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Philadelphia, Pa., Mar 21, 2017 / 09:45 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A Pennsylvania high school wrongly allowed a female student into the boys’ locker room and violated an undressing male student’s privacy and his right to be free from harassment, a lawsuit charges.

“No school should rob any student of his legally protected personal privacy,” said Randall Wenger, chief counsel of the Pennsylvania-based Independence Law Center, a co-counsel to the lawsuit.

“We trust that our children won’t be forced into emotionally vulnerable situations like this when they are in the care of our schools because it’s a school’s duty to protect and respect the bodily privacy and dignity of all students. In this case, school officials are clearly ignoring that duty.”

The student, named in the lawsuit as “Joel Doe,” was in a locker room in his underwear about to put on gym clothes when he noticed a female student in the locker room, also in a state of undress.

When the male student complained to school officials, they told him that students who identify as the opposite sex may choose their locker room. When the male student asked officials to protect his privacy, the officials allegedly told him to tolerate the behavior and make changing clothes in the presence of the student as natural as possible.

The school is in Boyertown Area School District, which covertly allowed students of the opposite sex into its schools’ locker rooms and restrooms, according to Alliance Defending Freedom, a co-counsel in the case. The district allegedly did not notify parents of the change.

The lawsuit against the school district was filed March 21 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. It claims the student suffered sexual harassment prohibited under Title IX of federal law, violation of privacy guarantees under the U.S. Constitution, and violation of state privacy law.

“Our laws and customs have long recognized that we shouldn’t have to undress in front of persons of the opposite sex,” said Kellie Fiedorek, legal counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, who said state law requires schools to have separate facilities on the basis of sex.

She charged that some schools are “forcing our children into giving up their privacy rights.”

 

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Vatican City, Mar 21, 2017 / 02:07 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- On Tuesday Pope Francis released a video message to youth in advance of the next World Youth Day, to be held in Panama in 2019.  He said that like the Virgin Mary, they are needed, and they should not be afraid to leave their mark on the world.
 
“Like the young woman of Nazareth, you can improve the world and leave an imprint that makes a mark on history, your history and that of many others,” Pope Francis said in the message, released March 21. “The Church and society need you.”
 
“With your plans and with your courage, with your dreams and ideals, walls of stagnation fall and roads open up that lead us to a better, fairer, less cruel and more humane world.”
 
The message, made in advance of the annual diocesan-level “World Youth Day” which takes place on April 9 this year, reflects specifically on the spiritual journey pilgrims will take before reaching Panama, encouraging young people to cultivate a strong friendship with Our Lady, saying they “will not regret it.”
 
“Speak to her as you would to a Mother. Together with her, give thanks for the precious gift of faith that you have received from your elders, and entrust your whole life to her. She is a good Mother who listens to you and embraces you, who loves you and walks together with you,” he said.
 
The theme for the upcoming local World Youth Day is taken from the words of Mary in the Magnificat: “The Mighty has done great things for me” (Luke 1:49).
 
Mary “recognized the great things that God was accomplishing in her life,” gave thanks for it, and then put it into action, going to help her cousin Elizabeth, the Pope said. She “was not a young couch potato who looks for comfort and safety where nobody can bother them.”
 
“Dear young people, God is also watching over you and calling you, and when God does so, he is looking at all the love you are able to offer,” Francis said.
 
In anticipation of World Youth Day in Panama January 22-27, 2017, the Pope also released a longer written message to youth, reflecting on themes from the last international World Youth Day in Krakow in July 2016 and on the themes of each year’s meeting leading up to Panama.
 
Continuing the Marian themes, in 2018 the theme will be “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God” (Luke 1:49) and in 2019, in Panama, it will be “I am the servant of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38), the Pope said.
 
Francis said that he hopes preparations for World Youth Day in Panama and for the Synod of Bishops in October 2018, “will move forward in tandem,” since the topic of the Synod will be youth, faith and vocational discernment.
 
At the Synod, “we will talk about how you, as young people, are experiencing the life of faith amid the challenges of our time,” the Pope said. “We will also discuss the question of how you can develop a life project by discerning your personal vocation...”
 
In discerning the plan God has for our lives, we can look to Mary, who was very young herself, as an example of the gift of faith lived out, he said.
 
Referencing an address he gave at World Youth Day in Krakow, Francis said to not be afraid, for though we might think, but “I am a sinner, what can I do?” the truth is that “when the Lord calls us, he doesn’t stop at what we are or what we have done.”
 
“On the contrary, at the very moment that he calls us, he is looking ahead to everything we can do, all the love we are capable of giving.”
 
How do we prepare to, like Mary, give this love? Pope Francis offered four practical suggestions. One, is to end each day doing an examination of conscience – reflecting on our day, remembering both “the good times and the challenges, what went well and those that went wrong.”
 
