In The News

It's been a surprisingly positive week in reproductive rights. The third GOP presidential debate, which aired last Wednesday, stayed far away from reproductive rights, including every Republican's favorite talking point — Planned Parenthood — sparing us viewers from more gross misinformation and offensive comparisons of abortion to slavery (thanks for that, Ben Carson). Instead, this week brought new victories for Planned Parenthood, the overturning of a potentially dangerous law in Oklahoma, and the repeal of China's most contentious — and sexist — policy.

The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear another challenge to the Affordable Care Act, this time to decide whether religiously affiliated organizations such as universities, hospitals and charities should be free from playing any role in providing employees with contraceptive coverage.

The case pits questions of religious liberty against a woman’s right to equal health care access, and it is the fourth time in five years the court will consider some aspect of what has come to be known as Obamacare.

If a Democrat wins the White House, the result could be a liberal court for decades to come, with an impact on issues such as abortion, campaign financing, political redistricting and voting rights.

Wedged between the Republican and Democratic national conventions next July will fall an event of greater long-term significance for the future of the republic: Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy's 80th birthday.

Residents of Highland Park, IL and those who shop or work there. Illinois law allows concealed carry of guns except in those places with a posted "No Gun" sign. Please take a moment to show the retailers of the community that you support the display of "no gun" signs in their shop windows. Help us make our community a safer place.

For decades, the NRA has fought every effort to get Congress and states to adopt reasonable laws that would make it much less likely for people who should not have guns to own and purchase guns. 

Although 26-year-old Christopher Harper-Mercer pulled the trigger on the gun that killed nine people at Umpqua Community College in Oregon on Thursday, Wayne LaPierre, the fanatic executive vice president of the National Rifle Association, also has blood on his hands.

The general assembly of the International Atomic Energy Agency voted on Thursday against a resolution calling for international monitoring of Israel’s nuclear facilities.

Sixty-one countries voted against the resolution, including the entire European Union, while 43 countries voted for it and 33 states abstained.

The resolution, which has been regularly presented by Arab countries, was spearheaded by Egypt at the annual plenum of the UN’s nuclear watchdog and backed by the UN’s so-called Arab Bloc.

50 years after the Voting Rights Act, a quarter of Americans are still not registered to vote. 

In July 1976, while appearing with civil-rights icon John Lewis, Jimmy Carterproposed automatically registering to vote every eligible American once they turned 18, which he said would “transform, in a beneficial way, the politics of our country.”

Now that congressional Democrats have blocked a Republican effort to kill the Iran nuclear deal, attention is shifting to what America must do to reassure Israel and its American supporters that the agreement will not harm Israel’s security.

The second GOP presidential debate took place on the eve of a new round of debate in the House over Planned Parenthood funding, and a potential government shutdown fight looms over the issue.

Most Republican 2016 hopefuls are falling all over themselves to appeal to the party’s anti-choice base and talk about how badly they want to defund Planned Parenthood. In the process, they’re making some blatantly untrue statements. 

Here are five of the most absurd comments about Planned Parenthood from the people who want to be the Republican nominee for president.

As I write this as I prepare for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Every year the holiday brings an opportunity for reflection, and this year particularly so.