The Rise of the Religious Right in the Republican Party

The Texas Baby Purchasing Act of 2007: It's Not a GOP Secret Anymore, Talk To Action, March 27, 2007

Fighting Evil, One Eve at a Time, Talk To Action, March 13, 2007

Whose Freedom? Institutional Conscience Clause Under Consideration in California, Talk To Action, January 29, 2007 -- about openly faith-based and pseudo-scientific challenges to women's reproductive health from the The Christian Medical Association (CMA)

Sex and the Single-Minded, New York Times, January 20, 2007 -- about Bush's appointment of Dr. Eric Keroack as deputy assistant secretary for population affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services.

No News is Bad News In Kansas, Talk To Action, January 3, 2007

Judge Won't Reinstate Abortion Charges, Washington Post, December 28, 2006

Kansas Court Dismisses Abortion Charges, Washington Post, December 23, 2006

House to Consider Abortion Anesthesia Bill, Washington Post, December 5, 2006:

In a parting gesture by social conservatives before Republicans relinquish control, House leaders plan to bring up a bill tomorrow that would declare that fetuses feel pain and require abortion providers to offer pregnant patients anesthesia for their unborn child.

Partial-Birth Replay, Washington Post, November 13, 2006

HHS Sued Over Hiding Documents on Crisis Pregnancy Funds, Talk To Action, November 11, 2006

Plan B and Plan B, Truthout, October 10, 2006:

Just as women have finally won a concession from the Bush FDA that makes the emergency contraceptive known as Plan B available without a prescription, new reports abound that fundamentalist Christians are mounting an effort to end the use of all contraceptives.

House Passes Teen Endangerment Act; Intrusive Law Puts Teens' Health and Safety at Risk, Planned Parenthood, September 27, 2006

Trojan Donkey, Talk To Action, September 26, 2006:

The 95-10 Initiative is becoming legislation in the U.S. House!

 Why should such a compassionate program have had to wait so long for a sponsor?

Maybe it's because 95-10 calls for preventing pregnancy, but mentions contraception only in regard to failure rates -- anti-choice dog whistle code for "abstinence-only."  Maybe it's because 95-10 also calls for the imposition of repressive legislation upon every physician in the country. Maybe it's because 95-10 mandates federal funding for a nationwide network to funnel unsuspecting women seeking information about abortion into crisis pregnancy center "ministries."

Secret Int'l Antiabortion Political Training Institute in the U.S. Talk To Action, September 21, 2006

The Church Lady Speaks, Talk To Action, August 31, 2006

'Morning After' Pill Is Cleared for Wider Sales, New York Times, August 24, 2006

States expand fetal homicide laws, Stateline.org, August 22, 2006:

A wave of new state fetal homicide laws recognizing a fetus "of any gestational age" as a person and potential crime victim has abortion rights advocates worried the statutes could undermine a woman's right to end her pregnancy.

Crisis Pregnancy Centers Unplugged, Talk To Action, August 16, 2006

Plan B's Tangled Web, Dailykos, August 10, 2006

Plan B decision made before data review: FDA staff, Boston.com, August 3, 2006

New Day for Morning-After Pill? New York Times, August 2, 2006

Despite Action on Plan B, F.D.A. Nominee Is in Limbo, New York Times, August 2, 2006

F.D.A. Shifts View on Next-Day Pill, New York Times, August 1, 2006

When the Parents Can't Know, New York Times, July 29, 2006

Parental Notification, New York Times, July 27, 2006

Senate Removes Abortion Option for Young Girls, New York Times, July 26, 2006

Senate Passes Interstate Abortion Bill, The Associated Press, July 25, 2006

Welfare Deformed, TomPaine.com, July 18, 2006:

... under a mandate from Congress' Deficit Reduction Act-passed last year-HHS has acted to further restrict educational opportunity.

Feminists in Jackson Outnumber Operation Save America, A T r u t h o u t Report, July 17, 2006

Protesters Battle Over Mississippi Abortion Clinic, USA Today, July 16, 2006 (posted on Truthout)

Crisis Pregnancy Centers: An Affront to Choice from the National Abortion Federation's new report

Storming the Gates of Hell, From Louisiana to Mississippi, Talk To Action, June 20, 2006:

The abortion bans recently enacted in South Dakota and Louisiana seem to have taken a lot of people by surprise. A bill emerges suddenly from some statehouse packed with ornery right-wingers, some mediocre governor signs it, and progressives spend the morning after wondering what the hell happened, or simply dismiss the state as a distant redoubt of fundamentalism. Analysis of the long-term strategy that made it possible for such draconian bills to become law is hard to come by. And without an understanding of the origins and history of this kind of legislation, it is difficult to map out a way to stifle it. Meanwhile, more and more states seem poised to pass bans of their own.

