By Christy Barritt

Transgenders Allowed in Public School Bathrooms

According to new rules being enforced in Massachusetts Public Schools, boys and girls who self identify as transgender may now use the public bathrooms, changing rooms, and locker rooms of their choosing.

Massachusetts Commissioner of Education Mitchell Chester informed grade K-12 school principals in February about the policy. He wrote the new guidelines with the assistance of homosexual and transgender advocacy groups.

The policy will not require a doctor’s note or parental permission. The document outlining the new rules states, “The responsibility for determining a student’s gender identity rests with the student.”

The change also means that all school teams will now essentially be co-ed.

Furthermore, students who object to this gender inclusion may be punished under the state’s new anti-bullying laws.

Teen Allowed to Keep Baby in Forced Abortion Case

The teenager who sued her parents to stop them from forcing her to have an abortion has won an injunction. A judge has prohibited the parents of the 16-year-old from coercing their daughter into having an abortion.

Attorneys with the Texas Center for Defense of Life represented the teenager in the case. The teen claimed her parents and grandparents conspired to slip her an abortion-inducing drug. Her father purportedly told her she would have an abortion, and that was the end of the story.

Prolife advocates are rejoicing in this victory.

“This is a tremendous victory, and another life has been saved,” said TCDL attorney and president Greg Terra. “Our victory today stands for the principle that ‘choice’ goes both ways. A teenage girl has the absolute legal right to choose life, even over the strong objections, pressure, and punishments of her parents.”

Christians in Libya could Face Death Penalty

In February, four foreign Christians were detained in Libya on the charges of printing and distributing materials that promote Christianity. One of those arrested is an American citizen.

In Libya, it’s illegal to share any faith other than Islam, and death is a potential penalty.

Police claim that 45,000 Christian texts were found in these missionaries’ possessions, and claim that another 25,000 had already been handed out.

 “They were arrested on Tuesday at a publishing house where they were printing thousands of books that called for conversion to Christianity,” Hussein Bin Hmeid, spokesman for Libya’s Preventative Security, told Reuters. “Proselytizing is forbidden in Libya. We are a 100 percent Muslim country and this kind of action affects our national security.”

South Dakota City Still Practices Prayer, Despite Atheist Demands

Officials in Rapid City, South Dakota are ignoring a letter sent to them from the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation and persisting in their prayers.

City officials begin their council meetings with prayer and have been doing so for decades, according to reports. The FFRF said that these invocations were unlawful.

The mayor and city council decided to stand their ground and, as a result, city officials are reporting that the entire community has come together to support them.

The mayor sent out a newsletter saying, “This issue has brought the entire council and nearly the entire community together. We are going to stand and fight this nonsensical effort to remove prayer from our meetings. We aren’t backing down.”

FFRF says it wants the prayers replaced with a moment of silence. The mayor said that will never happen.

Christy Barritt is an award-winning author, freelance writer, and speaker living in Chesapeake, Virginia. She and her husband Scott have two sons. 
www.christybarritt.com