They’ve gone dark: Afghans who helped the U.S. military, trained as American-style journalists and rode the wave of women heading to higher education are destroying the diplomas, transcripts and résumés that prove how they built civil society in the country that the U.S. has left behind.
45for45: Comparing and contrasting views on Planned Parenthood, women’s rights
SAN DIEGO — This week has been a busy one for opponents and proponents of Planned Parenthood, a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health counseling and care to women in the U.S. and around the world.
On Monday, President Trump offered Planned Parenthood a deal — stop providing abortions, and federal funding would not be cut. Planned Parenthood officials rejected the offer, with executive vice president Dawn Laguens telling The New York Times that federal funds already “do not pay for abortions” and that the Trump administration’s offer was “a deal we would never accept.”
Meanwhile, National Public Radio reported that the Affordable Care Act repeal proposed by House Republicans Tuesday would prevent Planned Parenthood for one year from receiving Medicaid reimbursements for providing services like contraception and cancer screenings to low-income patients, a move that could disproportionately impact poor women:
International Women’s Day on Wednesday is certain to shine more light on the issue of abortion and women’s reproductive rights, just as the recent March for Life in Washington rallied voices on the other side of the issue.
No matter who is marching, abortion remains a flashpoint for many Americans, with some seeing it as a medical right to which women are entitled and others as an ethical minefield where respect for life itself is endangered.
A study published Jan. 26 by the Pew Research Center found that four in 10 American adults surveyed believed abortion is morally wrong, with nearly three in four white evangelical Christians reaching that conclusion compared with just 23 percent of “religiously unaffiliated” people.
Pew quoted a Guttmacher Institute study showing that 27 U.S. states have imposed waiting periods of between one and three days on women seeking abortions, while 11 states limit abortion coverage through private insurance plans, most often to women whose own lives are in danger if abortions are not performed.
One thing seems certain: Abortion is an issue that includes Americans of good conscience on either side.
Where do you stand? Make up your own mind: Watch two students from San Dieguito Academy — Max Phleger and Sophie Peeler — debate the issues in these videos, produced by GSS correspondent Olivia Olander for our “45for45” series of millennial messages to President Donald Trump.
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