The Bishops Have Lost Their Way

December 08,2009

The Roman Catholic bishops need more time. That is the recent word from Sen. Ben Nelson — news reports noted that before he introduces his amendment to restrict women’s access to coverage under health care reform, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops needs more time to review it. Read More...

Did Catholic Bishops' Advocacy Cross the Line?

November 23,2009

The furor over abortion and health care has brought fresh scrutiny to the nation's Catholic bishops, who've emerged as formidable lobbyists but who face virtually none of the lobbying or disclosure rules that apply to the rest of Washington. Read More...

Faith and the Stupak Amendment

November 19,2009

The Catholic bishops have gotten a lot of attention for the role they played in pushing the Stupak amendment -- and the House health-care bill -- over the finish line. While there's no doubt the bishops applied the midnight pressure, their role is just one piece of how Democrats yearn for the godly imprimatur. Read More...

Truth is Indeed One of the First Casualties of War

November 19,2009

Jim Wallis' protracted lecture on how abortion has become a central part of the health care reform debate proves how truth is, indeed, one of the first casualties of war--even a culture war. Here, I examine just a few of his statements to show how his version of events is so far removed from reality that we should reject his premises, arguments and conclusions in toto. Read More...

Catholic Bishops Claim Moral Authority Amidst 'Confusion'

November 17,2009

Responding to scientific advances and widespread "confusion" among their flocks, U.S. Catholic bishops today issued detailed guidelines on marriage, reproductive technologies and health care for severely brain-damaged patients. Read More...

Religious Abortion Rights Backers Push to Change Health Care Bill

November 16,2009

The problematic intersection of health care and abortion politics will be highlighted again Monday as religious abortion rights supporters demand changes to reform legislation recently passed by the House of Representatives. Read More...

Catholic Bishops' Influence on Healthcare Bill

November 16,2009

For weeks, the Catholic Church has asked its U.S. parishioners to work toward ensuring that tough language restricting federal funding of abortion is included in healthcare overhaul legislation.

It has gone so far as to insert a prayer into the weekly bulletins of dioceses across the country, imploring Congress to "act to ensure that needed healthcare reform will truly protect the life, dignity and healthcare of all." Read More...

Letter to the Editor: Abortion and Health Care Legislation

November 13,2009

To the Editor:

It is worrying that so many members of Congress succumbed to lobbying by the United States Conference of Catholics Bishops, no matter how “forceful.” Read More...

Catholic Church Gives D.C. Ultimatum

November 12,2009

The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington said Wednesday that it will be unable to continue the social service programs it runs for the District if the city doesn't change a proposed same-sex marriage law, a threat that could affect tens of thousands of people the church helps with adoption, homelessness and health care. Read More...

Rep. Kennedy and Bishop in Bitter Rift on Abortion

November 11,2009

Representative Patrick J. Kennedy of Rhode Island was to meet Thursday with Thomas J. Tobin, the Roman Catholic bishop of Providence, and perhaps start healing a bitter rift over whether health care legislation now before Congress should restrict abortion coverage. Instead, they postponed the meeting, and Bishop Tobin stepped up his public rebuke of Mr. Kennedy. Read More...

Catholic Church Emerges as Key Player in Legislative Battle

November 10,2009

Injecting itself aggressively into the health-care debate, the Roman Catholic Church in America has emerged as a major political force with the potential to upend a key piece of President Barack Obama's agenda. Read More...

Abortion an Obstacle to Health-Care Bill

November 09,2009

President Obama and Senate Democrats sought on Sunday to generate momentum from the House's passage of health-care legislation, even as a new hurdle emerged: profound dismay among abortion-rights supporters over antiabortion provisions inserted into the House bill. Read More...

Abortion Language Creates Snag For Health Bill

November 03,2009

As health overhaul bills head toward the House and Senate floors this month, the divisive issue of abortion is threatening to derail them. Already in the House, one anti-abortion lawmaker, Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI), says he has enough votes to block the bill's consideration unless he is allowed to offer an amendment to strengthen language in the bill banning federal abortion funding. Read More...

