Sophoan Sorn

1 (1 votes)

Healthcare Prof:

5 (1 votes)

The Christian Science Monitor, Washington Times and Boston Globe on Thursday examined Roman Catholic and evangelical Christian support for presidential candidates Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.). Summaries appear below.

~Boston Globe: Catholic bishops’ recent moves to condemn abortion “in ever stronger language … reflects an increasing concern about a new argument posed by some antiabortion intellectuals and organizations: that the legislative battle to outlaw abortion is hopeless and that antiabortion groups would be better off devoting themselves to preventing unwanted pregnancies and persuading ladies to carry their fetuses to term rather than trying to alter the laws with the land,” the Globe reports.

Nicholas Cafardi, a legal scholar at Duquesne University who has held several important Catholic Church positions, has argued that even if Roe v. Wade were overturned, many states would not choose to ban abortion outright. Cafardi resigned from the board of a conservative Catholic university following he publicly supported Obama. A group called Catholic Democrats has posted on its Web site that Democrats would do a better job to reduce abortions, while another group, Catholics United, has asked Catholics through a direct-mail campaign to rethink what it means to be “pro-life.” Other Catholic groups have undertaken similar campaigns on the abortion problem.

According to recent polls, Catholics are increasingly moving to support Obama in the presidential race and evangelical Christians also are becoming more supportive of an Obama presidency, despite the candidate’s support for abortion rights (Paulson, Boston Globe, 10/30).

~Christian Science Monitor: Though a presidential candidate’s position on abortion rights has served as a litmus test for Catholic voters in past elections, some Catholics during this year’s campaign have worked to “broaden the political agenda to more fully reflect the church’s social teaching and its emphasis on promoting the common excellent,” the Monitor reports. In accordance with the Monitor, the creation of new organizations, including Catholics United and Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, as well as the endorsement of Obama by several high-profile Catholics, reflect efforts to urge the demographic “to consider candidates’ positions on a wide range of societal problems,” including war, well being care, the environment and poverty. Furthermore, a possible adjust in the church’s position on how its followers vote is indicated in this year’s election guidelines by U.S. bishops, which call abortion “an intrinsic evil” that must be opposed but do not condemn voting for a candidate that supports abortion rights.

Nevertheless, the Monitor reports that a few conservative bishops “have attacked the efforts to broaden the agenda and support abortion-rights candidates” and that many Catholics would like bishops “to rein in their outspoken colleagues, who they feel have crossed a line into partisanship.”

Catholics make up 25% with the population and are a key demographic in several battleground states this election, according to the Monitor. Since 1972, they have voted overall for Republicans five times and Democrats four times, and they have always chosen the leading candidate (Lampman, Christian Science Monitor, 10/30).

~Washington Times: The article examines how many social conservatives and religious voters, particularly younger ones, are giving their support to McCain because of his opposition to abortion rights, the Times reports. A Greenberg Quinlan Rosner poll of voter attitudes, released last week, showed that two-thirds of Catholics and white evangelical Protestants of all ages oppose funding abortion services for low-income ladies overseas and that 70% of all evangelicals — with slightly larger majorities among those younger than age 30 — believe abortion should be illegal in all or most cases.

The Times also examines McCain’s and Obama’s positions on abortion rights, embryonic stem cell research and comments they have made throughout the campaign (Duin, Washington Times, 10/30).

Broadcast Coverage
NPR’s “Morning Edition” on Thursday reported on why some antiabortion Catholics are supporting Obama (Bradley Hagerty, “Morning Edition,” NPR, 10/30).

Reprinted with type permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women’s Wellness Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for e-mail delivery here. The Everyday Women’s Wellness Policy Report can be a free service of the National Partnership for Ladies & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

? 2008 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.

