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Protein Linked To Mental Retardation Controls Synapse Maturation, Plasticity, CSHL Team Finds
Oligophrenin-1, a Rho-GTPase-activating protein, stabilizes postsynaptic AMPA receptors
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White House Reassures Abortion-Rights Advocates Of Sotomayor's Views On Roe
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs on Thursday assured abortion-rights groups that Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor shares President Obama"s views on constitutional protection for a right to privacy and a woman"s right to abortion, the Washington Post reports. Although many abortion-rights groups have welcomed the nomination, some have voiced concern over Sotomayor"s limited judicial record on cases involving abortion rights, especially the right to privacy that forms the basis for Roe v. Wade. Gibbs said that although Obama did not specifically ask Sotomayor about abortion rights during preliminary interviews, the White House is certain she agrees with the president on the constitutionality of Roe. Obama and Sotomayor "talked about the theory of constitutional interpretation, generally, including her views on unenumerated rights in the Constitution and the theory of settled law," Gibbs said, adding that Obama felt "very comfortable with her interpretation of the Constitution being similar to that of his." In a 2007 campaign debate, Obama said he would not nominate "somebody who doesn"t believe in the right to privacy," which the Supreme Court ruled gave women the right to terminate a pregnancy. Obama administration officials also said that they held private conversations on Thursday with groups on both sides of the abortion debate.The Post reports that Sotomayor has not dealt with constitutional issues regarding abortion rights in the nearly two decades she has been a federal judge. Her most notable decision regarding abortion was in 2002 when she ruled that the Bush administration had the right to implement the "global gag rule," which banned federal funding for international family planning groups that offer abortion services and information. Although that decision "reveals nothing about abortion rights," it is based on precedents from the Supreme Court and the Second U.S. Circuit of Appeals, the Post reports. Sotomayor wrote in her decision that the Supreme Court "has made clear that the government is free to favor the antiabortion position over the pro-choice position, and can do so with public funds." She also ruled that a group of antiabortion-rights protesters could go forward with a lawsuit alleging police brutality; however, that case focused on issues of municipal liability, not the constitutional right to an abortion, according to the Post.Currently, the court is essentially split on the issue of the right to privacy and abortion. Retiring Justice David Souter was one of three authors in a 2002 decision that upheld the basic tenets Roe, and abortion-rights supporters believe that replacing Souter with someone who does not support Roe would threaten those rights, the Post reports. Senior Senate Democrats said that they expect the issue to be brought up during private meetings with Sotomayor next week. However, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), a strong supporter of abortion rights, said she will not specifically ask Sotomayor about Roe. She said that she "feel[s] as comfortable as I could possibly feel" about Sotomayor"s support for abortion rights (Barnes/Shear, Washington Post, 5/29). Advocates on both sides of the abortion-rights debate are urging members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to question Sotomayor about her views during her confirmation hearings. Nancy Northup of the Center for Reproductive Rights said, "I think both sides can agree that the American people should know where its nominees to the Supreme Court stand on important constitutionally decided decisions like Roe v. Wade." Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life, said, "We"ve really been focused on asking senators to really probe this question of her judicial philosophy, as to whether or not she"s going to approach a decision like [Roe] as a jurist or as a woman" (Totenberg, "All Things Considered," NPR, 5/28). Douglas Johnson, legislative director of the National Right to Life Committee, said his group thinks it is "critical that senators thoroughly explore whether [Sotomayor] b
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Regenstrief Institute Is 'pace Car' For Coordination Of Medical Care At Indy 500
Indianapolis 500 spectators, participants and crews expect nonstop excitement and outstanding racing at the world"s largest sporting event. They will find that and more at this year"s Indy 500.
Cardiovascular

Latin America Accounts For Two-Thirds Of All Confirmed H1N1 Deaths

Health officials are growing increasingly concerned over the impact the H1N1 (swine) flu is having on populations living in Latin America, a region "which accounts for around two-thirds of the 816 confirmed deaths so far from the disease," the AFP/channelnewsasia.com reports. "The outlook is especially unsettling for the estimated 380 million people grappling with winter in South America, where the A(H1N1) virus is speedily propagating," the news service writes. The article examines the number of H1N1 cases and deaths across countries and how government officials are working to prevent the spread of the virus (7/29). CDC Warns Pregnant Women At High-Risk For H1N1, Vaccine Advisory Committee To Meet Pregnant women with the H1N1 flu are at a higher risk of severe illness and death, according to a Lancet study by CDC researchers, Reuters/Yahoo!News writes. "While pregnant woman have always had a higher risk of severe disease from influenza in general, the new H1N1 virus is taking an exceptionally heavy toll," leading to higher hospitalization rates and death compared to the general population (Steenhuysen, 7/29). The study led the CDC on Wednesday to recommend that doctors treat pregnant women experiencing flu symptoms immediately with antivirals, the Wall Street Journal reports. "Some clinicians hesitate treating pregnant women with antiviral medications because of concerns for the developing fetus, but this is the wrong approach," Denise Jamieson, lead author of the study, said (Dorren, 7/29). "Public health officials may put pregnant women at the front of the line" for vaccination, 11Alive.com reports. However, doctors have experienced challenges in the past vaccinating pregnant women, with "[o]nly about 14 percent of them get[ting] the seasonal flu vaccine every year" (Pickard, 7/28). On Wednesday, the CDC"s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is scheduled to discuss which groups should be vaccinated first, if the government chooses to move forward with an H1N1 influenza vaccination campaign, Reuters reports. Another topic of discussion will be ways to manage an H1N1 vaccine alongside the seasonal flu vaccine (Fox, 7/28). Somali Health Minister Appeals For Support To Prepare For H1N1 Somali Health Minister Qamar Aden Ali on Wednesday appealed to the WHO and international community for support to help the nation prepare for the possible arrival of H1N1, Xinhua reports. Though there have been no confirmed cases of H1N1 in Somalia, neighboring Kenya confirmed cases last month. "We lack the technical capability to diagnose the disease and the necessary drugs to treat it. So we call upon the international community particularly the WHO to give us the necessary drugs and technical advice and training for our health staff," the minister said (7/29). This information was reprinted from globalhealth.kff.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at globalhealth.kff.org. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


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