Pope Opening to Anglicans May Help Married Priesthood

October 26,2009

Pope Benedict's decision to fling open Catholicism's doors to disaffected Anglicans could challenge centuries of Catholic opposition to married priests and may bring the Church closer to married priesthood. Read More...

Will the Church Try to Block Health Reform?

October 18,2009

For decades, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has been one of the most steadfast advocates for health reform, arguing that "access to basic, quality health care is a universal human right, not a privilege." And yet on Oct. 8, a trio of leaders representing the USCCB wrote a letter to the U.S. Senate warning that they would have to "vigorously" oppose health-reform legislation unless certain changes were made. Read More...

Abortion Fight Complicates Debate on Health Care

September 29,2009

As if it were not complicated enough, the debate over health care in Congress is becoming a battlefield in the fight over abortion. Read More...

A New Push to Define 'Person,' and to Outlaw Abortion in the Process

September 28,2009

Some abortion foes think the rationale for Roe vs. Wade is vulnerable. They're trying to amend state constitutions -- including California's -- to define personhood from conception. Read More...

Health's Faith-Based Lobbying

September 20,2009

The health care debate turns out to have a spiritual dimension on top of all the other talking points. Religious groups that are generally on the right and left ends of the political spectrum not only have become interested in options for revamping the medical insurance system, they've also taken sides and are aggressively organizing their followers to influence what Congress does on the issue. Read More...

Law Requiring Ultrasunds for Abortions Is Struck Down

August 19,2009

An Oklahoma judge decided Tuesday that doctors do not need to perform ultrasounds and offer women detailed information about the tests before performing abortions, striking down the strictest such law in the country. Read More...

Rep. Rosa DeLauro: Obama Can Find Common Ground on Abortion

August 17,2009

Democratic Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro represents Connecticut's Third Congressional District. She and Rep. Tim Ryan recently reintroduced the Preventing Unintended Pregnancies, Reducing the Need for Abortion and Supporting Parents Act. While Dan's away, we've asked a selection of prominent guest bloggers from a variety of perspectives to give their thoughts on religion and public life. Read More...

Obama to Participate in Faith-Based Call-in on Health-Care Reform

August 10,2009

President Obama will participate in a national call-in and audio Webcast to push for health-care reform on August 19. The program is sponsored by 25 religious denominations and organizations, and it was announced today by a coalition of faith-based groups that are supporting health-care reform. Read More...

Rep. Meek Supports Groundbreaking Legislation Aimed at Reducing the Need for Abortion

July 26,2009

Congressman Kendrick B. Meek (D-FL) today announced support of legislation that will offer common ground policy solutions that reduce the need for abortion by addressing its root causes. The Preventing Unintended Pregnancies, Reducing the Need for Abortion and Supporting Parents Act has two policy tracks which include: preventing unintended pregnancies and supporting pregnant women and new families, including families created through adoption. Read More...

Reps. Ryan, DeLauro Bridge Abortion Divide with New Bill

July 23,2009

U.S. Representatives Tim Ryan (OH-17), a member of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, and Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), a member of the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus, today announced an agreement with pro-life leaders and major pro-choice organizations on groundbreaking legislation aimed at reducing the need for abortion. Read More...

DeLauro Bill Would Curb Unintended Pregnancies

July 23,2009

U.S. Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro will introduce a bill today that she believes will reduce abortions by preventing unwanted pregnancies and supporting parents and families. Read More...

Don't Be Mad at Me for Wanting to Solve the Problem

July 23,2009

We can all see the enormous impact the economic crisis is having on American families. Factories have closed. Those who rely on second and third jobs are finding them harder to come by. People are losing their homes. Every day, families have to make decisions about what they have to cut in order to make ends meet. Sadly, it is unlikely to get any better soon. Read More...

Birth Control Puts Catholics in Tight Spot on Abortion

July 21,2009

While the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has taken a cool response to many of President Obama's policies, the one area where the two sides seem to be finding fragile common ground is on the need to reduce the number of abortions.

