In a Washington Times opinion piece, Charmaine Yoest president and CEO of Americans United for Life Action states that abortion is the “epicenter” of the health care reform debate and that “no one realizes this more than the White House,” which has “insisted that the health care proposals currently under consideration would not cover [...]

Francis Collins, President Obamas pick to head NIH, and Regina Benjamin, Obamas surgeon general nominee, have spoken publicly about their religious beliefs but also have expressed views on issues such as embryonic stem cell research that conflict with church teachings, USA Today reports. Collins, who headed the Human Genome Project, is an evangelical Christian who [...]

A preliminary hearing for Scott Roeder, the man charged with the May 31 murder of Kansas abortion provider George Tiller, is set for Tuesday, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports. During the hearing, prosecutors will attempt to convince a judge they have enough evidence for a trial, according to the AP/Chronicle.Roeder is charged with one count of [...]

Nineteen House Democrats recently sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (DCalif.) stating that they will not vote for health care reform legislation “unless it explicitly excludes abortion funding from the scope of any governmentdefined or subsidized health insurance plan,” CongressDaily reports. In the letter, the lawmakers wrote that they want to ensure that [...]

“Just because something is legal and should be legal does not mean it is always ethical,” Frances Kissling, former president of Catholics for Choice, writes in a Salon opinion piece, adding that “sometimes the right thing to say to a woman [seeking abortion] is I am so sorry, I cannot do what you [...]

Antiabortionrights legislators in Kansas plan to push for harsher restrictions on abortion when the next legislative session begins in January 2010, despite increased tensions following the murder of abortion provider George Tiller, the AP/Indianapolis Star reports.According to state House Judiciary Committee Chair Lance Kinzer (R), the debate over abortion rights should continue in the state [...]

Abortionrights groups on Wednesday offered their support for Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor but said that they were eager to learn more about her views on abortion rights, an issue on which she has made few major rulings in her time as a judge, the New York Times reports. According to the Times, groups [...]

“The irony is overwhelming” that “Republicans in the Senate are opposing and may try to filibuster” the confirmation of Dawn Johnsen, President Obamas pick to head the Justice Departments Office of Legal Counsel, a Los Angeles Times editorial says. According to the editorial, Republicans “argument” is that Johnsen, an Indiana University law professor, [...]

The Atlanta JournalConstitution on Wednesday published two opinion pieces related to preventing unintended pregnancies. Summaries appear below.~ Cynthia Tucker Regardless of whom President Obama nominates to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter, social conservatives will try “to derail the nomination over one issue, Roe v. Wade,” Tucker, a JournalConstitution editorial page editor, writes in [...]