State Rep. Becky Currie worked in labor and delivery early on in her nursing career. She would go on to author Mississippi's Gestational Age Act, the state's 15-week abortion ban. In this interview with The Christian Post, Currie shares how she never dreamed the ban would make it to the Supreme Court, resulting in the overturning of the 1973 Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion across America. "This whole thing, looking back, being a nurse and delivering babies ... who would have thought a nurse would have run for the legislature and then written a bill and then our Supreme Court changes?" Currie said. "It was just too perfect how it happened for me to be responsible for it. So I think this is God's way for sure." Currie also discussed how legislators now have a responsibility to enact policies that support women and children, explaining, "I think it's our responsibility to make sure that health care is accessible to women. We've got to make sure that that is accessible for people going in for a visit." Read more.

Trending Topics

In this CP editorial, Robert Pacienza, the president and CEO of D. James Kennedy Ministries and the pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in South Florida, discusses recent warnings from leaders who have cautioned that religious liberty is under threat. Pacienza shares how religious freedom sets the stage for society to flourish and condemns recent trends aimed at diminishing its legal stature. Pointing out the importance of ensuring religion isn't restricted to the private realm, that it is not coerced, and that it cannot be replaced, Pacienza writes, "American citizens must leverage the various opportunities available to us—coffee shop conversations, blog posts, voting decisions—to make known that we support religious freedom in its fullest sense." Read more.

U.S. News

The Idaho Supreme Court has rejected a lawsuit from Planned Parenthood and others who claimed that the state's heartbeat abortion ban and trigger abortion ban violated the state's constitution. In a 3-2 ruling issued on Friday, Justice Robyn Brody said the United States Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization "altered the landscape" of abortion law in the country, and, therefore, the bans could be enforced. Idaho Code § 18-622 bans most abortions in the state, threatening a criminal punishment between two and five years of imprisonment for any person found to have performed a "criminal abortion." It provides exemptions for abortions in cases of rape, incest, and to "prevent the death of the pregnant woman." It also prohibits the prosecution of women seeking an abortion. Read more.

Former Super Bowl champion and pro-life activist Benjamin Watson called out Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams for compromising her Christian values by saying that as a woman of faith, she must support abortion. Watson, the vice president of strategic relationships at Human Coalition, took to social media to assert that Abrams mispresented her Christianity in an interview on CNN during which she told the host that her Christian faith led her to change her beliefs on abortion after a friend in college shared their opinion. A portion of that interview was later utilized in a campaign ad. In response, Watson tweeted, "Respectfully if you identify as a Christian your authority is the Word of God not the opinion of a friend who shares your faith. This ad conveys empathy but it also conveys baseless compromise. If your holy scripture sanctions abortion as it does love/justice/charity explain how." Read more.

A MESSAGE FROM Alliance Defending Freedom

The federal government is making bold moves to force faith-based adoption and foster-care ministries to surrender their deeply held beliefs on faith, family, and marriage. And Holston United Methodist Home for Children is one of the government's victims. Holston Home has been in operation since 1895 when Mrs. E.E. Wiley, a widow, took in her first homeless child. From that humble beginning, Holston Home has helped more than 8,000 children throughout East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia. The ministry provides hope and healing for a brighter future by sharing the love of Jesus with abused and neglected children and families struggling with life's challenges. But now, the federal government is threatening to cut off critical funding for the ministry if Holston Home refuses to surrender its faith-based beliefs on family and marriage. Sign the petition.

Global Insights

A fire at a crowded Coptic Orthodox church in Cairo, Egypt, killed at least 41 worshippers during the church's Sunday service, including at least 18 children and a priest. Around 16 others were injured, including four police officers involved in the rescue effort, per The Associated Press. Egypt's Interior Ministry said the blaze was caused by an electrical failure in an air conditioning unit on the church's second floor. Read more.

Aug. 15 marks one year since the Taliban regime took over Afghanistan, writes SAT-7 USA President Dr. Rex Rogers, who notes that millions of girls across the country are now left wondering whether they'll ever get the chance to attend school again. In this op-ed, Rogers discusses his company's mission to equip young viewers in Afghanistan with knowledge through the power of technology. "Even in the remote highlands where farmers grow the nation’s cash crop, poppies, Afghans watch our uplifting programs on satellite television, stream our live shows on their hand-held devices, share their struggles in real-time with our presenters and team members on their phone apps, and ask for prayer via our social media platforms," Rogers writes, explaining that consuming such content can be risky, as "Taliban soldiers routinely confiscate phones to check what they’re watching and texting." Read more.

Faith & Society

During an episode of "The High Note" podcast, Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr praised his parents for teaching him to make his faith his first priority. Carr shared how his parents put faith first, explaining, "If there was a game on Sunday, as a kid, we always told my traveling coach, 'I’m not gonna be there, I’m gonna be at church.' They made the priorities, the priorities. And it worked out for me; I made it to the NFL. So all these moms and dads that say, 'No, we have to go to your games at 8 years old,' you know, 'it’s OK to miss one.'" Read more.

ADF NEWS

Christians living in Nigeria face some of the worst acts of persecution in the world. At least 17 Christians are killed every day simply because of their faith. Hannah, Faith, Elijah and Barbara have one beautiful and one heartbreaking thing in common – the hope found in their Christian faith, and their subsequent persecution. Despite having faced different hardships in Nigeria, they each found hope in their faith when they converted to Christianity. The heartbreak came when they were all dragged before Sharia courts and charged with apostasy. Read more.