And ethics newsweekly is provided by the lilly endowment, an indianapolis based private Family Foundation dedicated to the founders interest in religion, Community Development and education. Additional funding also provided by mutual of america, designing customized, individual and Group Retirement products. Thats why were your retirement company. Welcome. Im bob abernethy. Its good to have you with us. Religious groups are deeply divided over the Supreme Courts controversial ruling monday in the socalled hobby lobby case. In a 54 decision, the justices said despite a requirement in the Affordable Care act, some forprofit corporations cannot be forced to provide contraception coverage which their owners say violates their religious beliefs. Many in the Faith Community praised the decision as a victory for religious liberty, but others were sharply critical. Kim lawton reports. Reporter activists from both sides were out in full force monday as the Supreme Court handed down its decision. The ruling was a victory for the evangelical green family, which owns the hobby lobby craft store chain, and the mennonite hahn family, which owns conestoga wood specialties. Both objected to providing certain kinds of contraceptives, which they consider tantamount to abortion. In the ruling, the majority of justices agreed that closely held corporations controlled by a small group of people can claim religious freedom rights under the 1993 religious freedom restoration act. The court ruled that families do not lose their religious freedom when they open a family business. This decision does not grant religious protections to large, publicly traded corporations. The court kept the focus where it belonged, on families like the greens and the hahns, and on Everyday Americans who seek to live out their faith. Reporter faithbased groups which have been rallying around the issue of religious freedom were elated. Just because youre an employer doesnt mean you have to pay essentially fines or comply with something that violates your most deeply held beliefs. That doesnt mean that youre trying to deny anybody anything, but i think that thats our first freedom. The founders considered it our first freedom and for people of faith to feel like they can live in a diverse and Pluralistic Society and be respected for who they are, this is a huge victory. Reporter but not all in the Faith Community considered it a victory. Reverend harry knox is president of the religious coalition for reproductive choice. Its an insult, really, to those of us who are part of religious communities and worship and pray and study together every week, to have a corporation be called a religious organization. Reporter knox also decried the potential impact on women, especially lowincome women. People like cashiers in the very stores that brought this case are having a hard time feeding their families, educating their children, and keeping the roof over their heads, and so for them, the healthcare that would have been afforded them through the Affordable Care act, was vital, and they will lose that in the short run. Reporter the majority opinion stressed that the ruling applies only to the contraception mandate, and not necessarily to religious objections to covering other practices such as blood transfusions and vaccinations. Still, in a sharplyworded dissent, Justice Ruth Bader ginsburg warned that in the wake of the ruling, new religious freedom claims will proliferate. I do believe that more corporations, starting with closelyheld corporations, will now try to get into court, making an argument that some allegedly deeply held religious belief does no longer require them to obey other federal laws. Reporter supporters of the decision believe those concerns are overblown, arguing that this ruling was narrow and balanced. This is really a decision that reflects common sense and a lot of times you dont win on common sense, but this one really was. Reporter meanwhile, analysts are debating the impact of this ruling on what is expected to be the next wave of cases in the pipeline. More than 50 lawsuits filed by faithbased nonprofits who claim the contraception mandate doesnt adequately accommodate their religious beliefs. We want to discuss all this now with kim lawton, of this program, along with Kevin Eckstrom, the editorinchief of Religion News service. Welcome to you both. So kim, a lot more to come, huh . Reporter exactly. A lot more cases on all of this. The Obama Administration exempted houses of worship from having to comply with this contraception mandate, but there are a lot of faithbased nonprofits, catholic hospitals, evangelical universities, even some religious orders, like the Little Sisters of the poor, archdiocese and catholic diocese, they were not exempted. The administration tried to craft some kind of an accommodation so that those groups wouldnt have to directly pay for things that they say violate their religious beliefs. These a lot of these groups say that accommodation wasnt good enough. It still entangled them too much. Those cases are still in the courts. And the question is what in this decision might signal what will happen with those cases . And people are looking at it and seeing it both ways. Some say, oh the justices said they want to see an accommodation so that should be okay. And others say, no, this hobby lobby decision will help those groups. Thats still an open question. And also theres this whole idea of being able to discriminate, kevin. Yeah. So all a lot of people in washington now are, have their eyes on the white house where the Obama Administration has said that theyre going to issue an executive order banning discrimination against gays and lesbians for federal contractors. So thats not just federal employees, but thats groups like adoption agencies and social services agencies, and even relief groups that do work with the government. And the question