Just how to do that, however, has gotten tricky. Read More...

Health Bill Might Direct Tax Money to Abortion

July 19,2009

An Obama administration official refused Sunday to rule out the possibility that federal tax money might be used to pay for abortions under proposed health care legislation. Read More...

Obama at the Vatican: A Meeting of Symbolism, Not Substance

July 10,2009

Earlier this week, in his social encyclical Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict claimed that the church does not "interfere in any way in the politics of States." These words are especially pertinent for today's meeting between President Obama and the pope. Read More...

Without a Doubt: Why Barack Obama represents American Catholics better than the pope does

July 09,2009

Tomorrow Pope Benedict XVI and President Barack Obama meet for the first time, an affair much anticipated and in some circles frowned upon by American Catholics in the wake of Obama's controversial Notre Dame commencement speech in May. Read More...

A Voice From the Front Line

July 08,2009

A member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives reflects on her battles with the Catholic hierarchy. Read More...

Women's Health Care Should Be a National Priority

July 08,2009

Melanie Victor-Taylor waxes nostalgic about “the good old days” when she had a full-time job as an administrative assistant at a major university in Southern California. But an unexpected staff layoff two years ago set the 53-year-old on an odyssey of job searches that have mostly turned up empty. For now, temporary jobs fill the void but the temp world comes with few guarantees and no benefits. Read More...

Could Abortion Coverage Sink Health-Care Reform

July 08,2009

Should government-subsidized health coverage pay for abortion procedures? For more than three decades, that question has seemed pretty much settled. The Hyde Amendment, passed by the House on September, 30, 1976, forbade Medicaid — a program for poor people, jointly administered by Washington and the states, which had up to then paid for about 300,000 abortions a year — from using any federal money to pay for the procedure. All but 17 states followed suit, banning use of their own funds as well; with a few modifications, the ban has stood up ever since. Read More...

White House Discerns 'Need for Abortion,' But Some Disagree

July 07,2009

As it works to draft a common-ground plan around abortion and related reproductive issues, the White House is careful to emphasize that is not trying to reduce the number of abortions. Read More...

Unprotected Sex: Abstinence Education's Main Accomplishment

July 02,2009

You can argue, based on hard data, that when it comes to teenagers and sex, good policy and genuine leadership get better results than moralizing or ignoring signals that an upsurge in HIV infections may emerge. The tragic lesson of the earliest days of the AIDS pandemic is that squeamishness is no substitute for common sense. Read More...

As White House Readies Abortion Plan, Packaging Emerges as Major Issue

June 29,2009

As the White House readies its plan for finding "common ground" on reproductive health issues and reducing the need for abortion, a major debate has emerged over how to package the plan's two major components: preventing unwanted pregnancies and reducing the need for abortion. Read More...

Most Americans Want Sotomoyer on Court

June 28,2009

A sizable majority of Americans want the Senate to confirm Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, and most call her "about right" ideologically, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Read More...

Plan B Access Still Difficult For Some Women [Pharma-fight]

June 25,2009

The generic, made by Watson Pharmaceuticals (NYSE:WPI) and called Next Choice, will be prescription only and aimed at women 17 and younger until August 24, when Duramed Pharmaceuticals's exclusive contract to market over-the-counter plan Plan B. Read More...

Virginity Movement on the Defensive, Scrambling to Rebrand Virginity Movement on the Defensive, Scrambling to Rebrand

June 23,2009

Keith Deltano has a high school student tied up onstage and is precariously dangling a cinder block over the young man's genital region. Deltano is not a school bully or an escaped lunatic. He's an abstinence proponent, a comedian who uses this brick trick to demonstrate the ineffectiveness of condoms (although the actual lesson learned may be to steer clear of comics brandishing bricks). Read More...

National county-level HIV map shows highest rates of infection in Ga., other parts of South

June 22,2009

A new Internet data map offers a first-of-its-kind, county-level look at HIV cases in the U.S. and finds the infection rates tend to be highest in the South. Read More...

