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Christopher Vondracek

cvondracek@washingtontimes.com

Christopher Vondracek was a reporter on The Washington Times' National desk.

Articles by Christopher Vondracek

In this file photo, Shelby Ruch-Teegarden, center, of Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary joins other protestors during the United Methodist Church's special session of the general conference in St. Louis, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2019. America's second-largest Protestant denomination has canceled its 2020 general conference due to the coronavirus emergency. The denomination was supposed to deliberate on a plan to split in two denominations in light of irreconcilable theological differences related to sexual ethics. (AP Photo/Sid Hastings) **FILE**

United Methodist Church votes keeps gay clergy, marriage bans

Representatives of the United Methodist Church voted Tuesday to uphold traditional church bans against homosexual clergy and same-sex marriage -- a move that could lead to a schism in the second-largest Protestant denomination in the United States.

February 26, 2019
"NCIS: Los Angeles," whose first-run episodes air Sundays at 9 p.m. Eastern Time, receives a TV-14 rating, meaning its content is appropriate for viewers 14 years old and older. (Associated Press)

TV Parental Guidelines ratings review directed by Congress

A directive tucked into Congress's recent spending bill that requires the Federal Communications Commission to review its ratings system for TV content for the first time since it was implemented more than 20 years ago.

February 25, 2019
In this May 22, 2018, photo, President Donald Trump looks out at the audience during a speech at the Susan B. Anthony List 11th Annual Campaign for Life Gala at the National Building Museum in Washington. The Trump administration said Friday that it would bar taxpayer-funded family planning clinics from referring women for abortions, a move certain to be challenged in court by abortion rights supporters. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) **FILE**

Trump admin bars federal funding for abortion clinics

The Trump administration issued a rule Friday barring groups that provide abortions or abortion referrals from participating in the $286 million federal family-planning program, a long-expected move that would direct money from Planned Parenthood and toward faith-based providers.

February 22, 2019
Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, Chicago Archbishop, right, takes his seat with Mons. Charles Scicluna, Malta Archbishop, and the Rev. Hans Zollner, left, ahead of a press conference on a Vatican summit on preventing clergy sex abuse, at the Vatican, Monday, Feb. 18, 2019. Organizers of Pope Francis' summit on preventing clergy sex abuse will meet this week with a dozen survivor-activists who have come to Rome to protest the Catholic Church's response to date and demand an end to decades of cover-up by church leaders. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Catholic Vatican sex abuse summit sidesteps role of gay priests

Some conservative U.S. Catholics are dismayed by the official schedule for Pope Francis' Vatican summit with bishops on clerical sex abuse that begins Thursday, saying it ignores the root cause of the scandal: gays in the priesthood.

February 20, 2019
New York City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, center, speaks during a conference in Gordon Triangle Park in the Queens borough of New York, following Amazon's announcement it would abandon its proposed headquarters for the area, Thursday Feb. 14, 2019. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

Amazon-New York split catches Virginia officials off guard

On Valentine's Day, Amazon broke up with New York City and turned all of its attention to Northern Virginia, announcing it would not set up half of its second headquarters in Queens and would move ahead with its plans for Crystal City.

February 14, 2019
Derrick Ingram, 6, (left) and his 8-year-old cousin Thomas Jones place their hands over their hearts and recite the Pledge of Allegiance as fire department chaplain Bobby Herring raises the U.S. flag in Roseboro, North Carolina, on Feb. 8, 2019. The photo of the two boys was posted on social media, where it has become a viral sensation. (Photograph by Bobby Herring)

Derrick Ingram, Thomas Jones Roseboro Pledge of Allegiance photo sparks patriotism

A simple, spontaneous gesture -- a Norman Rockwell moment captured in a cellphone photo -- has uncorked an outpouring of praise and patriotism across social media: Two small boys place their hands over their hearts and recite the Pledge of Allegiance as the American flag is raised at their town's fire station in rural North Carolina.

February 13, 2019
In this Monday, April 23, 2018, photo, syringes used to administer CBD oil sit on the kitchen counter of the Inman family in Colorado Springs, Colo. Lukas Inman, 19, suffers from a rare and severe form of epilepsy called Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome. The Inmans moved from Maryland to Colorado in 2015 after doctors recommended a second brain surgery for Lukas’ seizures. Luke's and other parents and advocates for cannabidiol, CBD, said children respond differently to a variety of strains. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert) **FILE**

Alabama man claims penile injections left him sterile

Michael Forkner, 51, says he was duped by radio advertisements promising a miracle drug for erectile dysfunction. According to federal court records, his urologist says after a year of injecting TriMix into his penis, it is now effectively nonfunctioning and may need an implant.

February 10, 2019
Religious education in public schools is generally prohibited under the U.S. Constitution's establishment clause, which bans state-sanctioned religion, but proponents of Bible literacy say it is possible to teach from the Bible in a nonsectarian way. (Associated Press/File)

Bible literacy in schools to expand with states’ legislation

Legislatures from the Bible Belt to the Dakotas are mulling bills that would establish biblical literacy courses in high schools, but some education analysts say classes focusing on the Bible's cultural and historical relevance already are offered in public schools in those states and elsewhere.

February 3, 2019
FILE - In this May 22, 2018, file photo, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos testifies at a House Committee on Education and the Workforce on Capitol Hill in Washington. House Democrats are preparing to bring Education Secretary Betsy DeVos under the sharpest scrutiny she has seen since taking office. DeVos has emerged as a common target for Democrats as they take charge of House committees that wield oversight powers including the authority to issue subpoenas and call hearings. At least four Democrat-led committees are expected to push DeVos on a range of topics. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File) **FILE**

Betsy DeVos backs federal school voucher program

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos offered strong support Wednesday for the nation's only federal school voucher program, foreshadowing what could be a bitter appropriation process in the Democrat-led House.

January 23, 2019
Vice President Mike Pence with his wife Karen Pence, left, waves to anti-abortion supporters and participants of the annual March for Life event, during a reception in the Indian Treaty Room at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Donald Trump addresses March for Life via video, Mike Pence appears in person

Vice President Mike Pence made a surprise cameo, a Montana senator announced a newly-formed Pro-Life Caucus, and thousands of marcher held signs and marched up Constitution Avenue Friday afternoon to the U.S. Supreme Court during Friday's annual mid-January March for Life in Washington D.C. President Donald Trump, who made history by being the first president to address the March for Life meeting by video last year, even squeezed in a sequel this year.

January 18, 2019