The Network of Spiritual Progresssives will host a four-day conference in Washington, DC, next month titled "Creating 'The Caring Society': A Progressive Alternative to Tea Party Extremism and Corporate Domination of American Politics and Culture."

The conference, which will include a demonstration at the White House, is designed to create a strategy for progressives and liberals -- both religoius and secular -- during the Obama years. Speakers will include the Rev. Brian McLaren, Rev. James Forbes, Sr. Joan Chittister, Rabbi Arthur Waskow, Bill Moyers, U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, and other religious and political leaders. The conference is scheduled for June 11-14, 2010. Visit the Network of Spiritual Progressives website for more information and to register.

The Religious Institute database includes statements and studies from 28 religious denominations on 22 issues, including adolescent sexuality, assisted reproductive technologies, contraception, homosexuality and sexual orientation, marriage and marriage equality, transgender and gender identity, sexuality education, and sexual abuse and violence. Each entry consists of the full text or excerpt of the denomination’s position, as well as a link to the original source.

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Now that President Obama has signed the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" into law, RH Reality Check offers an assessment of the wins, losses and ongoing challenges that the bill represents for sexual and reproductive rights. In another assessment of the legislation, the Guttmacher Institute concludes, "The bill’s onerous abortion restrictions have been rightly denounced by reproductive rights supporters. New funding for evidence-based sex education was regrettably paired with the retention of a failed and discredited abstinence-only program. But, taken together, a number of other provisions in this sweeping measure constitute a clear and significant step forward for the reproductive health of America’s women and men."

Read a Congressional summary of the law here.

Read the RH Reality Check assessment here.

Read the Guttmacher Institute report here.

In response to the recent decisions by Catholic Charities to stop providing spousal benefits to its employees and to abandon its adoption and foster care programs in Washington, D.C. -- both in order to exclude same-sex couples -- the Religious Institute issued the following statement from Rev. Debra W. Haffner:

"The decisions by Catholic Charities are religious hypocrisy. For an organization that seeks to serve children and families, its actions undermine anyone's definition of family values. Gay men and lesbians may be the targets of these decisions, but it is children and families who will suffer the collateral damage.

Last month, in our report Sexuality and Religion 2020: Goals for the Next Decade, the Religious Institute called for the full inclusion of LGBT persons and their families in faith communities and society. Today we call on progressive religious leaders, in denominations and congregations, to speak out against the injustice of Catholic Charities' actions, and to examine their own record of inclusion where adoption and spousal benefits are concerned. It is not enough to fault Catholic Charities for its lack of family values; progressive religious leaders must also ask whether their policies and programs truly embrace all families."