Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg:

South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg is being hailed in some quarters as an honest man who would make a good president. Picking up on this image, he is now selling himself as a committed Christian, one who is much more broad minded than Christian conservatives.

When asked by Kirsten Powers this week about his favorite Bible verses, his first response was to cite a passage from Matthew: “Whatever you did for one of the least of these…you did for me.”

Who would qualify as being among “the least of these?” Surely those who are unable to defend themselves. Not to Buttigieg—unborn babies fail to make the cut. When asked about late-term abortions on MSNBC, he defended them, citing his objections to “involvement of a male government.”

That was a dishonest answer. Buttigieg knows very well that whether the government is run by males or females, or a combination of both, such characteristics have absolutely nothing to do with judging the morality of late-term abortions. On another occasion he said, “I don’t think we need more restrictions [on abortion] right now.” A more honest answer would have been to say “not now, not ever.”

Buttigieg’s slipperiness was on display last year when he was faced with making a decision to allow a crisis pregnancy center (CPC) to locate next to an abortion clinic in South Bend. Lawmakers approved rezoning, thereby allowing for the CPC, but Buttigieg vetoed the bill. He feigned distress over his decision, offering two reasons why he had to say no. Both were dishonest.

“Issues on the legality or morality of abortion are dramatically beyond my paygrade as a mayor,” he said. Then he should resign. Public figures are expected to make moral judgments about contemporary issues. More important, Buttigieg has no business running for president. If an issue such as abortion is beyond his paygrade, then he is not suited for the job.

Buttigieg, of course, was being dishonest. He has an opinion—he is solidly in the pro-abortion camp.

It was his other reason for banning a CPC that was not only dishonest, it was demagogic. Buttigieg cited potential clashes between the abortion clinic and the CPC. Thus, by sleight of hand he secured the right of the abortion clinic to operate, without allowing women an alternative voice.

Fort Wayne-South Bend Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades saw right through Buttigieg’s ploy. “I share the mayor’s concern about the neighborhood,” he said, “but for a different reason: a group from outside our community and state may open that not only discards innocent human life, but purports to give women a choice, when in fact it has vigorously opposed the Women’s Care Center [the CPC] that provides loving support for women and the choice to say yes to life.”

Buttigieg offered another dishonest reason for not allowing the CPC to locate next to the abortion clinic. “I saw data that there was about triple the rate of violence or harassment issues when a clinic is located next to a crisis pregnancy center,” he said. The implication is that it is the CPC, not the abortion clinic, that is the occasion for trouble.

“Where I practice in Tuscaloosa, Alabama,” an abortionist said last year, “the crisis pregnancy center is right next door to the abortion clinic and I’ve had patients who have eventually made it to me to receive abortion services who said their care was delayed because they were not told that they were next door to the facility they were seeking to enter.” He said nothing about harassment or violence being a problem, only that his customers were delayed in finding him.

If there were problems of true harassment or violence accompanying the location of a CPC near an abortion clinic, such stories should not be hard to find, especially from abortion-friendly sources.

The Guttmacher Institute is the nation’s foremost pro-abortion research entity; it was once affiliated with Planned Parenthood. “The Public Health Risks of Crisis Pregnancy Centers” was published by Guttmacher in 2012 by Joanne D. Rosen. There is no mention of harassment or violence.

In 2015, NARAL, the pro-abortion giant, published “Crisis Pregnancy Centers Lie: The Insidious Threat to Reproductive Freedom.” It listed 107 citations covering a lot of ground. There is no mention of harassment or violence.

In 2017, NARAL published a 16-page article, “The Truth about Crisis Pregnancy Centers.” There is no mention of harassment or violence.

In 2017, Beth Holtzman published a 34-page article, “Have Crisis Pregnancy Centers Finally Met Their Match: California’s Reproductive FACT Act,”; it appeared in the Northwestern Journal of Law & Public Policy. There was no mention of harassment or violence.

In 2018, multiple authors published an article, “Why Crisis Pregnancy Centers Are Legal but Unethical,” in the AMA Journal of Ethics. There is no mention of harassment or violence.