Vatican Newspaper's Editor Explains Why Obama Is Not 'Pro-Abortion'

June 19,2009

The editor-in-chief of the Vatican newspaper, L ' Osservatore Romano, has drawn fire from some conservative Roman Catholics in the United States for allegedly going too soft on President Obama. "Obama is not a pro-abortion president," the editor, Gian Maria Vian, said in a recent interview. Read More...

A Radical Notion: Women's Health Care as Mainstream

June 18,2009

Lately, there have been many convenings to discuss the special arena of "women's health care." At a meeting at the White House a couple of weeks ago, a participant said she would love to see the day when men had to have special meetings about their health care needs. But we aren't there yet. The fact that women reproduce and, therefore, have different types of health care needs makes some folks on Capitol Hill go pale and start to sweat. Read More...

Bill O'Reilly Show Why "Abortion Reduction" Isn't Really Pro-Choice (Roe Vs. World)

June 15,2009

Salon Editor-in-Chief Joan Walsh's Friday appearance on The O'Reilly Factor — beyond giving O'Reilly himself yet another opportunity to be heart-stoppingly offensive — revealed some of the biggest problems with the abortion debate today, including the focus on "abortion reduction." Read More...

How to Talk About Abortion

June 14,2009

There are days when I think if I hear one more antiabortion evangelical or Catholic "progressive" tout his or her efforts to end the culture wars by creating a "common ground" position on abortion I will turn into the nonexistent irrational radical feminist extremist bitch they already think I am. And I actually believe in the search for common ground. Read More...

New Health Disparities Report: More Context for Higher Unintended Pregnancy and Abortion Rates Among Women of Color

June 11,2009

The new report provides further strong evidence debunking claims by anti–abortion rights activists, who, ignoring all other contextual factors, have long argued that high abortion rates among minorities are the result of supposed aggressive marketing by abortion providers to minority communities. In truth, as the Guttmacher Institute has pointed out repeatedly, abortion rates among racial and ethnic minorities—especially blacks and Hispanics—are directly linked to their higher rates of unintended pregnancy, which in turn reflect pervasive health disparities more generally. Read More...

The FundamentaList (No. 84)

June 10,2009

This week in religion and politics: A health and human services appointment raises questions about the purpose of faith-based offices, and religious leaders mourn the assassination of George Tiller. Read More...

USF Honors Dissenting South African Bishop

June 10,2009

Jesuit Father Stephen Privett, president of the University of San Francisco, stirred up controversy May 22 with his presentation of an honorary degree to a South African bishop who has defied the Vatican by promoting the use of condoms in some cases. Read More...

President Obama Appoints Antiabortion Pro-Obama Catholic to Senior Health Position - Causing Controversy

June 08,2009

President Obama has announced that Alexia Kelley, founder of the antiabortion group Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, will serve as the director of the Health and Human Services Department's Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, arousing the ire of some abortion rights activists. Read More...

Antiabortion Efforts Move to the State Level: Legislatures Often Mandate Restrictions

June 08,2009

Twelve women sat gloomily in a windowless conference room as Joseph Booker, M.D., recited the instructions required by the state of Mississippi before he can perform an abortion. Read More...

Catholics united declares war on Catholics for choice

June 05,2009

"Catholics for Choice Joins the Far Right, Attacks Common Ground," screams the press release from Catholics United (CU), which is defending the choice of Alexia Kelley to lead the center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships at the Department of Health and Human Services. Catholics for Choice (CFC) yesterday criticized the pick because of Kelley's opposition to abortion.
Read More...

Head of pro-life group gets job at HHS

June 04,2009

The Obama administration has picked the former head of a pro-life Catholic organization to run faith-based and community outreach programs at the Department of Health and Human Services. Read More...

A New Role for Religion

June 01,2009

Faith has played a larger role in Obama's white house in the first 100 days than in any other president's

The conventional wisdom was that George W. Bush was the most faith-based president in recent history, by a long shot. Citing Jesus as his favorite philosopher and Billy Graham as a mentor, Bush won evangelical voters in numbers not previously seen. Read More...