New Bush policy adviser said he'd support jail for doctors who performed abortions, The Raw Story, June 16, 2006

Onward Christian "Science", Talk To Action, June 7, 2006

Anti-Abortion Law Passes in Louisiana, New York Times, June 6, 2006

Top FDA staff say left out of contraceptive ruling, Reuters, May 25, 2006

The Da Vinci Code: A Woman's Story? Talk To Action, May 23, 2006

Storm Clouds Rising, Talk To Action, May 16, 2006

This Holy Hand Grenade's a Dud, Talk To Action, May 9, 2006 -- more on the war on contraception

The New York Times magazine has a feature article on "The War on Contraception," May 7, 2006

Use of Contraception Drops, Slowing Decline of Abortion Rate, New York Times, May 5, 2006

Beyond Chastity Belts, New York Times, May 2, 2006 -- Nicolas Kristof explains the paradox in White House policies that oppose emergency contraception which leads to an increase in teen-age pregnancies which then increases the demand for abortions.

Death of a Conscience Clause, Talk To Action, May 2, 2006

Committee OKs Ban on Most Abortions , The Times-Picayune, April 2006:

Bill is expected on Senate floor next week.

    Senate Bill 33 by Sen. Ben Nevers, D-Bogalusa, cleared the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare after the provision was added. The bill would allow abortions only to save the life of the mother. But Sen. Diana Bajoie, D-New Orleans, said she wanted to "make it more pro-life" by not allowing any exceptions.

Bucking Big Tony, Talk To Action, April 18, 2006 -- A good analysis and map showing where states stand on the abortion issue

The Abortion-Rights Side Invokes God, Too, New York Times, April 3, 2006

Contraception in the Crosshairs, In These Times, March 29, 2006

The battle to ban birth control, Talk to Action, March 20, 2006

From the Kansas City Star, March 16, 2006:

The Missouri House voted Wednesday to ban state funding of contraceptives for low-income women and to prohibit state-funded programs from referring those women to other programs.

A Warning From South Dakota, New York Times, March 12, 2006

Southern Baptists and the Subjugation of Women, Talk To Action, March 8, 2006:

.... when the Convention met at Kansas City in 1984. They passed a resolution affirming a hierarchical chain of command characterized as "God's delegated order of authority (God the head of Christ, Christ the head of man, man the head of woman, . . .)." The resolution went on to say that women must be excluded from pastoral leadership "to preserve a submission God requires because the man was first in creation and the woman was first in the Edenic fall."

South Dakota Bans Abortion, Setting Up a Battle, New York Times, March 7, 2006

Battle Brews as South Dakota Abortion Law Nears, Reuters, March 3, 2006

When Politics Defeats Science, Washington Post, March 1, 2006 -- The former FDA official asks: When did adult access to contraception become so controversial?

Plan B Battles Embroil States, Washington Post, February 27, 2006

Two Courts Reject Ban on Abortion Procedure, Los Angeles Times, February 23, 2006

S.D. Legislature Clears Abortion Bill to Challenge 'Roe' Washington Post, February 25, 2006

Sizing Up the Opposing Armies in the Coming Abortion Battle, New York Times, February, 26, 2006

Partial Birth Abortion Act Ruled Unconstitutional by U.S. Courts, New York Times, February 1, 2006

Roe Anniversary: Networking to Take Our Rights, Talk To Action, January 21, 2006

Supreme Court Steers Clear of First Abortion Case in 5 Years, New York Times, January 18, 2006

NYT gets it wrong on "crisis pregnancy centers", Talk To Action, January 17, 2006

Can Tax Tithes Sanctify the Odor of Mendacity?, Talk To Action, January 17, 2006

Race Baiting in Religious Right Anti-Abortion Movement, Talk To Action, January 6, 2006

De-Funding the 'Contraceptive Mentality', Talk To Action, January 3, 2006

Enemy is Us: Evangelical Women and Abortion, Talk To Action, December 31, 2005

Protecting Minors, Important TV show aired on PBS' NOW, December 23, 2005:

A court battle is in process over Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline's interpretation of his state's statutory rape law. Kline wants to mandate reporting of any sexual activity of people under the age of 16 and has also subpoenaed medical records of abortion patients on the grounds that this will help him enforce the law and protect children from sexual predators. Critics of the moves charge that the strategy may deter youth from seeking advice about sexual matters, and that Kline's initiatives violate medical privacy rights.

