Women’s Rights
Resolution of the abortion issue will be a seminal test for our democracy
Shrouded in hypocrisy, entangled by complexity and ensnarled in a battle for control, the abortion issue will be a real test of the structure of our democratic form of government. Will there be a new overarching federal law along with specific state laws governing abortion? It is a central focus in the 2024 presidential election, […]
Susan J. Demas: How Michigan became the progressive powerhouse of the Midwest
For years, Michigan was a national laughingstock, as bad news stalked the state like the villain in a bad ‘80s horror film. There was the one-state recession of the early aughts, thanks to the bruised auto industry that almost collapsed during the Great Recession that followed, and two partial state government shutdowns. Then came Republicans […]
Sandra Day O’Connor, who made history as the first woman on the Supreme Court, dies at 93
WASHINGTON — The first woman to serve on the nation’s highest court is dead at 93. Sandra Day O’Connor, a groundbreaking justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, died Friday in Phoenix, Arizona of complications related to advanced dementia, probably Alzheimer’s, and a respiratory illness, according to an announcement from the court. President Ronald Reagan nominated […]
Businessman Sandy Pensler joins jammed GOP field for Michigan U.S. Senate seat
Saying he wants to take the “Senate back from the morons,” Grosse Pointe Park businessman Sandy Pensler is making another run for U.S. Senate, announcing via a video Friday morning that he has joined the race for the Republican nomination to replace Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Lansing, who announced earlier this year she would […]
DeSantis and Newsom clash in TV debate, charging each other with lies and bullying
Ron DeSantis of Florida and Gavin Newsom from California, two of the nation’s most well-known governors who sit on opposite sides of the ideological spectrum, engaged in a fiery 90-minute debate on Thursday night from Alpharetta, Georgia, which was broadcast live on the Fox News Channel. The stakes were undoubtedly higher for DeSantis, 45, who […]
‘Michigan has showed the world’: Whitmer signs pared-down Reproductive Health Act into law
Underneath a digital billboard that said, “Today we are taking another bold step forward to ensure Michigan laws reflect Michigan values,” Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Tuesday signed into law bills that repeal several abortion restrictions in Michigan. The ceremony, held at Schoolcraft College’s Vistatech Center in Livonia, featured dozens of reproductive rights supporters and […]
Column: Like an island, Indiana is surrounded, and it’s gonna cost us
With a few vital exceptions across America, the 2023 election was scheduled to deal with local government. Tip O’Neill famously coined the phrase, “all politics is local.” Oh, if the former speaker of the House, who held the gavel for virtually all of the 1980’s, could see the America we are living in today. O’Neill’s […]
Whitmer signs Michigan gun ban for domestic abusers
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed legislation aimed to keep guns out of abusers’ hands in Kalamazoo, 24 years after the tragic death of Maggie Wardle, 19, at the hands of an ex-boyfriend. “I could jump for joy,” Maggie’s mother, Martha Omilian, told the Advance after Whitmer signed a series of bills that extend gun restrictions to […]
Susan J. Demas: Conservatives really don’t want to take no for an answer on abortion bans
The anti-abortion movement won a momentous victory last year when the right-wing U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. After almost a half-century, the constitutional right to abortion was suddenly snatched away, leaving the matter up to the states, just as conservatives had insisted they desired. Long-dormant state abortion bans sprung back into effect, while […]
Here’s your guide to what the Michigan Legislature didn’t finish this year
The first Democratic-majority Legislature in four decades ended a frenzied year early this month after sending the governor a slew of legislative priorities, including a clean energy overhaul, abortion rights reforms and financial disclosure requirements for state officials. That came after an even busier first few months that saw Democrats use their narrow majorities to […]
Wee hours U.S. Senate drama: GOP colleagues on the floor battle Tuberville blockade
WASHINGTON — After a marathon day and late-night vote to avert a Thanksgiving government shutdown, four U.S. Senate Republicans held the floor until the wee hours Thursday, urging their Alabama colleague to lift his months-long objections to hundreds of U.S. military nominations. Sens. Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Todd Young of Indiana, Joni Ernst of Iowa […]
On this day in 1979: Anna Diggs Taylor is sworn in as a federal judge, making history
On Nov. 15, 1979, Detroit attorney Anna Diggs Taylor was sworn in as a federal court judge for Michigan’s Eastern District. The 46-year-old was the first African-American woman to serve in the post. She was appointed by Democratic President Jimmy Carter. Attending the ceremony included United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young; Detroit Mayor Coleman A. Young; […]