In today’s News:
Planned Parenthood sued for defamation
The Center for Medical Progress (CMP) and its founder David Daleiden, responsible for the 2015 undercover video series exposing top Planned Parenthood leadership negotiating the harvesting and sale of aborted fetal body parts, are suing planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA). for defamation in New York federal court after PPFA falsely and repeatedly accused the filmmakers of “manufacture[d]”, “fake”, and “false” undercover video reporting. In sworn deposition testimony in 2019, top planned Parenthood Officials admitted that their own actual statements were captured by the undercover video recordings. PPFA itself stipulated during a federal court trial that the words used by Planned Parenthood officials in the undercover videos “were spoken by those persons”. Yet on Sept. 18, 2019, PPFA issued a press statement claiming Daleiden and CMP filmed and published undercover video “to manufacture a fake smear campaign against Planned Parenthood”. On Nov. 15, 2019, PPFA tweeted that Daleiden and CMP “created a false smear campaign against Planned Parenthood”. After 30 months of undercover work, CMP began releasing its undercover video footage of documenting Planned Parenthood and its business partners’ participation in the harvesting and sale of human fetuses and their body parts from abortions. With each video release, CMP posted the full footage of the conversation with the Planned Parenthood representative, alongside a shorter summary version presenting the most significant parts of the conversation.
Supermarket chain sued for religious discrimination
A major supermarket chain is facing a lawsuit after firing two employees over their refusal to wear a rainbow emblem that violates their religious beliefs as part of their work uniform. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a lawsuit against the Kroger Co. Monday in response to action taken by Kroger store no. 625 in Conway, Ark., against two employees. The employees were terminated after they refused to abide by the new dress code, which required them to wear an apron depicting a rainbow-colored heart emblem. The women contended that wearing the apron would amount to an endorsement of the LGBTQ movement, which contradicts their religious beliefs. According to the EEOC, “one woman offered to wear the apron with the emblem covered and the other offered to wear a different apron without the emblem, but the company made no attempt to accommodate their requests.” The EEOC complaint comes more than a year after both women were fired from the supermarket chain.
Student suspended for posting Bible verse
A Christian high school student in Ohio was suspended last week after she posted Bible verses on lockers and walls after she saw LGBT Pride flags and posters decorating the halls of her school. Last Friday, mother Tina Helsinger posted a video to her Facebook page featuring her daughter, Gabby, explaining how she ended up being sentenced to an in-school suspension at Lebanon High School. Helsinger explained that as she was coming back from lunch, she saw teachers taking down the Bible verses she put up. Superintendent Todd Yohey clarified to Faithwire that the district’s student code of conduct prohibits the sharing or posting of religious text or imagery on school grounds.
