A recent Gallup poll on abortion laws passed in state legislatures across the nation found that, for the most part, Americans favor measures that make various restrictions on the procedure. But the survey also found that a majority of Americans do not necessarily favor laws that allow healthcare providers to opt out of providing abortion medication or procedures or laws that bar government funding for abortion providers.

The Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings July 20 on a possible repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the 15-year-old law that defines marriage in federal matters as between a man and a woman, and allows states the option of not recognizing the same-sex marriage laws of other states. The hearings highlighted the stark difference between the views of homosexual activists, who testified that the foundations of marriage are personal happiness and financial security, and those of pro-family advocates, who explained that traditional marriage is crucial to the stability and survival of society.

An Ohio lesbian has lost her legal battle to share custody of the child to which her former same-sex partner gave birth in 2006. The decision by the Ohio Supreme Court highlights the legal nightmare that appears to be evolving as homosexual “families” begin to fracture.

A federal judge has blocked enforcement of a new ordinance in New York City requiring pro-life pregnancy centers to posts signs announcing that they do not perform abortions or make referrals to abortion providers. U.S. District Judge William Pauley (picture, left) made his ruling on July 13, a day before the new law was to go into effect.

As the state of New York prepares to officially legalize homosexual marriage on July 24, at least one local government official has made the decision to put moral principle above political expediency. On July 11, Laura Fotusky, clerk in the Town of Barker in central New York, submitted her resignation to the town board, explaining that her Christian beliefs would not allow her to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, as her position would require. Municipal clerks in New York issue and sign marriage licenses, and under the state’s new same-sex marriage law, Fotusky would eventually have found herself faced with the dilemma of following the new mandate or obeying a higher authority.

With a falling birth rate in a country having one of the world’s highest abortion rates, concerned Russian lawmakers passed a bill on July 1 requiring that all abortion advertisements carry health warnings. “Under the new law approved by the lower house of parliament [Duma, pictured left], 10 percent of the space used in abortion ads must carry a list of possible negative consequences for women, including infertility,” reported Reuters News. Russia’s upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, is expected to follow the Duma in approving the measure, and President Dmitry Medvedev will likely sign the legislation into law.

A coalition of pro-family, anti-porn, and decency organizations have banded together in an effort to convince NBC that it should scrap one of its new fall programs, The Playboy Club. NBC is touting the show as a “provocative new series [that] captures a time and place that challenged the social mores, where a visionary created an empire, and an icon changed American culture.”

A campaign to expose the connection of Stericycle, one of the nation’s leading medical waste disposal companies, with the abortion industry is heating up as two major truck leasing firms have vowed they will not allow the company to use their vehicles to service abortion clinics. A press release from Repent America, the group behind the campaign, reported that the international truck-leasing company Ryder System Inc. had “informed the Campaign to Stop Stericycle (CSS) of its decision to stop Stericycle Inc. from using its trucks to service abortion facilities.” That announcement followed last year’s decision by another truck company, Penske Truck Leasing, to stop hauling abortion-related materials for Stericycle.

On June 24 New York became the third state to legalize homosexual marriage through legislation, after the Republican-controlled state Senate voted 33 to 29 to approve a “gay marriage” bill that had earlier sailed through state assembly. Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo, who had made the issue a major component of his campaign for election last year, quickly signed the bill into law.

As the battle for marriage intensifies in New York, a new survey by the pro-family Alliance Defense Fund has found that a solid majority of Americans believe that “marriage should be defined only as a union between one man and one woman.” The ADF survey, which in mid-May polled 1,500 Americans about their opinions on marriage, found that 62 percent agreed with the traditional definition of marriage, with 53 percent “strongly” agreeing.