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Associated Press – August 19, 2009 SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Planned Parenthood is raising red flags that the state could close the only abortion clinic in South Dakota in a matter of days, according to the latest filing in a court battle over a 2005 law that requires doctors to tell women an abortion ends…

A photo of Lisa Carter is available via www.religionnews.com By KAY CAMPBELL c. 2009 Religion News Service HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Congress may be on summer recess, but Americans who are motivated by their faith are joining the conversation over changing the way that health care is paid for in the United States. The Huntsville Chapter…

Associated Press – August 18, 2009 AMSTERDAM – A Dutch university fired Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan on Tuesday for hosting a show on Iran’s state television, which the school said could be seen as endorsing the regime. Ramadan – known as a reformist who condemns terrorism, seeks to modernize Shariah law and urges Muslims living…

Associated Press – August 18, 2009 MINNEAPOLIS – Leaders of the largest U.S. Lutheran denomination prayed for unity as they waded into a weeklong debate over homosexuality and the clergy, while a rule change that would allow people in same-sex relationships to serve as ministers cleared its first hurdle. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America,…

United Press International – August 17, 2009 SEATTLE, Aug 14, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) — Regular yoga practice may help prevent middle-age spread in normal-weight people and overweight people may drop a few pounds, U.S. researchers said. Alan Kristal and colleagues at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle said in an earlier study,…

Associated Press – August 17, 2009 NEW YORK – An association of U.S. Roman Catholic sisters raised questions Monday about why they are the target of, and who is paying for, a Vatican investigation that is shaping up to be a tough review of whether sisters have strayed from church teaching. The Leadership Conference of…

Associated Press – August 16, 2009 OMAHA, Nebraska – Officials at a Grand Island meatpacking plant say they’re taking steps to prevent a repeat of last year when a Muslim prayer dispute set off protests that led to mass firings. With the Muslim holy month of Ramadan beginning Aug. 22, JBS Swift & Co. officials,…

FRIDLEY, Minn. – The Rev. Dave Glesne stood before the members of Redeemer Lutheran Church a few weeks ago and told them there might be some painful decisions in the near future. Glesne is against letting people in same-sex relationships serve as pastors of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, and he says his congregation…

VATICAN CITY – The Vatican’s newspaper on Thursday praised as a step toward “ethical finance” a deal announced by the Swiss and U.S. governments to settle American demands for the identities of suspected tax dodgers. L’Osservatore Romano said the deal marks “significant progress in the fight against tax evasion and in the direction of a…

DES MOINES, Iowa – A dispute about bus advertisements seeking to publicize atheist views has touched off a free speech debate after the signs were torn down – then posted again – on the sides of Des Moines city buses. The ads, sponsored by the Iowa Atheists & Freethinkers, pictured white puffy clouds against a…

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