Abortion Rights Backers Get Reassurances on Nominee

May 29,2009

The White House scrambled yesterday to assuage worries from liberal groups about Judge Sonia Sotomayor's scant record on abortion rights, delivering strong but vague assurances that the Supreme Court nominee agrees with President Obama's belief in constitutional protections for a woman's right to the procedure. Read More...

Fighting Off a Scourge: HIV/AIDS Devastates Black America, but a New Campaign Offers Hope

May 27,2009

Nearly 30 years after the discovery of HIV and AIDS, the epidemic is still ravaging black neighborhoods in Baltimore and across the nation. Unfortunately, complacency about HIV and the continued stigma associated with the disease are hindering progress by preventing too many African-Americans from seeking either HIV testing and treatment or support from their friends and family. But this is a challenge that can be overcome. Read More...

Obama Names Diaz Ambassador to Vatican

May 27,2009

The White House tonight announced that President Obama is nominating Miguel II. Diaz, a Catholic theologian from Minnesota, as ambassador to the Holy See. Read More...

Sotomayor Would Be Sixth Catholic Justice

May 26,2009

Judge Sonia Sotomayor has much to distinguish her, but one element of her biography stands out in the world of those interested in religion and the public square: she is Catholic, and, if approved as a Supreme Court justice, she will be the sixth Catholic on the nine-member court. Read More...

This Mom Didn’t Have to Die

May 22,2009

On this trip through West Africa with my “win-a-trip” contest winner, I was reminded of one of the grimmest risks to human life here. Despite threats from warlords and exotic disease, it’s something even deadlier: motherhood. Read More...

Same-Sex Marriage Laws Pose Protection Quandary

May 22,2009

The movement toward legalizing same-sex marriage in New Hampshire has hit a bump. Gov. John Lynch, a Democrat, said last week that he would sign a same-sex marriage bill only if it included new language expanding protection for religious institutions that might object to same-sex marriage. On Wednesday, the state’s House of Representatives rejected that amendment. So for the moment, the matter is stalled in New Hampshire. Read More...

Contraception and Catholics: Quiet Disobedience

May 19,2009

A Stanford blog addresses a question so obvious that it’s been, by this time, largely ignored: what do American Catholics actually believe about contraception? That is, do they use it? The answer is yes. Catholics are assimilated into American culture, and Americans have an unequivocal relationship with contraception: we want it, we need it, we use it. Read More...

Catholics greet Obama speech at Notre Dame

May 19,2009

Catholics warmly applauded President Barack Obama’s speech at Notre Dame University May 17th upholding women’s right to choose an abortion while also providing healthcare and childcare for women who choose to deliver their babies full term. Read More...

At Notre Dame, Obama Calls for Civil Tone in Abortion Debate

May 18,2009

President Obama directly confronted America’s deep divide over abortion on Sunday as he appealed to partisans on each side to find ways to respect one another’s basic decency and even work together to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies. Read More...

Many Americans Support More Funding for HIV/AIDS

May 13,2009

Americans are often sympathetic to people living with HIV/AIDS and would favor greater funding to address the domestic HIV/AIDS crisis, according to a report released Wednesday. At the same time, however, the report indicates that for most of the general public, HIV/AIDS has largely fallen "off the radar." Read More...

The Bishops We Need

May 12,2009

It's one thing to oppose political policies like abortion and stem cell research: it's quite another to clothe that opposition with hateful attacks on individuals. But that's what seems to be going on in the right-wing corner of the U.S. Church. Read More...

White House Pushes Back Against Protests of Pending Presidential Honorary Degree From Notre Dame

May 12,2009

The White House today aggressively pushed back against the notion that the opposition of one Notre Dame University group to President Obama receiving an honorary degree at their commencement ceremony this Sunday is representative of widespread feelings on campus on among Catholics in general. Read More...

