ARIZONA PROTECTS UNBORN BABIES Gov. Doug Ducey, R-AZ, signed a 15-week abortion ban into law Wednesday, as the Supreme Court considers a similar law in Mississippi and appears poised to let it stand. The new Arizona law makes abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy illegal, except in cases of medical emergency.

 

THURSDAY, MARCH 31   ARIZONA PROTECTS UNBORN BABIES  Gov. Doug Ducey, R-AZ, signed a 15-week abortion ban into law Wednesday, as the Supreme Court considers a similar law in Mississippi and appears poised to let it stand. The new Arizona law makes abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy illegal, except in cases of medical emergency. The law also makes it a felony for doctors to commit abortions in violation of the law.  READ       OKLAHOMA DEFENDS WOMEN  Gov. Kevin Stitt, R-OK, on Wednesday signed into law the “Save Women’s Sports Act,” which bans biological males from competing in women’s sports. “When it comes to sports and athletics, girls should compete against girls. Boys should compete against boys,” said Stitt. “And let’s be very clear. That’s all this bill says.”  READ       BIDEN TO RELEASE OIL RESERVES  President Biden is expected to release a million barrels of oil from the U.S. reserves daily, beginning today, in an attempt to curb rising gas prices, according to a plan obtained by Bloomberg News. The “total release may be as much as 180 million barrels” over time, Bloomberg reported. The national average for a gallon of gas is $4.23, 62 cents higher than a month earlier.  READ       COLLINS SUPPORTS BIDEN NOM  Sen. Susan Collins, R-ME, said Tuesday that she will vote to confirm President Joe Biden’s Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson. Collins, a Republican who supports abortion, opposed the confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett in 2020.  READ       WHITE HOUSE INVESTIGATES ANTI-GROOMER BILL  The White House is directing the Department of Education to monitor Florida’s parental rights bill, which prohibits talking to very young children about “gender” and “sexual orientation.” “The Department of Education… will monitor this law upon implementation to evaluate whether it violates federal civil rights law,” said White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield on Tuesday.  READ       21 STATES SUE OVER MASKS  Twenty-one states on Tuesday sued the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other federal agencies over mandated masking on public transportation. The suit argues that the Federal mandate breaks State laws that ban such mandates. “If politicians and celebrities can attend the Super Bowl unmasked, every U.S. citizen should have the right to fly unmasked,” said Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-FL, in a press release announcing the suit.  READ       FAUCI: PREPARE FOR MORE COVID RESTRICTIONS  White House Chief Medical Adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci told an interviewer Sunday that Americans should be prepared for more COVID restrictions. “[We] need to be prepared for the possibility that we would have another variant that would come along,” Fauci said, “we should be prepared and flexible enough to pivot toward going back – at least temporarily – to a more rigid type of restrictions, such as requiring masks indoors.”  READ       FEC FINES DEMOCRATS, HILLARY CLINTON  The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has fined the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign for lying about funding the now-discredited Russian dossier that falsely suggested Donald Trump was involved in corrupt dealings with Russia. The election agency said that Clinton and the DNC violated strict rules on describing expenditures of payments funneled to the opposition research firm Fusion GPS through their law firm. Clinton’s treasurer paid the FEC a fine of $8,000 and the DNC’s treasurer was fined $105,000.  READ       VIDEO  Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-FL, questioned Disney's activism against a new law protecting children in schools: “To have transgenderism injected into kindergarten classrooms? Or woke gender ideology injected into second grade classrooms? Why is this the hill [for Disney] to die on?”  SHARE           AN ANTERNATIVE TO DISNEY  The conservative Daily Wire Company announced an investment of $100 million over the next three years into a line of live-action and animated children's entertainment on a streaming platform to become available in spring 2023. “Americans are tired of giving their money to woke corporations who hate them,” said Daily Wire CEO Jeremy Boreing. Boreing has brought on Eric Branscum and Ethan Nicolle of “VeggieTales” and the Babylon Bee to head up kids content development.  READ       NEW RECTOR AT AMERICAN SEMINARY IN ROME  The Vatican’s Congregation for Clergy announced Wednesday that Msgr. Thomas Powers of the Diocese of Bridgeport, CT, will be the new rector of the Pontifical North American College in Rome. “Powers, who is now the vicar general of his Connecticut diocese and a parish pastor, is himself an alumnus of the college, as well as of the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, and the John Paul II Pontifical Institute for Marriage and Family,” the Pillar reports.  READ       CATHOLIC 101  The Catholic Church welcomes new human life, so why is it against in vitro fertilization (IVF)? Find out the Church's reasons behind the prohibition of IVF and what forms of reproductive assistance are in keeping with the Gospel of Life.  READ       SAINT OF THE DAY  St. Benjamin suffered a year in prison for his faith. An ambassador of the Emperor of Constantinople obtained his release on condition that he would never speak to any of the courtiers about religion. St. Benjamin, however, declared it was his duty to preach Christ and that he could not be silent.  READ        DAILY PSALM  "Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.” (Psalm 106:19)  READ       DAILY READINGS  Today's Mass readings.  READ       BEAUTY  A Looper sent in this beautiful picture of Sainte Genevieve Catholic Church in Sainte Genevieve, MO. The Catholic faith first came to the Ste. Genevieve area when Fr. Jacques Marquette traveled down the Mississippi River in 1673.  SHARE                 INVITE FRIENDS   You got 0 friends to sign up for the Loop! When you reach 10, you receive a free Loop coffee mug!