Between The Lines - Meghan Smith: Obama Administration Ruling on Birth Control (Week Ending Feb. 10, 2012)

Award-winning Investigative Journalist Robert Parry (1949-2018)

Award-winning investigative journalist and founder/editor of ConsortiumNews.com, Robert Parry has passed away. His ground-breaking work uncovering Reagan-era dirty wars in Central America and many other illegal and immoral policies conducted by successive administrations and U.S. intelligence agencies, stands as an inspiration to all in journalists working in the public interest.

Robert had been a regular guest on our Between The Lines and Counterpoint radio shows -- and many other progressive outlets across the U.S. over four decades.

His penetrating analysis of U.S. foreign policy and international conflicts will be sorely missed, and not easily replaced. His son Nat Parry writes a tribute to his father: Robert Parry’s Legacy and the Future of Consortiumnews.

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The Resistance Starts Now!

Between The Lines' coverage and resource compilation of the Resistance Movement

"The man who predicted Trump presidential win now says Trump impeachment could happen," AM Joy with Joy Reid, MSNBC, Jan. 21, 2018
"Sketchy Kazakh money finds its way into Trump dealings," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Red flags seen in many Trump real estate deals," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Secret Money: How Trump Made Millions Selling Condos To Unknown Buyers," BuzzFeed, Jan. 12, 2018
"The Scandals of Donald Trump: Presidential Edition," The Atlantic, May 15, 2017
"Here's what we know so far about Team Trump's ties to Russian interests," Washington Post's ongoing compilation
"What Comey Was Investigating, Explained," The Moscow Project, Center for American Progress

"Donald Trump's Financial Ties to Russian Oligarchs and Mobsters Detailed In Explosive New Documentary from the Netherlands," Dutch TV documentary, Alternet.org, May 12, 2017
Ongoing compilation of Trump's creeping authoritarianism," MotherJones.com
Full resource list ...

SPECIAL REPORT: "The Resistance - Women's March 2018 - Hartford, Connecticut" Jan. 20, 2018

Selected speeches from the Women's March in Hartford, Connecticut 2018, recorded and produced by Scott Harris

SPECIAL REPORT: "No Fracking Waste in CT!" Jan. 14, 2018

Jen Siskind Jennifer Siskind, local coordinator for Food and Water Watch, describes the campaign to stop fracking waste in Connecticut, which so far has led to fracking waste bans in 34 towns around the state. Interviewed by Richard Hill on Mic Check, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT

SPECIAL REPORT: "Resistance Round Table: The Unraveling Continues..." Jan. 13, 2018

Lindsay Kanaly The panel discusses Trump's long history of racism and the Republican voter suppression juggernaut confronting Democrats leading up to the 2018 elections. Special guest: Lindsay Kanaly, a lead organizer of the Women's Marches planned for Jan. 20, 2018. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill on Resistance Roundtable, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT.

SPECIAL REPORT: "Capitalism to the ash heap?" Richard Wolff, Jan. 2, 2018

Richard Wolff, Economics professor Richard Wolff declares U.S. capitalism to be beyond repair and suggests the need for a radical alternative. Interviewed by Richard Hill

SPECIAL REPORT: Maryn McKenna, author of "Big Chicken", Dec. 7, 2017

Maryn McKenna, investigative journalist and author of Big Chicken, talks about the widespread use and dangers of antibiotics in commercial poultry, beef and fruit production. Interview by Bill Duesing, Richard Hill and Guy Beardsly on WPKN's Organic Farm Stand.

SPECIAL REPORT: Nina Turner's address, Working Families Party Awards Banquet, Dec. 14, 2017

Nina Turner, president of Our Revolution, talks about the fight ahead for progressives as she receives the Working Families Organization Award for Exceptional Leadership Towards Advancing Progress. The event was held in Meriden, CT. Produced by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Dec. 12, 2017

Working Families Party of CT talks strategy and issues for 2018.
Lindsay Farrell, executive director of the Working Families Party of Connecticut, discusses the state's electoral landscape and lays out the issues and strategies that could lead to progressive victories in 2018. Interviewed by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Dec. 9, 2017

Disturbing developments in the Trump/Republican Agenda
Focus on the tax bill, destruction of our public lands, North Korea and Trump's private CIA. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill. Special guest: Jo Macallero of Rise and Resist.