is going to be is, how big of a religious exemption is there going to be, or if there is even going to be one in this new order. So would a church that runs a soup kitchen funded by the government, say, be able to hire and fire based on Sexual Orientation under this new order . And thats not clear, and the message from the court seems to be as long as theres an exemption for your religious belief, thats okay. And now the question is how large of an exemption will there be . And thats the big that is the big question because in this hobby lobby decision, the justices said, this is not seen should not be seen as an optout for every, you know, law, that that religious groups think violate their beliefs. And they also said its not a shield for illegal discrimination. It shouldnt be used. But what is illegal discrimination . And if groups feel that gay marriage is a sin, do can they be obligated to provide Insurance Benefits to married couples that are samesex . So what is illegal discrimination for some of these groups . And and dont the dont the employees come in here too and if they want to say, i have rights, too, and i dont want to have my employer impose his religious beliefs on me . Right, and thats a question that really didnt get addressed by this decision. You know, ultimately i think the court will have to sort of decide where one persons freedom ends and another persons begins on Something Like this. But it does point to this larger question that we have about, you know, should religious groups or religious people or institutions be treated differently under the law than everybody else, and what the court is saying here is yes. You know, if you have a religious claim, you, you know, a different set of rules can apply to you. And so on issues of hiring and firing, and of, you know, contraception, and receiving federal money, all of those questions, you know, are are out there. And they will be addressed by the court. I think this decision will color those decisions. One of the Big Questions is where how far should the exemptions go, too. I mean, religion has always been treated differently in our country. Some people dont like that thats the case, but as the culture shifts, and so as, you know, at one time some of these groups, catholics and southern baptists, were helping to pass laws banning gay marriage. Well, those laws are being overturned, and so these groups are now sort of against the prevailing cultural opinion. How far should they be exempted from that idea . And i think thats a big question thatll be argued in the future. Many thanks to kim lawton and to Kevin Eckstrom of Religion News service. In other news, growing concern this week about the surge of undocumented migrants from Central America entering the u. S. Through the texas and mexico border. Tens of thousands of them are unaccompanied children. U. S. Immigration officials are struggling to handle the influx and have transferred migrants to shelters and facilities in other states. President obama called the situation a humanitarian crisis and is asking congress for more than 2 billion to address the issue. Meanwhile, some faith based groups including Catholic Charities usa have been trying to assist the children and their families. Religious groups around the world are urging renewed prayers for peace amid heightened clashes between israelis and palestinians. Jewish, christian and muslim groups expressed outrage after the bodies of three abducted israeli teens were recovered in the west bank monday. Memorial services were held in israel and in the u. S. Many faith leaders also condemned the murder of a Palestinian Teen and called for an end to the violence. A statement from the vatican said violence begets more violence and feeds the deadly cycle of hatred. In iraq, religious leaders continued to raise appeals about the plight of those fleeing sectarian violence, including iraqi christians. This week chaldean catholic bishops in iraq said more than 40,000 christians fled their villages last week alone. Meanwhile, human Rights Groups are raising concerns about the new islamic state, or caliphate, declared by militants in areas seized in Northern Iraq and parts of syria. The European Court of human rights has upheld frances ban on islamic facecovering veils. France outlawed wearing fullface veils in public in 2010, prompting an outcry from muslims who argued that wearing the veil was a religious obligation. This week the International Court dismissed a case brought by a young muslim woman. French officials have defended the ban, saying facial veils pose a Security Risk because they event individuals from being identified. Now, a bob faw story on veteran Television News correspondent phil jones, who reported for cbs news and also for this program. Jones was diagnosed with a rare, aggressive cancer. But hes in remission now, thanks to good medicine, his own persistence, and stem cells from a thenunknown donor who turned out to be a naval officer and a baptist minister who saw making that gift as one more way to serve. In his distinguished broadcasting career, phil jones covered president s, politics, war and mayhem. But nothing prepared him for the devastating medical diagnosis he was given two years ago. Myelodysplasia. Or mds, a disease of the bone marrow which leads to leukemia. Since jones had a very aggressive form of the disease his diagnosis was a virtual death sentence. I was 75 at the time, and it was it was devastating. I sat there with tears. My wife pat had tears. I looked over at her, we were both crying. I cry today as i recall it. Reporter stunned, but then determined, phil and pat jones quickly went online and learned of a possible treatment a stem cell transplant. Then, both at a worldrenowned cancer center, and from his own oncologist, jones got moread news. I go in and say to him, what about a stem cell transplant . And without any pause he looked at