The World and Everything in It — February 3, 2020

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning!

Montana axed a scholarship program because some recipients chose religious schools. Now the Supreme Court must draw a line between church and state. But where is it?

KAGAN: You might think that funding religion creates divisiveness and conflict within a society, none of those things have anything to do with animus towards religion…

NICK EICHER, HOST: That’s ahead on Legal Docket.

Also the Monday Moneybeat: the coronavirus scare wipes out all this year’s gains for two of three major stock indexes.

Plus, the WORLD Radio History Book. Today, a speech that signaled a change in British policy toward Africa.

MACMILLAN: The wind of change is blowing through this continent, and whether we like it or not, and our national policies must take account of it.

REICHARD: It’s Monday, February 3rd. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

EICHER: And I’m Nick Eicher. Good morning!

REICHARD: Now news. Here’s Kent Covington.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Impeachment trial resumes with closing arguments » The Senate impeachment trial resumes at 11 a.m. this morning with four hours of closing arguments. And Senators are slated to vote on a final verdict Wednesday. 

That after the Senate voted on Friday to proceed to closing arguments without calling new witnesses. That had Democrats charging once again that the entire trial is a sham. House impeachment manager Val Demings… 

DEMINGS: Is this a fair trial? Without the ability to call witnesses and produce documents, the answer is clearly and unequivocally no. 

But Republican Senator Lamar Alexander said he’s seen enough. He added that even if all the Democrats allege is true, it still does not meet the lofty constitutional standard for removing a sitting president. 

ALEXANDER: I think what he did is a long way from treason, bribery, high crimes and misdemeanors. I don’t think it’s the kind of inappropriate action that the framers would expect the Senate to substitute its judgement for the people in picking a president.  

Senators will get an opportunity to explain how they’re voting and why in speeches today, tomorrow, and Wednesday. 

Democrats prepare for first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses » Meanwhile, in the Hawkeye State, Democratic voters will make their voices heard today. Democrats officially begin the process of picking a presidential nominee with today’s Iowa caucuses. 

Candidates spent the weekend making last-minute appeals. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders held a 4-point lead over Joe Biden in the final Real Clear Politics average of Iowa polls, roughly 25 to 21 percent. He told voters in Cedar Rapids that his campaign is about more than just defeating President Trump.   

SANDERS: It is a campaign that says if you work in American and in Iowa 40 hours a week, you should not be living in poverty. 

Only two other candidates are polling in double digits heading into the caucuses. They are South Bend Indiana Mayor Pete Buttegieg and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. She told supporters in the town of Indianola that she’s running to beat back the influence of big money in Washington.   

WARREN: We want to save our democracy. We want to save our country. It’s gonna take big structural change.

At stake in Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses are 41 delegates, and important early momentum. Caucuses begin at 7 p.m. Central Time at most locations. 

Coronavirus spreads as health officials race to find treatments » The new coronavirus continues to spread. The number of infections has risen to nearly 15,000. Most of those within China, but new cases continue to emerge around the world. 

Dr. Anthony Fauci with the National Institutes of Health said the agency is “looking at some experimental drugs.” And he told the Fox Business Network… 

FAUCI: We and a number of other organizations have already started developing a vaccine, and we hope to get ours into early testing for safety within the next three months. 

On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared a public health emergency. President Trump signed a temporary order aimed at reducing the risk of importing the virus. As of yesterday, foreign nationals who have traveled to China within the last 14 days cannot enter the United States. The only exceptions being immediate family of U.S. citizens and permanent residents. And in those cases, travelers must remain in quarantine for two weeks.

More than 300 people have died of the coronavirus in China. And for the first time, someone has died of the virus in another nation. A 44-year-old died Sunday in the Philippines after traveling there from Wuhan, China.

Chiefs complete late comeback for first NFL title in 50 years » For the first time in 50 years, the Kansas City Chiefs are Super Bowl champions!

They beat the San Francisco 49ers 31-to-20 last night thanks to a dramatic 4th quarter comeback. 

AUDIO: [Sound of game]

The Chiefs were trailing 20-10 before that touchdown pass from Patrick Mahomes. He led Kansas City to three touchdowns in the final six minutes of the game. The go-ahead score was a 5-yard touchdown pass to Damien Williams with just under 3 minutes left. 

