The U.S. Senate this week voted by a lopsided majority (84-15) to take up and debate immigration reform legislation. Observers opined that the procedural vote showed a deep well of support for passing immigration legislation, at least in the U.S. Senate. Meanwhile, House Speaker John Boehner predicted a bill would be passed by year’s end. [...]
The Missouri Supreme Court this week upheld a state law that requires unaccredited public school districts to pay for students who want to attend better public schools in neighboring districts. Currently, there are three unaccredited districts: Kansas City, and the St. Louis area districts of Riverview Gardens and Normandy. Families in unaccredited districts have been [...]
Juvenile offenders now have a better chance of staying in juvenile facilities versus being sent to adult prisons. This week Governor Jay Nixon signed SB 36 which extends the age to 17 ½ years old that a juvenile offender can remain under the Division of Youth Services (DYS). Sponsored by Senator Wayne Wallingford (R-Cape-Girardeau), this [...]
Serious efforts to reform and expand Medicaid got off to a slow start in this year’s session of the Missouri General Assembly and no bill ultimately passed. Now both the Senate and the House have established study committees to come up with recommendations for next year’s session, which begins in January. Senator Gary Romine (R-Farmington) [...]
Tuesday night the City of St. Louis experienced 18 shootings and one stabbing. The violence threatens to drive out people who want peace and quiet. For a revealing inside story on the violence, see this St. Louis Post-Dispatch article. The 2013 Annual Assembly of the MCC will feature a workshop on this topic presented by [...]
The U. S. Supreme Court this week unanimously denied a biotechnology firm the legal right to patent human genes isolated from a patient’s blood stream. The court ruled that because the genes at issue were naturally occurring, they were not patentable. Synthetic DNA strands, the court observed, would be patentable.
St. Louis Review reporter Jennifer Brinker recently discussed the implications of a recent federal court order requiring the FDA to make Plan B emergency contraceptives available over the counter to all girls 10 years of age and older with Theresa Prosser, a St. Louis professor of pharmacy and health policy. Prosser expressed concern that customers [...]
The second United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Fortnight for Religious Freedom starts June 21st and runs through July 4th. The USCCB is asking people of faith to pray and fast for our first freedom, religious liberty. Threats to our religious liberties from the HHS contraceptive mandate, and the re-definition of marriage, among others, [...]
Do you know someone who promotes the spiritual well-being of all people of the State of Missouri, provides leadership in the area of public policy, participates in the democratic process of government or coordinates diocesan programs and statewide projects to better the common good? If so, you should nominate them for the Missouri Catholic Conference [...]