Abortion

Gift Cards And Abortion — Elizabeth Nolan Brown doesn't understand why social conservatives are pissed that Indiana Planned Parenthood is giving away gift cards:Unless all the folks wringing their keyboards about it are way stupider than I think they are, they’ve got to realize that Planned Parenthood offering gift certificates is going to do absolutely nothing to increase the rate of abortion (which they ostensibly care about lowering). As I mentioned in my post on Ladyblog Tuesday, only about 3-5 percent of PP services are abortion-related anyway; the majority are actually aimed at preventing abortion (by preventing unwanted pregnancies), with the rest devoted to basic... [Tags: abortion, charitable organizations, contraception, elizabeth nolan, gift cards]

What Insult? — Bainbridge believes appointing Doug Kmiec as ambassador to the Vatican would be an insult to the church. Henry Farrell is puzzled:In principle, the appointment of Kmiec should be no more or less insulting to either the Vatican (as a state governed by the Catholic church) or to the Pope (as head of the Catholic church) than the appointment of any other Catholic. Very obviously, Kmiec’s appointment might be construed as an insult to a particular (and quite powerful) conservative faction within Catholicism – but in the absence of a formal church statement to the contrary, that faction’s opinion of Kmiec’s... [Tags: abortion, ambassador, appointment, bainbridge, benedict]

Stopping Michael Steele — The Christianists are concerned about Michael Steele heading up the RNC. He's not fanatical enough on abortion: The Republican National Coalition for Life and the Rev. Donald Wildmon's American Family Association both have came out against Mr. Steele because he and former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman were co-chairmen of the centrist Republican Leadership Council and because of his unclear comments about abortion on "Meet the Press."He's soft on the gays too, apparently. The Washington Times, defending Steele, gets a little testy: Republicans who are questioning Mr. Steele's credentials need to ask themselves why they find him so "threatening"... [Tags: abortion, chairmen, christine todd whitman, credentials, donald wildmon]

Christianist Watch — From Modesto, California:A Roman Catholic priest has told parishioners they should confess if they voted for Barack Obama because the president-elect supports abortion. The Rev. Joseph Illo says his parishioners at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Modesto shouldn't risk losing their "state of grace" by receiving communion sacrilegiously. He delivered the message in a Nov. 21 letter and during mass. In an interview this week with the Modesto Bee, Illo says he sent the letter because Catholic teaching requires that people go to confession when they commit a mortal sin.... [Tags: abortion, barack obama, catholic church, communion, confession]

Palin Turkey Ad: Conservative Group Releases Thanksgiving Spot "Honoring" Palin (VIDEO) — From the department of awkward timing: Days after video of Sarah Palin's interview in front of slaughtered turkeys became a web sensation, the conservative group Our Country Deserves Better releases a Thanksgiving-themed ad "thanking" Palin. The opening of the spot features an announcer praising Palin...in front of images of roasted turkeys. Take a look: Some text from the email announcing the advertisement: Friends, too many times we've seen politicians who "sell out" to the media or political pressure and succumb to politically correct, liberal positions, rather than fight for conservative beliefs. But Gov. Sarah Palin has stood steadfast by her... [Tags: abortion, advertisement, baby boy, conservatism, conservative beliefs]

Where They're Coming From — From an amicus brief in support of Prop 8 filed by The Kingdom of Heaven World Divine Mission:The Almighty Eternal Creator created all planets, including the earth and all living creatures, including human souls. Through elections and appointments, Global government leaders and officials are selected by the Almighty Eternal Creator to serve the people. The Almighty Eternal Creator is the sole owner of the earth and everything above, below, and in it. Global government leaders work under authority of the Almighty Eternal Creator. Therefore, throughout the world, government legislatures and people must make laws under the Almighty Eternal Creator's Laws.... [Tags: abortion, amicus brief, divine mission, eternal creator, global government]