These can also be recorded in a journal if we like and is a good way of noticing what God is doing in our lives, he said.
 
Another suggestion the Pope made is to spend more time reading the Bible. If you, as young people, want to make your life a “gift for humanity” it is “essential to connect with the historical tradition and the prayer of those who have gone before you,” he said.
 
Doing lectio divina, a method of prayerfully reading the Bible and applying God’s word to your own life will help to “illumine your steps.”
 
Thirdly, Francis stressed the importance of going to Mass and frequent reception of the Eucharist, and the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
 
And lastly, he said that young people must speak to and learn from the wisdom of their elders, especially grandparents or other relatives. “Do you realize how extraordinarily enriching the encounter between the young and the elderly can be?” he asked.
 
“Young people have strength, while the elderly have memory and wisdom.”
 
“The genuine experience of the Church is not like a flash mob, where people agree to meet, do their thing and then go their separate ways,” Pope Francis continued.
 
“The Church is heir to a long tradition which, passed down from generation to generation, is further enriched by the experience of each individual. Your personal history has a place within the greater history of the Church.”
 
Even young people should be mindful of tradition and the past, he said, though this is not the same as being nostalgic or remaining stuck on a certain period of history as being the best. One of the gifts of youth is questioning and dreaming about the future, he said.
 
“God came to enlarge the horizons of our life in every direction. He helps us to give due value to the past so as to better build a future of happiness.”
 
“Many people think that young people are distracted and superficial,” Francis explained. “They are wrong! Still, we should acknowledge our need to reflect on our lives and direct them towards the future.”
 
“When God touches the heart of a young man or woman, they become capable of doing tremendous things.”

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Madrid, Spain, Mar 21, 2017 / 03:19 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A recent video ad released by the Down Federation seeks to increase awareness of persons with Down syndrome.

Through a series of videos and photographs, the campaign seeks to challenge the prejudices faced by persons affected by disability, noting that “with appropriate supports, they can carry out any goal that is proposed.”

The campaign was launched in advance of World Down Syndrome Day, which is celebrated all over the world on March 21, and aims to “increase social awareness regarding people with this intellectual disability.”

In the video, four famous Spanish actors – Jordi Rebellón, Vanesa Romero, Eva Isanta and Jesús Olmedo – sit with their eyes closed in front of people with Down syndrome. Little by little, they open their eyes, and break away from the “prejudices, stereotypes, doubts, misgivings and appearances” that the video says “create an invisible blindfold that prevents one from seeing reality.”

The Down Federation of Spain video closes by inviting Spaniards to “open your eyes and look at the person in front of you,” as a concrete way to “change the view of Down Syndrome.”

The video is part of a larger campaign the organization is launching under the theme: “Change your view on Down syndrome.” The group has also hosted a performance by dancers with Down syndrome as well as a chance for the public to read both discriminatory messages and positive messages received by individuals with Down syndrome.

“We want to encourage real change” in the way society views people with Trisomy 21, the genetic disorder that causes Down syndrome, the organization said in a statement.

Agustín Matía, manager of the Down Federation of Spain, told the Spanish newspaper La Razón that “the number of people with this syndrome has remained stable in recent years, between 34,000 and 35,000, but the trend is that this number will decrease, although their lifespans are increasing. There are already people in their 70s and 80s, but births are falling.”

According to previous interviews in 2015 by Matía, Spain has one of the smallest populations of persons with intellectual disabilities in the world, and the lowest rate of Down syndrome diagnoses to births on the planet. In the past, Matía has blamed the abortion of those prenatally diagnosed with Trisomy 21 – along with societal biases – for these incredibly low rates.

“Disability is not assumed. Many people believe, when they see on the street some of these children, that they are unhappy, and it is the opposite. They are very wrong,” Mattia said in a statement on the group’s most recent project.

He also pointed to the need for support from the medical community when a couple is informed that they may have a child with the condition.  

Matía also argued that children with Down syndrome “should be integrated into normal schools with the supports they need.” This is something that rarely happens Spanish schools.

 

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Washington D.C., Mar 21, 2017 / 04:50 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The judge nominated to replace Antonin Scalia at the Supreme Court answered questions on abortion and religious freedom jurisprudence on Tuesday.

While he avoided commenting on how he may rule in certain cases, Judge Neil Gorsuch of the Tenth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals discussed the legal principles underlying topics such as the right to life and freedom of religious expression.

Speaking to the Senate Judiciary Committee, he acknowledged Roe v. Wade – the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion throughout the U.S. – as settled precedent, though he declined to say whether it was decided correctly and how he would rule in future abortion cases.

Tuesday marked the second day of the committee’s confirmation hearing for Judge Gorsuch to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court. Gorsuch was tapped by President Donald Trump in February to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court left by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in 2016.

