coming up -- kim lawton reports on religious reaction to this week's supreme court decision in the hobby lobby case. and we discuss wider implications of the ruling. plus, bob faw on veteran television news correspondent phil jones' battle with cancer. thanks to a selfless stem cell donor, he is now in remission. also, bahais observe the martyrdom of the bab, marking the 1850 execution of one of the founders of their faith. >> major funding for "religion

and ethics newsweekly" is provided by the lilly endowment, an indianapolis based private family foundation dedicated to the founders' interest in religion, community development and education. additional funding also provided by mutual of america, designing customized, individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. welcome. i'm bob abernethy. it's good to have you with us. religious groups are deeply divided over the supreme court's controversial ruling monday in the so-called "hobby lobby case." in a 5-4 decision, the justices said despite a requirement in the affordable care act, some for-profit corporations cannot be forced to provide contraception coverage which their owners say violates their religious beliefs. many in the faith community praised the decision as a victory for religious liberty, but others were sharply critical. kim lawton reports.

>> reporter: activists from both sides were out in full force monday as the supreme court handed down its decision. the ruling was a victory for the evangelical green family, which owns the hobby lobby craft store chain, and the mennonite hahn family, which owns conestoga wood specialties. both objected to providing certain kinds of contraceptives, which they consider tantamount to abortion. in the ruling, the majority of justices agreed that closely held corporations controlled by a small group of people can claim religious freedom rights under the 1993 religious freedom restoration act. >> the court ruled that families do not lose their religious freedom when they open a family business. this decision does not grant religious protections to large, publicly traded corporations. the court kept the focus where it belonged, on families like the greens and the hahns, and on everyday americans who seek to

live out their faith. >> reporter: faith-based groups which have been rallying around the issue of religious freedom were elated. >> just because you're an employer doesn't mean you have to pay essentially fines or comply with something that violates your most deeply held beliefs. that doesn't mean that you're trying to deny anybody anything, but i think that that's our first freedom. the founders considered it our first freedom and for people of faith to feel like they can live in a diverse and pluralistic society and be respected for who they are, this is a huge victory. >> reporter: but not all in the faith community considered it a victory. reverend harry knox is president of the religious coalition for reproductive choice. >> it's an insult, really, to those of us who are part of religious communities and worship and pray and study together every week, to have a corporation be called a religious organization. >> reporter: knox also decried the potential impact on women, especially low-income women. >> people like cashiers in the

very stores that brought this case are having a hard time feeding their families, educating their children, and keeping the roof over their heads, and so for them, the healthcare that would have been afforded them through the affordable care act, was vital, and they will lose that in the short run. >> reporter: the majority opinion stressed that the ruling applies only to the contraception mandate, and not necessarily to religious objections to covering other practices such as blood transfusions and vaccinations. still, in a sharply-worded dissent, justice ruth bader ginsburg warned that in the wake of the ruling, new religious freedom claims "will proliferate." >> i do believe that more corporations, starting with closely-held corporations, will now try to get into court, making an argument that some allegedly deeply held religious belief does no longer require them to obey other federal laws. >> reporter: supporters of the decision believe those concerns

are overblown, arguing that this ruling was narrow and balanced. >> this is really a decision that reflects common sense and a lot of times you don't win on common sense, but this one really was. >> reporter: meanwhile, analysts are debating the impact of this ruling on what is expected to be the next wave of cases in the pipeline. more than 50 lawsuits filed by faith-based non-profits who claim the contraception mandate doesn't adequately accommodate their religious beliefs. >> we want to discuss all this now with kim lawton, of this program, along with kevin eckstrom, the editor-in-chief of religion news service. welcome to you both. so kim, a lot more to come, huh? >> reporter: exactly. a lot more cases on all of this. the obama administration exempted houses of worship from having to comply with this contraception mandate, but there are a lot of faith-based non-profits, catholic hospitals, evangelical universities, even some religious orders, like the little sisters of the poor,

