Haunting the political landscape is the ghost (or soul or spirit or memory or image, depending on how you see these things) of Gabriel Michael Santorum. Born at 19 gestational weeks, too young to live outside the uterus, Gabriel died within two hours. The story is well known. In October 1996, Karen Santorum underwent surgery to try to fix a […]
For Santorums, personal tragedy turned political Read More
As recently as 2004, when evangelicals were credited with reelecting George W. Bush, sexual mores defined the culture wars. But as the economy has become the political priority for liberals and conservatives alike, traditional culture-war issues—abortion, gay marriage—have been blunted as weapons in the political theater. As recently as 2004, when evangelicals were credited with reelecting George W. Bush, sexual
Another memoirist might prefer to keep such matters private, but Sarah Palin is not another memoirist. In Going Rogue: An American Life, Palin describes, perhaps for the first time in the history of political autobiography, a furtive trip to an out-of-state drugstore to obtain a do-it-yourself pregnancy test. This was in the fall of 2007, when the 43-year-old mother of
Saint Sarah: Is Sarah Palin the Next Jerry Falwall? Read More
Earlier this month, in something of a surprise, a nun at a Catholic hospital in Phoenix was excommunicated for approving a first-trimester abortion last year at that hospital to save the life of a critically ill patient. “An unborn child is not a disease,” said Bishop Thomas Olmsted of the Phoenix diocese. “While medical professionals should certainly try to save
The Catholic Church Attacks Nuns Read More
They see themselves as crusaders for human rights—protectors of the innocent, the voiceless, and the powerless. After years of enduring the slings and arrows of opposition, these activists are finally in the power seat. They are among the most important voices on a crucial political question: will abortion finally scuttle health-care reform? They are America’s Roman Catholic bishops. It goes
The Bishops, Abortion and Healthcare Read More
It doesn’t take a degree from Harvard to see that in today’s world, a person needs to know something about religion. The conflicts between the Israelis and the Palestinians; between Christians, Muslims, and animists in Africa; between religious conservatives and progressives at home over abortion and gay marriage—all these relate, if indirectly, to what rival groups believe about God and
Should Harvard Have A Religion Department? Read More
We suffer, this week, from a moral myopia. Thanks to the passage in Congress of a health-reform bill, abortion is in the news again, but with the same old warriors brandishing their same old spears. Kate Michelman and Frances Kissling talk about how the current version of the health-care bill “risks the well-being of millions of women for generations to
Health Care: Abortion Is Not the Only Moral Issue Read More
When President Barack Obama talks about finding common ground on abortion, as he did during his commencement address at Notre Dame over the weekend, he’s not really talking about abortion at all. The president is pro-choice, which means that he believes that women should have access to legal abortions and that Roe v. Wade should remain the law of the
To Solve Abortion Start Talking About Sex Read More
The way you talk about your desire for common ground, it turns out, signals whose side you’re actually on. Advice to would-be culture warriors in the 21st century: walk softly and carry a big thesaurus. According to the conventional wisdom, the culture wars are over in Washington—or, at the very least, reduced to sideline skirmishes. Buoyed by the support of
The Battle Over Abortion Language Read More
A Ceasefire in the Culture War By making ‘abortion reduction’ a priority, Obama courts his frenemies. How does a democratic, pro-choice president avoid engaging in a culture war? This is the question that faces Barack Obama as he begins to shape his domestic policy. His presidency is not yet 100 days old, and already Obama has been excoriated by gays
Abortion Reduction and Obama Read More