So where are the data that Buttigieg claims he “saw”? “The 2015 Violence and Disruption Statistics” published by the National Abortion Federation lists instances of harassment (e.g., picketing) and some violence, but it attributes none to CPCs.

The one source that appears to back his claim is the “2018 National Clinic Violence Survey,” published by the Feminist Majority Foundation. It claims that when a CPC is located near an abortion clinic, the latter is seven times more likely to experience harassment or violence than one located further away.

There are several problems with this study. First, this pro-abortion organization did not simply publish this survey, it conducted it. In other words, it violated a central tenet of survey research: it did not outsource the survey to an independent research institute.

Also, researchers look to see the framing of the questions that respondents are asked. This survey offers none, just capsule summaries.

Perhaps the biggest flaw of all is the failure to consider whether CPCs are more likely to experience harassment or violence when situated near an abortion clinic. There is ample evidence that this is not uncommon. Consider the following underreported news story.

“An 85-year-old pro-life man was assaulted as he prayed outside a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in San Francisco last Thursday and it was captured on camera. In the 22-second clip, an alleged Planned Parenthood supporter knocks the pro-life advocate, identified as Ron, to the ground, tells him to stay on the ground, then repeatedly kicks him as he tries to take away the ’40 Days for Life’ banner for which Ron was peacefully protesting.”

This didn’t happen years ago—it happened at the end of last month.

“Clash Outside Planned Parenthood in Naples Sends One Man to Hospital for Injuries.” This was the headline of a story from October, 2018. A 65-year-old man, Joe Alger, was saying the rosary near a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic when he was assaulted.

“The unidentified man got close to Alger’s face and punched him, and Alger was knocked to the ground and punched a second time.” A Planned Parenthood spokeswoman told reporters that “a fight broke out.” Not true. A senior citizen was assaulted by a pro-abortion thug because he was saying the rosary.

Many other examples could be given. Pro-life offices have been torched, and many pro-life leaders have received death threats. Moreover, pro-life supporters on college campuses, especially women, are harassed and intimidated with regularity. It is therefore dishonest for Buttigieg to hold CPCs responsible for harassment or violence against abortion clinics.

Most Americans have never heard of Pete Buttigieg. The media, having found a young homosexual presidential candidate they like, are offering a sympathetic portrait of him. On closer inspection, however, he appears coy and dishonest, and not the least bit interested in serving “the least among us.”

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on the latest controversy enveloping Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel:

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is a disaster. She can’t seem to shake charges of bigotry. Worse, she has no problem condemning bigotry when the victims are non-Catholics. Not to worry, Catholics are taking note of her selective interest in justice.

The latest controversy that Nessel is embroiled in concerns new charges of anti-Catholic bigotry, this time coming from Michigan State Rep. Beau LaFave, not the Catholic League.

He is incensed over a retweet by Nessel that cited the hiring of a retired judge by Michigan State University to address sexual abuse. The tweet in question noted his ties to the Catholic Church. LaFave further noted Nessel’s previous comments attacking Catholicism.

Nessel’s communications director, Kelly Rossman-McKinney, tried to deflect criticism of her boss’ problems by claiming victim status. She said that when Nessel told parishioners that if investigators contact them, “please ask for their badge, not their rosary,” some of the 500 emails were “vile and hateful,” noting one anti-Semitic comment.

Those emails were sent in response to our news release condemning Nessel for her anti-Catholic remark; we listed Rossman-McKinney’s email address in my statement. Never once did I cite Nessel’s Jewish heritage. For good reason: a) it is irrelevant and b) I never knew she was Jewish until now.

What is most striking about Nessel’s response is her condemnation of homophobia (she is a lesbian activist), anti-Semitism, and Islamophobia. She cited the latter in reference to some of the comments made about Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the Muslim congresswoman who has made a series of incendiary remarks.

Nessel did not include anti-Catholicism in her list of bigoted genres of speech that she deplores. Maybe that’s because of her contributions to it. To wit: She has only been in office for a few months and has already drawn the attention of the Catholic League on several occasions.

