A Mother's Choice
"A Mother’s Choice strives to inform and raise awareness of the socio-economic issues surrounding abortion, as well as, provide understanding of the challenges faced by women as mothers."
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Prematurity 'affects personality'
BBC NEWS
"Being born very premature can affect a child's personality into adulthood, a study has suggested."
"Being born very premature can affect a child's personality into adulthood, a study has suggested."
Friday, March 24, 2006
What predicts traditional attitudes to marriage? (Abstract)
Children & Society
"This study, using data from 5,689 cohort members of the National Child Development Study, explores the impact of both structure of parenting family and contextual factors on attitudes towards marriage at age 33. Traditional attitudes to marriage were positively related to religiosity and negatively related to high non-verbal skills in childhood and smoking or drinking in adulthood but were unrelated to the structure or background of parental family. The results also yielded some very interesting gender differences. For example, the presence of partner at age 33 significantly predicted traditional attitudes to marriage in women but not in men. In men, by contrast, it was the presence of children at age 33, the absence of qualifications and current low socio-economic status that were associated with traditional attitudes to marriage. The implications of these findings on future family change are discussed. "
"This study, using data from 5,689 cohort members of the National Child Development Study, explores the impact of both structure of parenting family and contextual factors on attitudes towards marriage at age 33. Traditional attitudes to marriage were positively related to religiosity and negatively related to high non-verbal skills in childhood and smoking or drinking in adulthood but were unrelated to the structure or background of parental family. The results also yielded some very interesting gender differences. For example, the presence of partner at age 33 significantly predicted traditional attitudes to marriage in women but not in men. In men, by contrast, it was the presence of children at age 33, the absence of qualifications and current low socio-economic status that were associated with traditional attitudes to marriage. The implications of these findings on future family change are discussed. "
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Risk Factors and Life Processes Associated with Teenage Pregnancy: Results of a Prospective Study From Birth to 20 Years
Journal of Marriage and Family
Lianne Woodward, David M. Fergusson, and L. John Horwood
Data gathered over the course of a 20-year longitudinal study of 533 New Zealand women were used to (a) describe the extent and timing of pregnancies within the cohort up to age 20, and (b) examine the extent to which the risk of an early pregnancy was related to a range of social background, family, individual, and peer relationship factors measured over the course of childhood and adolescence. Results showed that by age 20, nearly a quarter of the sample had been pregnant at least once, with the majority of first pregnancies occurring between the ages of 17 and 20 years. The profile of those at greatest risk of a teenage pregnancy (<20 years) was that of an early-maturing girl with conduct problems who had been reared in a family environment characterized by parental instability and maternal role models of young single motherhood. As young adolescents, these girls were characterized by high rates of sexual risk-taking and deviant peer involvement. Exposure to social and individual adversity during both childhood and adolescence made independent contributions to an individual's risk of an early pregnancy. These findings were most consistent with a life course developmental model of the etiology of teenage pregnancy. Implications for teenage pregnancy prevention are discussed."
Maternal Age and Educational and Psychosocial Outcomes in Early Adulthood
J Child Psychol & Psychiat
"The relationships between maternal age (at birth) and educational and psychosocial outcomes at age 18 were examined in a birth cohort of 1025 New Zealand children. This analysis indicated the presence of consistent tendencies for increasing maternal age to be associated with declining risks of educational underachievement, juvenile crime, substance misuse, and mental health problems. Children with teenage mothers had risks of later adverse outcomes that were 1.5 to 8.9 times higher than the risks for offspring of mothers aged over 30. Subsequent analyses revealed that the associations between maternal age and later educational and psychosocial outcomes were largely, but not wholly, explained by associations between maternal age and the child-rearing practices and home environments experienced by children. In general, increasing maternal age tended to be associated with more nurturant, supportive, and stable home environments. In turn, these linkages between maternal and childhood environment explained most of the association between maternal age and later outcomes. The theoretical and applied implications of these results are considered."
