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Catholic Joe Biden honors abortion Activist with Medal of Honor

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Self-proclaimed Catholic President Joe Biden honored longtime feminist and pro-abortion activist Eleanor Smeal by awarding her with the Presidential Citizens Medal.

The medal is given to U.S. citizens who “have performed exemplary deeds of service for their country or their fellow citizens,” according to a White House announcement on January 2. The award comes after Biden — the nation’s second Catholic president — awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to former Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards, who reportedly oversaw nearly 4 million abortions while leading the organization for 12 years, between 2006 and 2018.

Smeal is president of the Feminist Majority Foundation and former president of the National Organization for Women (NOW), Catholic News Agency (CNA) reported. She was one of 20 Presidential Citizens Medal recipients on Thursday.

According to the Feminist Majority Foundation, Smeal led the first national abortion rights march in Washington, DC, in 1986, which included more than 100,000 protesters. She has also campaigned for the Equal Rights Amendment and is a critic of laws that protect unborn babies from abortion.

“Smeal, who was raised Catholic, has also been critical of the Vatican and the Catholic Church for its teachings about the sanctity of life, its opposition to birth control, and its teachings about human sexuality,” according to the report.

Smeal was arrested in 1987 during a protest at the Vatican’s embassy, the Apostolic Nunciature of the Holy See, the Washington Post reported. Speakers at the protest spoke against the Church’s teachings on abortion, birth control, and homosexuality.

“Because of my sex, I am second-class forever in my church,” Smeal said at the time. “Because of my sex, I could have been condemned to death at an early age [if I did not disobey the Church ban on birth control].”

Judge blocks Biden’s vaccine mandate for federal contractors

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A federal judge on Tuesday blocked President Joe Biden’s administration from enforcing a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employees of federal contractors, the latest in a string of victories for Republican-led states pushing back against Biden’s pandemic policies.

U.S. District Court Judge R. Stan Baker, in Augusta, Georgia, issued a stay to bar enforcement of the mandate nationwide.

The order came in response to a lawsuit from several contractors and seven states — Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, South Carolina, Utah and West Virginia. It applies across the U.S. because one of those challenging the order is the trade group Associated Builders and Contractors Inc., whose members do business nationwide.

Baker found that the states are likely to succeed in their claim that Biden exceeded authorization from Congress when he issued the requirement in September.

“The Court acknowledges the tragic toll that the COVID-19 pandemic has wrought throughout the nation and the globe,” wrote the judge, an appointee of former President Donald Trump. “However, even in times of crisis this Court must preserve the rule of law and ensure that all branches of government act within the bounds of their constitutionally granted authorities.”

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Biden administration unveils details of vaccine mandate covering 84 million workers

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On Thursday, senior Biden administration officials announced details of a highly anticipated mandate requiring U.S. employers with 100 or more workers to ensure employees are either fully vaccinated for COVID-19 or tested each week for the virus.

The officials also unveiled details of a separate mandate that will require employers participating in Medicare or Medicaid to have a fully vaccinated workforce, with no testing alternative.

The first rule covers 84 million U.S. workers, or two-thirds of the U.S. workforce, officials said. That rule, which will be administered by the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, will require employees to be fully vaccinated by Jan. 4.

Employees who aren’t fully vaccinated by Jan. 4 have to produce a verified negative test to their employers every week and begin wearing a mask at work as of Dec. 5. Workers who test positive for COVID-19 or receive a diagnosis from a licensed health care provider have to be removed from the workplace. The rule doesn’t require employers to pay for the tests, though agreements with unions might require employers to cover the bill.

Starting Dec. 5, the OSHA rule will require covered employers to provide workers with paid time time off to receive vaccinations, as well as sick leave to recover from vaccination side effects that preclude working.

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