Political Issues

Parental Notification Case is to be Sent Back to an Appeals Court A unanimous Supreme Court today declined to rule on a New Hampshire abortion statute and instead instructed a federal appeals court to reconsider the statute’s constitutionality. Moreover, the justices determined that the lower court had erred in invalidating the entire law and instructed […]

Summary of Findings The public has been hardly stirred by the flurry of major Washington news in the early days of 2006. Jack Abramoff’s admission that he bribed members of Congress has sparked little interest, with just 18% paying very close attention to news reports on the disgraced Washington lobbyist. An overwhelming majority of Americans […]

Summary of Findings The political debate over the Iraq war has grown more pointed in recent weeks, as President Bush has embarked upon a series of high-profile speeches defending the war and Democratic Rep. John Murtha has made headlines with his calls for a withdrawal of U.S. forces. But fundamental public attitudes toward the war […]

Introduction December 9, 2005, marks the 100th anniversary of secularism in France, known as “laïcité.” In 1905 the French government passed a law stipulating “the separation of churches and the state,” thus enshrining secularism as a national principle. The law, which barred the state from officially recognizing, funding or endorsing religious groups, represented a major […]

As the oldest of the nation’s 75 million baby boomers approach the age of 60, many are looking ahead to their own retirement while balancing a full plate of family responsibilities.

Key West, Florida Some of the nation’s leading journalists gathered in Key West, Florida, in December 2005 for the Pew Forum’s biannual Faith Angle Conference on religion, politics and public life. Conference speaker Edward J. Larson, Talmadge Chair of Law and Russell Professor of American History at the University of Georgia, discussed the history of […]

Pew Research Center Washington, D.C. Just weeks before the Senate confirmation hearings of Judge Samuel A. Alito, President Bush’s nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, the Forum held a discussion for journalists and other policy leaders on the role of religion in the judicial confirmation process. The discussion featured Noah Feldman, a law professor at […]

On November 30, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in the case of Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, marking the first time in five years the court has taken up an abortion case. According to a recent poll by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, more than […]

Pew Research Center Washington, D.C. The day before the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, the Pew Forum, together with the Federalist Society and the American Constitution Society, held an event to discuss the case and its significance. The Ayotte case involves a challenge by a number […]

On November 30, 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, a case that challenges New Hampshire’s Parental Notification Prior to Abortion Act. Ayotte is the first abortion case the court has taken up in five years, and it is the first such case that […]