02/09/2021 at 9:47 PM Posted by Kevin Edward White
By Hadley Arkes, Catholic Thing, February 9, 2021
In the British comic Review in the 1960s, Beyond the Fringe, a commanding officer in the Royal Air Force sought to persuade a pilot to go on a kamikaze mission. “Smedley,” he said, “we need someone at this moment to make a [Grand] Futile Gesture.”
Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska has made his career with Grand Futile Gestures, not because his policies have been wanting in merit, but because he has shown little interest in doing the grinding work of a legislator in working out bills in committee and persuading his colleagues.
When each of our two girls was born, a cry was the first sound we heard. It was a sound of discomfort and need, yes, but also the sound of life! It was.
Ten more bills were given a do-pass recommendation in the Arizona Senate Health and Human Services Committee’s virtual meeting on Wednesday, one of which spurred a partisan debate on abortion policy.
Senate Concurrent Resolution 1009, sponsored by Sen. Sine Kerr, would express the Arizona Legislature’s support for the passage of the federal Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. The resolution proved to be controversial among committee members, with Democratic Senators Tony Navarrete, Rosanna Gabaldon and Sally Ann Gonzales voting against the bill. Although the five “yes” votes it received allowed it to pass, the bill is regarded as politically motivated by its three disputants.
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, seen here on Dec. 22 in Boston, vetoed a bill that expanded the availability of later-term abortions and permitted minors age 16 and 17 to get an abortion without the consent of a parent or guardian. It was too extreme even for the pro-choice Republican governor, but his veto was overridden. (Photo: Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald/Getty Images)
Commentary By
Charles A. Chuck Donovan is president of the Charlotte Lozier Institute, the research and education arm of Susan B. Anthony List. He was legislative director of the National Right to Life Committee more than three decades ago, worked as a writer for President Reagan, helped lead the Family Research Council for nearly two decades, and most recently was a senior research fellow in religion and civil society at The Heritage Foundation.