On October 2, 2018, before Nessel won the election, we noted that Michigan Catholics had better brace themselves if she wins: She flat out said she would not enforce a religious liberty bill that protected the religious freedom of faith-based foster care and adoption services.

On February 25, 2019, we called her out for her anti-Catholic slur about asking investigators “for their badge, not their rosary.”

On February 28, 2019, we drew attention to her religious profiling. To be exact, she singled out the Catholic Church for a probe of sexual abuse, never explaining why no other institution was targeted.

In that same news release, we provided her with a list of recent examples about Michigan kids being raped in the public schools. We even noted examples of the sexual abuse of minors taking place in her state by doctors, lawyers, family members, online predators, and law enforcement personnel, as well as by teachers and administrators. Yet she concentrates only on Catholics.

On March 13, 2019, after Nessel went on the attack again (this time joined by Governor Gretchen Whitmer), we asked Michigan lawmakers to address the issue of sexual abuse in the public schools. When USA Today did a 50-state investigation of sexual abuse in the public schools, it gave Michigan a grade of “F.” Ergo, it was unconscionable not to include the schools in a probe of wrongdoing.

On March 25, 2019, Nessel merited our response again, this time over making good on her campaign promise not to defend a religious liberty law that protects Catholic social service agencies from being encroached upon by the state.

Now we are in April and Nessel is back in the news for incurring the wrath of a lawmaker about her Catholic problem.

Where this will end no one knows. But bet on the Catholic League to respond to Nessel every time her anti-Catholic bigotry surfaces.

Contact Kelly Rossman-McKinney: rossmanmckinney@mi.gov

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on recent remarks made by Pope Francis:

Pope Francis had a busy Sunday, offering interviews aboard the papal plane and to Spanish television. As the media are wont to do, much of the conversation centered on their favorite topic: sex.

Referring to the sexual abuse of minors, the pope said, “The global scourge is great, but to say this is not understood without the spirit of evil.”

He used this observation to criticize U.S. bishops who approach this subject by promoting new codes of conduct, and the like. For the pope, such proposals are “too much about organization, about methodologies,” neglecting the “spiritual dimension.”

We can understand why American bishops are concerned about the nuts and bolts issues—the laity are looking for specific reforms. But the pope is right to say that the spiritual dimension is often overlooked in such discussions. He is particularly right about the role of evil in sexual abuse, at least in its most grievous manifestations.

As with all sins, there is a range of gravity. A priest who inappropriately touches a minor may suffer from some sort of psycho-social disorder, but a priest who violates a minor in front of, or by using, sacred symbols, harbors something deeper. Such acts, which fortunately are very rare, cannot be understood without citing the role of evil. We don’t hear enough about this dimension.

The pope was asked whether abortion was permissible in cases of human trafficking, particularly where a woman is raped and becomes pregnant.

The Holy Father had a ready answer. “Is it permissible to eliminate a human life to solve a problem? Is it permissible to hire someone to eliminate [the child]?” He then went on to say that women in such dire straits should not be left “on the street,” but should be helped.

The Catholic Church, unlike Planned Parenthood, reaches out to women who have had an abortion. It does not leave them “on the street.” Instead, it services them through Project Rachel. This is one of the crown jewels of the Catholic Church, but it does not get the attention it deserves.

The bishops’ conference explains that Project Rachel is a “diocesan-based network of specially trained priests, religious, counselors, and laypersons who provide a team response of care for those suffering in the aftermath of abortion. In addition to referring for Sacramental Reconciliation, the ministry provides an integrated network of services, including pastoral counseling, support groups, retreats and referral to licensed mental health practitioners.”

The pope was also asked about his famous quip, “Who Am I to Judge?”

He emphasized that “sin is an act: of thought, word and deed, with freedom. Tendencies are not sin. If you have a tendency to anger, it is not sin.” But he did not dodge the issue of homosexuality.

The pope advised parents who think their child might have homosexual tendencies to “go to a professional, to a psychologist,” before making a “diagnosis.” Regrettably, in today’s world, the typical psychologist would not find anything to treat. Indeed, he may even exacerbate the problem. But the pope is not wrong to suggest that competent help is still available.