Mahomes earned MVP honors. He told Fox Sports…

MAHOMES: Yeah, I mean we never lost faith. I think that’s the biggest thing. Everybody on this team, no one had their head down, and we believed in each other, and that’s what we preached all year long. 

For the Chiefs, it was just the second championship in franchise history. They won their only previous NFL title in 1970.

I’m Kent Covington. Straight ahead: the Supreme Court debates school vouchers in Montana.

Plus, ASP with a commentary on snow.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD: It’s Monday morning, a new month and new work week for The World and Everything in It. Today is the 3rd of February, 2020. Good morning to you, I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER: And I’m Nick Eicher. Before we get started, just a quick correction.

On our Culture Friday, we talked with Albert Mohler and because of an editing error—and this one’s on me—we removed a journalistic disclosure that is very important. Mohler is a member of the board of the organization that governs WORLD. If you look on our magazine masthead, you’ll see his name, but it’s our practice to say that whenever he appears on our program. We did say it, but, again, in editing the program down, I inadvertently removed that disclosure.

Wasn’t hiding anything, just in the deadline rush, I cut it. Very sorry about that.

REICHARD: Duly noted! Well, it’s time for Legal Docket. Today, coverage of probably the biggest religious liberty case this term. 

But first, I want to note an opinion handed down last week that, for now, allows enforcement of a new rule that non-citizens must show that during the time they’re here, they won’t be dependent on public aid.

The states of New York, Connecticut, and Vermont, as well as the city of New York, along with several activist groups, mounted an immediate legal challenge. It succeeded before landing in the U.S. Supreme Court.

In his concurring opinion, Justice Neil Gorsuch had a colorful response to federal judges who use injunctions to stall out presidential policies.

EICHER: Justice Gorsuch borrowed a phrase from The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. You may recall the inscription on the ring proclaiming it the one ring that shall “rule them all.” 

Gorsuch called the overreaching judicial order as the “injunction to rule them all.”

Drawing on that analogy, Justice Gorsuch wrote of judges who frame injunctions as “nationwide” in scope, and in doing so directing the behavior of parties that aren’t even before them in court. 

That, he said, goes beyond constitutional powers granted to them, and one does not simply exceed constitutional powers.

REICHARD: Right, just as one does not simply walk into Mordor.

I’ll quote Justice Gorsuch directly: “The rise of nationwide injunctions may just be a sign of our impatient times. But good judicial decisions are usually tempered by older virtues.” And then, “What in this gamesmanship and chaos can we be proud of?”

EICHER: Ouch. Well, no missing his meaning in that!

REICHARD: Justice Thomas concurred in that opinion and it was similar to an opinion Thomas rendered in 2018 with regard to challenges to President Trump’s travel ban that a single judge could stop in its tracks.

EICHER: OK, well, we’ll put a link to the opinion at worldandeverything.org. 

Now on to oral argument in a case that may end the practice of a state disfavoring religious education over government education. Montana ended a public scholarship program because some parents chose to use the benefit to place their children in religious schools. 

Here’s how the lead plaintiff in the case, Kendra Espinoza, described it to us in an interview from 2017:

ESPINOZA: That was kind of a hard blow and it felt like it was discrimination. And it felt wrong. There’s no reason that I should be excluded just because I wanted to send my kids to a certain school. I didn’t feel that that was fair or right …And scary to think that I would have to pull the children and not have opportunity to send them there.

Three years later, Espinoza’s case is now before the U.S. Supreme Court. 

Here’s the background. In 2015, Montana created a program that gave a $150 tax credit to people who contributed money to a privately run scholarship program. The donations were voluntary, charitable, and private. And the program made no distinction between secular or religious schools. 

But in 2018, the Montana Supreme Court declared the program violated the state constitution. The reason? Because the program gave families a choice to use their scholarships to attend religious schools.

So the court struck down the entire program. And that, says Espinoza, violates the First Amendment’s guarantee of free exercise of religion and the 14th Amendment’s equal protection guarantee. 

Here’s how her lawyer, Richard Komer, put it: 

KOMER: The only reason the court invalidated the program was because it included religious schools. And the court’s remedy did not cure its discriminatory judgment, nor should the remedy shield the judgment from review. Petitioners brought this lawsuit because they were denied scholarships based on religion, and they are still being denied scholarships based on religion.