"The relationships between maternal age (at birth) and educational and psychosocial outcomes at age 18 were examined in a birth cohort of 1025 New Zealand children. This analysis indicated the presence of consistent tendencies for increasing maternal age to be associated with declining risks of educational underachievement, juvenile crime, substance misuse, and mental health problems. Children with teenage mothers had risks of later adverse outcomes that were 1.5 to 8.9 times higher than the risks for offspring of mothers aged over 30. Subsequent analyses revealed that the associations between maternal age and later educational and psychosocial outcomes were largely, but not wholly, explained by associations between maternal age and the child-rearing practices and home environments experienced by children. In general, increasing maternal age tended to be associated with more nurturant, supportive, and stable home environments. In turn, these linkages between maternal and childhood environment explained most of the association between maternal age and later outcomes. The theoretical and applied implications of these results are considered."
Saturday, March 18, 2006
future of children
Articles
"As Nobel laureate James Heckman notes, evaluations of social programs targeted at children from disadvantaged families suggest that it is easier to change cognition and behavior in early childhood than in adolescence.4"
"As Nobel laureate James Heckman notes, evaluations of social programs targeted at children from disadvantaged families suggest that it is easier to change cognition and behavior in early childhood than in adolescence.4"
Friday, March 17, 2006
Deaths associated with abortion compared to childbirth: a review of new and old data and the medical and legal implications
The Journal of Contemporary Health Law & Policy 2004
Reardon DC, Strahan TW, Thorp JM, Shuping MW
Methods for identifying pregnancy-associated deaths: population-based data from Finland 1987–2000
Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol
To find maternal and pregnancy-related deaths, it is important that all pregnancy-associated deaths are identified. This article examines the effect of data linkages between national health care registers and complete death certificate data on pregnancy-associated deaths. All deaths among women of reproductive age (15–49 years) in Finland during the period 1987–2000 (n = 15 823) were identified from the Cause-of-Death Register and linked to the Medical Birth Register (n = 865 988 births), the Register on Induced Abortions (n = 156 789 induced abortions), and the Hospital Discharge Register (n = 118 490 spontaneous abortions) to determine whether women had been pregnant within 1 year before death. The death certificates of the 419 women thus identified were reviewed to find whether the pregnancy or its termination was coded or mentioned. In total, 405 deaths (96.7%) were identified in registers other than the Cause-of-Death Register. Without data linkages, 73% of all pregnancy-associated deaths would have been missed; the percentage after induced and spontaneous abortions was even higher. Data linkages to national health care registers provide better information on maternal deaths and pregnancy-associated deaths than death certificates alone. If possible, pregnancies not ending in a live birth should be included in the data linkages.
To find maternal and pregnancy-related deaths, it is important that all pregnancy-associated deaths are identified. This article examines the effect of data linkages between national health care registers and complete death certificate data on pregnancy-associated deaths. All deaths among women of reproductive age (15–49 years) in Finland during the period 1987–2000 (n = 15 823) were identified from the Cause-of-Death Register and linked to the Medical Birth Register (n = 865 988 births), the Register on Induced Abortions (n = 156 789 induced abortions), and the Hospital Discharge Register (n = 118 490 spontaneous abortions) to determine whether women had been pregnant within 1 year before death. The death certificates of the 419 women thus identified were reviewed to find whether the pregnancy or its termination was coded or mentioned. In total, 405 deaths (96.7%) were identified in registers other than the Cause-of-Death Register. Without data linkages, 73% of all pregnancy-associated deaths would have been missed; the percentage after induced and spontaneous abortions was even higher. Data linkages to national health care registers provide better information on maternal deaths and pregnancy-associated deaths than death certificates alone. If possible, pregnancies not ending in a live birth should be included in the data linkages.
Monday, March 06, 2006
Scant Drop Seen in Abortion Rate if Parents Are Told
New York Times
For all the passions they generate, laws that require minors to notify their parents or get permission to have an abortion do not appear to have produced the sharp drop in teenage abortion rates that some advocates hoped for, an analysis by The New York Times shows.
....
For all the passions they generate, laws that require minors to notify their parents or get permission to have an abortion do not appear to have produced the sharp drop in teenage abortion rates that some advocates hoped for, an analysis by The New York Times shows.
....
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Abortion foes split on tactics
csmonitor.com: "WASHINGTON - South Dakota has reignited the battle over abortion - and not just the usual one between opposing camps. A long-simmering debate has also heated up within the antiabortion movement.