me and said, you are too old. Too old. No ifs, ands, or buts. No, that was it. Youre too old. Fortunately, for jones, the Moffitt Cancer Center in tampa, florida, was willing to look beyond the question of age. Alan list, president and ceo of moffitt is also jones doctor. Probably ten years ago i think the age limits were about 65 years of age. It got moved within the next few years up to 70 years of age, then finally there was a recognition its not your age, its really how medically fit you are. While dr. Claudio anasetti, chair of moffitts department of blood and marrow transplant, warned jones about possible risks, he also reassured him. Transplant was once seen like the sledgehammer you know, very high intense therapy that actually was almost bringing patients to death in order to cure their disease. And right now the treatments have been quite refined. We developed new technology and with the new Technology Patients can survive it. Of course nothing could proceed without the right donor. Although jones didnt know his donors name at the time, the Perfect Match was 35yearold eric priest. Eric priest is ght out of central casting. I mean, here is a guy who is handsome, a patriot, joined the navy, and is a man of faith. A lieutenant in the navy, priest had volunteered to be a stem cell donor almost 17 years earlier. Id had this call to christian service. And christian service, what were called to do is to love one another and to serve one another. And so when i heard about the bone marrow program, it was like, hey, this is one way i could serve. You are looking bright today. Come on in. For the 4th of july. Hey. I painted my toenails. Oh, lets see your toe nails. And my red shirt. On the 4th of july two years ago, jones entered moffitt for his transplant. Eric priests stem cells had been extracted the day before in california and delivered to Jones Hospital room in florida. Ah, what is this . These are your stem cell. My stem cells have arrived. Come on in. July 4, 2012, was probably my biggest july 4th ever. I looked at it, and it was my life saving. That bag had my chance to live. Though medicare and insurance paid most of the charges, the procedure is costly. The recovery, grueling. Though in this case he wasnt exactly coddled. This nurse tech, maria garcia, walks up to my bedside and matteroffactly says, now i want you to listen up. Im going to tell you what you have to do if you expect to come out of here alive. You need to do your part. You need to feel like youre in a boot camp. Youve gotta come here with a kind of kickbutt attitude. You know, youre going to take this on. Youre gonna do what you have to do no matter how you feel about it. A little more than a year after the transplant procedure, a grateful patient finally met his donor and gave him a pewter clock. And the inscription was eric priest. Thanks for adding time to my life. I said to him, youve given new meaning to serving your country and to mankind. And i also i dont know whether to salute you or hug you. And at that point, i saluted and we both embraced and hugged. Priest, it turns out, is not only a naval officer but also an ordained baptist minister. It helped me to be able to witness and to to show the love that god wants us to show. I dont wanna push it down peoples throat but i do wanna serve, i do want to witness. I do want to live my life loving others as jesus has loved us. During all this period i was in my bed in moffitt and i also felt gods hand in the whole thing. And i i never doubted for a moment that i wouldnt make it. Though three of the five mds patients over 75 who received stem cell transplants nationwide have not survived, phil jones is in complete remission. And if it seems miraculous, moffitt wants the medical world to know that it really isnt. Theyre not seeing how were able now to do things better, less toxic and expand the potential for people to be able to get to receive this kind of procedure. If we can get that message out to physicians in the community that are managing these patients, its not age anymore, if someone is fit, then they could potentially be a candidate for transplant. So the story here isnt just about phil jones. Potentially, its also about how many more people like him could be helped if more doctors knew how much progress has been made with transplants. If we were able to optimize access to transplant, we would triple the number of transplant procedures performed today. Triple . And that, says phil jones, should be a wakeup call for patients, and doctors, everywhere. I want my story to be sort of a shot across the bow, if you please, for doctors all over this country. Not just for myelodysplasia and mds but for other other diseases. I want them to stop and think before they look at the next patient and say youre too old for the cure. Phil jones, who celebrated his 53rd wedding anniversary last month, might be the exception to that youre too old rule, but with each step and every new day in remission, it seems clear that old rule is meant to be broken. For religion and ethics newsweekly, this is bob faw in tampa, florida. On our calendar this week muslims around the world began their monthlong observance of ramadan when those who are able to do so fast from sunrise to sunset, and make special offerings to the poor. On july 9th, bahais observe the martyrdom of the bab, marking the execution, in 1850, in persia, now iran, of one of the two founders of their faith the bab. The other was bahaullah. During this holy time, bahais take time off from work and school to retell the martyrdom story with the help of music, readings, chanting and dance. Last year, we visited the martyrdom of the bab program at the Northern Virginia bahai center, where our guide was bahai educator hillary chapman. The bahai faith begins with two prophetic figures in 19th century persia. The bab was a merchant by trade, and came to assert that he was the fu