Roundup: Ben Nelson is Full of Regret and Confused

Jan 8, 2010, 9:40am

Rachel Larris

Senator Ben Nelson is full of regret. He also doesn't understand why the anti-choice groups are still angry at him.

Senator Ben Nelson is full of regret. Not because of
his attacks to hijack the healthcare reform legislation with his Nelson Amendment
or because of his demands that Nebraska be given an extra $100 million in Medicaid
reimbursements, which he now says he always intended for every
state to get the same deal.

Nelson now says his vote was a
mistake.

"I
think it was a mistake to take health care on as opposed to continuing to spend
the time on the economy," he said.

…

"I
would have preferred not to be dealing with health care in the midst of
everything else, and I think working on the economy would have been a wiser
move," he said.

Yet Nelson says doesn’t understand why the
anti-choice groups are still
angry at him.

He
said he is puzzled by criticism he has taken about language banning federally
funded abortions.

"I cannot understand the level of anger and frustration aimed at me because
this language that I put together does ban (federally funded abortions). It
absolutely bans it," he said.

Perhaps this should be proof that there is no
half-way in pleasing the anti-choice crowd.

In
Other News

Sex in the City star Cynthia Nixon’s new burst of
activism isn’t limited to talking about the healthcare reform bill. She’s now
joining a campaign to end
Florida’s ban on adoption by gays and lesbians.

Cynthia Nixon, fresh off her appearance at
October’s National Equality March, is heading south to lend her support to
kickstart a campaign to overturn the worst LGBT adoption law in the entire
United States. That law? It’s in Florida, and it’s the only law in the country
that categorically prohibits adoption by gays and lesbians.

Currently the law is tied up in the state’s court
system. In 2008, a
Miami judge ruled that the law was unconstitutional, and that banning LGBT
folks from adopting was bad social policy…

That decision started the slow legal process of getting
the law overturned, which will result in years of litigation (the case is
currently in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals).

So enter the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU),
which
will feature Cynthia Nixon as it launches a three-year education campaign
to win over hearts and minds on the issue of LGBT adoption.

Meanwhile the
Australian state of New South Wales has decided not to lift their ban on
same-sex adoptions.

While gay couples can adopt in some Australian
states, the NSW Government says the issue is too complex and sensitive and it
will not be changing the law, at least for now.

A six-month parliamentary inquiry found allowing
same-sex couples to adopt would be in the best interests of children.

Bonus Item: Alternet
reports that the Washington, DC-based John Paul II
Cultural Center which is led by Catholic bishops has entered into a partnership
with one of Terry Randall of Operation Rescue’s cohorts, and only banned Randall’s
participation after Alternet’s story came to light.

January
8, 2010

Justice Antonin Scalia: Advocates
of Using Foreign Law Ignore Abortion Decisions LifeNews.com

Stop taxpayer-funded abortion
Washington Times

Southern California doctor ordered
to stop performing abortions Los Angeles
Times

Sen. Nelson seeks extra Medicaid
funding for all states, not just Nebraska Los
Angeles Times

Mass. Senate Candidates Sharpen
Differences On Abortion In Race To Succeed Kennedy Medical News Today

New York doctor works to deliver
care consistent with Catholic values The
Catholic Spirit

January
7,2010

The Maternal Health Task Force: An
Expert Interview With Ann K. Blanc, PhD Medscape

CBS Tells Parents Teens Should Wait
for Sex but Pushes Contraceptives on Teens NewsBusters

The Decade for Women: Forward,
Backward, Sideways? The Nation.

Serious about reducing abortion?
Make women see an ultrasound of the procedure. Christian Science Monitor