Here's the question: Is it smarter to try to undo the nationwide legal right to abortion with one sweeping law - a 'full-frontal attack' - or via a series of smaller laws that chip away at abortion rights and severely restrict access?
The easy passage last week by the South Dakota legislature of a bill banning nearly all abortions in the state has moved the question to center stage. The bill contains no exceptions for rape or incest; it allows abortion only when it is deemed necessary to save the life of the pregnant woman. Backers of the bill across the country are urging the governor to sign it, thus sending it on a legal journey they hope will eventually reach the US Supreme Court.
But that gambit could backfire, setting back efforts to overturn the 1973 ruling, Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in all 50 states. Currently, the majority of sitting justices are on the record favoring Roe. And there is no guarantee that the two new justices, John Roberts and Samuel Alito, would look favorably upon a petition to reconsider Roe so soon after joining the court, or even in a few years.
'The only thing that asking for too much, too soon, produces is a further reaffirmation of Casey and Roe,' says legal historian David Garrow, referring to a 1992 high-court case that reinforced the core holding of Roe. 'As we heard countless times from Alito and Roberts at their [confirmation] hearings, every time a precedent is reendorsed, it is further strengthened.'
...
Here's the question: Is it smarter to try to undo the nationwide legal right to abortion with one sweeping law - a 'full-frontal attack' - or via a series of smaller laws that chip away at abortion rights and severely restrict access?
The easy passage last week by the South Dakota legislature of a bill banning nearly all abortions in the state has moved the question to center stage. The bill contains no exceptions for rape or incest; it allows abortion only when it is deemed necessary to save the life of the pregnant woman. Backers of the bill across the country are urging the governor to sign it, thus sending it on a legal journey they hope will eventually reach the US Supreme Court.
But that gambit could backfire, setting back efforts to overturn the 1973 ruling, Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in all 50 states. Currently, the majority of sitting justices are on the record favoring Roe. And there is no guarantee that the two new justices, John Roberts and Samuel Alito, would look favorably upon a petition to reconsider Roe so soon after joining the court, or even in a few years.
'The only thing that asking for too much, too soon, produces is a further reaffirmation of Casey and Roe,' says legal historian David Garrow, referring to a 1992 high-court case that reinforced the core holding of Roe. 'As we heard countless times from Alito and Roberts at their [confirmation] hearings, every time a precedent is reendorsed, it is further strengthened.'
...
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
A scorecard on curtailing unwanted pregnancy
csmonitor.com
WASHINGTON - Behind the ever-boiling battle over abortion in America sits a quieter but still central issue: access to contraception. And the news there may be surprising.
In a report released Tuesday, the New York-based Guttmacher Institute ranked all 50 states in their efforts to reduce unintended pregnancy and found a diverse collection of states at the top. California ranked first and New York ranked fifth, a result that may seem predictable, given both states' liberal orientations toward social issues. But between them in the highest rankings sit three conservative states - Alaska, South Carolina, and Alabama.
The reason, says the report's author, is that these states are acutely aware of the relationship between unintended pregnancy and dependence on welfare, and they see the economic and social benefit in helping women avoid unintended pregnancy. In turn, that helps women avoid the abortion question altogether.
"What you see in these results is that helping women avoid unintended pregnancy is not just a blue-state issue," says author Cynthia Dailard, a policy analyst at Guttmacher. The institute was at one time affiliated with Planned Parenthood, but is no longer.
"Alaska, Alabama, and South Carolina scored very high, even though we think of them as having an anti-abortion environment," says Ms. Dailard. "But they've really stepped up to the plate in terms of making family-planning services available, particularly to low-income women."
All 50 states and the District of Columbia were rated on three criteria: service availability, laws and policies, and public funding.
..
WASHINGTON - Behind the ever-boiling battle over abortion in America sits a quieter but still central issue: access to contraception. And the news there may be surprising.
In a report released Tuesday, the New York-based Guttmacher Institute ranked all 50 states in their efforts to reduce unintended pregnancy and found a diverse collection of states at the top. California ranked first and New York ranked fifth, a result that may seem predictable, given both states' liberal orientations toward social issues. But between them in the highest rankings sit three conservative states - Alaska, South Carolina, and Alabama.