archdiocese and catholic diocese, they were not exempted. the administration tried to craft some kind of an accommodation so that those groups wouldn't have to directly pay for things that they say violate their religious beliefs. these -- a lot of these groups say that accommodation wasn't good enough. it still entangled them too much. those cases are still in the courts. and the question is: what in this decision might signal what will happen with those cases? and people are looking at it and seeing it both ways. some say, "oh the justices said they want to see an accommodation so that should be okay." and others say, "no, this hobby lobby decision will help those groups." that's still an open question. >> and also there's this whole idea of being able to discriminate, kevin. >> yeah. so all -- a lot of people in washington now are, have their eyes on the white house where the obama administration has said that they're going to issue an executive order banning discrimination against gays and lesbians for federal contractors. so that's not just federal employees, but that's groups like adoption agencies and

social services agencies, and even relief groups that do work with the government. and the question is going to be is, how big of a religious exemption is there going to be, or if there is even going to be one in this new order. so would a church that runs a soup kitchen funded by the government, say, be able to hire and fire based on sexual orientation under this new order? and that's not clear, and the message from the court seems to be as long as there's an exemption for your religious belief, that's okay. and now the question is how large of an exemption will there be? >> and that's the big -- that is the big question because in this hobby lobby decision, the justices said, "this is not seen should not be seen as an opt-out for every, you know, law, that -- that religious groups think violate their beliefs." and they also said it's not a shield for illegal discrimination. it shouldn't be used. but what is illegal discrimination? and if groups feel that gay marriage is a sin, do -- can they be obligated to provide

insurance benefits to married couples that are same-sex? so what is illegal discrimination for some of these groups? >> and -- and don't the -- don't the employees come in here too and if they want to say, "i have rights, too, and i don't want to have my employer impose his religious beliefs on me?" >> right, and that's a question that really didn't get addressed by this decision. you know, ultimately i think the court will have to sort of decide where one person's freedom ends and another person's begins on something like this. but it does point to this larger question that we have about, you know, should religious groups or religious people or institutions be treated differently under the law than everybody else, and what the court is saying here is yes. you know, if you have a religious claim, you, you know, a different set of rules can apply to you. and so on issues of hiring and firing, and of, you know, contraception, and receiving federal money, all of those questions, you know,

are -- are out there. and they will be addressed by the court. i think this decision will color those decisions. >> one of the big questions is where -- how far should the exemptions go, too. i mean, religion has always been treated differently in our country. some people don't like that that's the case, but as the culture shifts, and so as, you know, at one time some of these groups, catholics and southern baptists, were helping to pass laws banning gay marriage. well, those laws are being overturned, and so these groups are now sort of against the prevailing cultural opinion. how far should they be exempted from that idea? and i think that's a big question that'll be argued in the future. >> many thanks to kim lawton and to kevin eckstrom of religion news service. in other news, growing concern this week about the surge of undocumented migrants from central america entering the u.s. through the texas

and mexico border. tens of thousands of them are unaccompanied children. u.s. immigration officials are struggling to handle the influx and have transferred migrants to shelters and facilities in other states. president obama called the situation a humanitarian crisis and is asking congress for more than $2 billion to address the issue. meanwhile, some faith based groups including catholic charities usa have been trying to assist the children and their families. religious groups around the world are urging renewed prayers for peace amid heightened clashes between israelis and palestinians. jewish, christian and muslim groups expressed outrage after the bodies of three abducted israeli teens were recovered in the west bank monday. memorial services were held in israel and in the u.s.

many faith leaders also condemned the murder of a palestinian teen and called for an end to the violence. a statement from the vatican said violence begets more violence and feeds the deadly cycle of hatred. in iraq, religious leaders continued to raise appeals about the plight of those fleeing sectarian violence, including iraqi christians. this week chaldean catholic bishops in iraq said more than 40,000 christians fled their villages last week alone. meanwhile, human rights groups are raising concerns about the new islamic state, or caliphate, declared by militants in areas seized in northern iraq and parts of syria. the european court of human rights has upheld france's ban on islamic face-covering veils. france outlawed wearing full-face veils in public in 2010, prompting an outcry from

muslims who argued that wearing the veil was a religious obligation. this week the international court dismissed a case brought by a young muslim woman. french officials have defended the ban, saying facial veils pose a security risk because they event individuals from being identified. now, a bob faw story on veteran television news correspondent phil jones, who reported for cbs news and also for this program. jones was diagnosed with a rare, aggressive cancer. but he's in remission now, thanks to good medicine, his own persistence, and stem cells from a then-unknown donor who turned out to be a naval officer and a baptist minister who saw making that gift as one more way to serve. >> in his distinguished broadcasting career, phil jones covered presidents, politics,

