Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) is leading the charge to undo the so-called "Mexico City policy," which prevents taxpayer funds from going to groups that do abortions or lobby other nations to overturn their anti-abortion laws.
And, pro-abortion-rights representatives in Congress, including Sen. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Rep. Maloney (D-NY) have introduced legislation that would require objecting pharmacists to dispense the morning-after pill, or face very heavy fines.
Michael P. blogged, the other day, about the Times story on income inequality. He asked if Catholic Legal Theory has anything to say about income inequality. I hope the answer is "yes." The harder question (for me), though, is: What is that something? And, relatedly, of what relevance are the facts discussed in this piece, from the Wall Street Journal, in a piece called "The Poor Get Richer"?
Sunday, June 10, 2007
I'm in Arizona with family, eating great food, and getting ready to talk with a hundred or so rising second-year law students (Blackstone Fellows) about religious freedom. So, I'm a bit behind passing on this opinion piece, by Michael Gerson, "An Islamic Test for Turkey." Check it out. (Also, if you haven't, read this novel -- "Snow," by Orham Pamuk -- about Turkey, Islam, poetry, and other things.) It got me thinking somewhat uncomfortable thoughts, about whether, perhaps, my own firm commitment to religion and religiosity in the public square is one that exists independently from my confidence that this presence is quite consistent with -- indeed, it nurtures -- political freedom and stable pluralism. But, what if it weren't?
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
According to this letter, sent yesterday by the National Right to Life to members of the House of Representatives, Rep. DeGette is planning to try to sneak through a bill that will "legitimize the use of cloning to create human embryo farms. Under such legislation, it will be perfectly acceptable to create, by cloning, any number of human embryos for use in research that will kill them, but it would be unlawful to attempt to allow such a human clone to live by implanting him or her in a womb." The letter also notes:
By way of contrast, the Weldon-Stupak bill, which has twice been approved by the House and which will be reintroduced today, would prohibit the use of cloning (also known as somatic cell nuclear transfer, the process used to create Dolly the Sheep and thousands of other mammalian clones) to create human embryos. This approach -- a true ban on all human cloning-- was urged by the United Nations General Assembly in 2005, and has already been enacted by at least 23 other nations, including France, Germany, and Canada.
If you live in Northern Indiana, here's the link to Congressman Donnelly's office. (Rep. Donnelly is a pro-life Democrat.)
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
According to The Hill, it is possible that the Democrats in the Congress will attempt "to alter or repeal several longstanding policy measures restricting federal funding of abortion when the panel marks up legislation over the next two weeks." (These "measures" include, for example, the Hyde Amendment.) The piece also reports, though, that President Bush has informed Rep. Pelosi and Sen. Reid that he would veto any such attempts, and that his veto would be sustained. Stay tuned . . .
Click here for the latest, at Vox Nova, in a series of posts on the question whether Catholics should "follow the utopian vision of modern democratices" (today's entry is on the thought of Joseph de Maistre). And, here is an interesting post on "the individual and the person." Good stuff.
Monday, June 4, 2007
Media advisory here:
The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights will address school choice, the Blaine Amendments and anti-Catholicism during a public briefing at Commission headquarters on June 1, 2007. Specifically, this briefing will examine whether certain state constitutional barriers to school choice legislation – known as Blaine Amendments – discriminate against Catholics and whether, more generally, they discriminate against religion.
Excellent. For my own "take" on the Blaine Amendments and school choice, see, e.g., this.
In Sunday's Washington Post, these two very interesting pieces appeared: First, this article, "Driven to Extremes," about the increasing number of people in the D.C. area who are commuting more than four hours a day -- drawn by "cheaper housing and better pay", but "at what price?"; and this one, "Breaking Free of Suburbia's Stranglehold," about some families who have "simplif[ied] [their] [l]ifestyles in [q]uest for [m]eaning [t]hat [c]onstant [h]ustle [o]bscured."
Together, these articles offer some needed caution to our new law-school graduates. Sure, many of these talented and blessed late-20-somethings will go live in hip urban neighborhoods in lively and interesting cities (and bill several hundred hours each month), and so will not -- at least, not yet -- face the kind of trade-offs and challenges described in these articles. But, before too long, many (most?) will. My advice? Start thinking now about cultivating a life that is not going to put you on a trajectory toward four-hour commutes, strained marriages, drive-by parenting, and a dis-integrated life.
Click here for Andrew Roberts's whiggish review of Michael Barone's new book on the so-called "Glorious Revolution". (I prefer, of course, the "Revolution of 1688," being hard-pressed to swoon over William of Orange and the Act of Settlementof 1701. St. Thomas Becket and St. Thomas More, pray for us.)
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Down at the multiplex, it looks like this year's "40 Year Old Virgin" (which I thoroughly enjoyed) is Judd Apanow's "Knocked Up," about a slacker whose special friend (for one night) gets pregnant, after which hilarity and maturing ensures. According to Ross Douthat, the movie is pretty much a pro-life tract, as well. Dana Stevens, at Slate, and to whom Douthat is reponding, has a very different view.
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