A too-clever-by-half marketing team at Kraft Foods has come up with what they think is a hot seller: a contest offering a cash prize to the best YouTube video answering the question, “How has Miracle Whip Affected Your Relationship?” The winner of the contest, which runs until August 23, takes home (or to two homes, quite possibly) $25,000 to help pay for a wedding—or a divorce. Kraft officials have been stung by the criticism that has been justly leveled against the contest, which attempts to take a lighthearted and evenhanded …
As both sides of the debate remember all too well, the final passage of Obamacare last year hinged on a many-layered debate on abortion funding in the final bill. The balance of power on the final vote in the House of Representatives rested with a small group of pro-life Democrats, led by former Representative Bart Stupak (D–MI), who abandoned their support for a comprehensive restriction on abortion funding. Instead, the “Stupak 7” settled for a presidential executive order that purported to fill the gaps in the legislation that allow various …
The Institute of Medicine (IOM), the health policy arm of the National Academy of Sciences, has issued its long-awaited report making recommendations to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on mandatory insurance coverage of preventive services for women’s health care. The mandatory coverage of certain preventive services was required by an amendment to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), known colloquially as Obamacare. The central feature of PPACA is a mandate that every American purchase a health insurance policy. The IOM report is thus rightly …
The full Senate Judiciary Committee met today to consider a proposal to repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). DOMA was passed by both houses of Congress by overwhelming margins—with majority support from both major political parties—and was signed into law by President Clinton, whose Department of Justice repeatedly argued that the legislation was fully constitutional. However, the new proposal—known as the Respect for Marriage Act of 2011—would not restore the law to its condition pre-DOMA; rather, it would affirmatively require the federal government to recognize the validity of, …
Illinois’s and New York’s recent recognition of same-sex couples has raised religious liberty concerns for Catholic and other agencies providing adoption and foster care services. Now, more than 50 Members of the U.S. Congress have signed onto a bill that would go much further, posing a challenge to religious liberty, civil society, federalism, and the best interests of children. Originally introduced by Representative Pete Stark (D–CA) in 2009, the “Every Child Deserves a Family Act” would deny federal funds to any adoption agency that “discriminates” against prospective adoptive or foster …
Evolution and inevitability are words much in the news lately regarding same-sex marriage. The victory for marriage redefinition advocates in New York has sparked a new round of assertions that Americans can stop thinking about and debating this basic institution of civil society. Vice President Joe Biden sounded a similar theme after the repeal of the military law on homosexual conduct last December. “Inevitability” is a hardy perennial, therefore, but hardly correct. The debate over marriage has entered a new phase, but it is nowhere near an endgame. First, the …
The New York legislature’s vote last Friday night to redefine the family and recognize homosexual marriage will have a number of impacts within and well beyond the Empire State. The vote does not signal an end to the now two-decade fight over the meaning of marriage. A new phase—not an endgame—has begun. Here are five key impacts: 1. The vote continues an adverse trend for marriage law in New York. Last year the Empire State became the 50th state to repeal a fault-based divorce law. Weakened emphasis on the durability …
A prominent group of retired military chaplains has written a letter to current chief chaplains in the Armed Forces urging them to support conscience protection for currently serving chaplains and service members regarding homosexual behavior. The 22 chaplains, each of whom has held a leadership post as an endorsing agent for military chaplains, called on the chief chaplains of the Army, Air Force, and Navy to “strongly encourage the adoption of broad, clear, and strong protections for conscience,” especially in light of recent confusion over the conduct of same-sex marriage …
The decision by the U.S. Navy to rescind new guidelines that would have permitted same-sex marriages to be performed in navy chapels in certain states is a simple recognition of the law of the land. The fact that the rescission came only after pressure from Members of Congress who wrote to the Defense Department on May 6 requesting the enforcement of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is a sober reminder that the Obama Administration continues to play fast and loose with this area of public policy. A quick review …
The House of Representatives approved a measure yesterday by a wide margin that establishes a consistent and government-wide policy denying taxpayer funds and subsidies for elective abortions. The bill, H.R. 3, passed by a comfortable 76-vote margin, and it now proceeds to the U.S. Senate, where its prospects are less favorable. If it passes there, it goes to the White House, where the President’s advisors have formally recommended he veto it.