The reason, says the report's author, is that these states are acutely aware of the relationship between unintended pregnancy and dependence on welfare, and they see the economic and social benefit in helping women avoid unintended pregnancy. In turn, that helps women avoid the abortion question altogether.
"What you see in these results is that helping women avoid unintended pregnancy is not just a blue-state issue," says author Cynthia Dailard, a policy analyst at Guttmacher. The institute was at one time affiliated with Planned Parenthood, but is no longer.
"Alaska, Alabama, and South Carolina scored very high, even though we think of them as having an anti-abortion environment," says Ms. Dailard. "But they've really stepped up to the plate in terms of making family-planning services available, particularly to low-income women."
All 50 states and the District of Columbia were rated on three criteria: service availability, laws and policies, and public funding.
..
Thursday, February 23, 2006
South Dakota Senate OKs Bill to Outlaw Abortion
Los Angeles Times
"PIERRE, S.D. — Legislation meant to prompt a national legal battle targeting Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion nationwide, was approved Wednesday by the South Dakota Senate, moving the bill a step closer to final passage.
The measure, which would ban nearly all abortions in the state, now returns to the House, which passed a different version earlier. The House must decide whether to accept changes made by the Senate, which passed its version 23-12. "
...
"PIERRE, S.D. — Legislation meant to prompt a national legal battle targeting Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion nationwide, was approved Wednesday by the South Dakota Senate, moving the bill a step closer to final passage.
The measure, which would ban nearly all abortions in the state, now returns to the House, which passed a different version earlier. The House must decide whether to accept changes made by the Senate, which passed its version 23-12. "
...
Sunday, February 19, 2006
American Psychological Association Criticized for Pro-Abortion Position
LifeNews.com
by Steven Ertelt
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The American Psychological Association is coming under fire for continuing its long-standing position in favor of abortion despite new studies showing abortion causes a host of psychological and emotional problems for women.
The APA adopted a pro-abortion position in 1969, but it was not based on any research showing abortion to be psychologically beneficial for women.
Dr. David Reardon of the Illinois-based Elliot Institute, which examines the effects abortion has on women, says the organization should re-evaluate its position in light of a new study linking abortion to mental illness.
New Zealand researchers tracked 25 years of worth of data on women drawn from one of the largest and most comprehensive longitudinal studies in the world. Led by Prof. David M. Fergusson, who backs legal abortion, the team expected their study to refute others linking abortion to higher rates of mental health problems.
Instead, the team found abortion was clearly linked to elevated rates of depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and suicidal behavior.
Reardon says the findings so surprised Fergusson's team that they began reviewing studies cited by the APA in its claims that abortion is beneficial, or at least non-harmful, to women's mental health.
They found that the APA's claims were based on a small number of studies that had severe shortcomings and that the organization is ignoring a number of newer studies showing abortion adversely affects women.
The criticism of the APA has led psychologist and newspaper columnist Warren Throckmorton, in a Washington Times column, to call on the APA to address Fergusson's criticisms. According to Reardon, he was referred to Nancy Felipe Russo, a researcher who speaks for the APA on women's issues.
However, Russo, professor in psychology at Arizona State University, is an abortion advocate who tries to use her position in APA to refute pro-life assertions that abortions hurt women.
Russo participated with an APA group in February 2003 in putting together a web site designed to "correct inaccurate information about" abortion put out by pro-life groups.
Russo and two psychology professors co-chaired the panel charged with creating the web site.
In an interview with the APA's news publication, Russo discounted assertions by pro-life researchers that women who have abortions can suffer from post-abortion syndrome.
"Anti-abortion advocates allege that post-abortion syndrome is a type of post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD], though no scientific basis exists for applying a PTSD framework to understanding women's emotional responses to a voluntarily obtained legal abortion," Russo claimed.
When Throckmorton asked Russo to comment on the New Zealand study and the APA criticisms, she indicated the group developed its position on abortion based on ideological and not scientific reasons.
She told Throckmorton the study would not alter APA's pro-abortion position because "to pro-choice advocates, mental health effects are not relevant to the legal context of arguments to restrict access to abortion."
Throckmorton sent a rough draft of his article to Dr. Reardon for comment and Russo was quoted more bluntly saying "it doesn't matter what the evidence says." Reardon says that comment was stricken before the Times article was published.
