Gov. Tom Corbett has found himself at the center of a storm of national criticism over remarks he made earlier this week about legislation requiring women to undergo a mandatory ultrasound examination 24 hours before having an abortion. For those of you who missed it, here's video of Corbett's Capitol news conference on Tuesday (h/t PA Independent): And here's what he said that has attracted the most scrutiny: "I don’t know how you can make anybody watch, because you just have to close your eyes. But as long as it’s on the exterior, not interior.” The legislation sponsored by Rep. Kathy Rapp, R-Warren, would require that the viewscreen for the procedure be placed directly in the woman's frame of vision. But she would not be ... Continue reading →
Pennsylvania State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler) will introduce legislation on Wednesday that would defund Planned Parenthood, adding his state to a list of four others that have pending bills to strip public funds from the family planning provider. Metcalfe's bill, the Whole Woman’s Health Funding Priority Act, would put health care providers that offer abortion services at the bottom of the priority list for state funding. The anti-abortion activist group Susan B. Anthony List wrote the bill, which closely resembles the one Arizona lawmakers used to defund Planned Parenthood earlier this year. Planned Parenthood clinics receive a substantial percentage of their money through state and federal government funding streams, including Medicaid and Titles V, X and XX. The clinics use the funds to offer breast ... Continue reading →
Official: 125 girls, 3 teachers poisoned at Afghan school From Nick Paton Walsh, CNN updated 11:02 AM EDT, Wed May 23, 2012 STORY HIGHLIGHTS NEW: "They are more traumatized," a hospital director says The alleged poison was a type of spray, official says 40 of the girls remain hospitalized Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Some 125 girls and three teachers were admitted to an Afghanistan hospital on Wednesday after being poisoned in their classes with a type of spray, a Takhar provincial official said. The incident occurred in the provincial capital of Talokhan, in the Bibi Hajera girls school, said Dr. Hafizullah Safi, the province's director of public health. Forty of the girls were still hospitalized, he said, with symptoms including dizziness, vomiting, headaches and loss ... Continue reading →
The Women's Law Project just released a massive, two-year study, "Through the Lens of Equality," examining the role gender bias plays in the physical, emotional, and financial health of Pennsylvania women. The diagnosis? Not so good. Actually, the report states, "the health consequences of inequality truly shocked us." Really, can we be shocked about gender inequality in a commonwealth whose governor, in defending a bill requiring an ultrasound prior to an abortion (plus two souvenir photos), advises "you just have to close your eyes"? Or by bills enacted by a legislature whose membership more closely resembles that of Augusta National - 42d in the nation in female representation - than a state with a 6.5 million female majority? A government that coddles energy companies the ... Continue reading →
The Women's Law Project just released a massive, two-year study, "Through the Lens of Equality," examining the role gender bias plays in the physical, emotional, and financial health of Pennsylvania women. The diagnosis? Not so good. Actually, the report states, "the health consequences of inequality truly shocked us." Really, can we be shocked about gender inequality in a commonwealth whose governor, in defending a bill requiring an ultrasound prior to an abortion (plus two souvenir photos), advises "you just have to close your eyes"? Or by bills enacted by a legislature whose membership more closely resembles that of Augusta National - 42d in the nation in female representation - than a state with a 6.5 million female majority? A government that coddles energy companies the ... Continue reading →
INDIANA, Pa. - A retired bank teller and secretary who later groomed dogs before she died nearly two years ago has left more than $860,000 to be split between two western Pennsylvania animal care groups. The Indiana Gazette ( http://bit.ly/KfDk7h) reports that 85-year-old Mary Johnston's bequests are just now coming to light, although she died in September 2010. Johnston, of Indiana, had dogs, cats and birds as pets and never married nor had children. Her will stipulated that the Indiana County Humane Society and another local group, Four Footed Friends, were each to receive $431,366 from her estate. The humane society plans to use some of the money to buy a vehicle for an officer who investigates animal abuse, and some for the fund to ... Continue reading →
Three years go, Inquirer reporter Michael Vitez wrote about Matt Miller, an aspiring young triathlete who survived a cycling crash that, but for an extraordinary stroke of luck, would have killed him. Vitez gives a full account of Matt’s accident and his struggle to recover in a newly published book, “The Road Back: A Journey of Grace and Grit.” This excerpt describes the visit Matt and his parents, Mike and Nancy, made 5½ weeks after the accident to see Mark Harris, the doctor who saved Matt’s life. Mike made a suggestion: “Let’s go meet Mark and Mary Ann Harris and thank them in person.” “I’m in,” said Nancy. “I want to go,” wrote Matt. So Mike called ahead, and the three Millers drove to the ... Continue reading →
An investigation into how six Conestoga High School student got sick eating food laced with marijuana has led to the arrest of two people on pot-selling charges, Tredyffrin Township police said Monday. The students became sick on Thursday and police learned the student who put the marijuana in the food had bought the drug from Justin Mendenhall, 19, of Exton, police said in a statement. Undercover officers set up a buy from Mendenhall and at 8 p.m. Friday they arrested him at the Daylesford Train Station in Berwyn, police said. They also arrested Katelyn Ann Jennings, 20, of Wayne, who was with Mendenhall during the planned sale. Both were charged with drug selling and related offenses. They were later freed on bail and are schedule ... Continue reading →
ASBURY PARK, N.J. - A Coast Guard crew has rescued two Pennsylvania residents from the hull of a boat that capsized in waters off central New Jersey. Forty-one-year-old Lee Cuong of Lester and 42-year-old Hai Lee of Upper Darby were the only two people aboard the 19-foot boat, which capsized early Sunday morning in the mouth of the Shark River near Asbury Park. Neither person was injured, but it was not immediately known what caused the boat to capsize. A Belmar police officer notified the Coast Guard around 2:20 a.m. that two people were on the boat's overturned hull and waving their arms. A 25-foot response boat-small crew from the Shark River station rescued the pair around 2:30 a.m. and brought them back to the ... Continue reading →