Phil Zuckerman: The Religious Support Behind Proposition 8 — Proposition 8 passed because of religious folk. There is no question about it. Church-going Black Americans, tithe-paying Mormons, mass-attending Latinos, and Evangelical whites all joined forces in "protecting marriage." The underlying reason religious people voted to revoke from gays and lesbians the legal right to marry is doggedly theological: God doesn't like it. And when a society or culture does things that God doesn't like, that society or culture will suffer. This is a central tenet of every religion, and has been ever since the first shaman first claimed to be able to discern the will of the Almighty by... [Tags: abortion, black americans, central tenet, child abuse rates, church attendance]

Prince Is Anti-Gay? — From the New Yorker:When asked about his perspective on social issues—gay marriage, abortion—Prince tapped his Bible and said, “God came to earth and saw people sticking it wherever and doing it with whatever, and he just cleared it all out. He was, like, ‘Enough.’ ” Prop 8 has helped unearth the seething homophobia in much of black America. Even for a dandy, feminized midget like Prince. (Actually, black dandy, feminized midgets need to express more homophobia than most.) Joe vents:The irony, it burns. The pop star who made his name on his effete, androgynous "Is he GAY or not?" persona... [Tags: abortion, bible, black america, dandy, darling nikki]

A fellow blogger J. Phil, sent this PennyArcade comic during a discussion about Facebook. I like PennyArcade, but due to my severe A.D.D. (self diagnosed), there is way too much small text to read, hence I don’t really follow PennyArcade, and doubt I appreciate it as much as I should. Sorry to all the hard core Penny Arcade fans out there. It’s me. Really. My point is not PennyArcade or J.Phil, but everytime FUNNY + FACEBOOK are spoken in the same sentence, I think of  Twitter (the new way to blog for over caffeinated people like me) and this: Every.... [Tags: abortion, acronym, blurbs, cool kids, digging a hole]

Cristina Page: The Obamagelical Reformation — It will take years to fully grasp the tsunami that swept Barrack Obama into the presidency. "It's the first time" or "not since" or "historic" have punctuated most coverage of it -- even President Bush called it "awesome." It reconfigured electoral politics and created "never before seen" voting blocs. One new and powerful wave of support for Obama came from the most surprising of groups: evangelicals. Incredible as it sounds, exit polls show that the number of white evangelicals (ages 18-44), the base of the Republican party, supported Obama in double the numbers that came out for John Kerry in... [Tags: abortion, barrack obama, catholic voters, catholics, democratic party platform]

South Carolina Priest Says Obama-Voters 'Souls at Risk,' Not Allowed Holy Communion — The Catholic priest says the Democratic president-elect supports abortion, and supporting him "constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil."... [Tags: abortion, catholic priest, cooperation, democratic president, holy communion]

Frank Schaeffer: An Open Letter to President-Elect Obama About Abortion: From a Pro-Obama and Pro-Life Leader — Dear President-elect Obama: Congratulations on your stunning victory! I guarantee that I'm the only person who worked to get you elected who was also a founder of the evangelical wing of the original pro-life movement. When it comes to the "culture wars" spawned by divisions over abortion, I know what I'm talking about. Please hear me out. Yes, it's all about the economy. But no one should kid themselves: the culture wars have the potential to sap the energy from your best initiatives. There is no point writing anyone off. You need all Americans supporting you if you are to... [Tags: abortion, antagonism, baltimore sun, bedrock, beginning of the end]

Wise Words — Yuval Levin and Jim Manzi respond elegantly to David Brooks' remarkably crude op-ed today. Manzi urges federalism and moderation on social issues, like abortion and marriage and science. Couldn't agree more. I'm also less convinced that David Cameron has actually squared the British conservative circle than David is, let alone the American one (I'm headed to Blighty soon to try and figure that out). This passage from Manzi is particularly fine: Politics, properly considered, has limited aims. Attempts to use it to create heaven on earth, whether motivated by secular or religious thinking, usually backfire. Fortunately, most practical people realize... [Tags: abortion, aims, bridges, david brooks, david cameron]