ER's Offer HIV Tests in Bid for Prevention

May 11,2009

After three days of a nasty cough and persistent headache, a 42-year-old man recently visited San Francisco General Hospital's emergency room, expecting to leave with a flu diagnosis.

The patient is one of about 50 residents in the past year who've walked into San Francisco General's ER for one malady, only to leave with the surprise diagnosis of HIV. Read More...

The Stakes at Notre Dame: Words from Rome Change the Debate on Inviting Obama

May 07,2009

We now know that the reaction of right-wing Catholics to Notre Dame's invitation to President Obama falls into the category of "more Catholic than the pope."

To the dismay of many conservatives, the Vatican's own newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, has offered what one antiabortion Catholic blog called "a surprisingly positive assessment of the new president's approach to life issues" -- so positive, in fact, that a spokesman for the National Right to Life Committee was moved to criticize Pope Benedict XVI's daily. Read More...

White House Begins Effort to Bridge the Divide on Abortion

May 07,2009

The White House has begun bringing together a diverse group of abortion-rights supporters and opponents to help craft policies both sides can embrace: preventing unwanted pregnancies and reducing demand for abortion. Read More...

Mothers Day Every Day for Healthier Families, Communities and Nations

May 06,2009

Each May, we celebrate and honor mothers. The treasure of motherhood is something that people of every political philosophy and walk of life can agree on. But despite this veneration of motherhood, giving birth can still be dangerous, especially in places where it is difficult to access healthcare. Read More...

Obama Seeks a Global Health Plan Broader Than Bush's AIDS Effort

May 05,2009

President Obama asked Congress on Tuesday to spend $63 billion over the next six years on a new, broader global health strategy that would reshape one of the signature foreign policy efforts of his predecessor, George W. Bush. Read More...

Memo to Bishops: Most Catholics Aren't Listening

May 05,2009

During the 2008 presidential campaign, there was a steady drumbeat of opposition to Barack Obama from some U.S. Catholic bishops, which only increased after his election. But despite the attention these attacks received in the media and on Internet blogs, polls show that the Catholic people are not listening. Read More...

The Invisible Epidemic

May 01,2009

As I was waiting for the results of my AIDS test, the health lecture from my health counselor Anthony was calm, explicit, and um informative. The five bodily fluids that can transmit the HIV virus. The proper way to open a condom package to avoid rips (I did it all wrong. Read More...

Obama, Catholics and the Notre Dame Commencement

April 30,2009

Most Catholics who have heard about the issue support the University of Notre Dame's decision to invite President Barack Obama to speak and receive an honorary degree at its May 17 commencement, even though he supports abortion rights and embryonic stem cell research. But a new poll conducted by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life also finds a deep division on this issue between the most-observant Catholics and those who are less observant, as defined by frequency of worship service attendance. Read More...

F.D.A. Easing Access to ‘Morning After’ Pill

April 29,2009

Seventeen-year-olds will soon be allowed to buy morning-after contraceptive pills without a doctor’s prescription after federal drug regulators complied with a judge’s order and lowered the age limit by a year.

Read More...

Just Inside 100 Days, Sebelius Completes the Cabinet

April 29,2009

President Obama's Cabinet was finally filled yesterday after the Senate, on the eve of President Obama's 100th day in office, voted 65 to 31 to confirm Kathleen Sebelius to head the Department of Health and Human Services. Hours later, the former Kansas governor was sworn in in an Oval Office ceremony. Read More...

The Top 10 Women's Health Achievements in Obama's First 100 Days

April 29,2009

It seems like not that long ago we were chronicling the dismal first 100 days of the Bush administration, predicting an unpleasant future for women's health and rights ... little did we know just how bad it could get. Read More...

Alaska student leaders call for more sex education

April 29,2009

News flash: Alaska high schoolers are interested in sex or at least learning more about it.

The Alaska Association of Student Governments overwhelmingly passed a resolution during its spring conference in Sitka two weeks ago asking for "a mandatory, comprehensive, medically accurate, age-appropriate nine-week sex education course" for all high school students statewide. Read More...

