Volunteers are out in full force in South Dakota, obtaining signatures to put the abortion ban on the November ballot. And they are having no trouble at all getting signatures: Even in the most conservative corners of this conservative state, both Republicans and Democrats — including some voters who say they oppose abortion — are […] Continue reading →

Yesterday I helped Elisa move into her new house, and I loved every minute of it. I thrilled to see the moving van pull up and the boxes fill the corners. I took control of the kitchen, unpacking plates and pasta and spices and organizing every drawer and cabinet. Most people hate nearly every aspect […] Continue reading →

One of the main strategies of pro-life organizations is to get legislators to grant zygotes, embryos, and fetuses the same rights as people who have been born. Laci’s Law was a real coup on this front. Playing on the public’s outrage against Scott Peterson, who murdered his very pregnant wife, the Republican-controlled Congress passed a […] Continue reading →

This article characterizes Generation X parents as chasing closeness and connection with their children through shared hobbies. We’re talking video games, skateboarding, playing the guitar, watching American Idol… People who study generational differences say many Gen Xers want a closer relationship with their kids than what they experienced _ they’re less interested in climbing to […] Continue reading →

Filmmaker Rob Reiner (aka Meathead) is stumping around the state, drumming up support for Universal Preschool, as provided by Proposition 82 on the June ballot. Prop 82 would cost California $24 billion in the coming decade to send all 4-year-olds to a half-day of preschool. Reiner calls it “the single best way to fix the […] Continue reading →

You know this trend: American companies locate their call centers in India in order to take advantage of that country’s cheap, educated labor market. And I’m sure you are also aware of this trend: parents with fertility issues turning to surrogates to gestate their ebryos and birth their babies. But did you ever imagine that […] Continue reading →

Whoa–I missed this unexpected twist to the South Dakota abortion ban story. Cecilia Fire Thunder, President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation, says: “To me, it is now a question of sovereignty. I will personally establish a Planned Parenthood clinic on my own land which is within the boundaries of the […] Continue reading →

The House came up with a heinous immigration reform bill, H.R. 4437, which labels undocumented residents and the people who help them as felons. In response, protests are erupting from coast to coast, and children are playing a high-profile role in these demonstrations, as well they should. These kids have a lot to lose, particularly […] Continue reading →

A sculpture of Britney Spears, buck naked on a bearskin rug, giving birth, will appear at a gallery in Brooklyn as part of a pro-life exhibit. The gallery’s press release says that Monument to Pro-Life: The Birth of Sean Preston “celebrates the recent birth of Spears’s baby boy, Sean, and applauds her decision of placing […] Continue reading →

In a discussion on psychoactive drugs and children, reader Paida drew my attention to the ADHD writings of Thom Hartmann. One article in particular,“It’s Time to Empower Our Girls,” got my synapses snapping. Hartmann looks at the two common versions of attention deficit disorder – hyperactivity in boys and spaciness in girls – as different […] Continue reading →