This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Many Utah politicians have been vocal about losing religious rights when forced to accommodate secular customs that interfere with faith.
Much of the discussion came after U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby struck down Utah's ban on same-sex marriage, a stance subsequently affirmed by the nation's highest court.
One Utah legislator attempted a bill, which cleared the House but died in the Senate, that would have vaulted religious rights ahead of all others in discrimination cases.
So here's an example that gave the defenders of religious liberties an argument, although, in the end, cooler heads prevailed.
Amador Rivera's 15-year-old son is entering Cottonwood High as a sophomore this month and, as an observant Jew, the youth covers his head at school out of respect for God.
He has feared bullying at school when outwardly showing his convictions, a worry that is justified, Rabbi Ilana Schwartzman, of Salt Lake City's Congregation Kol Ami, wrote in a letter to the Granite School District in which she said she knew of such bullying in the past.
Consequently, the boy did not want to wear a kippah, or yarmulke, which would make him stand out as a Jew. Instead, he wants to wear a baseball cap, which, according to Schwartzman and Rabbi Benny Zippel of Chabad Lubavitch of Utah, is acceptable to conform to the head-covering requirements.
The cap posed no problem when he was a student at Bonneville Junior High and, earlier, at Twin Peaks Elementary.
But Cottonwood's administration said no. Baseball caps are against the dress code, no exceptions. Rivera was told that if his son were allowed to wear one, everybody would want to do it.
That was until Tuesday.
When I called Ben Horsley, communications director at Granite School District, he said the issue had come up at the district's superintendency meeting that morning.
The conclusion: The boy could wear the cap. He said Cottonwood officials would be notified of that later in the day.
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Up on the law? • Emily Andrews, who does public communications for Planned Parenthood of Utah, wrote to U.S. Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, expressing her concerns about the push to defund Planned Parenthood.
Stewart wrote back, in what appears to be a form letter, saying he strongly supported the Defund Planned Parenthood Act, "which would prevent Planned Parenthood from using federal funds to perform abortions, except in cases of rape, incest or if the mother's life were in jeopardy."
Memo to Stewart: Planned Parenthood already cannot, under U.S. law, use federal funds to perform abortions — except in the cases Stewart cited. Abortions make up about 3 percent of what Planned Parenthood does and are funded through private sources. The federal money provided to Planned Parenthood through Title X grants or Medicaid is for other services, including cancer screenings, STD testing and contraceptives.
The law that prevents federal funding for abortions is called the Hyde Amendment, passed in the 1970s.
It's comforting to know how informed our U.S. congressman is about U.S. law.
In his letter, Stewart invited Andrews to sign up for his monthly newsletter "to stay informed on this issue and others."
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City priorities • During last week's City Council meeting in South Jordan, a resident said in the public comment period that he was concerned about the practices of Planned Parenthood and the fact it had an office in South Jordan.
That led Mayor David Alvord to suggest the council ponder whether to send a letter to Congress expressing concerns about Planned Parenthood and whether the women's health provider should continue to get federal funding.
Since then, the Senate has defeated a proposal to defund Planned Parenthood. But the mayor and council members seemed intent on pursuing the issue.
During the same meeting, city staffers mentioned that the brick pavers surrounding City Hall and the street leading up to it had been unattended for some time. Many were loose and uneven, posting potential hazards to pedestrians.
The mayor opined that the suggested $200,000 to remedy the problem would be a waste of money.
Better to spend time on federal funding of Planned Parenthood than fixing those bricks.