On the other side, Montana’s lawyer Adam Unikowsky reminded the court of who controls education, and it’s not the federal government:

UNIKOWSKY: I do think that one important point in this case is that states generally have had power over education, and to decide that they’re only going to fund the public school system, and that is the ultimate effect of the state court’s judgment in this case.

The ultimate effect being to shutter the whole scholarship program for everybody. 

Unikowsky got lots of pushback, especially from Justice Brett Kavanaugh. He and four other justices attended private, Catholic schools at some point in their lives.

KAVANAUGH: Suppose the state said, “We’re going to allow the scholarship funds to be used for secular schools or Protestant schools, but not for Jewish schools or Catholic schools.”  Unconstitutional?

UNIKOWSKY: Yes, so I think that…

KAVANAUGH: Is that a yes?

UNIKOWSKY: Yes.

KAVANAUGH: Okay. So what’s different when you say the scholarship funds can be used for secular schools but not for Protestant, Jewish, Catholic or other religious schools because of the religious status?

UNIKOWSKY: So, I think the right lens to look at that hypothetical is the Establishment Clause, which prohibits the state — regardless of whether there’s an infringement on any individual liberty, I think the Establishment Clause prohibits the state from distinguishing between one religion versus a different religion. And I think that’s an example –

KAVANAUGH: But a lot of the free-exercise equal-treatment cases … say you can’t exclude religious people, religious institutions, religious speech because it’s religious from a generally applicable program. The fact that it’s odious to the Constitution to quote the words of Trinity Lutheran.

Trinity Lutheran: that’s a Supreme Court ruling that said the state of Missouri violated the Constitution with a grant program that excluded religious schools from money set aside for playground resurfacing. A broad 7-2 decision, but also narrow in the sense that it explicitly limited its scope to playgrounds.

The question now is whether to expand that protection to the subject of this case, scholarships.

Justice Elena Kagan didn’t seem to think so.

KAGAN: I was one of the seven in Trinity Lutheran, but there seems to me a real difference in this case. In Trinity Lutheran, the — a state was using the religious status of various people or entities to limit access to a unrelated public benefit, to a completely secular public benefit … but even put that aside, what this is is essentially a state saying, for many reasons that have been viewed as legitimate, even though not shared by everybody, but have been viewed as legitimate for many years, we don’t want to subsidize religious activity, in particular religious education. That’s a far cry from Trinity Lutheran.

But the lawyer for the government, in support of the parents, disputes that difference. Deputy Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall:

WALL: I get that you can say it’s a harder case because it’s — it’s education and it’s not a playground. And in that sense, it may be a harder question, but the Montana Supreme Court didn’t take it as a case about use. …  It said religiously affiliated schools. That’s a status-based distinction. And I don’t think we can distinguish that from Trinity Lutheran.

And Wall underscored another point.

WALL: Everybody concedes that if all the parents in this program had wanted to choose secular schools, there’d be no basis for the state court’s ruling. The scholarship program would still exist. It’s only because some parents said I want to send my kids to schools like Stillwater…

“Stillwater” is the name of one of the affected Christian schools.

Now, the liberal justices worried that a win for the parents here might have broader implications that could hurt public schools. Would states have to directly fund private religious schools because they also fund public schools? And they doubted that the parents even had standing to bring the case at all. 

And Justice Kagan wanted to make it clear that striking down the scholarship program in Montana wasn’t necessarily about religious bigotry.

KAGAN: You might actually think that funding religion imposes costs and burdens on religious institutions themselves. You might think that taxpayers have conscientious objections to funding religion. You might think that funding religion creates divisiveness and conflict within a society, and that for all those reasons, funding religious activity is not a good idea and that … none of those things have anything to do with animus towards religion.

But the history of that amendment under which the scholarship program was struck down, called a Blaine Amendment, is fraught with animus. That aspect is a matter of historic record, and it’s undisputed.

The genesis of the Blaine Amendments came in the 19th century when fervent anti-Catholic sentiment led to their passage in 37 states. 

In 1985, the Supreme Court ruled that if a law has biased origins, that’s reason enough to invalidate it. Even decades later. 

