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USAToday: Court takes harder stance on abortion
Analysis by Joan Biskupic, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court’s abortion ruling Wednesday revealed the new court’s approach to one of the most difficult social issues and was a reminder of its rightward turn since the addition of Bush appointee Samuel Alito.
The 5-4 decision, reinstating a ban on the procedure opponents call “partial-birth abortion,” departed from past rulings by giving legislatures more latitude to restrict abortion, particularly when there is debate among physicians over the safety of a procedure. The decision will make it harder for abortion rights advocates to challenge new restrictions on abortion.
Apr 25, 2007
Topic: Life, Abortion, Citizenship, Legislation, National, Science, Bioethics
WSJ - Environmentalist Perpetuates Malaria
Suffering in Silence
Rachel Carson’s ideas are still popular, with deadly effect.
BY KATHERINE MANGU-WARD
Friday, April 20, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT
When the Christian Science Monitor recently declared Al Gore “the Rachel Carson of global warming,” the former vice president must have bubbled over with pride. There is, it seems, no higher compliment one can bestow on an environmentalist.
Next month marks what would have been Carson’s 100th birthday, and festivities abound. The author of “Silent Spring”—the 1962 book that birthed modern environmentalism and made “DDT” a dirty word—Carson is the subject of an exhibit at the National Archives and the star of its Environmental Film Festival this year.
Apr 25, 2007
Topic: Citizenship, National, Science, Environment
Supreme Court Upholds Partial-Brith Abortion Ban
The Supreme Court upheld the nationwide ban on a controversial abortion procedure Wednesday, handing abortion opponents the long-awaited victory they expected from a more conservative bench.
The 5-4 ruling said the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act that Congress passed and President Bush signed into law in 2003 does not violate a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion.
Apr 18, 2007
Topic: Life, Abortion, Citizenship, Legislation, National
Washington Times Misquotes Land
Contrary to an assertion in the article written by Ralph Hallow that was published in the April 16, 2007, edition of the Washington Times, Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, has never said that he would vote for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton for President of the United States in the 2008 election.
Apr 16, 2007
Topic: Citizenship, Christian Citizenship, National
Giuliani Reaffirms That He Would Not Seek Abortion Changes
Rudolph W. Giuliani, campaigning in South Carolina, firmly stated that as president he would not seek to make abortion illegal. Aware of the damage his position might do to him among some conservative voters, Mr. Giuliani said that if someone was inclined to vote against him solely because of his stance on abortion, then so be it.
Apr 10, 2007
Topic: Life, Abortion, Citizenship, National
Read the So-Called “Land Letter” from 2002
October 3, 2002
Dear Mr. President,
In this decisive hour of our nation’s history we are writing to express our deep appreciation for your bold, courageous, and visionary leadership. Americans everywhere have been inspired by your eloquent and clear articulation of our nation’s highest ideals of freedom and of our resolve to defend that freedom both here and across the globe.
Apr 9, 2007
Topic: Citizenship, Christian Citizenship, Human Rights, National, War, Issues
They’d Rather Switch Than Fight
There’s a bonus in all this for social conservatives. Switchers on social issues usually stay switched. Ronald Reagan and the elder George Bush did so after becoming pro-lifers. All those Democratic presidential candidates in the 1980s and 1990s who switched sides on abortion from pro-life to pro-choice have stayed put. Tony Perkins, the head of the Family Research Council, says you only get to flip once on social issues. If you switch back, “you’re in no man’s land,” a politician without a political base.
Mar 5, 2007
Topic: Citizenship, Christian Citizenship, National, Social Issues
POLL: Most Americans Want to Win in Iraq
In the wake of the U.S. House of Representatives passing a resolution that amounts to a vote of no confidence in the Bush administration’s policies in Iraq, a new national survey by Alexandria, VA-based Public Opinion Strategies (POS) shows the American people may have some different ideas from their elected leaders on this issue.
Feb 20, 2007
Topic: Citizenship, Legislation, National, War
WSJ on the Fairness Doctrine
Rush to Victory
Why is Harry Reid acting like David Koresh? Because conservatives are winning.
BY DANIEL HENNINGER
Friday, April 29, 2005 12:01 a.m. EDT
In 1987, Rush Limbaugh sat down at a microphone at radio station KFBK-AM in Sacramento and began broadcasting something called “The Rush Limbaugh Show.”
The rest is history.
The “rest”—the inexorable 15-year rise of conservative ideas and clout across what Howard Stern calls “all media”—is described in a provocative new book by Brian C. Anderson, “South Park Conservatives.” What was once a mostly exclusive liberal country club—television, the press, book publishing, even the campuses—has become heavily integrated with aggressive, even crude, conservatives.
Jan 25, 2007
Topic: Citizenship, Legislation, National, Religious Liberty
Fairness Doctrine Comeback?
Over the weekend, the National Conference for Media Reform was held in Memphis, TN, with a number of notable speakers on hand for the event. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) made an surprise appearance at the convention to announce that he would be heading up a new House subcommittee which will focus on issues surrounding the Federal Communications Commission.
The Presidential candidate said that the committee would be holding “hearings to push media reform right at the center of Washington.” The Domestic Policy Subcommittee of the House Government Reform Committee was to be officially announced this week in Washington, D.C., but Kucinich opted to make the news public early.
In addition to media ownership, the committee is expected to focus its attention on issues such as net neutrality and major telecommunications mergers. Also in consideration is the “Fairness Doctrine,” which required broadcasters to present controversial topics in a fair and honest manner. It was enforced until it was eliminated in 1987.
Jan 25, 2007
Topic: Citizenship, Legislation, National, Religious Liberty