Today, the U.S. Catholic Bishops are meeting to strategize on their campaign to remove contraception coverage from health care reform. They've already prompted Congressional hearings against the coverage and instigated lawsuits against the federal government over it. During the past few weeks, the Bishops have ratcheted up the rhetoric...
103 Comments | Posted February 9, 2012 | 10:44 AM
In 2007, I had an interesting conversation about contraception with now-Presidential contender Rick Santorum. I was on my way down to D.C. for the launch of Birth Control Watch, a blog that monitored anti-birth control campaigns. Just ahead in the crowd piling onto the track was Senator Santorum,...
282 Comments | Posted January 21, 2012 | 1:21 AM
To the producers and directors of MTV's 16 & Pregnant and Teen Mom:
Congratulations on the success of your shows. I'm a true fan and considering each is consistently one of MTV's top-rated, it appears many, many other Americans are too. You've accomplished a lot with the shows. Exposed the...
0 Comments | Posted November 19, 2011 | 2:43 PM
I'm not one for dissecting the intimate details of other people's lives to make a political point, unless of course they're dissecting the intimate details of their life to make a political point. Then it's fair game. Enter Michelle Bachmann. In this month's More Magazine, Bachmann explains, as...
0 Comments | Posted November 4, 2011 | 1:00 PM
Let's assume, for the sake of argument, that the allegations that Justin Bieber sired a baby boy after 30-seconds of backstage bathroom sex with a plucked from the crowd concert-goer are true. Many of the details of the story ring true -- from the backstage girl-herding for Justin's selection to...
0 Comments | Posted May 6, 2011 | 8:32 AM
Saturday, the day before Mother's Day, is Birth Mother's Day. It was started in 1990 by a group of birth mothers who had suffered through each Mother's Day feeling an agonizing need to recognize that they, too, had mothered a child even if they did not go on...
0 Comments | Posted September 10, 2010 | 4:20 PM
In the nine years since the attacks of 9/11 I've noticed the neighborhood amidst ground zero, where I live, is rarely factored into the discussions about it. Certainly other constituencies, like the victims' loved ones, have greater claim to the sorrow of the space and the significance of the day,...
0 Comments | Posted May 6, 2010 | 1:21 AM
So much of life depends on the womb from which you arrive. Imagine if your birth deposited you in Afghanistan instead of the US? Your life, quite possibly, would have begun in tragedy. There would have been a good chance your mother wouldn't have made it through alive. A
0 Comments | Posted February 18, 2010 | 11:58 PM
Today we will hear from Tiger Woods, the latest powerful public personality to be felled by a sex scandal. He will read a statement outlining his future plans and no doubt will explain how words fail to describe his disappointment in himself by letting down his family and fans. And...
0 Comments | Posted January 22, 2010 | 9:29 AM
Today is the 37th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and yet another day to observe the pro-life movement's riveting mid-life crisis. Next month offers perhaps the ideal opportunity to view the crisis up close. That's when former president George W. Bush will receive the "prestigious" Cardinal John J....
0 Comments | Posted November 6, 2009 | 12:29 PM
Of all the domestic pursuits of Obama's first year, his common ground efforts on abortion have possibly been the most thankless. At some points it appeared the only common ground he had inspired was to unite both sides against it. Yet, each has much to gain by Obama's peace plans....
0 Comments | Posted October 23, 2009 | 12:53 AM
President Obama's still-to-be released common ground agenda in the abortion conflict is already having a profound and largely overlooked effect: it has exposed deep fault lines in the pro-life movement. Obama's focus on reducing the need for abortion has been embraced by some practical-minded pro-lifers who are tired of decades...
0 Comments | Posted July 28, 2009 | 1:00 PM
Congressman Tim Ryan (D-OH) is, in many ways, a typical pro-life American. He opposes abortion and, because of that, supports every effort to prevent the need for it. Just like most pro-life Americans, Ryan supports contraception -- primarily because it is the most effective way to prevent unintended pregnancy,...
0 Comments | Posted June 18, 2009 | 12:06 AM
The murder, just over two weeks ago, of abortion provider Dr. George Tiller has deeply wounded and enraged the pro-choice community while also, some would argue, providing it with further reason to mistrust anti-abortion activists. Perhaps a different kind of wound has been inflicted on the anti-abortion side, and...
0 Comments | Posted June 15, 2009 | 4:53 PM
Can you imagine how much greater the campaign scandal would have been if Bill Ayers, the former radical bomber who was linked to Barack Obama, and Obama were Facebook friends? That, no doubt, would have been considered evidence of a relationship, a sign of intimacy even. Of course, they weren't...
0 Comments | Posted June 5, 2009 | 12:58 PM
In our pain, anger and profound sadness over the murder of Dr. Tiller, pro-choice people risk losing an opportunity to see a better day as a country and a movement. In the wake of our loss, it is tempting to continue to categorize in one fixed way all who oppose...
0 Comments | Posted May 31, 2009 | 9:36 PM
For those who would like to think today's murder in church of Dr. George Tiller, an abortion provider, is an isolated incident, here's the horrifying news: You are wrong. The pattern is clear and frightening.
In March 1993, three months into the administration of our first pro-choice president, Bill...
0 Comments | Posted May 21, 2009 | 4:55 PM
A dream spokesperson is someone who has the media hanging on every word. Of course, she or he needs to actually be able to speak on the subject too in order to fill the "spoke" part of the job description. Bristol Palin, the newly chosen spokesperson for Candies Foundation's teen...
0 Comments | Posted May 8, 2009 | 12:14 AM
This week, appearing in a Town Hall-styled press event, Bristol Palin debuted as a teen "ambassador" for the Candies Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Candies shoe brand that raises awareness of the teen pregnancy crisis. It was an unsteady first step, which pleased those cynical about former vice presidential...
0 Comments | Posted April 29, 2009 | 11:14 AM
For those in favor of women's rights, the first 100 days of the Obama administration has been like a honeymoon. We've continually been reminded why we fell in love in the first place. Coming off an eight-year abusive relationship (to put it mildly), none of Obama's kindnesses are lost on...

201 Comments | Posted March 14, 2012 | 12:08 PM