war and mayhem. but nothing prepared him for the devastating medical diagnosis he was given two years ago. >> myelodysplasia. >> or mds, a disease of the bone marrow which leads to leukemia. since jones had a very aggressive form of the disease his diagnosis was a virtual death sentence. >> i was 75 at the time, and it was -- it was devastating. i sat there with tears. my wife pat had tears. i looked over at her, we were both crying. i cry today as i recall it. >> reporter: stunned, but then determined, phil and pat jones quickly went online and learned of a possible treatment -- a stem cell transplant. then, both at a world-renowned cancer center, and from his own oncologist, jones got moread

news. >> i go in and say to him, "what about a stem cell transplant?" and without any pause he looked at me and said, you are too old. >> too old. no ifs, ands, or buts. >> no, that was it. you're too old. >> fortunately, for jones, the moffitt cancer center in tampa, florida, was willing to look beyond the question of age. alan list, president and ceo of moffitt is also jones' doctor. >> probably ten years ago i think the age limits were about 65 years of age. it got moved within the next few years up to 70 years of age, then finally there was a recognition it's not your age, it's really how medically fit you are. >> while dr. claudio anasetti, chair of moffitt's department of blood and marrow transplant, warned jones about possible risks, he also reassured him. >> transplant was once seen like

the sledgehammer you know, very high intense therapy that actually was almost bringing patients to death in order to cure their disease. and right now the treatments have been quite refined. we developed new technology and with the new technology patients can survive it. >> of course nothing could proceed without the right donor. although jones didn't know his donor's name at the time, the perfect match was 35-year-old eric priest. >> eric priest is ght out of central casting. i mean, here is a guy who is handsome, a patriot, joined the navy, and is a man of faith. >> a lieutenant in the navy, priest had volunteered to be a stem cell donor almost 17 years earlier. >> i'd had this call to christian service. and christian service, what

we're called to do is to love one another and to serve one another. and so when i heard about the bone marrow program, it was like, "hey, this is one way i could serve." >> you are looking bright today. come on in. >> for the 4th of july. >> hey. >> i painted my toenails. >> oh, let's see your toe nails. >> and my red shirt. >> on the 4th of july two years ago, jones entered moffitt for his transplant. eric priest's stem cells had been extracted the day before in california and delivered to jones' hospital room in florida. >> ah, what is this? >> these are your stem cell. >> my stem cells have arrived. come on in. >> july 4, 2012, was probably my biggest july 4th ever. i looked at it, and it was my life saving. that bag had my chance to live.

>> though medicare and insurance paid most of the charges, the procedure is costly. the recovery, grueling. though in this case he wasn't exactly coddled. >> this nurse tech, maria garcia, walks up to my bedside and matter-of-factly says, "now i want you to listen up. i'm going to tell you what you have to do if you expect to come out of here alive. >> you need to do your part. you need to feel like you're in a boot camp. you've gotta come here with a kind of kick-butt attitude. you know, you're going to take this on. you're gonna do what you have to do no matter how you feel about it. >> a little more than a year after the transplant procedure, a grateful patient finally met his donor and gave him a pewter clock. >> and the inscription was "eric priest. thanks for adding time to my life." i said to him, you've

given new meaning to serving your country and to mankind. and i also -- i don't know whether to salute you or hug you. and at that point, i saluted and we both embraced and hugged. >> priest, it turns out, is not only a naval officer but also an ordained baptist minister. >> it helped me to be able to witness and to -- to show the love that god wants us to show. i don't wanna push it down people's throat but i do wanna serve, i do want to witness. i do want to live my life loving others as jesus has loved us. >> during all this period i was in my bed in moffitt and i also felt god's hand in the whole thing. and i -- i never doubted for a moment that i wouldn't make it.

