US President Barack Obama was to speak at the US’ foremost Roman Catholic University yesterday, where deep divisions over abortion and stem-cell research have rammed to the forefront in a country fighting two wars and battling a withering economic recession.
A storm broke out immediately after Notre Dame invited Obama to address commencement exercises and he accepted. It still rages, with anti-abortion activists promising to disrupt the president’s appearance at the ceremony, where he also is to receive an honorary degree.
Obama, a liberal Democrat who supports abortion rights but who says the procedure should be rare, finds himself caught in the so-called “right to life” whirlwind that has riven US society for decades, especially since the US Supreme Court ruled in the 1973 that states may not ban abortion.
PHOTO: AFP
Recriminations against Obama’s appearance in South Bend, Indiana, are zinging across the Internet, on cable TV and the editorial space of newspapers.
Earlier in the day at the school’s front gate, more than 100 people gathered to protest the decision to invite Obama to speak at commencement and receive an honorary degree.
More than 100 people gathered on Saturday to protest the decision to invite Obama.
PHOTO: AP
Shortly after noon, 23 protesters marched on to campus. Nineteen were arrested on trespassing charges and four also faced a charge of resisting law enforcement, a St. Joseph County Police Department spokesman said. They were being held on US$250 bond. None were students.
Among those arrested was the Reverend Norman Weslin, a Catholic priest and founder of the Lambs of Christ abortion protest group.
He also was among 21 people arrested during a similar protest on Friday.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Obama in his commencement speech “obviously would make mention of the debate that’s been had” over abortion, while emphasizing that “this is exactly the kind of give and take that is had on college campus all over the country.”
Obama’s appearance at Notre Dame would appear to be complicated significantly by new polls that show Americans’ attitudes on the explosive issue have shifted dramatically toward the anti-abortion position.
A Gallup survey released on Friday found that 51 percent of Americans call themselves “pro-life” on the issue of abortion and 42 percent “pro-choice.”
This is the first time a majority of US adults have identified themselves as “pro-life” since Gallup began asking this question in 1995.
It’s a dramatic shift from just a year ago when Gallup found that 50 percent of those polled termed themselves “pro-choice” while 44 percent described their beliefs as “pro-life.”
A Pew Research Center survey found a similar, if less dramatic, shift, with public opinion about abortion more closely divided than it has been in several years.
Pew said its latest polling found that 46 percent of Americans say abortion should be legal in most (28 percent) or all cases (18 percent). Forty-four percent of those surveyed were opposed to abortion in most (28 percent) or all cases (16 percent).
Gallup said shifting opinions on the divisive issue lay almost entirely with Republicans or independents who lean Republican, with opposition among those groups rising over the past year from 60 percent to 70 percent.
“There has been essentially no change in the views of Democrats and Democratic leaners,” Gallup said.
The Reverend John Jenkins, Notre Dame’s president, has not joined the fiery debate that erupted after Obama’s invitation, but it has produced extraordinary blow back among some students, faculty, alumni and at least 70 Catholic bishops.
A leading Catholic academic, citing the Obama invitation and honorary degree, declined the school’s most prestigious award, making this year’s commencement the first time that the Laetare Medal hasn’t been awarded since 1883.
Friends and colleagues say Jenkins has listened to the criticism but is confident in his decision.
“He respects people who differ, but he’s resolute in his decision because he did it based on conscience and what he really believes in,” said Richard Notebaert, chairman of Notre Dame’s board of trustees.
A string of rape and assault allegations against the son of Norway’s future queen have plunged the royal family into its “biggest scandal” ever, wrapping up an annus horribilis for the monarchy. The legal troubles surrounding Marius Borg Hoiby, the 27-year-old son born of a relationship before Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s marriage to Norwegian Crown Prince Haakon, have dominated the Scandinavian country’s headlines since August. The tall strapping blond with a “bad boy” look — often photographed in tuxedos, slicked back hair, earrings and tattoos — was arrested in Oslo on Aug. 4 suspected of assaulting his girlfriend the previous night. A photograph
People with missing teeth might be able to grow new ones, said Japanese dentists, who are testing a pioneering drug they hope will offer an alternative to dentures and implants. Unlike reptiles and fish, which usually replace their fangs on a regular basis, it is widely accepted that humans and most other mammals only grow two sets of teeth. However, hidden underneath our gums are the dormant buds of a third generation, said Katsu Takahashi, head of oral surgery at the Medical Research Institute Kitano Hospital in Osaka, Japan. His team launched clinical trials at Kyoto University Hospital in October, administering an experimental
‘GOOD POLITICS’: He is a ‘pragmatic radical’ and has moderated his rhetoric since the height of his radicalism in 2014, a lecturer in contemporary Islam said Abu Mohammed al-Jolani is the leader of the Islamist alliance that spearheaded an offensive that rebels say brought down Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and ended five decades of Baath Party rule in Syria. Al-Jolani heads Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is rooted in Syria’s branch of al-Qaeda. He is a former extremist who adopted a more moderate posture in order to achieve his goals. Yesterday, as the rebels entered Damascus, he ordered all military forces in the capital not to approach public institutions. Last week, he said the objective of his offensive, which saw city after city fall from government control, was to
IVY LEAGUE GRADUATE: Suspect Luigi Nicholas Mangione, whose grandfather was a self-made real-estate developer and philanthropist, had a life of privilege The man charged with murder in the killing of the CEO of UnitedHealthcare made it clear he was not going to make things easy on authorities, shouting unintelligibly and writhing in the grip of sheriff’s deputies as he was led into court and then objecting to being brought to New York to face trial. The displays of resistance on Tuesday were not expected to significantly delay legal proceedings for Luigi Nicholas Mangione, who was charged in last week’s Manhattan killing of Brian Thompson, the leader of the US’ largest medical insurance company. Little new information has come out about motivation,
RSS