A federal judge in Mississippi has ordered an injunction against the Biden administration’s “Final Rule,” which would have required states to use taxpayer money to pay for puberty blockers, hormones, and “sex-change” surgeries for anyone with a state health care plan. United States District Judge Louis Guirola, Jr., from the Southern District of Mississippi, issued the nationwide injunction on July 3. 

The Biden administration released the rule in early May, prompting 15 states to sue the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on May 30, saying it is “seek[ing] to supplant [state] health regulations with a regime that sides with HHS’s commitment to gender ideology over medical reality.”

“A ‘statute cannot be divorced from the circumstances existing at the time it was passed, and from the evil which Congress sought to correct and prevent,’” Guirola wrote. “Consequently, this Court cannot accept the suggestion that Congress, with a ‘clear voice,’ adopted an ambiguous or evolving definition of ‘sex’ when it acted to promote educational opportunities for women in 1972.

“Plaintiffs have shown that they would either incur substantial costs in order to implement the May 2024 Rule’s requirements or lose federal funding.” 

Daniel J. Schmid, associate vice president of legal affairs for Liberty Counsel, told The Stream that the Biden administration’s regulations are an “abomination to federal law and common sense,” and also unconstitutional, exceeding its authority.

“The HHS’s mandate requires states to set aside their laws that prohibit gender-mutilation practices and imposes a radical gender-identity/transgender agenda on the nation,” he said.

Tennessee Man Avoids Jail Time for Praying at an Abortion Clinic

On July 2, Paul Vaughn, a father and pro-life advocate, was sentenced to three years of supervised release for praying in front of an abortion facility in 2021.

While Vaughn avoided jail time — other than the initial six hours following his arrest on October 5, 2022 — his attorney has filed an appeal to overturn his conviction.

According to the Thomas More Society, which is representing him, Vaughn and four others peacefully prayed, sang hymns, worshipped, and chatted with police at the March 2021 event.

Attorney Stephen Crampton believes the government convicted Vaughn of a felony because he was the messenger between the police and other participants. In addition, someone livestreamed the event and stated that Vaughn was acting as the messenger as a form of “delay tactics.”

“That video clip makes it look like it was Paul’s intent to deceive [the police],” said Crampton.

And supervised release isn’t a walk in the park, either.

“You’re not in jail, but you are answerable for all major life decisions to a probation officer,” Crampton told The Stream. Vaughn “can’t travel. They seized his passport. He cannot own firearms or vote. They can come into his home at any time and seize anything in the name of enforcing restrictions. He’s by no means a free man.”

Christians should know that “those who are living a lie cannot suffer the truth,” Crampton told The Stream. “The Biden administration and the pro-abortion industry are living a lie.”

Moreover, Crampton said there’s a purely punitive element in this. “If a good man like [Vaughn] finds himself a convicted felon, what does it say for the rest of us? Righteousness and justice are the foundation of a healthy society. If we can’t restore the rule of law, we really don’t have much hope for the future of our nation.”

The irony of the situation, said Crampton, is that “this event occurred at an abortion clinic that’s since gone out of business, in a state that outlawed abortion after the Dobbs [v. Jackson] decision [which overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022]. He just undertook his actions before the Dobbs decision. Abortion was never a federally protected constitutional right.

“The injustice is palpable.”

Oklahoma Incorporates Bible into Curriculum

When Oklahoma public school students go back to school this fall they will learn the importance of the Bible and the Ten Commandments. They’ll also have a Bible in every classroom.

On June 27, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters directed all school districts with students from fifth grade through high school to incorporate the Bible into the curriculum. But he did not do this because of his faith, he told The Stream. As a former history teacher, he was thinking strictly of the Bible’s historical importance to all events that led to Western civilization.

It’s impossible to teach history, literature, math, or science without referencing the Bible, he said. “How do you explain why the pilgrims came [to America] without the Bible, or the letters of Martin Luther King, Jr.? It’s absolutely essential to understand the Bible to understand history.

“The Bible is a necessary historical document to teach our kids about the history of this country, to have a complete understanding of Western civilization, to have an understanding of the basis of our legal system, and it’s frankly … one of the most foundational documents used for the Constitution and the birth of our country.”

It’s the most-read book in American history. “It’s got to be included when it’s relevant,” Walters said. “We aren’t telling [students] they have to be a Christian. But [the Left] can’t rewrite our history.”

 Nancy Flory, Ph.D., is a senior editor at The Stream. You can follow her @NancyFlory3, and follow The Stream @Streamdotorg.