Obama Picks Leader for Global AIDS Effort

April 27,2009

Dr. Eric Goosby, a pioneer in the fight against AIDS, is President Obama’s choice to run the American effort to combat the disease globally, the White House announced Monday. Read More...

Chicagotribune.com: Sex ed: Abstinence-only Programs Under Review: As Congress Considers Reducing Support, Illinois Schools Rethink Sex Ed Policies

April 22,2009

The birds and the bees may be universal, but what Illinois schoolchildren learn about their sexuality is not. And it's again up for debate.

Nearly 2 in 5 Illinois students who take sex education learn about only one method of birth control—abstinence until marriage—under the policies of local school boards that are encouraged by the carrot of federal funding Read More...

Washington Post: Palin's Personal Choice

April 20,2009

I'd like to thank Sarah Palin for her bravery in explaining the importance of a woman's right to choose. Even braver, the Alaska governor made her eloquent case for choice at a right-to-life fundraising dinner. Read More...

Times-Picayune: Catholics Lean Left on Social Issues, Poll Says; Americans' Stances Differ from Church's

April 18,2009

American Catholics are more liberal than the general population on social issues like divorce and homosexuality, despite the Catholic Church's longstanding conservatism on both issues, according to a new survey.

Catholics are more likely than non-Catholics to say that homosexual relations, divorce, and heterosexual sex outside wedlock are morally acceptable, according to an analysis by Gallup pollsters released on March 30. Read More...

The Washington Post: Red Faith, Blue Faith

April 17,2009

Is "Christian America" dying? And if so, should we mourn or cheer? Read More...

New York Times: Paterson Unveils Same-Sex Marriage Bill

April 16,2009

Gov. David A. Paterson on Thursday announced that he would introduce a bill to legalize same-sex marriage, drawing on the soaring oratory of the civil rights movement to call on the Legislature to add New York to the four states that have already authorized such unions. Read More...

Salon: America Is Not a Christian Nation: Religious Conservatives Argue the Founding Fathers Intended the United States to be a Judeo-Christian Country, but President Obama Is Right When He Says It Isn't

April 14,2009

Is America a Christian nation, as many conservatives claim it is? One American doesn't think so. In his press conference on April 6 in Turkey, President Obama explained: "One of the great strengths of the United States is … we have a very large Christian population -- we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values." Read More...

The Washington Post: AIDS at Home: The Obama Administration Starts to Combat Complacency in the United States

April 14,2009

When it comes to fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States, there is an alarming complacency among Americans. Perhaps it's the success of antiretroviral drug treatments. In the eyes of many, those drugs have transformed the disease from one with no cure to a manageable ailment. Or maybe it's the view that AIDS is more of a worry in Africa or Southeast Asia. But it's not just happening "over there." And the Obama administration took a first step last week to remind people that it's happening right here, right now. Read More...

Politico.com: Seizing the Moment at Notre Dame

April 14,2009

Father John Jenkins, the president of the University of Notre Dame, probably yearns for days past when the only angry messages waiting for him related to rehiring head football coach Charlie Weis for a fifth season after Weis’ dismal 6-6 performance in 2008. Today, Jenkins is being targeted not by bad sports but by conservative Catholics sporting really bad attitudes about Notre Dame’s decision to welcome the president of the United States to campus next month to serve as commencement speaker. Read More...

Washington Post: PEPFAR's Success: How a Bush Administration Initiative to Combat HIV/AIDS Is Saving Lives

April 09,2009

One of the more positive legacies of the Bush administration is the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). It is an unprecedented multiyear and multibillion-dollar commitment by the United States to combat the epidemic's deadly march across Africa. And, according to a just-released study, the program is working. Read More...

Washington Post: Awareness Campaign on HIV/AIDS Campaign Begins: U.S. To Spend $45 Million Over 5 Years

April 08,2009

The Obama administration began a five-year, $45 million media blitz yesterday to spark awareness about HIV infection and AIDS, saying that Americans have grown complacent about the deadly illness even though it represents "a serious threat to the health of our nation." Read More...