Not surprisingly, some of the big media picked up on the pope’s remarks on sexual abuse, but had nothing to say about his comments on abortion and homosexuality. They are bent on protecting the pope from liberal critics, thus skewing perceptions of him.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on new state abortion laws:

There is a wave of new state abortion laws being introduced, or already passed, that reflect how divided the nation is on the subject. Most are quite restrictive but some are quite liberal.

Three abortion bills recently passed legislative committees in Texas, and have been sent to the full Senate. On March 27, a Senate panel passed a bill that would ensure protection for a child born alive following a botched abortion. Another bill is aimed at denying state and local funding of abortions. The third bill clarifies an existing statute on providing information to a woman contemplating an abortion.

Illinois went the other way. One proposed bill is an open-ended license to terminate all pregnancies right up until birth; there are zero restrictions. The other bill being considered would repeal a law requiring parental consent before a minor can abort her child. In other words, state lawmakers are weighing whether to allow children to authorize the killing of their children without their parents knowing anything about it.

The Illinois Catholic Conference opposes both bills and Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich has denounced them in harsh terms. Mary Beth Miller, nurse director at St. John’s in Springfield, said, “The youngest baby in our hospital…was delivered at just 22 weeks and six days gestation….I am stunned at how the proposed legislation…flatly states that an embryo or fetus has no independent rights.”

Illinois has not only become abortion crazy, legislators there are considering a bill that would force all private health insurance plans to cover abortion, making no exemption for religious organizations.

If they were to get their way, a requirement mandating Catholic hospitals to perform abortions would clearly be contested in the courts, with little likelihood that the U.S. Supreme Court would affirm such a drastic assault on the First Amendment. But it proves just how maniacal some are in the pro-abortion community.

Last week, a federal judge declared a North Carolina law banning abortion after 20 weeks, in most instances, to be unconstitutional. Yet in Utah, a bill was signed into law last week that bans abortions after 18 weeks.

In Ohio, Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers were put on notice that the state may no longer pay for elective abortions. Also in Ohio, a bill passed the Senate requiring women who have an abortion to choose either burial or cremation for the remains of their babies; the bill now goes to the House.

Protection for babies with Down syndrome may be underway in Pennsylvania as lawmakers consider a bill that would restrict abortions based solely on a diagnosis that there is a possibility that the baby carries this condition.

Mississippi and Kentucky recently outlawed most abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which is about 6 weeks into pregnancy. A similar bill passed the Georgia senate; the House will now take up this measure.

The bill in Georgia sparked a strong reaction from Hollywood celebrities who are active in the pro-abortion camp. The Writers Guild of America threatened to boycott the state if the “heartbeat” bill becomes law.

Ashley Bratcher, who lives in Georgia, and who stars in “Unplanned,” the movie based on Abby Johnson’s workplace experience at a Planned Parenthood clinic, responded to Alyssa Milano’s support for Hollywood retaliation against Georgia. Bratcher told Milano “you’re forgetting about the right of women within the womb. If feminism is all about equal rights, then where are her rights?”

Bratcher got personal. “I can’t help but think how you would feel in my shoes. Having just learned months ago that my life was spared on an abortion table, it definitely put a few things in perspective for me. You had the privilege of being born in 1972. My generation was not so lucky. Over 61 million lives never reached their full potential.”

While the nation is divided on abortion, the good news is that pro-life lawmakers are moving ahead faster than their abortion-happy colleagues. Moreover, they don’t have to run from controversy the way New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has to. He championed a law this year that allows for selective infanticide, denying human rights to babies born as a result of a botched abortion.

The sonogram allows everyone to see the undeniable, and the pictures don’t lie. Technology allowed for sanitized abortions; it may yet allow for its legal death.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on media reaction to the movie “Unplanned”:

“Unplanned” is a movie that chronicles the workplace experience of Abby Johnson; she was employed by a Planned Parenthood clinic. One day, after spending eight years on the job, she was asked, as the clinic director, to assist a doctor to perform an abortion by holding the ultrasound probe. That changed her life. She quit.

