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• Take back our rights | The Bush Administration may be mired in confusion and at cross-purposes on many fronts—Iraq, Afghanistan, the economy, education—but its assault on women's reproductive freedom has been a marvel of purpose and planning. (The Nation)
  
  
• Mich. votes to protect conscience rights | The state House has voted to protect health care workers and insurers from being fired or sued for refusing to perform a procedure, fill a prescription or cover treatment for something they object to for moral, ethical or religious reasons. (Associated Press)
  
  
• Women's health debate intensifies | Gov. Jim Doyle expected to veto bill on physician care (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)
  
  

Religion and politics:

• Church group raps Bush on clean air act | A national group of Christian leaders is sending a scathing letter to President Bush to coincide with Earth Day, accusing his administration of chipping away at the Clean Air Act. (Associated Press)
  
  
• Critics say draft of head scarf ban in French schools is too vague | A law banning Muslim head scarves in public schools could add bandannas, used by some women as a substitute for a full head covering, to the blacklist of forbidden dress. Or maybe not. (Associated Press)
  
  
• American Jewish groups back Bush, Sharon | Major American Jewish organizations are praising President Bush's support for Israeli plans to withdraw from Gaza and maintain some settlements in the West Bank — but a few groups are criticizing him. (Associated Press)
  
  
• Ministers caught off guard by archbishop's attack | Williams's elliptical sermon, seen by some as a 'devastating critique' of government, draws low-key criticism from Downing Street (The Guardian, UK)
  
  
• Ten Commandments lawsuit settlement falls through, lawyer fired | Attorneys on both sides of the Ten Commandments lawsuit in Humansville thought they had reached a settlement on Wednesday. But no one apparently told Carrie Roat, the woman who filed the suit last March. (KSPR, Missouri)
  
  

Television:

• Veteran execs launch gospel music channel | Two veteran cable executives plan to start the Gospel Music Channel in the fall, providing a TV outlet for a diverse genre that encompasses soulful church music and Christian rock and rap. (Associated Press)
  
  
• Jesus Christ! TV network accused of blasphemy | An Australian television channel is being taken to court for allowing "Jesus Christ!" to be used as an oath in a British crime series it broadcasts, news reports said on Thursday. (Mail & Guardian, South Africa)
  
  
• Christian takes action against 'blasphemous' TV show | An evangelical Christian from Waranga is taking legal action against Channel Seven over the use of the words "Jesus Christ" in a popular television series, claiming Christian sensitivities need to be considered. (Shepparton News, Australia)
  
  
• TV truth about entertainment | Gibson and other Christians looking to spread the Word found the perfect partner in secular television - specifically the History Channel, A&E, the Discovery Channel, the Learning Channel and other alternatives to derivative sitcoms and bad movies - which increasingly looks to piggyback on big media moments with tie-in documentaries. (Terry Lawson, Knight Ridder)
  
  

The Passion :

• Cinema bombarded with requests for controversial film | Mel Gibson's epic, The Passion of the Christ, was due to open at the Odeon cinema on April 30, but it will now show from tomorrow after staff were bombarded with around 60 letters and many more phone calls from cinemagoers demanding to see it. (Grimsby Evening Telegraph, UK)
  
  

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April (Web-only) 2004, Vol. 48