Now, lawyer for Montana, Adam Unikowsky argued a state convention in 1972 considered the Blaine Amendment anew and adopted it again. At that point, lawmakers used no bigoted comments in their arguments. To the contrary, he said, its primary reason was to keep religions from state coercion.

But that assertion didn’t gain traction among the more conservative justices. 

Justice Samuel Alito set up another scenario to test Montana’s stance:

ALITO: I’ll give you an example. The state legislature sets up a scholarship fund, and after a while, people look at the — the recipients of the scholarships, and some people say: “Wow, these are mostly going to blacks and we don’t like that and that’s contrary to state law.”  So the state supreme court says: “Okay, that discrimination is — we’re going to strike down the whole thing.” Is that constitutional?

UNIKOWSKY: No, so we don’t think the race analogy is apt. I don’t think that’s constitutional, and we just don’t think that race and religion are identical for all constitutional reasons…

Unikowsky went on to argue that race and religion are not the same things for every constitutional purpose. 

He cited James Madison in saying government has a preference not to fund religious activities. Not to prohibit it, but neither to fund it. 

The bench is obviously divided on this matter. The outcome has wide repercussions. A half million students in the United States attend private schools, and more than half can afford to go only with the help of publicly funded tuition vouchers or tax-credit scholarships.

And that’s this week’s Legal Docket!

MARY REICHARD: Coming next on The World and Everything in It, the Monday Moneybeat.

NICK EICHER: The World Health Organization says the coronavirus outbreak is a public-health emergency of international concern. Wall Street got the message loud and clear, and traders started selling. 

By the end of the day Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered its steepest single-day loss since last August. Back in August, the markets were fretting about a looming recession because of an economic signal known as a yield-curve inversion. Remember the term. More on that in a moment.

Also taking a big hit on Wall Street was the Standard & Poor’s 500 index of stocks. The S&P 500 ended January with the worst month since August, and erased all its gains so far this year. Only the Nasdaq is in positive territory thus far in 2020.

Now, about that yield-curve inversion: three decades ago, economists identified this phenomenon as a predictor of recession. And last week, we had another yield-curve inversion. 

To explain: A normal yield curve shows long-term government bonds yielding more than short-term ones. An inversion just means the opposite and it points to a lack of confidence in the strength of the economy long-term. In particular, a prolonged and steep inversion in the yield curve has been a reliable predictor of recessions.

REICHARD: We are a long way from recession, but setting aside the coronavirus uncertainty that’s roiling markets, economic growth has cooled a bit in this country. The economy’s report card for 2019 is in, and if there were a single figure to judge its quality, something similar to, say, a grade-point average for economic health, it’d probably be gross domestic product. So when you hear GDP, you can think of it as the GPA for the economy. 

The Commerce Department last week released fourth-quarter GDP and it came out at a middling 2.1 percent. So for the whole year, the economy expanded just 2.3 percent.

That’s a disappointment, in that President Trump touted his economic program of lower taxes and lighter regulation as the prescription for growth rates closer to 3 percent. This 2.3 percent annual number is the weakest of his presidency so far.

EICHER: The Federal Reserve, no surprise, decided to leave interest rates where they are. Last week, Fed chairman Jay Powell said the economic fundamentals are solid.

POWELL: The expansion is in its 11th year, the longest on record. Growth in household spending moderated toward the end of last year, but with a healthy job market, rising incomes, and upbeat consumer confidence, the fundamentals supporting household spending are solid.

What’s not solid is business investment, exports, and manufacturing output—and to this point, global trade.

About that, and despite a phase-one trade agreement between the United States and China, Powell believes economic disruption in China is the likely result of the outbreak—not to mention possible effects around the world, based on travel restrictions and business closures.

POWELL: Of course, the situation is really in its early stages and it’s very uncertain about how far it will spread and what the macroeconomic effects will be in China and its immediate trading partners and neighbors and around the world.

And that is today’s Monday Moneybeat.

NICK EICHER: It’s not our practice to deliver weather reports on this program, but it just seemed wrong not to give you this year’s forecast from the world’s most renowned weatherman. Well, weather-being.

AUDIO: Ladies and gentlemen, Punxsutawney Phil!