We could find only one newspaper in the entire United States, the Washington Post, that reviewed the movie; the review was mixed.

One person who saw the film and liked it is Kansas City, Kansas Archbishop Joseph Naumann. As the chairman of the bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, he has emerged as the nation’s leading Catholic voice on life issues. He offered some insights in today’s Wall Street Journal.

“‘Unplanned’ got its R rating for ‘violence.’ It is noteworthy for Hollywood to acknowledge that abortion is violent, but the on-screen violence in ‘Unplanned’ isn’t gratuitous; it’s medically accurate.” In a recent interview, Naumann wryly observed, “the great irony is that a 15-year-old girl can’t go to this movie, but she could have an abortion and her parents will never know it.”

Variety was one of the few media outlets to review “Unplanned.” It said it “isn’t a good movie, but it’s effective propaganda.” The film does a “skillful job of using religious piety to conceal its underlying political agenda.” The agenda, of course, is to combat the pro-abortion agenda by telling the truth.

The Guardian, a British outlet, took note of Abby’s ultrasound experience. “A fetus presents what could be misinterpreted as fear or pain during the procedure.” The verb is revealing. How could anyone interpret what happened to the baby any differently?

Here is an excerpt from the movie. “It [the baby] just moved away from the catheter [that was placed in the girl’s cervix in preparation for a suction D&C abortion],” said Abby. The abortionist had a ready answer: “They always move. That’s why I do it this way!”

“They always move.” They sure do. That’s what happens when human beings are pierced—they flinch.

Abortion unnerves everyone, on all sides of this issue. Those who are honest and admit that abortion kills an innocent human being are unnerved for obvious reasons. But what about those who are pro-abortion? Why are they unnerved? Why are they so unnerved that they refuse to review this movie and don’t want anyone to know about it?

Hillary Clinton once said she wanted abortion to be “safe, legal, and rare.” She never explained why it should be rare.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on a pro-gay film opening in Cincinnati that attacks the Catholic Church:

Those who teach at Catholic, Jewish, and Muslim elementary and secondary schools are expected to abide by the teachings of the three respective religions. Moreover, the parents who pay for their children to attend such schools expect that the administrators will discipline dissident teachers.

In normal times, this observation would be seen as self-evident. Sadly, we live in abnormal times.

There are a few teachers who used to work at Cincinnati Catholic schools who protested one part of their employment contract: the part in question concerned public support for the homosexual lifestyle (the language was later amended substituting “advocacy” for “public support”). The dissident teachers lost in their battle with the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and quit.

If only they would go away. Now they have joined an agit-prop assault on the Catholic Church organized by GLSEN Greater Cincinnati (the acronym stands for Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network).

On March 29 and 30, a documentary that features these teachers and their supporting students will be shown at the Esquire Theater in Cincinnati. A Culture of Silence: Being LGBTQ in Catholic Schools will highlight their experiences—mostly traumatic, we are sure.

What is GLSEN? In 2009, President Obama hired its founder, Kevin Jennings, to a high-level post in the Department of Education dealing with safety and drug issues.

When Jennings was appointed, I noted that he “has a history of promoting homosexual conferences wherein unsafe sex practices are sold to underage kids. He is also a former drug user. As a counselor, he failed to notify the authorities of a sexual encounter between an adult gay man and a high school kid. And not to be outdone, he has a history of bashing Christians.” He was also a member of an urban terrorist group, ACT-UP.

As for the Cincinnati affiliate of GLSEN, it is known for celebrating legislation that awards rights to the sexually confused. To be exact, it applauded an Obama administration ruling that allowed boys who think they are girls and girls who think they are boys to use the bathrooms and locker rooms of the opposite sex. The affiliate was also banned in 2013 from participating in the city’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade; it sought to politicize the event, and has not marched since.

Homosexual activists, as well as militants among the sexually confused, have a libertine agenda, one which is predictably anti-Catholic. Now they have gone the extra mile by enlisting Catholic dissidents to rally behind its documentary.

Who will go to this propaganda film? Almost no one.