5 (2 votes)

Healthcare Prof:

5 (1 votes)

Recent newspaper articles have examined “new prenatal tests that can screen fetuses for 150 to 200 genetic abnormalities,” and critics “worry that as the tests spread, they’ll lead to far more abortions,” columnist William Saletan writes in a Slate opinion piece. Abortion opponents are concerned that details provided by prenatal genetic testing will lead to increases in the procedure, Saletan writes, adding that “you can’t be for details when it discourages abortions but against info when it leads to abortions — not if your real purpose is, as pro-lifers insist, to simply inform ladies.” It’s “pretty rich to see pro-lifers wring their hands about this data while, at the same time, they campaign for ultrasound laws,” in accordance with Saletan.

Saletan states that despite the fact that he is “not for restricting these tests,” proponents are “way too sanguine about details being value-neutral.” Abortion opponents who are against the tests “have a legitimate worry, as well as the rest of us should think about it: In ways that are not entirely rational, genetic tests can shift a couple’s presumption from continuing a pregnancy to aborting it,” he writes, adding that prenatal genetic testing is a “world where you’ll know more and a lot more about which diseases your baby might get. Instead of thinking the baby is normal; you’ll know it’s abnormal.”

According to Saletan, there is “evidence that prenatal testing, even with uncertainty, can dramatically increase the abortion rate,” adding that the “biggest driver of these abortions” are the “cheaper, earlier tests that are now being proposed or recommended to all pregnant females.” Saletan concludes, “Freedom and responsibility go hand in hand,” adding that details regarding a pregnancy is “good, along with the decision about what to do with it is yours. But you have to choose wisely. And to do that, you have to understand how selective, unclear info can alter your frame of mind” (Saletan, Slate, 10/29).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. It is possible to view the whole Day-to-day Women’s Wellness Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for e-mail delivery here. The Day-to-day Women’s Well being Policy Report is a free of charge service with the National Partnership for Ladies & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

? 2008 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.

Healthcare Prof:

Article Opinions:1 posts
Voters in Michigan have been “courted furiously” by advocates on both sides of the debate over Proposition 2, a ballot measure that would amend the state constitution to allow embryos created for fertility treatments that otherwise would be discarded to be used for stem cell research, the Wall Street Journal reports. The proposed amendment pits the state’s public and private biological research centers against conservative Catholic and evangelical groups who oppose the research, the Journal reports (Sataline, Wall Street Journal, 10/31). A Detroit News/WXYZ-Action News poll taken Oct. 26-28 found that Michigan voters remained effectively split on the measure and that undecided voters likely would determine the outcome of Tuesday’s election. The poll, which has a four-point margin of error, showed that 44% of voters were against the proposal, 46% were in favor of it and 10% were undecided.

Supporters and opponents of Prop. 2 have spent much more than $14.5 million on the campaigns, making it the third most expensive ballot measure in Michigan history, according to the Michigan Campaign Finance Network (Cain/Hornbeck, Detroit News, 10/31). Opponents with the proposal — grouped as Michigan Citizens Against Unrestricted Science and Experimentation — have raised much more than $7 million in contributions, with $5 million coming from the church lobby group Michigan Catholic Conference, the Journal reports. In accordance with the Journal, “[W]hat makes the problem so difficult is that both sides argue they are saving lives,” said Leonard Fleck, a medical ethicist at Michigan State University who supports the amendment, “I’d call it a religious-ethical friction.” He added, “It’s obviously related towards the abortion problem. What gives it a different moral coloring, what we’d hope to accomplish with the embryonic stem cells, is the saving of human life.” Opponents “equate destroying fertilized eggs with murder” and “accuse the proponents of playing with people’s emotions” by suggesting that embryonic stem cell research will lead to dramatic cures. Richard Doerflinger of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said, “There’s been a great deal of hype about embryonic stem cells that has distracted people and diverted resources from the things that actually help people,” including adult stem cell therapies.