Trump had insisted while on the campaign trail in 2016 that he would appoint pro-life justices to the Supreme Court.

When asked at the final presidential debate in October if, as president, he wanted the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion throughout the U.S., Trump answered that “if that would happen, because I am pro-life and I will be appointing pro-life justices…it [the legality of abortion] will go back to the individual states.”

On Tuesday, Gorsuch was asked by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, “whether Roe was decided correctly.” Gorsuch answered that the decision “is the precedent of the United States Supreme Court.”

Roe, he said, “was reaffirmed in Casey in 1992 and in several other cases. So a good judge will consider a precedent of the United States Supreme Court worthy as treatment of precedent like any other.”

When Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), ranking member on the committee, asked Gorsuch about assumptions that he could vote to overturn Roe, he reiterated that it was “settled.”

“Once a case is settled, that adds to the determinacy of the law. What was once a hotly contested issue is no longer a hotly contested issue. We move forward,” Gorsuch answered. “It has been reaffirmed many times. I can say that.”

He expounded upon abortion law in a discussion with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who asked about the authority of states to set limits on abortions given that medical knowledge of unborn human life has developed with time.

Graham referenced the Planned Parenthood v. Casey decision of 1992, which established the “viability” standard for states’ abortion laws, that they could restrict abortions after an unborn baby shows “viability.”

Recent research shows that unborn babies can “feel excruciating pain” at 20 weeks post-gestation, Graham argued, and so the “state has a compelling interest” to step in and limit abortions conducted after five months.

Currently, 19 states have “Pain-Capable” laws banning abortions after five months of pregnancy, except in cases of rape, incest, or when the life of the mother is at stake.

Rather than voicing support or opposition for such laws, Gorsuch simply promised that if an abortion law case came before him as a Supreme Court justice, he would, as Graham had asked, “look at the facts,” “read the briefs,” and “make a decision” from that.

Sen. Grassley also asked about the Griswold decision of 1965 that legalized contraception in the U.S. based on a right to privacy of married couples. Gorsuch answered that the case has precedent as it is “50 years old.”

“It’s been repeatedly reaffirmed, all very important factors again, in analyzing precedent.”

Senators also pressed Gorsuch about religious freedom cases, particularly the application of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to jurisprudence. RFRA was a law passed in 1993, and it set up a test to determine cases where a person claimed their free exercise of religion had been violated by the federal government.

The government may not “substantially burden” one’s free exercise of religion, the law says, unless it proved that its law “furthered a compelling governmental interest” and was the “least-restrictive means” of doing so.

RFRA has surfaced in Supreme Court cases as of late, especially in cases of employers or religious non-profits against the government’s birth control mandate. That mandate forces employers to provide cost-free coverage for sterilizations, contraceptives, and drugs that can cause abortions in employee health plans.

Gorsuch, while on the Tenth Circuit, ruled in favor of Hobby Lobby, an arts-and-crafts chain owned by a Christian family who claimed that the mandate violated their religious freedom because they had to provide employees coverage for drugs they believed caused abortions.

He insisted on Tuesday that the religious freedom law “applies not just to Hobby Lobby. It also applies to the Little Sisters of the Poor and protects their religious exercise,” he said, and protected a Muslim prisoner in Oklahoma who wanted to keep his beard at a certain length for religious purposes against prison rules.

Gorsuch joined the dissent in the case of the Little Sisters of the Poor where they claimed that the federal government’s “accommodation” offered to them to opt-out of the mandate still violated their religious beliefs. The Tenth Circuit ruled against the sisters, but Gorsuch joined the dissent.

In the Hobby Lobby case, critics of the Court’s decision said that the business was not protected by RFRA because it was not a “person.”

Gorsuch explained how he reasoned that the law protected “closely-held for-profit corporations” as well.

The Green family claimed they owned “a small, family-held company,” Gorsuch said. “They exhibit their religious affiliation openly in their business. They pipe in Christian music. They refuse to sell alcohol or things that hold alcohol. They close on Sundays though it costs them a lot.”

“Congress didn’t define the term” of “person” when they wrote the law, he continued. The Court invoked the “Dictionary Act,” which states that “the words ’person’ and ‘whoever’ include corporations, companies, associations, firms, partnerships, societies, and joint stock companies, as well as individuals.”

“So you can’t rule out the possibility that some companies can exercise religion,” Gorsuch said. “And of course we know churches are often incorporated. And we know non-profits like Little Sisters, or hospitals can practice religion. In fact, the government in that case conceded that non-profit corporations can exercise religion. Conceded that.”

Additionally, the birth control mandate was not the “least-restrictive means” of ensuring contraception coverage, he added. The Supreme Court ruled “that it wasn’t as strictly tailored as it could be because the government had provided different accommodations to churches and other religious entities.”

 

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