An injunction by a federal judge has put federally -funded stem cell research on hold, compromising the progress of vital medical breakthroughs, the American Humanist Association (AHA) said today. U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth ruled on Monday that funding of stem cell research violates a federal ban on taxpayer dollars going towards the destruction of embryos.
The American Humanist Association (AHA) expressed enthusiastic approval today of the US Court of Appeal's ruling that a series of crosses memorializing fallen officers along a Utah highway is a constitutional violation, a ruling that is consistent with a friend-of-the-court brief filed by the AHA in the case in 2008. Said the court of the crosses, "We hold that these memorials have the impermissible effect of conveying to the reasonable observer the message that the State prefers or otherwise endorses a certain religion. They therefore violate the Establishment Clause of the federal constitution."
The American Humanist Association (AHA) expressed enthusiastic approval with yesterday's ruling by a federal judge that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional. Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker wrote of the California ban on gay marriage, "Marriage in the United States has always been a civil matter. Civil authorities may permit religious leaders to solemnize marriages but not to determine who may enter or leave a civil marriage."
Leaders of the American Humanist Association (AHA) expressed approval of President Obama's signing the Fair Sentencing Act into law, significantly reducing the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine.
The American Humanist Association is saddened to announce the death of former two-time AHA President Lloyd Morain, a prominent businessman, philanthropist and revolutionary innovator of the humanist movement. Morain died yesterday at the age of 93 in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.
The American Humanist Association sent a letter to Mayor Thompson of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania today, requesting she refrain from beginning mayoral staff meetings with a Christian prayer.
The American Humanist Association today strongly criticized an effort by a fundamentalist Christian organization to "return ‘In God We Trust' to every schoolroom in America." The American Family Association, a politically active right-wing Christian group, made this plea in an action alert to members on July 6, calling for supporters to back legislation that would reaffirm the "In God We Trust" motto and call for its placement in all public buildings, including schools (H.Con.Res. 274).
The American Humanist Association applauded two rulings by a federal district court judge in Boston yesterday that the Defense of Marriage Act violates the constitutional rights of married same-sex couples and of states to grant benefits to their own citizens. The rulings, which were handed down by Judge Joseph L. Tauro, declared that same-sex couples should be afforded the same federal benefits that other married couples enjoy and that DOMA violates the 10th Amendment by intruding on areas of exclusive state authority.
The American Humanist Association expressed disappointment today that the Washington State Board of Pharmacy backed down on a rule requiring pharmacists to fill all doctors’ prescriptions, including the controversial Plan B emergency contraceptive. The rule was the subject of a court case, Stormans Inc. v. Selecky, that was about to go to trial on remand, and the Appignani Humanist Legal Center, legal arm of the American Humanist Association,
had argued in a 2008 “friend of the court” brief that the rule did not improperly impinge upon the religious freedom rights of pharmacists who may have
objections to emergency contraception. However, the Board of Pharmacy has negotiated a pre-trial compromise in which they pledged to adopt an amended rule that would permit pharmacies and pharmacists to issue facilitated referrals when they object to filling a prescription for
any reason.
The American Humanist Association expressed enthusiastic approval today of the Supreme Court’s affirmation of the 9th Circuit Court’s decision allowing the California Hastings College of the Law to deny recognition to a Christian-only student group.
