Roundup: Governors Downplay Responsibility, Play Up Pageantry, and Rassmussen Releases a New Abortion Poll
How much power does a governor have over the state's agenda regarding abortion access? It really depends who you ask.
How much power does a governor have over the state’s agenda regarding abortion access? It really depends who you ask.
Illinois’s Republican candidate for governor, Bill Brady, says there’s really not a whole lot a governor can do to stop abortion in the state on his or her own. But that won’t stop anti-abortion activists from pushing him. Via the State Journal Register:
Bill Brady, the Republican candidate for governor, is pro-life but told a group of Springfield senior citizens on Tuesday that there is not much he can do about abortion if he is elected.
“Yes, I am pro-life,” the state senator from Bloomington told a luncheon of about 40 people at Temple Israel on West Governor Street. “But really, if you look at the makeup of the letter of the law, there’s very little that the governor can do.”
…
William Beckman, executive director of the Illinois Right to Life Committee, said Brady is underestimating the power of the governor’s bully pulpit.
“I think he’s probably, to some degree, minimizing the impact the governor can have,” Beckman said. “Unfortunately, in the state of Illinois, it seems the so-called political advisers seem to be of the mindset that you have to put these kinds of issues under the rug.”
Is the governor mostly a ceremonial role when it comes to abortion policy in the state? If so, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford is embracing it whole-heartedly.
South Carolina has just passed a new waiting period for women who wish to procure abortions. According to WSPA News, the new mandatory 24 hour waiting period will be signed at — yep, a pregnancy center.
Governor Mark Sanford will be in Spartanburg Wednesday morning for a ceremonial signing of a bill requiring a waiting period before an abortion can be performed.
Spartanburg’s Carolina Pregnancy Center was one of the spearheads for the 24 hour bill. The bill increases the time a woman must wait to get an abortion from one our to one full day after getting an ultrasound or reviewing information about the procedure.
Of course, the governor does have real power to set the agenda when it comes to access to reproductive rights, as we learned in Oklahoma and Florida this year. But too many governors are willing to embrace the pomp and circumstance of the office without being willing to make the hard choices to not unduly burden women.
Mini Roundup: Apparently 48 percent of Americans think abortions are “too easy” to obtain, including 53 percent of women, according to the latest Rasmussen Poll. Then again, 54 percent of those surveyed said abortion is “morally wrong most of the time,” too.
Aug 18
- Women’s Groups Spar on Palin – NewsMax.com
- Gov. Sanford In Spartanburg To Sign Controversial Abortion Bill – News Channel 7
- Ovulation Changes Women’s Behavior – Discovery News
- Donors offer aid to boost Nepal’s maternal, child health – Himalayan Times
- Addressing reproductive health to impact MDG attainment – Modern Ghana
- Chinese parents seek professional help to help provide children with “sex … – Sify
- Gambia: TAC Members Sensitised on Maternal Mortality Rate – AllAfrica.com
- Teach teens that sex is not all fun and games – Malaysia Kini
- Breast cancer to overtake cervical cancer – Times of India
- Teen Sex Not Always Bad for School Performance – TheBody.com
- Chhattisgarh’s infant mortality rate goes down – Sify
- Brady: Governor can’t do much to block abortion – The State Journal-Register
- Letter: UNC health plan to fund abortions – Greenville Daily Reflector
- Beck falsely claims that Obama wants “to force doctors” to perform abortions – Media Matters for America
Aug 17
- Kansas panel orders admonishment for former aide to Phill Kline – Kansas City Star
- Abortion groups spar on Palin ‘grizzlies’ – UPI.com
- Wisconsin Makes Push on Free Birth Control – Wall Street Journal
- Let’s stop tip-toeing around – Malaysia Star
- Most Women Say Abortion ‘Too Easy’ to Obtain in US: Rasmussen Poll – Lifesite
- Time to re-open abortion debate – BCLocalNews
- Poll: Voters Rank Abortion Below Economy, Immigration – Christian Post
- Develop strategic plans to combat maternal mortality – Ghana News Agency
- ABC Pushes Taxpayer-funded Abortions with Misleading Incident, Mashed Terms … – NewsBusters (blog)
- After Murder, South Korea Rethinks Marriage Brokers – TIME
- Assessing the relationship between HIV infection and cervical cancer in Cote d … – 7thSpace Interactive (press release)
- Medical smart card extended to maternal care – Business Daily Africa
- SC bill to establish waiting period for abortions – WMBF
- Letter to President Obama from the Progressive Caucus – Bay Area Indymedia
- Cutting Through the Confusion About Pap Screening – Medscape
- Parents should be worried about Obamacare’s impact on family – Washington Examiner (blog)
- Students Who Opt Out of North Carolina Abortion-Insurance Mandate Pay The Same – LifeNews.com
- Cancer Is World’s Top ‘Economic Killer,’ Report Finds – Kaiser Family Foundation
- Can Queer Sex Queer Sex Ed? – Autostraddle (blog)
- Secretary Clinton on the Global Health Initiative and “Filling the Gaps” on … – UN Dispatch
- Republicans shoud not shy away from values debate – Picayune Item
- No Mr. Right? More women start families via artificial insemination – Toronto Star
- Most US Women: Abortions Are Too Easy to Get – NewsMax.com