Normal guys and gals will be watching NCAA basketball on Friday night at 7:00 p.m., not heading off to the Esquire Theater. The other showing is Saturday at 1:00 p.m. That’s too early for any movie, and in any event this is the opening weekend of major league baseball. The organizers can’t even get this right.

But maybe their target audience doesn’t care about basketball and baseball. They may prove me wrong—they could hit double figures yet.

Contact Traci Bayless the chapter chairman of school engagement: tmbayless76@gmail.com

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on a blatant double standard:

The media insist that when a priest is suspected of wrongdoing, Catholic bishops must turn over every last item found in the priest’s personnel file. Nothing is to be sealed, and full public disclosure is demanded. But reporters, editorial writers, and pundits don’t hold everyone to the same standard.

On January 29, actor Jussie Smollett told the Chicago police that two men attacked him around 2:00 a.m. near a hotel, yelling racial and anti-gay slurs at him. He said he was doused with bleach and had a noose roped around his neck. The men allegedly shouted, “This is MAGA country,” a reference to a pro-Trump slogan. The police, however, found that he had staged the event by paying the men to partake in this stunt to advance his career.

Now, out of nowhere, the public learns that Smollett’s case has been dismissed. To make matters worse, prosecutors did not alert Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson and Mayor Rahm Emanuel that they were going to drop the case.

According to the Chicago Tribune, “Johnson said this decision allowed Smollett to hide behind a secret deal.” This is what concerns the Catholic League. Even worse, Smollett’s case has been sealed by a judge, without explanation. In other words, the public will never know the evidence.

Morris Dees was recently fired by the organization he co-founded, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). Complaints of racism and sexual harassment at the far-left organization have been noted internally for some time but only surfaced this year. More important, Dees himself was named as someone who allegedly engaged in misconduct.

A few weeks ago, a spokesman for SPLC said of Dees’ misconduct, “We can’t comment on the details of individual personnel decisions.” Of course he can—he simply chose not to answer. Similarly, in the March 26 edition of the New York Times, an SPLC official told an inquiring reporter, “We will not respond to individual allegations publicly.”

Last week, the New York Times ran a story about Kevin O’Brien, a top aide to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. He was allowed to exit from his job last year without fanfare, even though the offenses involved sexual harassment. The news story mentioned that there were at least three other cases in recent years where employees of the parks department were pushed out the door for sexually harassing co-workers; all of the cases had been substantiated.

Why were O’Brien and the others allowed to keep their departures a secret? The reporter wrote that “the city agreed to conceal the behavior from future employers who might inquire as part of a reference check.” All of the men agreed to resign “after securing assurances that the city would provide a ‘neutral reference’ to prospective employers seeking information. If asked, city officials would verify only basic details, such as employment dates, job title and description.”

If Smollett were a priest, he would never have been allowed to walk, and his case would never have been sealed. If Dees were a priest, the media would never have allowed his bishop to keep his case confidential. If O’Brien were a priest, he would never have been allowed to quit in secret. But none of them are priests—they are celebrities, activists, and government workers—so the same rules do not apply.

These cases are not an anomaly. Regarding the city employees who were quietly let go, consider what a specialist in city labor cases, Richard Washington, told the Times (he represented the three parks department men). He admitted that “neutral reference agreements are ‘something that most attorneys in this field would be requesting,’ adding that they were relatively common in cases where employees agree to resign after accusations of misbehavior.”

There was a time in the last century when some bishops moved a molesting priest from one parish to another, without notifying the new parish of his offense. In the public schools, this is so common—it is going on right now—that it is called “passing the trash.” This is exactly what this labor law attorney is saying is routine in city government today: the new employer hasn’t a clue he is hiring a sexual abuser.

This is the politics of transparency. It not only shows how unfair the legal system and the media are to priests, it shows how little they really care about sexual misconduct. It’s not the offense that bothers them; it’s the status of the offender.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on remarks made last night by Trevor Noah on “The Daily Show”:

Trevor Noah has a problem. He is fixated on priests. He hates them. That is why he can’t stop making offensive generalizations about them.

