U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., today applauded the U.S. Supreme Court Hobby Lobby ruling, saying it “rightly rejects the federal government’s intrusion into an individual’s religious liberty.”
Moran issued a statement on the court’s ruling in the Hobby Lobby case, involving the company’s stance on not providing contraception to its employees as part of their medical benefits.
Moran’s statement:
“Since our nation’s earliest days, the U.S. Supreme Court has consistently affirmed our First Amendment right to exercise our religious beliefs freely,” Sen. Moran said. “Today’s Supreme Court decision rightly rejects the federal government’s intrusion into an individual’s religious liberty. This ruling protects religious practice beyond places of worship without harm to others. I applaud the Supreme Court’s decision.”
Sen. Moran was one of 15 senators to co-sign an amicus brief in the case challenging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services mandate. The Supreme Court’s decision applies to closely-held corporations.
Other comments today:
The ACLU, in a news release, called it a “deeply troubling decision.”
“This is a deeply troubling decision. For the first time, the highest court in the country has said that business owners can use their religious beliefs to deny their employees a benefit that they are guaranteed by law,” said Louise Melling, deputy legal director of the ACLU. “Religious freedom is a fundamental right, but that freedom does not include the right to impose beliefs on others. In its ruling today, the Court simply got it wrong.”
A news release from the United Church of Christ said the decision is “an affront to the religious liberty of women across the nation.”
“The Court’s decision today is in fact an affront to the religious liberty of women across the country, who we believe have a right to make decisions based on the dictates of their moral conscience and religious beliefs. Since the early 1970s, the United Church of Christ General Synod has long witnessed to this fundamental right of conscience, one central to our religious forbearers,” said Sandy Sorenson, director of the United Church of Christ’s Washington, D.C., office. “We are particularly concerned that those women most impacted by the inability to access the full range of reproductive health services are low-income and working women, who do not otherwise have the means to access such care. This decision has troubling implications for the health care of women and families. We will continue to work with our partners to advocate for policies that ensure access to affordable, comprehensive reproductive health care services for all women.”
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback today said the ruling affirmed religious freedom.
“The Supreme Court today affirmed the right of religious freedom, one of the bedrock principles enshrined in our constitution,” Gov Brownback said in a statement. “It again rebuked a needless overreach of President Obama’s administration. Kansans understand that President Obama’s Washington approach, with its one-size-fits-all philosophy, coupled with the President’s repeated abuses of power, are not good for America and are terrible for Kansas.”
Kansas Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer issued this statement: “Today the Justices of the Supreme Court had a chance to protect religious freedoms and take a stand against the continued federal intrusion into our private beliefs. In ruling in favor of Hobby Lobby, the Supreme Court stood strong for those beliefs.”
Kansas Attorney Gen. Derek Schmidt issued this statement: “America’s bedrock principle of religious liberty today prevailed over the demands of the modern bureaucratic state. For the second time in two years, the United States Supreme Court has stricken a part of ‘Obamacare’ as illegal. Kansas has been a proud part of both those successes, and I am hopeful our other pending challenges will succeed in future years.”
Welborn Community United Church of Christ, founded in 1874, has announced the appointment of the Rev. Virginia Pych as its pastor.
Pych succeeds immediate past interim minister, The Rev. Joe Biscoe, who served in the interim role for more than 10 years. Biscoe retired from the pulpit in 2013.
The community and all current and former members of Welborn Community UCC may attend a welcome reception for Pych at noon on Sunday, July 13, immediately after worship.
“We are pleased to welcome Rev. Pych to our Welborn community church,” said Larry Reece, church moderator. “We are in our 140th year as a church, with a very long history of worship and service in the community. We look forward to the skills and leadership Rev. Pych can bring to our small, but generous, congregation.”
Pych grew up on a farm in southwestern Minnesota and was active in a Congregational Church (later a part of the UCC). Ordained in 1986, she served Rosedale Congregational Church in Kansas City, Kan., for four years, and then was trained for interim ministry. She served many congregations in the Upper Midwest as interim pastor, returning to the Kansas City area to establish a permanent home and be near two of her three children.
Welborn Community UCC, 5217 Leavenworth Road, Kansas City, Kan., holds worship at 11 a.m. every Sunday. It is on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/welbornUCC. Welborn is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, receiving its designation in 2013.
National Weather Service graphic
Temperatures in the lower to middle 90s combined with high levels of atmospheric moisture will result in a sultry air mass today, according to the National Weather Service.
A heat index of more than 100 will be common across the Greater Kansas City area.
All persons who are performing outside activities should exercise extreme caution to prevent any heat-related illnesses, the weather service said.
Those with small children are reminded to check the back seat of their vehicles for any children who may have fallen asleep during travel.
Cooler and less humid air will arrive overnight behind a strong cold front that will bring showers and thunderstorms to much of the Kansas City area late this afternoon and evening, according to the weather service.
The thunderstorms have a possibility of large hail, damaging winds, a few tornadoes and flash flooding.
The temperature at 9 a.m. Monday was 81 degrees with a heat index of 85.
National Weather Service graphic
National Weather Service graphic
