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Opinion: Obama's Africa Policy; Maternal Health
President Obama is expected to arrive in Accra, Ghana, Friday night, the AP/Google.com reports. White House adviser Michelle Gavin said the president chose to travel to Ghana "because it"s such an admirable example of strong, democratic governance, vibrant civil society" (Babington, 7/10). The following are opinion pieces reflecting on his trip and Africa policy:

Close Relationship With Caregivers Slows Alzheimer's
A group of Utah State University researchers and colleagues at Johns Hopkins University, Duke University and Boston University have demonstrated that the rate of clinical progression of dementia may be slowed by a close relationship with one"s caregiver. The findings will be published in the September 2009 issue of "The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences" by Oxford Journals
News of the day
Classifying Antiabortion-Rights Crimes As 'Terrorism' Unnecessary, USA Today Opinion Piece States
Scott Roeder, who is charged with the murder of abortion provider George Tiller, and James von Brunn, who is charged with last week"s shooting death of a Holocaust Memorial Museum guard, "appear to be murderers, not terrorists," Jonathan Turley, a professor of public interest law at George Washington University, writes in a USA Today opinion piece. Although "liberals denounced" the tendency of conservatives to call "every possible crime an act of terrorism" while former President George W. Bush was in office, now that there are antiabortion-rights and anti-Semetic suspects, "there is an insistence that these crimes must be treated as terrorism -- as if to call them "murder" or "hate crimes" would diminish their significance," Turley states. Many people who "kill strangers out of hate for their race or religion or some other association" are "loners or rogue operators who seek to satisfy a blood lust against different groups," Turley contends, noting that classifying a crime as an act of terrorism allows for a different types of prosecution, investigation and punishment. According to Turley, the "term "terrorism" once had a clear meaning before it was used as a point of emphasis to evaluate or distinguish certain crimes." The Bush administration"s broadening of the definition to include "any prosecution that disrupts a "potential" terrorism threat" served to further divert the term from its historical definition, he adds. Now, "many want to see terrorism investigations targeting antiabortion activists and other groups that use violent speech," Turley writes."We do not advance our efforts by classifying every hate crime as terrorism," Turley continues, adding that it would be "the terrorists who will benefit from our lack of focus" in the definition. According to Turley, the "fact is that even an authoritarian nation can do little to stop a determined rogue operator from walking into a church and killing someone like Dr. Tiller." Referring to "someone such as Roeder as a murderer does not diminish the crime or the victim" because "we do not have to call murder "terrorism" to take the crime or its causes seriously," Turley writes (Turley, USA Today, 6/17).
Public Health

Obama Nominates Hispanic Roman Catholic Theologian For Vatican Ambassador

President Obama has nominated Miguel Diaz, a Cuban-born Roman Catholic and an associate professor of theology at the College of Saint Benedict at St. John"s University in Minnesota, as the next U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, the White House announced on Wednesday, AP/Boston Globe reports. According to the AP/Globe, although the selection of an ambassador for the Vatican does not usually draw much scrutiny, Diaz"s nomination "comes as tensions run high in the U.S. church over Catholics" voice in the public square and the politics of abortion," especially in the wake of the controversy over Obama"s recent speech at the University of Notre Dame. Another potential issue that might arise during Diaz"s confirmation is his support for former Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) during her nomination to be HHS secretary, the AP/Globe reports. Although conservative Catholics expressed anger that Sebelius, who is Catholic, supports abortion rights, Diaz joined 25 other Catholic leaders and scholars who signed a statement supporting her as "a woman of deep faith," citing her record on health care and reducing abortion rates in Kansas, according to the AP/Globe.In January at Obama"s inauguration, Diaz told the Catholic News Service that Obama was "committed to working" with people who defend "life in the womb" and holds much respect for those whose positions he does not agree with. "Wherever we can, we should advance life at all stages," he said. On Wednesday, he declined to comment on his positions on various issues, which he said would be inappropriate before his confirmation hearing. The AP/Globe reports that the next U.S. ambassador to the Vatican would play a prominent role in scheduling a possible meeting in July between Obama and Pope Benedict XVI during Obama"s visit to Italy (Gorski, AP/Boston Globe, 5/28). Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women"s Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women"s Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company. © 2009 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.


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