Americans Shift to the Right on Abortion: Poll

President's Notre Dame speech was radical and conservative: Dionne

(NEWSER) - Abortion opponents protested and pro-life students skipped, but Barack Obama's Notre Dame commencement address was at once "the most radical and the most conservative speech of his presidency," writes Washington Post columnist EJ Dionne. The president refused to indulge the protesters' desire to "reignite the culture wars," opting for humility and compromise—but he showed a comfort with the language of faith equal to George Bush. More»

(NEWSER) - Catholics are pulling out all the stops to quash the Freedom of Choice Act, peppering Congress and the White House with postcards and letters. There’s just one problem: There is no Freedom of Choice Act. The bill has been introduced in years past, but it isn’t before Congress now, won’t be anytime soon, and wouldn’t pass if it were, Time reports. More»

Says life begins at conception, but supporters say it doesn't ban abortion

(NEWSER) - The Oklahoma Senate has passed a controversial bill that declares that life begins at the moment of conception, in a landslide 34-8 vote. The Personhood Act passed yesterday after two hours of debate. It's unclear what effect the bill will have, however; its author says it's just a statement and doesn't ban or even restrict abortion rights, birth control access, or stem cell research. He adds that anyone saying so is merely "fear mongering," the Oklahoman reports. More»

Some think it's time for a new name—but do we need it?

(NEWSER) - New Gallup polls show that most Americans don't want abortion criminalized, but they remain divided between pro-life and pro-choice advocates—and let's face it, Lynn Harris writes for Salon , the pro-lifers have the better name. "Life" is "the rhetorical rock that will always beat our scissors," writes Harris, whereas "'choice' sounds to me like what you make between baked and mashed." Is it time for a new term? More»

Omitted from inspirational version: Abortion was illegal

(NEWSER) - As the uproar over Tim Tebow’s anti-abortion Super Bowl ad rages, little attention has been paid to whether his mom Pam’s story—that she refused a recommended abortion while working as a missionary in the Philippines—is true. “One detail has so far been excluded from Tebow's public tellings of the story: Abortion was, and still is, illegal in the Philippines,” writes Tracy Clark-Flory for Salon . The law allows no exceptions, even when the mother's life is in danger. More»