According to Reardon, an author of several of the studies on abortion that have been ignored by the APA, Russo's statements "confirm the complaint of critics that the APA's briefs to the Supreme Court and state legislatures are really about promoting a view about civil rights, not science."
"Toward this end, the APA has set up task forces and divisions that include only psychologists who share the same bias in favor of abortion," he explained.
Reardon believes the APA's task forces on abortion have actually served to stifle rather than encourage research.
"When researchers like Fergusson or myself publish data showing abortion is linked to mental health problems, members of the APA's abortion policy police rush forward to tell the public to ignore our findings because they are completely out of line with their own 'consensus' statements which are positioned as the APA's official interpretation of the meaningful research on abortion," he said.
by Steven Ertelt
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The American Psychological Association is coming under fire for continuing its long-standing position in favor of abortion despite new studies showing abortion causes a host of psychological and emotional problems for women.
The APA adopted a pro-abortion position in 1969, but it was not based on any research showing abortion to be psychologically beneficial for women.
Dr. David Reardon of the Illinois-based Elliot Institute, which examines the effects abortion has on women, says the organization should re-evaluate its position in light of a new study linking abortion to mental illness.
New Zealand researchers tracked 25 years of worth of data on women drawn from one of the largest and most comprehensive longitudinal studies in the world. Led by Prof. David M. Fergusson, who backs legal abortion, the team expected their study to refute others linking abortion to higher rates of mental health problems.
Instead, the team found abortion was clearly linked to elevated rates of depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and suicidal behavior.
Reardon says the findings so surprised Fergusson's team that they began reviewing studies cited by the APA in its claims that abortion is beneficial, or at least non-harmful, to women's mental health.
They found that the APA's claims were based on a small number of studies that had severe shortcomings and that the organization is ignoring a number of newer studies showing abortion adversely affects women.
The criticism of the APA has led psychologist and newspaper columnist Warren Throckmorton, in a Washington Times column, to call on the APA to address Fergusson's criticisms. According to Reardon, he was referred to Nancy Felipe Russo, a researcher who speaks for the APA on women's issues.
However, Russo, professor in psychology at Arizona State University, is an abortion advocate who tries to use her position in APA to refute pro-life assertions that abortions hurt women.
Russo participated with an APA group in February 2003 in putting together a web site designed to "correct inaccurate information about" abortion put out by pro-life groups.
Russo and two psychology professors co-chaired the panel charged with creating the web site.
In an interview with the APA's news publication, Russo discounted assertions by pro-life researchers that women who have abortions can suffer from post-abortion syndrome.
"Anti-abortion advocates allege that post-abortion syndrome is a type of post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD], though no scientific basis exists for applying a PTSD framework to understanding women's emotional responses to a voluntarily obtained legal abortion," Russo claimed.
When Throckmorton asked Russo to comment on the New Zealand study and the APA criticisms, she indicated the group developed its position on abortion based on ideological and not scientific reasons.
She told Throckmorton the study would not alter APA's pro-abortion position because "to pro-choice advocates, mental health effects are not relevant to the legal context of arguments to restrict access to abortion."
Throckmorton sent a rough draft of his article to Dr. Reardon for comment and Russo was quoted more bluntly saying "it doesn't matter what the evidence says." Reardon says that comment was stricken before the Times article was published.
According to Reardon, an author of several of the studies on abortion that have been ignored by the APA, Russo's statements "confirm the complaint of critics that the APA's briefs to the Supreme Court and state legislatures are really about promoting a view about civil rights, not science."
"Toward this end, the APA has set up task forces and divisions that include only psychologists who share the same bias in favor of abortion," he explained.
Reardon believes the APA's task forces on abortion have actually served to stifle rather than encourage research.
"When researchers like Fergusson or myself publish data showing abortion is linked to mental health problems, members of the APA's abortion policy police rush forward to tell the public to ignore our findings because they are completely out of line with their own 'consensus' statements which are positioned as the APA's official interpretation of the meaningful research on abortion," he said.
Friday, February 03, 2006
Appeals courts: Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act unconstitutional
Newsday.com
"The appeals courts said the measure lacks an exception for cases that threaten a woman's health. "
...
"The appeals courts said the measure lacks an exception for cases that threaten a woman's health. "
...
