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Philippines Supreme Court temporarily blocks state funding for contraceptives
Daniel Mullen at 12:50 PM ET
Government funding for contraceptives and mandatory sex education continues to be a controversial issue throughout the world. Last month the Obama administration issued a new rule [JURIST report] allowing religious nonprofit groups in the US to opt out of the birth control coverage mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) [text, JURIST backgrounder]. In October France's legislature approved a bill [JURIST report] that pays for contraceptive and abortion coverage for minors. That same month, as US federal appeals court declined [JURIST report] to rehear a Texas Planned Parenthood [advocacy website] funding case in which it ruled that a ban on state funding to clinics affiliated with abortion providers was constitutional. In May of last year, the Tennessee House of Representatives [official website] passed a bill[JURIST report] that augments the state's abstinence-only sex education curriculum to allow parents to sue school teachers or organizations that promote "gateway sexual activity." In 2009, a German court rejected [JURIST report] a religious challenge to mandatory sex education because it said there is a strong governmental interest in compulsory education and the curriculum was "neutral and tolerant" toward religious beliefs.
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