According towards the Journal, embryonic stem cell research is legal in Michigan, but new stem cell lines cannot be created within the state under a 1978 law that banned the destruction of embryos for research purposes. Sean Morrison, director of the University of Michigan’s Center for Stem Cell Biology, said that because Michigan researchers cannot use any with the nearly 400,000 frozen embryos in the U.S — many of which will be discarded — they must obtain stem cell lines extracted in other states and countries, which slows research. Morrison said none with the existing stem cell lines approved by President Bush in 2001 — when he banned federal funding for research on lines created after that date — carry the genetic defects some Michigan researchers would like to study.

According towards the Journal, some with the “most heated” arguments over Prop. 2 concern a passage that would “prohibit state and local laws that prevent, restrict or discourage stem cell research, future therapies and cures.” Opponents of the proposal, which includes state Sen. Tom George (R), argue that the passage could prevent the state from licensing future stem cell clinics while allowing unethical experiments to flourish. “It would be foolish to tie the hands with the state when we don’t know what the industry will become,” George said. However, Morrison said existing laws governing patient safety and scientific practice would prevent unethical research (Wall Street Journal, 10/31).

Broadcast Coverage on State Ballot Initiatives

NPR’s “Fresh Air” on Thursday included a discussion with former Washington Post reporter Cynthia Gorney about abortion-related problems in the current election, which includes state ballot initiatives and Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin’s (Alaska) stance on abortion rights (Davies, “Fresh Air from WHYY,” NPR, 10/30).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You’ll be able to view the whole Daily Women’s Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for e-mail delivery here. The Daily Women’s Well being Policy Report is really a free of charge service with the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

? 2008 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.

5 (3 votes)

Healthcare Prof:

4 (1 votes)

New York Times columnist Michael Winerip writes that he had “long assumed” the typical woman undergoing an abortion was a “teenager in high school who finds herself pregnant and is not ready to raise a child,” but he concedes that his assumption was “wrong.”

According to two studies released by the Guttmacher Institute — one in 2002 and one in September — the “typical American woman having an abortion” is in her 20s (57%), the parent of one or a lot more children (60%), economically disadvantaged (57%), lives in a metropolitan area (88%), has never married (67%), believes herself to be a Christian (70%), has graduated from high school (87%) and attended at least some college (57%).

Winerip writes, “Watching the presidential candidates speak about their views on abortion at the final debate, I wondered how many Americans understand who the typical woman getting an abortion is.” He adds, “While the media have recently shown us teenagers who decide to keep their babies or put them up for adoption — like Juno,” the title character of the popular movie, “Sarah Palin’s daughter Bristol and Jamie Lynn Spears — I don’t think we know the parent in her 20s having the abortion.”

Winerip interviewed three females in their 20s who had had abortions. The ladies “had several things in common” — they all were balancing work and raising their children and were considered lower middle class, Winerip writes. The three ladies also “were deeply conflicted about the decision” to have an abortion “but grateful for the option,” Winerip writes (Winerip, New York Times, 11/2).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You are able to view the whole Every day Women’s Wellness Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Day-to-day Women’s Well being Policy Report is actually a free of charge service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

? 2008 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.

Healthcare Prof:

The political parties in the U.S. “tell us we can’t have it both ways,” Tierney Temple Fairchild — an education and management consultant in Charlottesville, Va., and a mother of a child with Down syndrome — writes in a Washington Post opinion piece, adding, “If I am pro-choice, then I must be for abortion. If I am pro-life, I may be lauded for a heroic choice when in fact none existed.”

According to Fairchild, 10 years ago she “made a decision to continue a pregnancy that would lead to a child born with Down syndrome.” She adds, “My husband and I spent two exhausting weeks poring over medical prognoses and developmental research, worrying about inevitable discrimination and divisive family expectations and listening to sometimes bias-laden advice.” Fairchild writes that she and her husband chose to have their daughter “after painfully honest exchanges and much prayer. Making that choice led us to grapple with the essence of what we believed, giving us strength to face new challenges.”