>> though three of the five mds patients over 75 who received stem cell transplants nationwide have not survived, phil jones is in complete remission. and if it seems miraculous, moffitt wants the medical world to know that it really isn't. >> they're not seeing how we're able now to do things better, less toxic and expand the potential for people to be able to get -- to receive this kind of procedure. if we can get that message out to physicians in the community that are managing these patients, it's not age anymore, if someone is fit, then they could potentially be a candidate for transplant. >> so the story here isn't just about phil jones. potentially, it's also about how many more people like him could be helped if more doctors knew how much progress has been made with transplants. >> if we were able to optimize access to transplant, we would triple the number of transplant

procedures performed today. >> triple? >> and that, says phil jones, should be a wake-up call -- for patients, and doctors, everywhere. >> i want my story to be sort of a shot across the bow, if you please, for doctors all over this country. not just for myelodysplasia and mds but for other -- other diseases. i want them to stop and think before they look at the next patient and say "you're too old for the cure." >> phil jones, who celebrated his 53rd wedding anniversary last month, might be the exception to that "you're too old" rule, but with each step and every new day in remission, it seems clear that old rule is meant to be broken. for "religion and ethics newsweekly," this is bob faw in tampa, florida.

on our calendar this week -- muslims around the world began their month-long observance of ramadan when those who are able to do so fast from sunrise to sunset, and make special offerings to the poor. on july 9th, bahais observe the martyrdom of the bab, marking the execution, in 1850, in persia, now iran, of one of the two founders of their faith the bab. the other was bahaullah. during this holy time, bahais take time off from work and school to re-tell the martyrdom story with the help of music, readings, chanting and dance. last year, we visited the martyrdom of the bab program at the northern virginia bahai center, where our guide was

bahai educator hillary chapman. >> the bahai faith begins with two prophetic figures in 19th century persia. the bab was a merchant by trade, and came to assert that he was the fulfillment of islam, and that he had come to pave the way for a second divine revelation that would follow soon after him. and we believe that bahaullah was that second revealer. the terminology we use in the bahai faith is "to make god manifest." so god chooses someone, in some mysterious fashion, to exemplify his teachings. the bab's message resonated very powerfully in persia -- to love those who hate you, to forgive people, to be loyal, to be obedient, to be worthy of trust. thousands of people became his followers. but there could be no other revealer other than muhammad. and this is why it's heretical in all muslim countries.

the martyrdom of the bab commemorates the day when the bab was finally taken before a firing squad in the northern persian city of tabriz. it's a martyrdom, so not a celebration, but a commemoration. but the use of the arts is very much encouraged as a way of kind of portraying the inner meaning of that day, as opposed to simply through the spoken word. according to the witnesses, the shots were fired. the bab had disappeared from view. they found him, much later, and a second regiment was brought in. and he was executed. his followers, who were known as babis, followers of the bab, kept the body in hiding because otherwise it would have been completely desecrated. and it began a long journey, until it was finally interred in mount carmel in israel, where today is the point of pilgrimage. and if you go to the bahai world

center that's where it is, where the tomb of the bab is. there are prayers in the bahai scripture called tablets of visitation. >> the beauty of the adored one hath been unveiled. >> and they have to do with the passing of an important figure. so it is read every commemoration of the martyrdom of the bab. and also when bahais go on pilgrimage and they visit tombs, they would say those tablets of visitation. the standing is out of respect. in the bahai faith, you pray towards israel, towards haifa, in israel, where the holy shrines are. the central mission of the bahai faith is to go out and establish the unity of the human race. the bahai belief is that in this day and age, one of the meanings of the kingdom of god is that all people will join together in a common spiritual belief. the bahai teaching isn't that there are multiple religions which are equal. the bahai teaching is that there's only one religion.

finally, members of the chabad-lubavitch movement marked the 20th anniversary of the death of their spiritual leader, rabbi menachem schneerson. tens of thousands gathered at schneerson's grave site in queens, new york. many left prayers and special notes. often referred to as simply "the rebbe," schneerson is considered one of the most influential jewish leaders of the 20th century. that's our program for now. i'm bob abernethy. you can follow us on twitter and facebook and watch anytime on the pbs app for iphones and ipads. and visit our website, where there is always much more, including more of kim lawton's interviews at the supreme court. you can also listen to or watch every program. join us at pbs.org. as we leave you, more scenes from rabbi schneerson's grave

site. major funding for "religion and ethics newsweekly" is provided by the lilly endowment, an indianapolis based private family foundation dedicated to its founders' interest in religion, community development and education. additional funding also provided by mutual of america, designing customized, individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. >> be more.er

♪ the american people doesn't see the muslim victim side story. the just see the muslim as an aggressor. here they are just a victim. there's a muslim community building a mosque for them to pray to their god, and it burns to the ground. and these people are upset. we were relying on our belief that it's god's house from the ground up and he will protect it. ♪