Birth control and the way out of poverty

Yesterday’s New York Times carried this story about businesswoman and philanthropist Melinda Gates and her campaign to get contraceptives into developing countries. From the conversation: If you allow a woman — if you counsel her so it’s truly voluntary — to have a contraceptive tool and she can space those births, it unlocks the cycle …

Can we keep politics out of health care?

Yeah. I didn’t think so. But I wrote this for CT Health Investigative Team, anyway.

Since the vote to defund Planned Parenthood last night, we should talk:

The vote didn’t advance in the Senate, but you can read more here, (and see this in bigger print) at Kaiser Family Foundation.

Pope: Catholics don’t have to “breed like rabbits”

With a dateline “ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE,” the Associated Press reported yesterday that: …it’s not true that to be a good Catholic “you have to be like rabbits.” On the contrary, he said “responsible parenthood” requires that couples regulate the births of their children, as church teaching allows. He cited the case of a woman …

Well? Would YOU go?

The Catholic bishop who sued the Obama administration over providing contraceptives to their clients has invited the President to dinner. That has all the makings of some good table fellowship — or some really awkward silences. The Alfred E. Smith Foundation Dinner could be interesting this year — though it’s not considered a religious event, …

And another thing…

Oddly, the New York Times reported today that the Colorado theater shooting suspect, James E. Holmes, bought much of his arsenal online — “It was pretty much as easy as ordering a book from Amazon,” the story said. Twelve people were killed and dozens more were injured in the shooting. Holmes goes to court today. …

Remember Ol’ Rush’s whole “slut” thing?

UPS just became the latest company to pull advertising from the blowhard’s radio show. That brings the total to roughly 100. And if you need a refresher, here’s more on where Ol’ Rush put his foot in his mouth, and then swallowed, hard.

Where’s the controversy in saving lives?

You can read more here. And thanks, Cynical, for the link.

If we want to reduce the number of abortions…

…might we consider making birth control more accessible? Just a thought, as it appears the two issues are connected.

Vote for Obama and risk damnation?

This is a Catholics Called to Witness ad, and it looks pretty — oh, I don’t know — political to me, which would render the organization not worthy of their tax exempt status. If you agree, sign the petition. You can read more about the ad here and here. You can visit Catholics Called to …