Stephen H. Baum: Dont You Get It? We Need a President of All the People! — The pressure on Obama from self-centered, single-Issue constituencies has started. Don't you get it? We have an opportunity unlike any other for decades: a chance to bring people together for the common good, repeat: common good. This means uniting people on something they all want, not pursuing again a policy favored by one or two constituencies. "U.S. (Catholic) Bishops Urged to Challenge Obama" on abortion says the NY Times. Sure. Let's heckle the new president with this divisive issue as he tries to figure out solutions and enlist support for millions of people being thrown out of their homes, people... [Tags: abortion, catholic bishops, catholics, chief of staff, compromises]

Torture, Abortion, Theoconservatism — Larison intrudes on the Douthat-Kmiec abortion spat:If I find Obama’s position on abortion to be be as disrespectful and hostile to human dignity as the right’s torture apologists, indeed more so, which therefore makes him unacceptable in my eyes, it is not so outlandish or bizarre to imagine that there are pro-lifers who understandably feel the same revulsion for the party that created the torture regime.  It is not so strange when these pro-lifers act to hold that party accountable.  Does that vindicate Prof. Kmiec’s arguments for Obama concerning abortion?  No, but it does put them in perspective.       ... [Tags: abortion, apologists, human dignity, kmiec, larison]

4th Circuit Court could be reshaped — As president, Barack Obama and a new U.S. Senate could transform the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, long one of the most conservative in the country. President Bush failed to fill four vacancies on the 15-judge court, which decides cases on issues such as abortion, the death penalty and terrorism.... [Tags: abortion, barack obama, circuit court of appeals, court of appeals, death penalty]

Leaving Palinism Behind — David Frum charts a new GOP course:College-educated Americans have come to believe that their money is safe with Democrats - but that their values are under threat from Republicans. There are more and more college-educated voters. So the question for the GOP is: Will it pursue them? This will involve painful change, on issues ranging from the environment to abortion. It will involve even more painful changes of style and tone: toward a future that is less overtly religious, less negligent with policy, and less polarising on social issues. That's a future that leaves little room for Sarah Palin -... [Tags: abortion, david frum, democrats, educated voters, gop]

Nation Finally Sh–ty Enough To Make Social Progress — According to a CNN exit poll, 42% of voters said that the nation’s financial woes had finally become frightening enough to eclipse such concerns as gay marriage, while 30% said that the relentless body count in Iraq was at last harrowing enough to outweigh long ideological debates over abortion.... [Tags: abortion, body count in iraq, cnn, cnn exit poll, debates]

Howard Schweber: Not quite a realignment — Last night was great, but let's be clear: it was not a realigning, overwhelming Democratic victory. Gains in the House and Senate were considerably smaller than expected - 17 and 5 seats respectively, as of this writing (with a couple yet to be determined). Second, if Obama's election was a victory against racism, the election did not herald a similar turn against homophobia: California, Arizona, and Florida all passed referendum measures banning same-sex marriage, and Arkansas passed a measure prohibiting same-sex couples from adopting children. Apparently the children are better off being left in foster care, another brutal example of... [Tags: abortion, adopting children, coleman, conservatism, democratic victory]

Morgan Warners: A new day for all people--but young people, let's not forget tomorrow — In college we learn to be skeptical of claims like the ones being made about Barack Obama's historic victory. For today, forget it. His win really does signal a new day for America and the world. Let's think critically tomorrow, and today let's just enjoy the satisfaction of a hard won battle. His presidency, right out of the gate, accomplishes the tremendous toppling of symbolic barriers that have been the rule and not the exception to the full participation of all ourselves, our loved ones, friends, neighbors, and family, regardless of their race. Now when people talk about the Bradley... [Tags: abortion, affirmative action, ballot initiatives, barack obama, campaign season]