For the 134th time, Members of Punxsutawney’s tuxedo-clad inner circle woke the groundhog from the famous tree stump where he lives.

AUDIO: And to wake Phil up, we’re gonna do a chant: Phil! Phil! Phil! Phil! Phil! Phil!

They then sat Phil atop the tree stump where he chose between two scrolls. And when Phil made his choice, the master of ceremonies read the forecast.

AUDIO: So do I hope you think it’s neighborly, for there is no shadow of me. Spring will be early, it’s a certainty!

Well, well. We checked with NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration—I love the fact that our federal weather agency is called NOAA—but I digress. NOAA looked at Phil’s last 10 forecasts and concluded he’s 40 percent accurate. Now, it’s typical for him to predict six weeks of winter, instead of an early spring, so maybe this is good news—that is, if you dislike winter.

It’s The World and Everything in It.

NICK EICHER: Today is Monday, February 3rd. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day. Good morning. I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD: And I’m Mary Reichard. Coming next on The World and Everything in It: the first female pilot of a Space Shuttle mission.

Plus, 60 years ago, a famous speech that signaled the United Kingdom’s support for African independence movements.

But first, the 80th anniversary of a Disney animated classic. Here’s Paul Butler.

PAUL BUTLER, REPORTER: We begin today with February 7, 1940. After just two years in production, Disney Studios releases it’s second feature length animated film Pinocchio:

MOVIE CLIP: Little puppet made of pine, awake. The gift of life is thine. 

The film is based on the classic Italian children’s story of the same name. Pinocchio follows the adventures of a wooden puppet who comes to life.

MOVIE CLIP: I can move! I can talk! Yes Pinocchio, I’ve given you life. Am I a real boy? No, Pinocchio. To make Geppetto’s wish come true, will be entirely up to you. Up to me? Prove yourself brave, truthful, and unselfish, and some day you will be a real boy.

The film features many moral lessons, including obedience, respect, bravery, and of course—truthfulness:

MOVIE CLIP: Pinocchio, why didn’t you go to school today? Well, I um. I was going to go to school until I met somebody. Met somebody? Yeah. Two big monsters! [SOUND OF GROWING NOSE] Oh please help me! I’m awful sorry. You see Pinocchio, a lie keeps growing until it’s as plain as the nose on your face. 

Due to World War II, Disney lost a lot of money on the film during its first release—more than a million dollars. But the studio re-released it theaters in 1945, and again every 7 to 10 years after that until 1992. To date, the film has made more than $85 million. 

DISNEY SONG: I’VE GOT NO STRINGS ON ME

Disney’s 1940 Pinocchio featured groundbreaking advancements in animation. Vivid colors, life-like movements, and realistic renderings of water, smoke, and shadows. Leading many film historians, like J.B. Kaufman, to believe it may be the best animated film in Disney’s library. A live-action remake of the film is currently in the works. 

Next, February 3rd, 1960:

MACMILLAN: It is, as I have said, a special privilege for me to be here in 1960… 

After a month-long tour of British colonies all across Africa, English Prime Minister Harold Macmillan speaks to members of Parliament in Cape Town, South Africa. The address becomes known as the “Wind of Change” speech, from a single line in the hour long address.

MACMILLAN: In different places it takes different forms, but it is happening everywhere. The wind of change is blowing through this continent, and, whether we like it or not, this growth of national consciousness is a political fact, and our national policies must take account of it.

Macmillan’s speech is a signal that the Conservative-led British government would not attempt to put down independence efforts across the continent.

MACMILLAN: This experience of our own explains why it has been our aim in the countries for which we have borne responsibility, not only to raise the material standards of life, but also to create a society which respects the rights of individuals, a society in which men are given the opportunity to grow to their full stature—and that must in our view include the opportunity to have an increasing share in political power and responsibility.

The South African Parliament responds coldly to the address. Some see the new policy as abandoning the white settlers. Even some African nationalists are distrustful of England’s true intentions. But others, like Nelson Mandela, point to the speech as a great turning point, saying it gives the African people “inspiration and hope.” 

And finally, 25 years ago today, February 3rd, 1995.

AUDIO: [SOUND OF LAUNCH]

The Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. It’s the first mission under a new partnership between the U.S. space shuttle and Russian Mir space station programs.

