Author Archive, Sofia Resnick

FRC conference sets stage for more aggressive anti-abortion rhetoric, legislation in 2012

By | 01.23.12 | 5:34 pm

Updated Feb. 1 with a clarification*

As anti-abortion activists protested (and abortion-rights activists counter-protested) the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade on Capitol Hill Monday, lawmakers and policy leaders gathered at the Family Research Council headquarters in Washington, D.C., to discuss effective anti-abortion strategy in 2012. Many of the speakers More…

Abortion-rights group predicts more anti-abortion legislation in 2012 than 2011

By | 01.19.12 | 3:42 pm

Twice as many anti-abortion-rights state laws were passed in 2011 than in 2010, according to a new report by NARAL Pro-Choice America, the nation’s largest abortion-rights policy group. Even more legislation is expected in 2012, NARAL policy experts said during a Thursday press briefing on the 21st edition of “Who More…

NOM ramps up spending, support in 2012 presidential race

By | 01.18.12 | 2:35 pm

Considering the National Organization for Marriage More…‘s consistent involvement in federal elections over the past few years, it may come as a surprise to some that the group does not operate a federal political action committee (though it has formed several state PACs). Instead, NOM participates in federal elections by regularly filing

Conservative Christian leaders throwing support, money to Santorum’s campaign

By | 01.17.12 | 8:32 am

In four days, Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum will face off frontrunner Mitt Romney and the dwindling pool of contenders in South Carolina’s primary — this time with the backing of the top leaders within America’s influential conservative Christian movement. By that time, Santorum is expected to have more cash in his war chest, as Christian leaders put their money where their endorsement is. But this time, will the Christian coalescence around a highly social conservative candidate pay off? More …

HRC refocuses NOM watchdog campaign through election lens

By | 01.11.12 | 10:00 am

The Human Rights Campaign’s watchdog project NOM Exposed, which tracks the spending and lobbying activities of the National Organization for Marriage, recently revised its strategy. According to a leader on the project, HRC believes NOM’s focus in 2012 will be centered on the national stage to ensure that same-sex marriage remains a primary issue in the presidential race; thus NOM Exposed will be closely following NOM’s federal election activities. More …

Gingrich, like Romney, promises to exclude gay couples from marriage if president

By | 12.16.11 | 11:43 am

Though it was presidential candidate Mitt Romney who hardened his stance opposing same-sex marriage during Thursday night’s GOP presidential debate in Sioux City, Iowa, it was his strongest rival, Newt Gingrich, who demonstrated his commitment to excluding same-sex couples from marriage by signing the National Organization for Marriage‘s “Marriage Pledge” hours before the debate. More …

NOM asks for money to cover ‘looming shortfall’

By | 12.14.11 | 12:20 pm

One day after The American Independent released an analysis of the National Organization for Marriage’s recently reported finances from 2010 More…, which reveal that last year the organization spent more than $1 million than it earned, NOM President Brian Brown emailed supporters asking for help covering what he terms a

National Organization for Marriage’s 2010 financial records raise questions

By | 12.12.11 | 6:00 am

In 2010, the National Organization for Marriage More… (NOM), a tax-exempt nonprofit trying to thwart the legalization of same-sex marriage throughout the U.S., reported the highest individual donations it has received since its inception in 2007, according to NOM’s most recent income disclosures to the Internal Revenue Service, recently obtained by

Abortion-related provisions delaying passage of spending bills in Congress

By | 11.16.11 | 12:45 pm

Congress has until Friday at midnight to pass 12 appropriations bills for fiscal year 2012, as well as stopgap spending legislation to keep the government running until Dec. 16 while lawmakers continue to debate more controversial spending measures. As the Associated Press reports More…, if the stopgap measure does not

‘Supercommittee’ members’ states: How many residents depend on entitlements?

By | 11.16.11 | 9:53 am

Women are used to being under-represented in Congress: There are only 17 women in the U.S. Senate (out of 100) and 76 women in the U.S. House of Representatives (out of 435). Unsurprisingly, only one woman — Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), also a co-chair, sits on the Joint Select Committee More…

What women want … from the ‘super committee’

By | 11.15.11 | 5:23 pm

The subject of a recent episode More… of the NBC comedy series “The Office” was about a doomsday device created by devious employee Dwight K. Schrute (played by Rainn Wilson). If his fellow co-workers committed five errors in a single workday, the device was wired to send an email to their

Boise CPC seeks to draw clients from neighboring Planned Parenthood, director says

By | 11.14.11 | 5:45 pm

Two weeks after moving next door to a Planned Parenthood clinic in Boise, Idaho More…, Stanton Healthcare, an anti-abortion center for women with unexpected pregnancies, is working on a plan to boost its clientele while simultaneously minimizing Planned Parenthood’s.

NARAL report claims some Massachusetts CPCs mislead

By | 11.14.11 | 2:14 pm

In an ongoing project to shine more light on pregnancy centers that counsel women out of having abortions -– commonly known as “crisis pregnancy centers,” or CPCs –- NARAL Pro-Choice America More…’s Massachusetts affiliate has uncovered evidence that CPCs throughout the Bay State have, in some cases, provided women with

Washington state to consider same-sex marriage in 2012

By | 11.11.11 | 12:54 pm

A day after the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) lauded Basic Rights Oregon’s decision More… not to push for a marriage-equality bill next year, news comes that Oregon’s northern neighbor Washington will attempt legalizing same-sex marriage in 2012.

AFTAH uses Penn State rape scandal as opportunity for anti-gay speech

By | 11.11.11 | 12:25 pm

The child molestation scandal at Penn State University has raised questions about the problems of idolizing successful college athletic programs to the point where university students feel justified in a violent demonstration More… in defense of a coach fired for keeping quiet about the alleged crimes of his former assistant coach,

‘Choose Life’ license plates coming to New York

By | 11.10.11 | 11:50 am

After seven years fighting off custom-made license plates with an anti-abortion-rights message, the state of New York was ordered by a federal judge to allow a nonprofit to order “Choose Life” plates, reports the Associated Press More….