District of Columbia

Despite the intensity of recent debates over abortion coverage in health care legislation, relatively few Americans say they oppose the bills before Congress because of the issue.

Only three percent of Americans raised the issue of government-funded abortions as the main reason why they oppose the health proposals currently before Congress, according to a new Pew Research Center survey that allowed for open-ended responses. At the top of the list were complaints that the bills are too expensive/will increase deficit and taxes (27 percent) and allow too much government involvement in health care (27 percent).

Moreover, when respondents were given a list of five possible reasons why they oppose the health care bills, only eight percent picked “government money might pay for abortions” as the main reason. Most of the respondents expressed concern about big government (38 percent), high cost (27 percent), and the impact of reform on their own coverage (14 percent). more >>

Nearly one in four children in the United States lived in a home that suffered from food insecurity in 2008, according to new data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

In total, 16.7 million children, or 22.5 percent, were from families that had difficulty putting enough food on the table last year. That’s 4.3 million more children than in 2007.

“Child hunger is not just a casualty of the recession,” commented the Rev. David Beckmann, president of the Christian anti-poverty group Bread for the World, in response to the data. “It was a problem before the recession, and unless we take the necessary steps, kids will continue to suffer after the economy recovers.” more >>

WASHINGTON – Unlike in the United States, there is little controversy among evangelicals around the world on whether climate change is real, said an evangelical representative at a press briefing on Capitol Hill.

“They know it is real,” said Deborah Fikes, executive advisor of the World Evangelical Alliance – a global alliance of churches in 128 nations and over 100 international organizations. But in the United States, many evangelicals deny climate change is real because they are “self-absorbed” and “lack [the] spiritual will” to change their lifestyle to help solve a problem that is life threatening, she said.

Fikes was a member of the delegation of evangelical leaders and leading climate scientists that briefed top White House advisors and U.S. Senate offices Tuesday about climate change. The self-described odd partners urged lawmakers to put aside their differences, as they had, and quickly act to address the climate change problem. more >>

The D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics ruled Tuesday not to take same-sex marriage to the ballot for a vote by the people.

Allowing residents of the District of Columbia to vote on the divisive issue would violate the Human Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination against gays and lesbians, the board determined.

“We have considered all of the testimony presented to the Board and understand the desire to place this question on the ballot,” said Board Chairman Errol R. Arthur in a statement Tuesday. “However, the laws of the District of Columbia preclude us from allowing this initiative to move forward.” more >>

The American Center for Law and Justice has filed a legal response to a lawsuit that opposes religious engravings in the Capitol Visitor Center in Washington.

In the amicus brief, the ACLJ asks the U.S. District Court for the western district of Wisconsin to dismiss claims that the use of "In God We Trust" as the national motto is a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

"Plaintiffs' crusade, targeting religious expression in the federal government, serves no purpose other than to waste judicial resources at a time in our Nation's history when those resources are needed in cases involving real threats to American liberties," the legal group asserts. more >>