Fear Of The Pill, TomPaine.com, December 15, 2005

Bush in Kenya: Killing Them Softly, Talk To Action, November 29, 2005

The Mainstreaming of Patriarchy, Talk To Action, November 23, 2005

Review of 'Plan B' Pill Is Faulted, Washington Post, November 15, 2005

Mr. Bush, This Is Pro-Life?, Nicolas Kristof, New York Times, October 23, 2005

Decision on Plan B Called Very Unusual, Washington Post, October 12, 2005

Feminists in the Nursery, The Progressive, October 19, 2005

Assisted-reproduction bill would bar singles, gays, Associated Press, October 5, 2005

UN Agency Regrets as 'Disheartening' US Withholding of Funds over Abortion, UN News Center, September 16, 2005

FDA Official Quits over Plan B Pill Delay, Associated Press, September 1, 2005

Why Women Matter, Salon, August 31, 2005

Bush accused of Aids damage to Africa, UK Guardian, August 30, 2005

At 3 p.m., when Congress was out of town and millions of Americans (and more than a few journalists) were headed for the beach or the mountains... Washington Post, August 30, 2005 (on FDA's announcement about morning after pill)

Law Could Mean Death Penalty for Doctors, The Associated Press, August 29, 2005

Bush Abandons Iraqi Women, TomPaine, August 26, 2005

Access to Abortion Pared at State Level, Washington Post, August 29, 2005

Morning-After Pill: Politics and the F.D.A. New York Times, August 28, 2005

An obscure paragraph at the end of a New York Times article (9/20/10) indicates that the Bush adminstration is supporting Shiite efforts in Iraq to bring women under Islamic Law:

Iraqi leaders said they had also reached a tentative agreement to relegate marriage and family matters to adjudication by clerics, an arrangement opposed by secular leaders and women's groups here, Iraqi leaders said.

The tentative agreements on Islam were brokered by the American ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, according to a Kurdish negotiator who spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing the delicacy of the talks. The Kurdish leader said that in both cases, Mr. Khalilzad had sided with Shiite leaders in backing a more expansive role for Islam. That, the Kurd said, angered many of the secular-minded Iraqis who have been fighting for a stricter separation between Islam and the state.

According to the Kurdish leader, the secular Iraqis had pushed for language that would have narrowed the circumstances under which legislation would be deemed to be in conflict with Islam. And, according to the Kurd, the secular Iraqis had wanted marriage and family disputes to be adjudicated by civil courts, not by clerics.

"Your American ambassador is giving an Islamic character to the state," the Kurdish leader said. "You spent all this money and all this blood to bring an Islamic republic here."

"We are very worried," he said.

The Kept In The Dark Act, TomPaine.com, June 22, 2005

Dr. Hager's Family Values, The Nation, May 20, 2005

Planned Parenthood Is Told to Show Children's Files, New York Times, June 1, 2005

Below is a sampling of anti-women legislation coming from a Congress dominated by the Religious Right and supported by the Bush Administration.

Expendable Women, New York Times editorial, July 5, 2004:

One of the uglier aspects of the Bush administration's assault on women's reproductive rights is its concerted undermining of the United Nations Population Fund based on the false accusation that it supports coerced abortions in China.

The fund supports programs in some 141 countries to advance poor women's reproductive health, reduce infant mortality, end the sexual trafficking of women and prevent the spread of H.I.V. and AIDS. Yet under pressure from conservative religious groups, the administration is expected to withhold the $34 million that Congress appropriated this year for these vital efforts, much as President Bush blocked the $34 million Congress approved in 2002 and last year's $25 million allocation.

War Against Women, New York Times Editorial, January 12, 2003:

"Most Americans would be shocked at the lengths American representatives are going to in their international war against women's right to control their bodies."

GEORGIA: GOVERNOR SIGNS ABORTION BILL, New York Times National Briefing, May 11, 2005

Bankruptcy reform hits women hard, Christian Science Monitor, April 4, 2005

Moral Judgments on Birth Control Endangering Women's Lives, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer April 5, 2005

Doctors Are Warned on Fetus Care, Washington Post, April 23, 2005

U.S. Judge Strikes Down State's Abortion Law, Los Angeles Times, June 2, 2005

Governor Signs Limits on Abortion; 350 Protest, Los Angeles Times, June 6, 2005

Pregnancy Centers Found to Give False Information on Abortion, Washington Post, July 18, 2006