nearing a turning point?
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The Christian Post, Approved, National

After 47 years: Could Iran be nearing a turning point?

By Wendy YurgO | Commentary, The Christian Post For 47 years, the Islamic Republic has done everything in its power to crush any light that refuses to submit to its rule. Public conversion from Islam is apostasy under Iranian law —punishable by imprisonment, flogging, long-term solitary confinement, or execution. House churches are raided in the night. Bibles are seized. Pastors are arrested and interrogated for months, sometimes years. Families are threatened. Believers lose jobs, homes, and relationships. Yet the underground church in Iran has not only survived—it has grown at a pace that many call one of the fastest in the world. Ministries tracking the movement — Elam Ministries, Transform Iran, Operation World, and others — estimate between one to three million Muslim-ba...
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Colorado Democrats Strike Identity Clause From Family Court Bill After Backlash
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Democrats Strike Identity Clause From Family Court Bill After Backlash

By Marissa Ventrelli | The Denver Gazette The sponsors of a proposal that would require suppression of records in name-change petitions for minors removed a provision that would have mandated the courts to factor in the issue of “identity” when allocating parenting time. In its original form, Senate Bill 018, included a requirement that family courts consider whether parents recognize their child’s identity “as it relates to a protected class” when determining parenting time decision-making responsibility. The protected classes in Colorado include gender identity and gender expression. A similar provision was amended out of last year’s House Bill 1312, which was ultimately signed into law. In that bill, the courts would have been required to consider “...
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Tulsi Gabbard Says Church Attack Shows Democrats’ Disdain For Religious Freedom
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The Federalist, Approved, National

Tulsi Gabbard Says Church Attack Shows Democrats’ Disdain For Religious Freedom

By: M.D. Kittle | The Federalist The anti‑ICE mob ‘protest’ inside a St. Paul church ‘is the latest example of their disrespect for religious freedom,’ Gabbard wrote on X. When Tulsi Gabbard announced in 2022 that she was leaving the Democratic Party, she made her departure, in part, a matter of faith.  “The Democrats of today are hostile to people of faith and spirituality,” the former Hawaii congresswoman said in a video statement at the time.  More than three years later, Gabbard, who now serves as President Donald Trump’s Director of National Security and as a thorn in the side of the deep state, suggests things haven’t improved any on the leftist front.  Gabbard blasted her old party on X Tuesday, doing what so many of...
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Federal Lawsuit Challenges Northglenn Over Church Activities At Public Park
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Complete Colorado, Approved, Local

Federal Lawsuit Challenges Northglenn Over Church Activities At Public Park

By Savana Kascak | Complete Colorado DENVER–Several recent legal motions related to an ongoing lawsuit against the City of Northglenn seek dismissal of citations issued to members of three Colorado churches for hosting a public worship and charity event at a city park. The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), a public interest law firm specializing in religious freedom, filed a lawsuit in federal court in November on behalf of those cited and other church members. Northglenn, with around 38,000 residents, is a home rule municipality in the north metro Denver area. Starting in July 2020, Brave Church, and The Crossing Church–both located in neighboring Westminster–as well as Next Step Church located in Thornton, began hosting religious ministry gatherings ...
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