SPECIAL REPORT: On Tyranny - one year later, Nov. 28, 2017

Professor Timothy Snyder, author of the highly acclaimed resistance manual On Tyranny, discusses his book and offers a fresh assessment of the state of our beleaguered republic. Timothy Snyder, history professor at Yale, is introduced by Stanley Heller, administrator of Promoting Enduring Peace, a Connecticut-based organization that sponsored this event at the United Church Parish House in New Haven on Nov. 28. A brief interview with Snyder conducted by WPKN radio producer, Richard Hill, follows his talk.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Nov. 12, 2017

Lynne Ide, director of program and policy with the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, talks about the current state of health care coverage in Connecticut. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Nov. 11, 2017

Focus on the Republican tax plan, the just-released autopsy on the Democratic Party, and Internet censorship by Google, Facebook and Youtube. Including an interview with Hilary Grant, a lead organizer with Action Together Connecticut, who discusses the local results of the recent election, with hosts Richard Hill, Scott Harris and Ruth Baumgartner WPKN producers

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Two leaders from Redneck Revolt, an anti-racist, anti-capitalist movement, talk about their work organizing with white working class people in Suffolk County, New York. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Bruce Gagnon, coordinator for the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, describes the extent of -- and motives underlying -- the vast US network of military bases around the globe. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resisting U.S. JeJu Island military base in South Korea, Oct. 24, 2017

Joyakol, South Korean peace activist and singer, discusses the crisis on the Korean peninsula and focuses on the resistance to the U.S. huge military base being constructed on Jeju Island. The event was sponsored by the Greater New Haven Peace Council and this audio was recorded by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.
Joyakol discusses Americans' biggest misconceptions about the conflict between North and South Korea and the U.S., Interview by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.

SPECIAL REPORT: John Allen, Out in New Haven

John Allen, founding director of the New Haven Pride Center, Connecticut, talks about his new LGBTQ television show, Out in New Haven, which presents a range of political and cultural issues to the community. Interviewed by Richard Hill on WPKN's Rainy Day Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018.

2017 Gandhi Peace Awards

Promoting Enduring Peace presented its Gandhi Peace Award jointly to renowned consumer advocate Ralph Nader and BDS founder Omar Barghouti on April 23, 2017.

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THANK YOU TO EVERYONE...

who helped make our 25th anniversary with Jeremy Scahill a success!

For those who missed the event, or were there and really wanted to fully absorb its import, here it is in video

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 1 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 2 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Between The Lines on Stitcher

Between The Lines Presentation at the Left Forum 2016

"How Do We Build A Mass Movement to Reverse Runaway Inequality?" with Les Leopold, author of "Runaway Inequality: An Activist's Guide to Economic Justice,"May 22, 2016, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York, 860 11th Ave. (Between 58th and 59th), New York City. Between The Lines' Scott Harris and Richard Hill moderated this workshop. Listen to the audio/slideshows and more from this workshop.

Listen to audio of the plenary sessions from the weekend.

JEREMY SCAHILL: Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker "Dirty Wars"

Listen to the full interview (30:33) with Jeremy Scahill, an award-winning investigative journalist with the Nation Magazine, correspondent for Democracy Now! and author of the bestselling book, "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army," about America's outsourcing of its military. In an exclusive interview with Counterpoint's Scott Harris on Sept. 16, 2013, Scahill talks about his latest book, "Dirty Wars, The World is a Battlefield," also made into a documentary film under the same title, and was nominated Dec. 5, 2013 for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Feature category.

Listen to Scott Harris Live on WPKN Radio

Between The Lines' Executive Producer Scott Harris hosts a live, weekly talk show, Counterpoint, from which some of Between The Lines' interviews are excerpted. Listen every Monday evening from 8 to 10 p.m. EDT at www.WPKN.org (Follows the 5-7 minute White Rose Calendar.)

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Obama Ruling on Access to Birth Control Provokes Attack from GOP and Religious Right

RealAudio MP3

Posted Feb. 1, 2012

Interview with Meghan Smith, domestic program associate at Catholics for Choice, conducted by Melinda Tuhus

In late January, the Obama administration issued a ruling that religious institutions serving the public, such as schools and hospitals, must provide their employees with access to birth control through employee health plans with no deductibles or co-pays, as part of the president’s Affordable Care Act health reform law. However, the ruling provides an exemption for employees of churches and other houses of worship, and allows these institutions an extra year to comply.

But Republicans – and especially Republican presidential candidates – have attacked this regulation to score political points against President Obama and the Democrats. Each candidate is trying to outdo the others in condemning the provision as an assault on freedom of religion. Along with their calls to end virtually all abortions, most of this year’s GOP presidential candidates want to prevent women from accessing effective forms of birth control.

Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus spoke with Meghan Smith, domestic program associate at Catholics for Choice, which works in the U.S. and abroad to secure the right to legal abortion and maintain and expand access to birth control. She explains that Catholic women already use birth control as much as non-Catholics, and that, in her view, this new government mandate is not an attack on religious freedom.

MEGHAN SMITH: We think that this is a good decision; we think it shows that the administration has listened to the majority of Catholics who truly do want contraceptive coverage and not to the 271 active U.S. bishops who don't. We know that the majority of Catholics really do support access to birth control and that the majority of Catholics have used birth control. We know that 98 percent of women have used a form of birth control that's banned by the Vatican, and when asked, 63 percent of Catholic voters in the U.S. supported coverage for birth control, whether in government-run or in private plans. What we've seen is that Catholics themselves use it, and they support other people being able to use it. So when we hear about the bishops railing against this, it's really that having failed to convince Catholics in the pews, the bishops are attempting to ride roughshod over other individuals' consciences who don't agree with them. There are 68 million Catholics in the U.S. and they aren't represented by the 271 bishops.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Where does that statistic come from that 98 percent of Catholic women use birth control?

MEGHAN SMITH: That statistic comes from the National Survey for Family Growth in 2008 and was also reiterated this year by the Guttmacher Institute in some of their research.

BETWEEN THE LINES: And it doesn't include the rhythm method, which the bishops do approve of?

MEGHAN SMITH: Correct. It would be a form that's banned by the Vatican, so any modern family planning that we think of: condoms or the pill or IUDs or something of that nature that the Vatican doesn't believe in.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Meghan Smith, elected officials and certainly all four of the remaining Republican candidates oppose abortion, and the two Catholics, Gingrich and Santorum, have explicitly accused the Obama administration of attacking freedom of religion for its decision that religious institutions that serve the public, like schools and hospitals, must cover birth control in their employee health plans. How do you respond?

MEGHAN SMITH: Well, I think it's very important to note that when we see conservative Catholics talking about freedom of religion, the only freedom they want right now is freedom from the Constitution. Religious freedom really is a two-way street; it involves freedom of religion – freedom to practice one's religion – but also freedom from religion – freedom from having another person's ideals imposed on you. So freedom of religion and religious liberty is an expansive idea, rather than a restrictive idea. It's not about telling people what they can and can't believe or practice, but it's about respecting an individual's right to follow his or her own conscience in religious beliefs and practices as well as moral decision-making. We know that women are moral agents, and we know they make decisions based on their reproductive health care needs all the time, and that contraceptive use really is a moral choice. So we respect their consciences and their religious freedom and their ability to make those decisions, just as we respect the rights of folks who don't want to use those services not to have to use them. We definitely recognize the rights of folks who want to decline to provide services or decline to use services, but it goes way too far to grant those refusal rights to an institution, because really, institutions don't have consciences, it's individuals who do.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Frontrunner Mitt Romney has stated that he would eliminate federal funding for Title X, which provides low- or no-cost family planning services to low-income women. This goes way beyond being anti-abortion.

MEGHAN SMITH: Well, the majority of Catholics really understand health care access as a social justice issue. It's truly part of our religion, that commitment to social justice and that commitment to letting the least among us – the poorest of the poor – have access to the same services as everybody else. So when we think about Title X services, and we think about the ways in which Catholics support access to contraception, to family planning, we know the majority of Catholics truly do support access to Title X and support the ideals of that program.

BETWEEN THE LINES: How widespread do you think the views of Catholics for Choice are in the pews of Catholic churches around America?

MEGHAN SMITH: Well, I can tell you the story of one woman I spoke with a few months back, who was very angry when she thought that she would not be included in this decision. This woman was a science teacher in a Catholic middle school in the Midwest and at the time her employers were denying her birth control coverage. She had come from a public school system where she had that access, and once she took a significant pay cut to move to this school, this Catholic school, she found she was not allowed the same birth control coverage she used to utilize under her previous insurance plan. And this was a significant financial hardship for herself and her husband. They're in their mid-20s; they weren't ready to have children. She told me that while she really enjoys teaching children, she's not ready to have them herself. So she was quite worried that she would not have the benefits of this great proposal to allow women to have this contraceptive access without co-pays, and I think folks like her are really going to be able to reap the benefits of this, not only in terms of planning out when or if they want to have children, but also to regulate medical conditions, and I've heard from plenty of my own friends about how excited they are about this proposal, because it really does represent an acknowledgment that women's consciences matter, and that during these tough economic times, their ability to pay for health care matters.

For more information on Catholics for Choice, visit catholicsforchoice.org.