Search results for

NPR's Julie Rovner reports that with Republican control of the federal government, abortion opponents are looking forward to several victories this year. The first issue expected to pass both houses and to be signed into law is a ban on late abortions, which abortion opponents call "partial-birth" abortions. Other issues that will be debated include proposed laws to protect fetuses injured during violent crimes against pregnant women; a law barring adults from taking adolescents across state lines for abortions; and a law that would make it easier for hospitals and providers to decline to offer abortion services.

NPR's Lynn Neary talks with Jody Steinauer, founder of Medical Students For Choice, an organization seeking to reform medical school curricula to include training in abortion. She says only 46 percent of medical schools provide abortion training, despite a requirement to do so to receive accreditation. Steinauer is currently doing a fellowship in OB/GYN and Internal Medicine at U.C.S.F. and San Francisco General Hospital.

With U.S. troops closing in on his position in Tora Bora, Afghanistan in 2001, Osama bin Laden used a simple trick to escape. That's according to a report in the Washington Post, which says bin Laden passed the satellite phone the Americans were tracking to one of his guards. The guard then led U.S. troops one way while bin Laden went another. NPR's Robert Siegel talks with Washington Post correspondent Peter Finn in Casablanca, Morocco.

NPR's Larry Abramson reports on librarians' concerns that anti-terrorism laws will require them to violate their patrons' privacy. Librarians are holding workshops to learn about their responsibilities and options.

Some protests are motivated by war, or civil rights violations. Others are sparked by issues of somewhat less dire concern. But that doesn't necessarily lessen the emotion behind them. Witness Paulette Lsyshyn's effort to get the Gem canning jar company to reverse its decision to stop production of a certain size of lid. NPR's Lynn Neary talks with Paulette Lsyshyn of Leoville, Saskatchewan, Canada, about her countrywide petition.

Mexico is asking the World Court at The Hague to stop the United States from executing 51 Mexican citizens. Mexico argues the United States has violated international rules by not informing Mexican detainees of their right to assistance from the Mexican consulate. The United States disagrees, and says Mexico is infringing on its justice system by questioning the use of capital punishment. NPR's Gerry Hadden reports.

NPR's Robert Siegel talks to University of Iowa film professor Rick Altman about filmmaker Edwin Porter. One hundred years ago today, Porter received the copyright on Life of an American Fireman, a film that's regarded, along with his other 1903 film The Great train Robbery, as the first to use the conceit of editing to compress time and space. Porter's pioneering work influenced all subsequent filmmakers. Altman says audiences quickly learned to follow the new way of telling stories. Editing saved the faltering movie industry, which up to Porter's work in 1903 mostly used single, uncut shots of real world events. Porter cut away from an action to show events happening at the same time elsewhere.

New figures from the 2000 Census show Hispanics now make up 13 percent of the United States' population. The new data suggests Hispanics may have overtaken blacks as the largest minority population, but critics say it depends on how the numbers are tallied. NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports.

It's been a year since the priest abuse scandal broke in the Roman Catholic church, and for some of the hundreds of victims in the Boston area this has been one of the most painful of their lives. Others say that seeking justice and talking about what happened to them has marked the first steps toward healing. NPR's Tovia Smith spoke with some of these victims.

A new White House mandate would require that 4-year-olds leaving the Head Start program take a literacy test. The Bush administration wants to make sure the program -- created to help increase the school readiness of children in low-income families -- is preparing children to read. NPR's Claudio Sanchez reports.