Religious leaders from several groups gathered at an abortion clinic in McAllen, Texas, Wednesday to express their support and “bless” it, although the event received plenty of criticism on social media. 

The gathering at Whole Woman’s Health in McAllen was organized by the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC), Just Texas and Catholics for Choice, and was similar to “blessings” previously held in Austin and Forth Worth. 

Rev. Cari Jackson, clergy in residence with the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, told supporters that pro-life laws restricting abortion are “ungodly, unconstitutional and unacceptable.” 

“We have come to Texas with a serious and yet also joyous focus: to affirm the staff and patients at Whole Woman’s Health as being blessed in their role of providing compassionate care,” she said. 

“We want to show them a different vision of faith than they may have experienced before – one that upholds reproductive health, advocates for reproductive justice, and celebrates the beauty and power of supporting the bodily autonomy of each and every person that comes through their doors,” Jackson added.

Clergy leaders sang and prayed outside the clinic and held candles, KGBT reported. Supporters held signs reading “God Bless Safe Abortion Access” and “Blessing Heart, Body & Mind.” Nearby,…

Leading abortion provider Planned Parenthood has announced its latest project – a sprawling 18,000-square-foot mega-clinic in southern Illinois. The facility, which is located just 13 miles away from Missouri’s last surviving clinic, was built in complete secrecy in a bid to avoid protests and delays.

Earlier this year, Missouri’s state legislature passed a “Fetal Heartbeat Law” that effectively banned abortion from 8 weeks gestation. Despite the ban being blocked by a federal court last week, abortion in Missouri has been all but eradicated due to the increasingly restrictive laws.

In response to the sweeping new pro-life legislation being introduced across the country, Planned Parenthood used a shell company to secretly construct the new facility in Illinois, ensuring that they left no public trace. Chief Medical Officer of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri noted that the discreet nature of the project was vital in order to keep suppliers and contractors on the job – previous buildings have been hampered by workers who do not want to be involved in the building of an abortion clinic.

“We were really intentional and thoughtful about making sure that we were able to complete this project as expeditiously as possible because we saw the writing on the wall — patients need better access, so we wanted to get it open as quickly as we could,” McNicholas…

A New Orleans Saints linebacker says he will stop wearing a “Man of God” headband after being fined by the NFL.

The Saints’ Demario Davis wore a headband with the words “Man of God” the first three weeks of the season before the NFL noticed and fined him $7,017. League policy prohibits “personal messages” on the uniform.

A second violation would have resulted in a fine roughly double that amount: $14,037, the Times-Picayune newspaper reported.  

Davis is vocal about his faith. His Twitter and Instagram bios read “Servant of Christ.” He’s also founder of the Devoted Dreamers Foundation, a faith-based organization for inner-city children.

“I don’t think a lot of people were aware of the policy that was in place – I wasn’t even fully aware of it,” Davis told the newspaper about the policy and his headband. “I just wanted to put it out and just kind of help fans who care about the game understand a more intricate part of the game.”

He received plenty of support on social media – as well as pleas for him to continue wearing it – although he eventually decided not to don it again. 

“Of course you don’t want to be fined,” Davis told the newspaper. “Nobody wants to lose money but I think any time that the conversation about God is brought up, especially in these times, I think it’s always a positive or silver…

Republican lawmakers are pushing forward a bill that would require states to disclose the number of babies born after failed abortions.

Senators Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) have sponsored the Ensuring Accurate and Complete Abortion Data Reporting Act of 2019, Faithwire reports.

“Only a few states report cases where babies are born alive during abortions,” Cotton said in a tweet. “We know about dozens of cases already. How many don’t we know about?”

Cotton told National Review that the data is “life or death.”

“The American people deserve to know how many babies are born alive during abortion attempts in our country,” Cotton said. “This is life-or-death information, yet most states don’t collect it. Our bill would require states to report accurate and complete data about abortion, including instances where babies are born alive during abortions.”

Previously, Republican lawmakers have tried to push Democrats to support the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which forces doctors to provide medical care to babies who survive abortion attempts.

Lawmakers have refused to hear debate or to vote on that bill some 70 times. According to Faithwire.com, Democrats argue that the bill is unneeded because abortion attempts are rarely unsuccessful.

But Ernst says she believes people have…

A new study has found that about half of Christians under age 35 believe a Christian should not become romantically involved with an unbeliever.

According to the study from Teleios Research, 51 percent of those surveyed said a Christian should not date an unbeliever, Relevant Magazine reports.

“The love, devotion, and deference between a believing husband and wife reflects the loving relationship between Christ and His church. The primary goal of Christian marriage is to attract unbelievers to the gospel,” said Dr. William C. Stewart, who co-founded the research agency. “This is not possible by dating or marrying an unbeliever. Christians should marry Christians!”

The research seemed to agree, showing that 69 percent of participants said the primary biblical purpose of marriage is to show the relationship between Jesus and the church. Other reasons for marriage revealed in the survey said marriage is for love between a man and a woman (42 percent); producing children (14 percent) and populating the world (14 percent).

Also, along the lines of marriage, 74 percent said that marrying an unbeliever is not likely to fulfill God’s will in marriage.

On dating, 66 percent of respondents who dated an unbeliever said their relationship was somewhat to very negative, and 24 percent said their own faith fell during their…

NAIROBI, Kenya, October 4, 2019 (Morning Star News) – Sa’aada Hussein’s husband didn’t seem to be a very devoted Muslim by Somalia’s strict standards, so she hoped it would be safe to ask him for permission to read the Bible.

After all, he chewed khat, a plant in East Africa that produces euphoria, which Islamic leaders said was forbidden. Though she had grown up watching family members practice Muslim rituals in Bosaso in northern Somalia, Hussein had secretly put her faith in Christ in her young 20s.

After marrying a Muslim in 2010, she had suppressed her faith but secretly recommitted her life to Christ in 2017. She then had two young children as she began to read anew, in secret, a Bible that an ex-boyfriend had given her before she married.

“I feared that my husband might report my belief in Issa [Jesus] to my extended family members, so I remained a secret Christian for one year,” Hussein, 32, told Morning Star News by phone. “In January 2019, I decided to request my husband to permit me to read the Bible, but he refused despite the fact that he was not a strong Muslim who chewed khat.”

Instead, he reported her to extended family members in a country where leaving Islam is punishable by death; even if a court in the sharia (Islamic law)-ruled country might not execute her, in many families relatives would stone her to…