NASA SOUND: Both Eileen and I will be up in the forward part of the flight deck in our seats…

It’s also the first mission piloted by a woman: Air Force Colonel Eileen Collins.

COLLINS: The Space Shuttle orbiter is just an amazing flying machine. It’s a rocket. It’s a spaceship. It’s an airplane. It’s just so versatile. It’s a wonderful ship. 

Four years later, the former military instructor and test pilot, became the first female commander of a Space Shuttle mission. She later talked about her dreams of space exploration with Oprah Winfrey:

COLLINS: I’d like to see space travel as something that belongs to people round the world, not just a few astronauts, but something we can all experience… 

Before her retirement in 2006, Collins logged more than five and a half weeks in outer space. Not bad for someone who didn’t take her first flight in a plane until she was 19 years old.

That’s this week’s WORLD Radio History Book, I’m Paul Butler.

NICK EICHER: Today is Monday, February 3rd. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD: And I’m Mary Reichard. Here’s commentary from Andrée Seu Peterson.

ANDREE SEU PETERSON, COMMENTATOR: There’s snow and then there’s snow. We got the second kind last month—that school-closing, SUV-shaming, every-mother’s-child-delighting storm we were deprived of last winter. We were more than fairly compensated.

In an instantaneous mental shift of gears, I chuck the day’s work and find shovels. These will be my unsuspected weapons against the encroaching suburban isolation: “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall, that wants it down.”

I will pluck my way first to the “new” neighbors I forgot to greet with pecan rolls—it’s been a year, at least—and hope they have not cleared the steps and sidewalk yet. Should I knock on the door and introduce myself, letting these hibernators, still nameless, know whose handiwork this is? I consider, and then think better of it: the bondsman of the Lord does not let “the left hand know what the right hand is doing” (Matthew 6:3).

Others have appeared now, a rag-tag army wielding each his homely implement to desecrate the artistry of heaven. I try to take it in before it is too late, the sculptures inviting conjecture that Flora, Fauna, and Merriweather have dusted off their wands and resumed their fierce competition: We see unearthly topiary where the shrubs stood yesterday; curvaceous swells and depressions round the trunks of pines; perfect pompadours topping marooned cars; an impossibly tall meringue astride a picket fence; windswept dunes like folds in the train of Queen Esther’s Persian wedding gown.

Once again in history, “the earth takes shaped like clay under a seal; its features stand out like those of a garment” (Job 38:14).

People will be friendlier today, a snowstorm psychology that nobody understands but everyone expects, a 24-hour brotherhood of man that sparks a hundred conversations between folks who have lived doors away from each other and never spoken.

My kitten, a smudge in the unrelieved whiteness, mews atom a crest just out of reach, terrified at the loss of terra firma, licking the strange white crystals off one paw and then another. I had tossed her out the door this morning, as usual, and she had gone willingly, unawares. She will not come now though I implore with outstretched arms, for fear of sinking in the dust, which is too powdery of snowman dreams. I perform the daring rescue in shin-high boots reinforced inadequately with “tall” kitchen trash bags.

The snowplow has forgotten our street. Through narrow trenches carved like moats before every man’s castle, I make my way to the end of this desolate outpost, and on a mischievous impulse walk with impunity down the median line of Keswick Avenue, like a kid on a dare.

The baker, the dry cleaner, Ralph’s barbershop, are abandoned. I imagine I am one of the hardy few surviving The Big One we learned to fear in our third grade class: We hid under out school desks and picture very literally something they called “fall-out” drizzling on stranded cars, perhaps a white powder not unlike this present draping.

For WORLD Radio, I’m Andrée Seu Peterson.

NICK EICHER: Tomorrow, Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment last month. But the Justice Department says the deadline for making it a constitutional amendment has long past. Now three states are asking the courts to reverse that decision. We’ll explain what’s at stake.

And, we’ll talk to a doctor about the coronavirus and what’s now deemed a public health emergency around the world.

That and more tomorrow. 

I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD: And I’m Mary Reichard.

The World and Everything in It comes to you from WORLD Radio.

WORLD’s mission is biblically objective journalism that informs, educates, and inspires.

When the cares of your heart are many, the Lord’s consolations cheer your soul. 

Go now in grace and peace.

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