Friday Variety: SCOTUS, Gay Blood Donors, and Planned Parenthood

The Federal Government Must Obey the 1st Amendment

US Agency for International Development v. Alliance for Open Society

In a 6-2 decision, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday that it is in violation of the 1st Amendment for the Federal government to mandate humanitarian groups to endorse the government's views opposing prostitution and sex-trafficking in order to receive funding to combat HIV/AIDS overseas.  

The ruling struck down a 2003 law that imposed two conditions on private groups that received billions in Federal aid to fight HIV/AIDS: (1) the money may not be used to promote or advocate the legalization or practice of prostitution and sex trafficking; and (2) Recipients must include a policy explicitly opposing prostitution and sex trafficking. Only the legality of the second was challenged in court.

In the majority opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts cited a 70 year old Supreme Court opinion by Justice Robert Jackson which struck down a law requiring schoolchildren, including Jehovah's Witnesses, to salute the American flag. Roberts repeated:

"If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by work or act their faith therein."

Roberts was joined by all Justices except Thomas and Scalia, who dissented, and Justice Kagan, who recused herself as she defended the law while US solicitor general.

Gay Blood Donor Ban Opposed by American Medical Association

As ABC News reported, the AMA has condemned the long-standing ban on gay male blood donors as "discriminatory" and "not based on sound science."  AMA officials are recommending that the FDA amend its policy to evaluate gay men on an individual basis, rather than collectively deeming all gay men a "high-risk" category as the current policy reads. 

The original ban, put into place in 1983, was in response to the AIDS epidemic. At that time, no tests existed to check blood donations for HIV.  Now that much more is known about the virus, legitimate tests are in place to check every blood donation for HIV. 

Planned Parenthood: Abortion Laws

Kansas 
Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit Thursday over a new Kansas law requiring doctors to inform women seeking abortions that they are ending the life of a "whole, separate, unique, living human being," the AP reported. The Overland Park, KS, clinic contends that the law violates doctors' free speech rights, and requires doctors to make "a misleading statement of philosophical and/or religious belief."

Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt vows to vigorously defend the Kansas statute.

Delaware
Meanwhile, the Delaware Senate is considering a bill authorizing tighter regulations on abortion clinics. The bill proposal follows a recent citation of a Wilmington Planned Parenthood for unsafe and unsanitary practices that are a "clear and immediate danger to the public." Two former nurses of the same clinic have also come forward, stating that the facilities are unclean and put women at risk of blood-born illnesses and bacterial infections. 

The bill would allow abortion clinic employees, in addition to patients, to file complaints for investigations by the Dept. of Health and Social Services. It would also require abortion clinics to be accredited by a state-approved independent accrediting organization with no conflict of interest.