According to Fairchild, “I had a choice and I chose life,” adding that “there will always be some who see choice as condoning abortion and those for whom there is no choice.” She writes, “Rather than view choice as a proxy for abortion, I see choice as defining opportunity.”

Fairchild writes, “This particular concern of choice came up this year when it became known that” Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin (Alaska) “chose to continue a pregnancy that led to a son being born with Down syndrome.” She adds that she “find[s] it disheartening that termination statistics may remain the same” 10 years following her daughter was born and that “so many potential mothers choose not to follow Sarah Palin’s example.” However, “part of me is not surprised” when many definitions of Down syndrome “conjur[e] up stereotypes and probably creat[e] anxiety for children reading it,” she adds.

“If it’s our choices that define us, choices that allow us to face down fears and lead us to our greatest achievements, what might come from taking those choices away?” Fairchild asks. She concludes that she is a “woman who benefits from the many who went before me and opened doors and minds; a woman who thinks, prays, mothers, works and writes, trying to live out our society’s most prized democratic ideals. I chose life, but I am thankful I had the choice” (Fairchild, Washington Post, 11/1).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You are able to view the entire Day-to-day Women’s Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for e-mail delivery here. The Daily Women’s Wellness Policy Report is really a totally free service with the National Partnership for Ladies & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

? 2008 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.

Healthcare Prof:

“For all the furor over abortion in the past 35 years, Americans have remained remarkably steadfast in their opinions” on the issue, a USA Today editorial states. Based on Gallup poll data, about 54% of Americans in May said that abortion should be legal under certain circumstances — precisely the same number as in a 1975 Gallup poll — and an additional 28% said abortion should be legal in all cases. Regardless, abortion-rights opponents are “no less determined to outlaw the practice,” the editorial says.

The editorial cites as an example a South Dakota ballot measure to ban abortion except in cases of rape, incest or when a pregnant woman’s health or life is in danger. Even though voters in 2006 rejected a similar measure, supporters of this year’s measure claim that the addition of the exceptions will produce a different outcome on Tuesday. The editorial urges voters to “read the fine print.” It adds that the measure “would turn doctors into police” because they would first have to report rape or incest to law enforcement authorities before performing an abortion. The editorial adds that under the measure, a “young incest victim would have to choose between reporting her father or keeping a baby. The exception for a mother’s wellness is also so restricted that it’s almost meaningless.”

South Dakota already has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the U.S., along with the state only has one abortion clinic, the editorial says. It adds that “[p]assage with the ballot measure would likely set up a legal confrontation that could land at the U.S. Supreme Court. Which is, of course, the whole idea. Abortion foes want a vehicle to overturn Roe v. Wade.” In accordance with the editorial, “Because abortion involves deeply held religious values, it isn’t amenable to compromise, and surely no one should question opponents’ commitment to the tenets of their faith. But if society much more broadly is to treat abortion as a felony, which South Dakota would, then surely the requirement can be a social consensus on the scale of those that support harsh treatment of all serious crimes.” The editorial concludes, “After three decades of argument, most people are still on the other side” (USA Today, 10/31).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. It is possible to view the entire Daily Women’s Wellness Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Day-to-day Women’s Well being Policy Report can be a totally free service with the National Partnership for Girls & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

? 2008 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.

Healthcare Prof:

A recent Field Poll of 966 California voters found that 45% of likely voters support Proposition four — a Nov. 4 ballot measure that would require well being care providers to notify a minor’s parent or legal guardian at least 48 hours before providing abortion services to the minor — and that 43% oppose it, the Los Angeles Times reports. The poll indicates that support for the measure has declined to 45% from 49% in September (Los Angeles Times, 11/1). Opposition towards the measure increased slightly from 41% in September to 43% in late October, while 12% remain undecided, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune (Sweeney, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11/1). Field Poll director Mark DiCamillo said that this year’s measure is following “the same general pattern” as previous parental notification measures — starting with a lead among voters but ending without sufficient support to pass (Rojas, Sacramento Bee, 11/1). He added, “There is still some possibility it could pass. It’s just, I think, the odds and history of it are probably more on the ‘no’ side.”

