Power

Roundup: Trump Believes in Right to Privacy, But Doesn’t See How it Relates to Abortion

Beth Saunders

An empty women's shelter built by the U.S. military in Kyrgyzstan; three-parent IVF is a possibility; Boehner hires a DOMA attorney; and Donald Trump doesn't see the relationship between a right to privacy and abortion.

An empty women’s shelter built by the U.S. military in Kyrgyzstan; three-parent IVF is a possibility; Boehner hires a DOMA attorney; and Donald Trump doesn’t see the relationship between a right to privacy and abortion.

  • A $750,000 battered women’s shelter built by the U.S. military in Kyrgyzstan sits empty and unused. The mission for the center may have changed to be a women’s resource center, but with it sitting empty, it doesn’t really matter its purpose. The military base in the area says it has turned over operations to the local Congress of Women.
  • Treatment for women who have mitochondrial disorders that can cause severe disabilities in their children may be on the way. By removing the nucleus of a woman’s egg and placing it in a donor egg without a nucleus, scientists may be able to avoid certain genetic disorders in babies. The DNA make-up of the child would be about 99% from its mother and father, and 1% from a donor.
  • House Speaker John Boehner has selected an attorney to defend DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act, which President Obama has said the Justice Department should no longer defend. Boehner has decided the House would defend the law, and has agreed to pay Paul Clement $500,000 to do just that. Boehner has decided to ask the Justice Department to cover that bill. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s spokesperson said, “Speaker Boehner is spending half a million dollars of taxpayer money to defend discrimination. If Republicans were really interested in cutting spending, this should be at the top of the list.”
  • Donald Trump has been all over the news discussing his possible presidential run. So what does he think of abortion? He declares himself “pro-life,” but also says he believes there’s a right to privacy in the constitution. (And didn’t seem to understand what one had to do with the other.)

Apr 20

Apr 19