The House Energy and Commerce Committee wrestling with health care last night narrowly approved one measure (“The Capps Amendment”) claiming to be neutral on abortion — but which opponents claimed was slanted toward the pro-choice side. Then they narrowly voted for a different amendment (“The Pitts Amendment”) claiming to be neutral — but which a…

Terry Mattingly makes the fascinating point that the U.S. Catholic Bishops seem to be non-players in the health care debate, if press coverage is any gauge. “Are the journalists ignoring the bishops or are the bishops (and their gatekeepers) ignoring the journalists? This is one of the biggest religion-news stories of the year, especially in…

“The new fault line is not between pro-life and pro-choice people. It’s within the pro-life community. The question now is: ‘are you pro-life and pro-contraception, therefore trying to reduce the need for abortions, or are you pro-life and against contraception and you hope that people’s lives improve just by hoping it, wishing it so.'” –Rep.…

During Republican administrations, the religious right flexed its muscle around issues like abortion and judicial appointments. As the religious left grew in importance during the election, it was unclear how they would attempt to exert their influence. It looks like the first big test is health care. They were non-existent players in 1993; this time,…

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