Guest Post

Walk along with Century contributor Sarah Hinlicky Wilson and her husband Andrew Lars Wilson as they retrace the journey Martin Luther made from Erfut, Germany, to Rome in 1510—500 years ago this year.

A fascinating legal question has emerged in the aftermath of Judge Vaughn Walker’s overturning of Proposition 8 in California: Who has standing to appeal the decision?

“War is not healthy for children and other living things.” That consciously obvious claim—a favored bumper sticker in the 1960s—came to mind while reading a report in USA Today saying that one in four soldiers at the nation’s largest army post have been in counseling during the past year.

What was remarkable about the overturning of Proposition 8—California’s ban on same-sex marriage—was the weakness of the case mounted by the defense. At times during the proceedings, Judge Vaughn Walker had to ask the legal team in charge of defending the proposition, in effect: “Haven’t you got something better than this?”

It’s hardly news that someone counts herself in the “religious but not part of an organized religion” camp. Or as novelist Anne Rice described herself: she is a follower of Christ who has decided to quit Christianity.

What would happen if we were to discover that an existing pill, one already used for legitimate medical reasons and so important that it wouldn’t be banned, was also effective in inducing abortions?