"Pro-life" free market fundamentalists sure do make it hard to save unborn lives... Washington Post:  "The proportion of poor women getting abortions has jumped sharply, according to a new report....There are likely a variety of reasons for the increase, but at least part of it is due to the recession pushing more women into poverty, … Continue reading Poverty and Abortion

Time: "After reappearing in late March in Beijing, a Chinese human rights lawyer has vanished once again, raising fears that he has returned to a secret detention at the hands of Chinese state security officers. It is the latest twist in the saga of Gao Zhisheng, a leading attorney who fell afoul of Chinese authorities … Continue reading Chinese Human Rights Lawyer Disappears — Again

Politico: "As chief justice, John Roberts has shown a strong pro-business tilt. On the eve of the appointment of a replacement for Justice John Paul Stevens, the stakes have never been clearer."

KY3 News: "Pro-life Missouri lawmakers are following the lead of neighboring Oklahoma, proposing stricter rules for women wanting an abortion. The bill passed the Senate and is ready for debate in the full House.  The reason that critics call it so tough is it would require several new things, including requiring every woman who wants an … Continue reading Legislators propose stricter rules for abortion seekers in MO

Richard Cohen: "He has a doctorate in the social sciences and taught briefly at the college level. He has been married three times, divorced twice and confessed to an extramarital affair. He has never worked for a profit-making organization, never served in the military and lives in one of Washington's poshest suburbs. He is the … Continue reading Newt Gingrich, provocateur in chief

Anne Applebaum: "Five days later, another committee, the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women -- a body dedicated to "gender equality and the advancement of women" -- put out a turgid news release announcing its new members. Among them will be . . . the Islamic Republic of Iran.  Which is fine, unless you … Continue reading Another human-rights irony at the U.N.

Kathleen Parker: "An unwanted pregnancy isn't any less inconvenient, but humanizing a fetus confounds the simplicity of choice. Alternatively, dehumanizing as a means of justifying an action from which we prefer to avert our eyes is a well-traveled road that history does not view charitably.  Such considerations recently have taken the form of legislation in … Continue reading In defense of the Oklahoma abortion law

E.J. Dionne: "Contrast Cameron's deliberate effort to reach out to voters who, as he has put it, have "idealism and progressive ideals hard-wired into their DNA" with what's happening in the Republican Party.  In today's GOP, someone like Cameron would be condemned as a big-government sellout and buried under a mountain of tea bags...When as … Continue reading From Britain's conservatives, lessons for the GOP

Washington Post: "U.N. officials on Saturday announced a previously unreported massacre that occurred two months ago: up to 100 people were killed when the rebel Lord's Resistance Army attacked a village."

AP: "A jury convicted a Brazilian rancher early Saturday of orchestrating the murder of U.S. nun and Amazon defender Dorothy Stang."