PEPFAR Vote Looming … The Senate will be considering the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) sometime in the next 48 hours.  There are many shortcomings in the current version of the bill.  Please take a moment to check out our extensive coverage on this issue.  Kaiser Network has a comprehensive overview of the impending vote.  During the vote an amendment to end the 21-year ban on the immigration of HIV positive people will also be considered.  160 organizations have signed on in support of this amendment for some very good reasons.

Abortion a Hot Topic in Canada Right Now … A couple of weeks ago pro-choice crusader Dr. Henry Morgentaler, who was a litigant in the 1988 Canadaian Supreme Court case that legalized abortion throughout the country, was named to the Order of Canada, the country’s highest civillian honor.  The honor was given for "a lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service
to the nation." Many, three in five or two in three depending on which poll you go with, beleive the honor is well deserved.  But the award has has stirred quite a debate over the past couple weeks about legal abortion.  The UK’s Guardian has a great writeup from an external perspective. 

Colorado ‘Personhood’ Ballot Initiative … Coloradoans will vote in Novemeber on whether or not to legally define the beginning of life from the moment of fertilization.  The Sunday Washington Post ran a worthwhile review of the initiative and the debate surrounding it.