Fathers in the US State of Utah are now legally obliged to pay half the cost of a mother’s medical care related to pregnancy and delivery.

Supporters of the law – which is thought to be the first of its kind in the US – say it will help alleviate the financial burden of motherhood for American women and lessen the circumstances that conduce to abortion.

The law, which will take effect on 5 May, passed unanimously with bipartisan support in the state’s Senate but faced some Democratic opposition in the House of Representatives.

Utah’s Shared Medical Costs law applies to biological fathers, but if paternity of the child is in question, fathers are able to delay payments until paternity is proven.

The payment process is not automatic. Similar to child support, if a woman does not seek assistance, the father will not be notified.

Fathers will not be required to contribute to the cost of an abortion if it is sought without their consent, except in the case of rape or if the mother’s life is in danger.

One of the bill’s sponsors, Republican state Congressman Brady Brammer, has said that he wanted a bill that was fully “pro-life” rather than just “anti-abortion”.

Since joining the legislature in 2019, Mr Brammer has seen a number of abortion bills introduced. Each time, “they’re contentious and they’re emotional”, he said. But at the “core” of the issue, “there’s someone in a really tough position in life, making a real tough decision in life”.

Abortion is often an act of desperation, made by someone who is, “scared, alone and poor”.

“Perhaps we could make that situation a little bit easier,” he said.

The pastor of an evangelical church in the UK has expressed his dismay at being branded anti-gay in the wake of an apology by the Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer for having visited them.

The head of Jesus House of All Nations, Pastor Agu Irukwu said “we have felt prosecuted, judged, and sentenced unfairly”.

“Some of the language that has been directed at us can only be described as vile, abusive, hateful, and possibly criminal. It is tantamount to cyberbullying”.

The pastor has in the past spoken out against same-sex marriage and aspects of equality legislation. LGBT+ groups accused the Church of promoting “conversion therapy”, a charge the church strenuously denies.

“We do not engage in any form of conversion therapy. We, as a church, provide appropriate pastoral support, including prayer, to all our members, whatever life situations or circumstances they find themselves in. This is consistent with the basic fundamentals of freedom of speech and freedom of religion and the government’s current position.”

He added he’s “very concerned” for the thousands of churches and millions of Christians who hold traditional biblical understanding of marriage and sexuality.

“There is an increasing atmosphere of bullying and intimidation which is a cause for concern, but we do not take our lead from politicians and others.”

A non-denominational Christian pastor has been given a prosecution notice and threatened with up to six months in prison by Gardaí for opening her church on Easter Sunday.

Gript media reports that Pastor Sharon Perry of the Abundant Grace Christian Assembly in Ringsend, Dublin, said her congregation were upset and anxious after Gardaí took action when she opened her church during the Level 5 restrictions.

The Easter indoor gathering of around 25 people – which was fully socially distanced, and featured roughly an hour of prayer and religious song – was ultimately allowed to go ahead. However, while most worshippers were allowed to leave unimpeded, Pastor Perry herself was confronted by Gardaí as soon as she stepped outside.

“The inspector was waiting for me as I left the building and quietly told me that I would be prosecuted for having the service, which would result in a fine of up to €2,500, or a six months prison sentence.”

Pastor Sharon Perry has already received a €500 fixed penalty notice for opening her church the previous Sunday, which she says she has no intention of paying.

On that occasion another pastor was arrested after police broke up one of the church services.

Sir Keir Starmer has apologised after visiting a church which has been criticised for its traditional teachings on marriage and family, while another Labour MP has praised the very same congregation.

The church’s senior pastor, Agu Irukwu, has in the past spoken out against same sex marriage and aspects of equality legislation. LGBT+ groups claim it promotes “conversion therapy”, a charge the church denies.

The Labour leader visited Jesus House in London on Good Friday to see its vaccination centre, posting a video on his Twitter feed praising it as a ‘wonderful example of a church’ for its work with the community.

In 2017, Theresa May visited the church, while more recently Boris Johnson and the Prince of Wales have both been to the pop-up vaccination centre there.

But after a backlash including from his party’s LGBT+ members, Sir Keir called it a mistake and deleted the clip.

He said he “completely” disagreed with the church’s views on LGBT+ rights and was not aware of them beforehand.

“I apologise for the hurt my visit caused and have taken down the video,” he said. “It was a mistake and I accept that.”

In a twist, and following his Party Leader’s apology, Stephen Timms, the Labour MP for East Ham tweeted: “I applaud the extraordinary work of @jesushouseuk, and of churches and other faith groups, in supporting our communities throughout the past year.”

After criticism from LGBT groups, he responded with: “Given the attention this afternoon, I have checked with Jesus House. They tell me they don’t practise anything like conversion therapy, and regard homophobia as anti-Christian.”

