The Indiana House passed a law that would require doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at hospitals, the IndyStar.com reports. The bill would also require doctors to inform a patient before the procedure that "the fetus might feel pain." "Critics argued it effectively could halt abortions in the state, because few physicians performing abortions in the state have admitting privileges at a hospital. It typically takes a doctor several months to get admitting privileges, they argued, if a hospital chooses to grant them at all." Anti-choicers argue that the bill promotes patient safety, while pro-choicers say requiring hospital admitting privileges will do nothing to promote patient safety.
Massive Gender Gap in China
Discover magazine rounds up reporting on the gender gap in China: currently, there are 32 million more boys than girls under the age of 20 in the country. "While Chinese officials have acknowledged that the country's "one-child" policy has led to a gender imbalance, the new study offers the first hard data on the extent of the disparity. The study included nearly five million people under the age of 20 and covered every county in China. It found that overall ratios of boys were high everywhere, but were most striking among the younger age group of 1-4 years, and in rural areas, where it peaked at 126 boys for every 100 girls."
Back Story Behind Vatican's Snub of Caroline Kennedy
We all know that the Vatican snubbed Caroline Kennedy as ambassador because of her pro-choice views. On Comment Is Free, Sarah Posner gives us the back story:
But the flap over Obama's appointments is more about American electoral politics than it is about church doctrine.
As "religious" voters have been increasingly portrayed as the pivotal electoral prize of presidential campaigns, in Obama's victory Catholics took front and center. Although Obama worked hard to attract white evangelicals, their movement into the Democratic column was miniscule. In comparison, a higher percentage of Catholics voted for Obama than had voted for Democrat (and Catholic) John Kerry in 2004.
Posner explains that Obama's popularity among Catholics highlights the Pope's relative lack of influence over American Catholics.
Obama a "Recruiting Drive" for Anti-Choice Movement
Politico reports that Obama's first months in office have acted as a recruiting drive for the anti-choice movement. Many of the largest anti-choice groups have seen an uptick in membership and online activism.
Obama's first 84 days in office have been like an extended recruiting drive for the anti-abortion movement, reinvigorating a constituency he sought to neutralize during the campaign. Activists report a noticeable spike in activity as Obama moves to defend and expand a woman's right to choose an abortion - causing anti-abortion voters to mobilize in ways never needed during the Bush administration...
The series of decisions started with Obama's move soon after taking office to lift federal funding restrictions on overseas family planning groups. Later, he moved to repeal Bush-era conscience protections for medical professionals. And his stem-cell decision angered groups that consider it tantamount to ending a human life, because the embryos must be destroyed to retrieve the cells.
But his personnel moves also have caused alarm. Health and Human Services nominee Kathleen Sebelius fought attempts to dial back abortion rights as Kansas governor. Obama's communications director Ellen Moran previously ran EMILY's List, which backed women candidates who supported abortion rights. Obama's pick to run the powerful Office of Legal Counsel inside the Justice Department, Dawn Johnsen, was previously legal director for the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