Chicago Sun Times: Cardinal's Criticism of Notre Dame Unfortunate

April 06,2009

Cardinal Francis George delivered harsh words the other day in the ongoing debate over the University of Notre Dame's decision to invite President Obama to give a commencement address in May.
Read More...

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Catholic Hierarchy Finds the Flock Isn't So Easily Led

April 05,2009

Catholic church leaders had a very bad election in 2008. They assailed Barack Obama as "anti-life" and hence unacceptable. But the flock didn't listen. Fifty-four percent of Catholic voters cast ballots for Obama, the most decisive Catholic endorsement for a presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan drew the same share in 1984. Read More...

March 31,2009

The Arizona House has gone too far. Rep. Nancy Barto and her cohorts are trying to deny women access to vital health care services and information. Read More...

Agence France Presse: Pope Wrong on Condoms, US Rights, Catholic Groups Say

March 18,2009

US rights advocates and a Roman Catholic group on Wednesday condemned Pope Benedict XVI for saying condom use does little to help fight AIDS as he began a trip to Africa, the continent hardest hit by the deadly viral illness. Read More...

Irish Independent: Condoms Part of African Aids Problem, Says Pope

March 18,2009

The Pope walked into a new storm of controversy on his first trip to Africa yesterday by declaring that condoms were not a solution to the Aids epidemic -- but were instead part of the problem. Read More...

RH Reality Check: A Plan for Women's Rights for a New Bolivia

March 16,2009

As countries around the world celebrated International Women's Day last week, the Bolivian government launched an equal rights and opportunities plan dubbed "Mujeres construyendo la Nueva Bolivia para vivir bien," which can be loosely translated as "women are building a new Bolivia with better lives for all." Not simply a development strategy, this plan exemplifies a significant, shared vision: namely the importance of recognizing women's contributions to the ongoing development of the country. Read More...

Alternet: Rebuttal to Chris Hedges: Stop the Tired Overpopulation Hysteria

March 14,2009

Raising alarms about overpopulation distracts us from the real environmental tasks at hand. It also undermines the provision of good quality, voluntary family planning services, instead legitimizing top-down punitive policies that hurt women. Read More...

State Lawmakers Approve Abortion Restrictions

March 12,2009

State lawmakers on Wednesday approved legislation that would impose a string of new restrictions on women and minors seeking an abortion, as well as allow Arizona pharmacists to refuse to dispense emergency contraception on moral grounds. Read More...

FundamentaList (No. 71)

March 11,2009

The outcry from the anti-choice religious right over President Barack Obama's nomination of Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas to serve as health and human services secretary reached a fever pitch last week: The "radical extremist" who's not a "real" Catholic was given a stamp of approval by a key congressional religious-right ally, fellow Kansan Sam Brownback. Read More...

Rasmussen Reports: RESEARCH: 52% of Americans Agree with Obama's Stem Cell Decision

March 10,2009

Fifty-two percent (52%) of U.S. voters agree with President Obama’s decision to lift the ban on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. Read More...

The Huffington Post: Catholic Extremists Swiftboat Sebelius

March 03,2009

Are you a "fake" Catholic? Don't worry, the majority of Catholics are. That's at least according to the religious right which has taken to doling out titles like "alleged Catholic." The most recent Catholic to earn the epithet is Kathleen Sebelius --current Governor of Kansas and Obama's choice for Secretary of HHS. Read More...

Washington Post: Sebelius's Political Skills, Experience Win Plaudits: But Governor's Modest Health-Care Victories Give Pause to Some

March 02,2009

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has never lost an election, even as a Democrat in a Republican-dominated state, something analysts attribute to cool competence, a lifelong education in politics and a knack for reaching across the political divide.
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The Hill: Concerns, Hopes as Pelosi Meets Pope at the Vatican

February 17,2009

The next time Roman Catholics who support abortion rights are told they should not receive communion, they can point to Nancy Pelosi. After all, the House Speaker is staunchly pro-choice — and she met with the pope at the Vatican. Read More...