Democratic '95-10 Initiative' seeks to reduce U.S. abortion rate
National Catholic Reporter
"The message delivered by the estimated 100,000-plus antiabortion protesters who gathered here Jan. 23 for the 33rd annual “March for Life” was clear: Overturn Roe v. Wade.
“By changing laws we can change our culture,” President Bush, speaking by telephone hookup from Kansas, told the marchers. “This is a cause that appeals to the conscience of our citizens, and is rooted in America’s deepest principles – and history tells us that with such a cause, we will prevail,” said Bush.
The marchers gathered the day before the full Senate took up the nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. And though the replacement of swing-vote justice Sandra Day O’Connor with Bush-nominee Alito would leave the court with a 5-4 pro-Roe majority, even if the new justice was inclined to overturn the 1973 decision (a pledge he refused to make at his Senate confirmation hearings), his accession to the high court presents the pro-life forces with an opportunity.
Kristen Day, a former Congressional chief of staff who now heads Democrats for Life, was among the antiabortion marchers. She, too, would like to see Roe reversed, but her short-term goals are focused on another opportunity. Working with pro-life Democrats in both the House and Senate, Democrats for Life is spearheading an ambitious initiative that avoids discussion of Roe as it seeks a 95 percent reduction in the abortion rate over the next decade."
...
Bipartisan answers
The Phoenix Online
"This past week in The New York Times science section, I found an interesting confirmation of a partially-formed idea in the back of my mind: “Liberals and conservatives can become equally bug-eyed and irrational when talking politics, especially when they are on the defensive…. The process [of digesting criticisms about one’s candidate] is almost entirely emotional and unconscious, the researchers report, and there are flares of activity in the brain’s pleasure centers when unwelcome information is being rejected.” It appears that try as we might to remain purely reasonable in politics and debate, we are working against a natural inclination to which we succumb more often than we notice. Our passions sway us and can blind us to the other side of the argument.
I first experienced this phenomenon with the ever-touchy issue of abortion. I remember my mother describing what happens to a fetus during an abortion, and the image infuriates me to this day. I was then and remain staunchly against abortion. For many years, I could not understand how sane, ethical human beings could think otherwise. In high school, though, I encountered a girl who had just finished some reading for a class she had that was discussing abortion. She had seen a picture of the victim of a botched back-alley abortion, and the image she saw angered her as much as the one I had heard from my mother angered me. Since then, I have come to realize that that though I still oppose it strongly, abortion is not as black and white as I once thought it to be."
...
"This past week in The New York Times science section, I found an interesting confirmation of a partially-formed idea in the back of my mind: “Liberals and conservatives can become equally bug-eyed and irrational when talking politics, especially when they are on the defensive…. The process [of digesting criticisms about one’s candidate] is almost entirely emotional and unconscious, the researchers report, and there are flares of activity in the brain’s pleasure centers when unwelcome information is being rejected.” It appears that try as we might to remain purely reasonable in politics and debate, we are working against a natural inclination to which we succumb more often than we notice. Our passions sway us and can blind us to the other side of the argument.
I first experienced this phenomenon with the ever-touchy issue of abortion. I remember my mother describing what happens to a fetus during an abortion, and the image infuriates me to this day. I was then and remain staunchly against abortion. For many years, I could not understand how sane, ethical human beings could think otherwise. In high school, though, I encountered a girl who had just finished some reading for a class she had that was discussing abortion. She had seen a picture of the victim of a botched back-alley abortion, and the image she saw angered her as much as the one I had heard from my mother angered me. Since then, I have come to realize that that though I still oppose it strongly, abortion is not as black and white as I once thought it to be."
...
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Bio Frederica Mathewes-Green
ambassadoragency.com
Frederica Mathewes-Green's
Biography:
"Few people are welcome in as many different settings as Frederica Mathewes-Green. You might find her giving a speech at Harvard, then appearing at a pregnancy center banquet. She may speak about prayer at the Smithsonian Institution, keynote a national conference, and then lead a women's retreat. Colleges have made Frederica a regular at 'Art and Writing' conferences.
She's at home in many media. You've probably heard her commentaries on National Public Radio, talking about the pro-life issue, talking about her faith. She's been interviewed on TV from 'PrimeTime Live' to PBS, CNN, Fox, and most major news shows; by the New York Times, the Washington Post, and most major newspapers; and by Diane Rehm, Janet Parshall, and many national radio shows.