On Easter Sunday a dawn Mass was held at a Mass rock on Achill Island for the first time in living memory. Public worship is currently banned under the Government’s Covid-19 restrictions.

Local curate, Fr Gerard Quirke celebrated the liturgy at the site used during penal times when priests risked imprisonment or death for saying mass publicly.

The action recalled Easter Sunday in 433 when St Patrick lit a Paschal Fire on the Hill of Tara in defiance of the High King of Ireland.

In his homily, which was broadcast online, Fr Quirke prayed for the coming of the day when believers would again sing the praises of God in churches.

Pope Francis has used his traditional Easter message to pray for an end to restrictions in parts of the world that have banned Christians from worshipping together at the most important feast in the Christian calendar.

The Pope’s prayer – delivered in his Urbi et Orbi address from St Peter’s Basilica – comes as religious believers in the Irish Republic face some of the most draconian restrictions in Europe.

Pope Francis said: “once again this year, in various places many Christians have celebrated Easter under severe restrictions and, at times, without being able to attend liturgical celebrations.

“We pray that those restrictions, as well as all restrictions on freedom of worship and religion worldwide, may be lifted and everyone be allowed to pray and praise God freely,” the Pontiff said.

Life in religious congregations is showing signs of slowly returning to normal as coronavirus cases, hospitalisations and deaths decline and vaccination rates rise across the United States,.

A new Pew Research Center survey finds that Americans are increasingly confident they can safely go to services at a church, temple, mosque or other house of worship. And the percentage who say they actually have attended religious services – in person – in the past month is slightly higher than it was last summer.

Three-quarters of U.S. adults who normally attend religious services now say they are “very” or “somewhat” confident they can do so safely, without spreading or catching the coronavirus – up 12 percentage points from when this question was last asked in July 2020. Over that period, there also has been a considerable drop in the share who say they think their congregation should be closed to help stop the spread of the virus.

Roughly four-in-ten people who typically attend religious services at least once or twice a month say they actually have done so, in person, during the past month – up 9 points since last summer. And as in-person attendance has trended upward, there has been a corresponding decline in the share of regular religious attenders who recently have watched services streamed online or on television.

The Catholic Archbishop of Dublin has welcomed the forthcoming increase in allowable number of funeral attendees but said he did not understand why it has been delayed for a month.

Measures set out by Government on Tuesday included that from April 26th, funeral Mass attendance can rise from 10 to 25 people “on compassionate grounds”.

In his Chrism Mass homily at the Pro Cathedral on Wednesday, Archbishop Dermot Farrell said everyone understood the “worrying context” in which the decision on a slow return to worship was taken.

“I welcome the announcement of the increase in the number of family members who can attend the funeral Mass of their loved one, although it is not clear why this measure has been delayed for one month.”

The archbishop also said he would continue to emphasise to Government the importance of the earliest possible return to public worship “and that the easing of restrictions must not be subordinated to powerful commercial interests. There will be further direct engagement with Government to ensure that specific positive consideration is given to public worship by the end of April.”

Children born through donor-assisted reproduction or surrogacy should be entitled from the age of 12 to access information about the identity of their genetic parents, the Special Rapporteur on Child Protection, Prof Conor O’Mahony, has advised the Government. At the same time, he says, people should be allowed to use surrogacy who will have no genetic link to the child, providing neither the egg nor the sperm.

This is one of 27 recommendations in A Review of Children’s Rights and Best Interests in the Context of Donor-Assisted Human Reproduction and Surrogacy in Irish Law, which is due to be published by the Government shortly.

Also recommended is a system to encourage the parents to disclose the facts of donor conception to the child before the age of 12.

“If somebody goes and orders anonymous sperm on the internet and administers it at home, the law simply can’t stop that,” he acknowledged. “What the law can do is provide very strong incentives to go through the preferable route.

“The right to identity is legally binding on the State. We know from all the adoption debates going on lately how important it is, so the law should be set up to try to protect it as far as possible. At the same time there is a reality that some things are beyond the reach of the law.”

Ireland’s restrictions on religious worship are now the most far-reaching and disproportionate in Europe.

That’s according to an Irish Barrister and Legal Counsel for the human rights advocacy firm, ADF International.

In response to a challenge at the High Court, the government has confirmed that it is a criminal offense for a priest to conduct mass unless for the purpose of a funeral or a wedding. Similarly, worshippers could face a fine or up to 6 months jail time for leaving their homes to attend a place of worship.

Lorcan Price said freedom of religion is a fundamental right, secured by the Irish Constitution and international law.

“Where a government introduces restrictions on religious worship in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the restrictions must be proportionate and reasonable. The blanket ban on all worship in Ireland is clearly disproportionate as can be seen by looking to the approach taken by almost every other European country,” he said.