Last Week Was A Bad Week For Abortion As Pro-Lifers Win More Victories

Oh, how the tide has turned against abortion. Just last week, there were three stunning setbacks to the pro-abortion movement.

The first came Tuesday during oral argument in the Hobby Lobby case before the U.S. Supreme Court. The left wing of the Court was having a field day by predicting a parade of horribles if Hobby Lobby were to obtain a religious exemption from contraceptive regulations that violate its owners’ consciences.

prolifeimage11But then, Justice Anthony Kennedy, the swing vote in the Court, startled liberals with a comment he made to the Obama administration’s attorney: “Under your view, a for-profit corporation … could be forced in principle to pay for abortions.”

Kennedy evidently opposes compelling anyone, even for-profit corporations, to pay for abortions. Kennedy has not ruled in favor of abortion in more than two decades, and he is the decisive fifth vote on the issue.

Barely minutes had elapsed after Kennedy’s remark when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit independently issued its own stunning decision against the abortion industry.

It upheld the defunding of Planned Parenthood by the state of Kansas, in Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri v. Robert Moser. Kansas limited, as all states should do, the distribution of federal family planning money under Title X to public entities, hospitals and federally qualified health centers that provide full health care services.

Planned Parenthood is not on the list to receive this taxpayer money, and it ran into court to get a trial judge to block the good law. But on appeal, the 10th Circuit reinstated the law and even held that Planned Parenthood lacked a legal basis to challenge it.


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Fight The Common Core

The Heartland Institute has been at the forefront of pushing back on Common Core education standards—a Washington-led scheme to take away the long-held control of curriculum from states, school boards, teachers, and parents. Our effort is led by Joy Pullmann, research fellow for education policy and managing editor of School Reform News.

Common Core State Standards for K-12 schools were adopted with little public debate by every state but Alaska, Nebraska, Texas, and Virginia in 2010, part of the price of getting federal dollars under the Obama administration’s “Race to the Top” program. Now educators, parents, and policymakers are taking a closer look at what they agreed to, and many don’t like what they see.

In this Heartland Institute Policy Brief (PDF), Pullmann reveals some major weaknesses of Common Core. The program represents a major centralization of control over curriculum, contrary to the American tradition of decentralized control and funding. Instead of being “world class,” the standards represent a significant step back from what experts say are the standards America really needs.

No wonder many states are now holding hearings on whether to back out of the Common Core project. Click here for Pullmann's latest report on Common Core in a standard 8-1/2 x 11 Policy Brief format, or click here for an alternative format for printing as a booklet (print on 8-1/2 x 11 paper, double-sided, folded) to share with friends. (Note: If you are printing double-sided, please be sure to instruct your printer to have it open on the SHORT side, not the long side.)


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