Her work as a writer is just as diverse. Frederica reviews several films each month, and also replies to readers' questions in a 'theological advice column' for the Christian Reader. A regular contributor to Christianity Today, First Things and other magazines, she has been repeatedly selected for the annual 'Best Christian Writing.' The multi-faith web magazine Beliefnet.com regularly invites her to present the classic Christian perspective, and her opinion pieces are featured at National Review Online.
And we haven't even started on her books yet. "
...
Frederica Mathewes-Green's
Biography:
"Few people are welcome in as many different settings as Frederica Mathewes-Green. You might find her giving a speech at Harvard, then appearing at a pregnancy center banquet. She may speak about prayer at the Smithsonian Institution, keynote a national conference, and then lead a women's retreat. Colleges have made Frederica a regular at 'Art and Writing' conferences.
She's at home in many media. You've probably heard her commentaries on National Public Radio, talking about the pro-life issue, talking about her faith. She's been interviewed on TV from 'PrimeTime Live' to PBS, CNN, Fox, and most major news shows; by the New York Times, the Washington Post, and most major newspapers; and by Diane Rehm, Janet Parshall, and many national radio shows.
Her work as a writer is just as diverse. Frederica reviews several films each month, and also replies to readers' questions in a 'theological advice column' for the Christian Reader. A regular contributor to Christianity Today, First Things and other magazines, she has been repeatedly selected for the annual 'Best Christian Writing.' The multi-faith web magazine Beliefnet.com regularly invites her to present the classic Christian perspective, and her opinion pieces are featured at National Review Online.
And we haven't even started on her books yet. "
...
Griego: Ritter's abortion stance may signal future
Rocky Mountain News: Columnists
"Access to health care. More education. Greater availability of contraceptives. More money for family planning. Equals fewer abortions. It's common sense. Which means it'll never happen, says a pro-choice Republican friend of mine who's fed up with the Christian fundamentalist hijacking of his party. Each side refuses to give ground when both, ostensibly, want the same thing: fewer abortions.
I don't know if Ritter could lead the Democratic Party toward common ground. I think he is still wrestling with his own conflicts. But, clearly, common ground is one of his goals. At the very least, I hope he borrows one of Saletan's best lines: 'My opponent and I are both pro-life. We want to avoid as many abortions as we can. The difference is, I trust women to work with me toward that objective and he doesn't.'
One final thought about dodging moral issues: What minds religion cannot sway, science will. Technology has already given us the ability to peer into the womb at earlier stages of pregnancy and with greater clarity.
In 1998, when I was pregnant with my daughter, an ultrasound technician rubbed jelly on my belly and ran the probe over it and I turned to the screen to see - a satellite weather photo. In 2001, when I was pregnant with my son and after a suspicious blood screening, I had an ultrasound a few weeks earlier than what is typical. I turned to look. This time I saw a hand, a foot, the flutter of a heart, beating."
"Access to health care. More education. Greater availability of contraceptives. More money for family planning. Equals fewer abortions. It's common sense. Which means it'll never happen, says a pro-choice Republican friend of mine who's fed up with the Christian fundamentalist hijacking of his party. Each side refuses to give ground when both, ostensibly, want the same thing: fewer abortions.
I don't know if Ritter could lead the Democratic Party toward common ground. I think he is still wrestling with his own conflicts. But, clearly, common ground is one of his goals. At the very least, I hope he borrows one of Saletan's best lines: 'My opponent and I are both pro-life. We want to avoid as many abortions as we can. The difference is, I trust women to work with me toward that objective and he doesn't.'
One final thought about dodging moral issues: What minds religion cannot sway, science will. Technology has already given us the ability to peer into the womb at earlier stages of pregnancy and with greater clarity.
In 1998, when I was pregnant with my daughter, an ultrasound technician rubbed jelly on my belly and ran the probe over it and I turned to the screen to see - a satellite weather photo. In 2001, when I was pregnant with my son and after a suspicious blood screening, I had an ultrasound a few weeks earlier than what is typical. I turned to look. This time I saw a hand, a foot, the flutter of a heart, beating."
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