On his March 26 Comedy Central show, Noah once again flashed his bigotry when he commented on a clip of Catholics shown kissing Pope Francis’ ring. After observing that the pope appeared to pull his hand away, he noted that “it’s a nice change of pace to see a priest not want to touch people.”

As a black man from South Africa, we might expect Noah to be repelled by gross generalizations made about any demographic minority. But now that he is living a privileged existence in America, it is evident that his consciousness has warped.

The next time this genius gets the urge to go off the rails speaking about sexual abuse, let him focus on Hollywood. There is plenty of material there for his writers to work with.

Contact: Renata Luczak, VP Communications for the “Daily Show”: renata.luczak@cc.com

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on the latest attacks on Catholic organizations:

We were told that once the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed marriage between two people of the same sex that it wouldn’t create new problems for religious institutions. It was a lie. In its wake has come a rash of lawsuits aimed at Catholic organizations. To be specific, agenda-ridden homosexuals have joined with the sexually confused to wreak havoc.

Shelly Fitzgerald, a guidance counselor at an Indiana Catholic high school, was dismissed after it was learned that she was “married” to another woman. She then did the media lap, parading her victimhood on Ellen Degeneres’ TV show. She took her complaint to the authorities.

Now Fitzgerald has been joined by another “victim” at the same school: Guidance counselor Lynn Starkey has been told her contract will not be renewed because she is “married” to her girlfriend. She plans to sue the Archdiocese of Indiana.

Oliver Knight is a sexually confused woman who thinks she is a man. She was denied a hysterectomy at a California Catholic hospital after her status was identified. She is now suing five Catholic hospitals because one of them denied her the operation.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a lesbian activist, has decided to deny state funds to Catholic adoption agencies because they will not place children with same-sex couples. She made this move by reaching a settlement with the ACLU by refusing to enforce a religious liberty law that insulated religious institutions from state encroachment in these matters.

None of these decisions were made by happenstance.

The guidance counselors knew what the house rules were of the Catholic school they worked for yet decided to violate them and then claim victim status. The sexually confused woman knew that Catholic hospitals will not sanction her new status by performing the operation. And Nessel’s hostility to religious rights could not be more clear.

Religious rights have indeed been imperiled by the high court recognition of homosexual marriages. The decision has emboldened a new wave of lawsuits by sue-happy gays seeking to deny long-standing religious exemptions to Catholic institutions.

The collision between the First Amendment guarantee of religious liberty and homosexual rights must be addressed by the Supreme Court again. People of faith should not be subject to unnecessary state coercion; their autonomy is paramount.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s attack on religious freedom:

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is keeping her campaign promise to put her radical agenda ahead of the best interests of children.

In 2015, Michigan’s legislature passed a law to protect the religious freedom of faith-based foster care and adoption agencies, assuring that they wouldn’t be forced to choose between their values and their mission to find homes for children. The bill was supported by the Michigan Catholic Conference.

Nessel, outspoken in her opposition to the law, promised that as Michigan’s top law enforcement official she would not defend this state law against a pending legal challenge by the ACLU of Michigan.

Now she has made good on that promise. In a settlement with the ACLU, she has decreed that the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services must end state contracts with faith-based agencies, rather than allow them to make child placement decisions in accord with their religious beliefs.

Once again, Nessel demonstrates her contempt for the First Amendment’s guarantee of religious freedom, decreeing that faith-based agencies must check their religious principles at the door before they will be allowed to provide services for children in need.

She also demonstrates her contempt for the democratic process of her home state, arbitrarily overriding a law duly enacted by Michigan’s elected representatives.

Worst of all, by excluding faith-based agencies from the state’s foster care and adoption program, Nessel shows utter contempt for all the children served by those agencies. As the Michigan Catholic Conference observed, this settlement “does nothing to protect the thousands of children in foster care looking for loving homes.”

But that is of little concern to Nessel, an ideological extremist who has repeatedly demonstrated her animus toward the Catholic Church and people of faith. We expect her decision will be challenged in the courts.

Contact Kelly Rossman-McKinney, Nessel’s director of communications: rossmanmckinney@mi.gov