There was good news this week for pro-life advocates in Illinois, especially those who operate crisis pregnancy centers that seek to aid women confronting life-altering decisions. State Attorney General Kwame Raoul agreed to a permanent injunction barring him from enforcing a 2023 law that limits how those centers counsel clients.

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The “Deceptive Practices of Limited Services Pregnancy Centers Act” was described by the federal judge who issued a preliminary injunction against the state law as being “both stupid and very likely unconstitutional,” since it restricted free speech and freedom of religion.

Pence: ‘Incredible blessing’ of putting family first

Former Vice President Mike Pence says a sermon he’d heard long ago from Genesis 18 in which God called Abraham to “see to the members of his own household” changed his priorities. He made the choice to put his family first, which became “an incredible blessing to your life.”

He spoke with our Billy Hallowell about it, and contributor Marissa Mayer summarized the conversation, which discusses “Go Home for Dinner,” the new book Mr. Pence and his daughter, Charlotte Pence Bond, have just released.

George Washington ads rejected by D.C. bus system

The Washington area’s Metro transit system was sued this week after the system rejected bus ads showing George Washington in prayer. The American Civil Liberties Union is among the groups supporting the action by WallBuilders, an Aledo, Texas, organization that wants to communicate “the moral, religious and constitutional foundation” of the United States.

Although a federal judge backed the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority in an earlier case about religious-themed ads, a 2019 ruling by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia suggests the WallBuilders case could set the stage for a Supreme Court appeal, attorneys said. 

Bans send women to court for abortion permission

In states where abortion has been restricted since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, women are turning to judges more than physicians, Washington Times legal affairs reporter Alex Swoyer reports.

Kate Cox, a mother of two who lives in Texas, made headlines when she asked for court permission to abort a fetus diagnosed with a fatal condition. The state supreme court turned down her request and she went to another state for the procedure. Other women also are turning to the courts, but the slow pace of the judicial system is prompting them to head across state lines, too.

Supreme Court takes abortion pill case

The nation’s highest court could again issue a landmark abortion ruling, Ms. Swoyer reported this week. The justices said they will weigh the length of time the abortion pill — specifically the drug mifepristone — can be prescribed and whether it can be mailed to users.

This follows the court’s June 2022 ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, which established a national right to abortion in 1973. That decision returned the regulation of abortion to the states, 14 of which have moved to outlaw the procedure except when a mother’s life is in danger.

Rev. James Martin: Use miracle of Lazarus to guide your life

What’s been called Jesus’s greatest miracle — the resurrection of his friend Lazarus in the Gospels — can help believers clear the debris from their mental or emotional “tombs,” says the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and confidant of Pope Francis.

He spoke with Higher Ground about his new book, “Come Forth: The Promise of Jesus’s Greatest Miracle,” and said readers should contemplate their resentments, disappointments and regrets and ponder how Jesus can help people forsake those for a new life.

‘Conversion therapy’ ban won’t get high court review

A ban on “conversion therapy” for young people with gender issues won’t be reviewed by the Supreme Court, Ms. Swoyer reports. Washington state says the counseling tramples on a minor’s preferred sexual orientation or identity.

The state law bars counselors from encouraging someone under the age of 18 to embrace their biological sex, something the measure’s opponents say restricts counselors’ free speech and how they counsel clients.

Abuse victims blast archdiocese’s bid to dismiss lawsuit

Arguing that a 2017 law granted immunity from lawsuits brought by child abuse victims more than 20 years after they turn 18, the Archdiocese of Washington asked a Maryland court to toss a class-action suit brought by three men who claim to have been sexually abused by priests.

Lawyers for the three men say the state’s General Assembly “acted well within its power” when it passed a 2023 law removing time limits on the lawsuits and that their case should continue.

Video: ‘We live in prophetic times,’ TBN host says

Erick Stakelbeck told our Billy Hallowell we are living in “prophetic times,” exemplified by the Israel-Hamas war and general turmoil in the Middle East. “The miraculous rebirth of Israel, I believe, set the prophetic time clock into overdrive,” the TBN host said.

Mr. Stakelbeck also discussed the just-concluded Jewish holiday of Hanukkah and its significance for Christians.

Gift guide: Give something encouraging

Christmas is just days away, and the Higher Ground staff has assembled a list of books for children and adults that can bring insight and encouragement into their lives. Authors include actors Kirk Cameron, Kevin Sorbo and Roma Downey and Christian thinker Lee Strobel.

In our opinion

Down at Christmas? If you’re prone to depression “or any of its partners” such as loneliness, weariness or feeling “dead inside,” the Bible’s book for 1 John can offer hope, psychologist and author Ed Welch says.

“God has loved you first and most,” Mr. Welch says before quoting 1 John 4:10, and that message “should sound good” and be an antidote to the holiday blues.

Satanists just for show? There are “theistic Satanists” who actually worship Lucifer, Mr. Hallowell notes, but the crew over at the Satanic Temple say they’re atheists who use the devil’s name just for effect.

He says the best Christian response is not to get bent out of shape over their antics, but just roll your eyes — and pray for them.

‘The reason for the season.’ Seminary professor McKay Caston asks a provocative question: What if Jesus isn’t “the reason for the season,” as banners and signs sometimes proclaim?

Though a focus on the Christ child at this time is commendable, Scripture reveals the reason for Christmas is us, you and me: Were we not sinners, there would have been no need for a savior to come to earth. He concludes we are “the reason” for Christmas.

Reviving the family. Fixing the economy requires much more than interest rates, credit card debt or homeownership, Everett Piper, our “Ask Dr. E” columnist, asserts: repairing the sad state of American families needs to come first.

Fewer than half of children in the U.S. live at home with mom and dad, and just “46% of children under 18 live in a home with two married, heterosexual parents who are in their first marriage,” down from 73% in 1960.

“The restoration of the married, two-parent family must be the centerpiece of American life for us to enjoy a successful economy and for our society to thrive,” he writes.