Donald Trump has done something else that I cannot support. This leads me to worry that Conservatives have lost their way.
Gavin Newsom signs a bill into law that will further lead this country away from our founding principles.
And, I hate to say that I told you so, but, I told you so.
This Is A Bad Idea
According to AP News:
President Donald Trump is promising more payments to voters just ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections — this time, to more than 20 million seniors, giving them $90 each to help pay for Medicare premiums.
The announcement, made late Friday night by Trump on social media, comes after the president last month said about 1 million people would get rebate checks of $500 for Affordable Care Act premiums. He has also promised on the campaign trail to send every American adult $5,000 if Republicans retain control of the House and Senate in the midterm elections.
That pledge — which would require approval from Congress — would likely cost more than $1 trillion, adding to the deficit and worsening inflation.
https://apnews.com/article/trump-medicare-payments-midterms-2a314c1c4b5ae929f3dfc8a262b4f1c7
Well, He Did It
According to the California Post:
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a bill that formally recognizes two Muslim holidays as state holidays on Sunday, making it the second state to formally recognize both holidays statewide.
California Assembly Bill 2017 officially added Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha to the list of state holidays, which would permit public schools and colleges to close and allow state employees to be eligible to observe the holidays.
However, schools and businesses will not be required to close on these days, and courts will be required to stay open.
This makes California the second state in the country, after Washington state, to pass statewide legislation recognizing the Muslim holidays.
Before signing AB 2017, Newsom had multiple bills on his desk that provided protections and exceptions for other religious observances, including Jewish holidays such as Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
I Told You So!
Four orders of Catholic nuns, joined by Catholic health-care organizations and the Diocese of Rockville Centre, sued New York officials in federal court over the state’s new Medical Aid in Dying Act. Their central claim is that the law’s counseling, referral, documentation, and accommodation requirements could force religious ministries to facilitate physician-assisted suicide in violation of their Catholic beliefs and federal constitutional/conscience protections.dioceseofscranton+1
The lawsuit
The plaintiffs include:
- Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm
- Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne
- Missionary Sisters of St. Benedict
- Little Sisters of the Poor
- The Diocese of Rockville Centre and Bishop John O. Barres
- Several Catholic health-care ministries, including Catholic Health
The suit was filed July 17 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York. It names New York Attorney General Letitia James and state health officials—not Hochul personally—as defendants, although the challenge is to the law Hochul signed.san+1
What the law does
Hochul signed New York’s Medical Aid in Dying Act on February 6. It permits certain mentally capable, terminally ill adult New York residents—generally those expected to have six months or less to live—to request medication that they may self-administer to end their lives. A clinician can prescribe the medication but does not administer it.san+1
Hochul’s position is that participation is voluntary and that religious facilities can opt out.wfmd
Why the nuns object
The Catholic plaintiffs do not contend that they would have to directly prescribe or administer the drugs. Rather, they argue that the statute and related patient-information requirements may compel them to do things they consider participation, such as:
- Counseling patients about assisted suicide.
- Discussing eligibility or access to life-ending medication.
- Making referrals or transfers to providers who participate.
- Adopting policies or recordkeeping that support a patient’s pursuit of the procedure.
- Permitting staff to assist patients in navigating the process within their facilities.san+1
They say those duties conflict with Catholic teaching, which regards euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide as morally impermissible. Their legal theories include the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause and federal health-care conscience protections.dioceseofscranton+1
Where it stands
A federal judge, U.S. District Judge Anne M. Naracci, issued temporary protection on July 30, preventing enforcement of the disputed provisions against the religious plaintiffs while the litigation proceeds. Reporting says the state agreed not to apply those requirements to the plaintiffs for the time being; that is not a final decision on the constitutionality of the law.san+1
So the short version is: this is a religious-liberty challenge to the institutional participation requirements surrounding assisted suicide—not a ruling that has struck down New York’s assisted-dying law statewide.
https://www.perplexity.ai/search/3a9b2414-9b1d-478d-8afa-356448ddee07