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NYT/CBS News Poll Examines Public Opinion On Sotomayor, Shows Support For Abortion Rights
Three weeks after President Obama named Judge Sonia Sotomayor as his nominee to the Supreme Court, 53% of U.S. adults say they do not know enough about her to determine whether they would support her confirmation, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll released Wednesday, the New York Times reports. The question was one of many in the national telephone poll of 895 adults, which explored a broad range of issues related to Obama"s first five months as president. According to the poll, 48% of participants said that Sotomayor"s opinions on issues like abortion and affirmative action are important information that should be known ahead of her confirmation hearing, which is scheduled to begin July 13. The poll found that 74% of participants believe it is very or somewhat important for the Supreme Court to reflect the nation"s diversity. The Times reports that although Sotomayor"s nomination and the recent murder of Kansas abortion provider George Tiller have "injected a fresh dynamic into the national abortion debate," the new poll shows that there has been little change in public opinion on abortion rights in the past 20 years. Thirty-six percent of participants said that abortion should be generally available, 41% said it should be available but with increased restrictions and 21% said it should be prohibited. Among Democratic voters, 71% said that Roe v. Wade should not be overturned, while Republican voters were "closely divided," the Times reports. The poll was conducted from June 12 to June 16 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points (Zeleny/Sussman, New York Times, 6/18).

First Genetic Evidence For Why Placebos Work Presented By UCLA Scientists
Placebos are a sham - usually mere sugar pills designed to represent "no treatment" in a clinical treatment study. The effectiveness of the actual medication is compared with the placebo to determine if the medication works.
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Stem Cell Surprise For Tissue Regeneration
Scientists working at the Carnegie Institution"s Department of Embryology, with colleagues, have overturned previous research that identified critical genes for making muscle stem cells. It turns out that the genes that make muscle stem cells in the embryo are surprisingly not needed in adult muscle stem cells to regenerate muscles after injury. The finding challenges the current course of research into muscular dystrophy, muscle injury, and regenerative medicine, which uses stem cells for healing tissues, and it favours using age-matched stem cells for therapy. The study is published in the June 25 advance on-line edition of Nature.
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Pope, Obama To Hold Meeting After G-8 Summit

Pope Benedict XVI has agreed to meet with President Obama at the Vatican on July 10, according to White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs, the AP/Boston Globe reports. The Rev. Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesperson, on Wednesday said that the pope will hold an afternoon meeting with the president and first lady Michelle Obama after the conclusion of the Group of Eight industrialized nations summit meeting, a break with a Vatican tradition of holding midday meetings. The AP/Globe reports that the Vatican "clearly sought to accommodate" the president"s schedule, an indication that Benedict is interested in meeting with Obama despite his support for abortion rights and embryonic stem cell research.Some U.S. bishops have publicly attacked Obama"s support of abortion rights and embryonic stem cell research, which has fueled anticipation of a meeting between the president and the pope. Most recently, dozens of bishops denounced the University of Notre Dame"s decision to invite Obama to deliver its commencement address and receive an honorary degree. However, L"Osservatore Romano, the Vatican"s daily newspaper, said that Obama"s speech showed that he is looking for common ground on issues related to abortion. Obama also received a positive review from the newspaper after his first 100 days in office. An editorial in the paper said that Obama had not confirmed the "radical" direction on ethical questions he had discussed as a candidate (Simpson, AP/Boston Globe, 6/24). Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women"s Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women"s Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company. © 2009 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.


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