According to the Union-Tribune, the poll found that among those in favor with the measure, 70% said that “parents need to be involved” or “have a proper to know” when a minor has an abortion. Forty-four percent of those opposed towards the measure said that “it’s a woman’s decision/right to have control over her own body,” and 25% said that notifying a parent could be risky or lead some minors to make a rash decision. Sixty-seven percent of supporters identified themselves as evangelical Christians, and 65% were Republicans. Sixty-two percent of opponents identified themselves as voters with no religious preference, and 56% were Democrats. Forty-two percent of women supported the measure, while 43% opposed it, and men were split by 48% in support with the measure and 43% in opposition (San Diego Union-Tribune, 11/1). The survey was conducted between Oct. 18 and Oct. 28 (Los Angeles Times, 11/1).

Reprinted with type permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the whole Every day Women’s Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for e-mail delivery here. The Every day Women’s Wellness Policy Report can be a totally free service with the National Partnership for Ladies & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

? 2008 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.

Healthcare Prof:

Although President Bush only has 77 days left in his presidency, his aides “have been scrambling to adjust rules and regulations” on problems for example abortion rights, civil liberties as well as the environment, and “few” of their actions are “for the very good,” a New York Times editorial says.

For example, the editorial says that HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt soon after the Nov. 4 election is expected to problem a new rule that intends to further limit women’s access to abortion, contraception and information about their reproductive well being care possibilities. The editorial adds that although existing law permits physicians and nurses to refuse to participate in an abortion, the adjustments “would extend the so-called proper to refuse to a wide range of well being care workers and activities which includes abortion referrals, unbiased counseling and provision of birth control pills or emergency contraception, even for rape victims.”

According towards the editorial, “Most presidents put on a last-minute policy stamp, but in Mr. Bush’s case, it is far more like a wrecking ball. We fear it could take months, or years, for the next president to identify and then undo all of the damages” (New York Times, 11/4).

Reprinted with type permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You are able to view the entire Day-to-day Women’s Well being Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Day-to-day Women’s Well being Policy Report is really a free service with the National Partnership for Ladies & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

? 2008 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.

I’ve replaced the distributor and it didnt seem to be a big deal.. the car started just fine. BUT after trying to drive it.. it seems like it has no power.. drives really slow like its not getting fuel or something..

Any advice ?

You may have the distributor off a little bit.You can loosen the bolts that hold the distributor to the head and turn it slightly and re-tighten and test drive.Do this until the car seems to have power.If you have a timing light, it would work better, but this will work, too.

distributors are tricky some times, make sure you put every thing back the way its supposed to go, because I’m sure that’s where the problem is.

Today my car died while I was driving.It is a manual 5 spd and I’ve heard of automatics having troubles but not manuals.After a bit of cranking it finally came back.everything functions (radio, lights, etc) but the car stalled out and wouldn’t start right back up.Any ideas?

I had the same problem and it ended up being the ignition switch. I can’t remember the exact price of the part but I don’t think it was over $70.00.

If you haven’t already changed out the OEM fuel filter,do it now before you throw any more parts at it.Bogging out,hard to accelerate,sputtering and just plain gasping to a halt are signs of little or NO fuel flow.Electrical parts have a good track record in Honda’s.Check fuel first,them move on to ignition/plugs or even deposits inside distributor cap!

ignition system problem…. had the same problem on a grand prix once…. whenever the engine got warm it would die and would not start till it cooled off… your coil pack is going bad….. soon it may not start at all

I would consider checking the fuel sistem, gas Pump gas lines, injectors, but most us guys know our cars well follow your instinct. if you have had any engine issues recently i would be suspicious of that too.