Ireland is having a major church-state showdown over reproductive justice. Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny is pushing through the national parliament a bill that would legalize abortion for women who face life-threatening pregnancies.
The measure was proposed after a 31-year-old woman died from blood poisoning after a miscarriage. She had been denied an abortion that might have saved her life. Read more
A week ago, I was sitting in a hotel ballroom surrounded by 3,000 Religious Right activists at the “Values Voter Summit.” Among the speakers we heard was House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.)
Cantor talked about several issues, among them jobs. In fact, we’ve been told over and over again that this Congress wants to get America back to work. But here’s a funny thing: We’re not actually getting legislation that has anything to do with jobs. It’s simply not on the House’s agenda. Read more
South Dakota legislators recently passed a controversial law placing new restrictions on abortion. A three-day waiting period (the longest in the nation) has drawn the most attention, but another provision is problematic from a church-state perspective. It requires any woman seeking an abortion to first undergo “counseling” at a “crisis pregnancy center.” Read more
Last week, the Obama administration did something that didn’t capture much media attention but should have: It officially overturned a bad policy from the Bush years and issued a series of final regulations dealing with health care and the right of “conscience.” Read more
The theocrats who yearn to take away our freedoms and run our lives according to their strict fundamentalist dogma are nothing if not resourceful. They’re always thinking up new strategies.
Case in point is a group called Personhood USA, a new entry in the world of the Religious Right. The organization’s theory is that it can ban legal abortion by passing state constitutional amendments declaring that a fertilized egg is legally a person. Read more
Yesterday morning, I attended the Red Mass here in Washington along with five Supreme Court justices and Vice President Joe Biden. Okay, we weren’t in the same pew – they were in the front rows; I wasn’t.
But all of us heard Archbishop J. Augustine Di Noia, an American who now works at the Vatican, give a homily that instructed those in attendance on how they should feel about same-sex marriage, abortion and the dire threat of “humanism.” Read more
As we start off this week, the debate over reproductive rights restrictions in the U.S. House's proposed health-care legislation continues to rage. Read more
I endured my second Values Voter Summit over the weekend, and as my colleague Rob Boston shared with you yesterday, it was an interesting time.
Like Rob, I was subjected to some crazy Religious Right rants and raves. But it doesn't upset me that much any more. After all, I've read or heard most of them before, and the majority of the Summit speakers are older and ultra-conservative. I practically expect them to be backward. Read more
Dr. George Tiller, a Kansas abortion provider, was shot to death in church Sunday morning. Is it so hard to say that this was a heinous act that should be condemned by all reasonable people?
Apparently it is for some. Religious Right theocrat Randall Terry reserved space at the National Press Club yesterday to opine that Tiller got what he deserved. Read more
Are you an agent of Satan? Bishop Robert W. Finn thinks you might be.
In a recent address to the Catholic Church-sponsored "Gospel of Life Convention," Finn stated bluntly, "We are at war!"
Using highly intemperate language, the Kansas City, Mo., prelate said the "Church Militant" is "engaged in a constant warfare with Satan" and "human enemies," people who are "deceived by Satan's distortions and lies." Read more
