Columnists

Some parallels can be drawn between forcing women to carry pregnancies against their will, and forcing people deemed mentally ill to receive medication and other treatment against their will. There are parallels and there are contrasts. Forcing a mentally ill person to receive treatment is done under the premise that the individual, due to her or his mental illness, does not have the capacity to judge that they are ill and need treatment. On the other hand, forcing a woman to carry a pregnancy is done under the premise that the unborn fetus has the right to be born and to live, regardless of the consequences to the mother. This concept prohibits performing an abortion even in cases where the pregnancy poses a medical threat to the mother's life. Outlawing abortion doesn't say anything regarding the competency of the mother. -more-

Don't Mope! Note Mopps'!

We may not have a majority on the Supreme Court but we still have Mr. Mopps'. The local kid-centric bookstore on the corner of MLK and Rose has a new roster of inspirational children's books on display. They carry a host of positive titles, including these:

Feminist Baby; We Rise, We Resist; We Raise our Voices; Change Starts with Us; We Are Better Together; Enough Is Enough; Why We March; March Against Fear; Say Something; Rad American Women: A-Z; Stacey Abrams' Extraordinary Words; The Young Activists' Dictionary of Social Justice; Fall Down Seven Times; Stand Up Eight. -more-

Add Highland Park, IL, to the shameful list of mass shootings. With over 300 mass shootings just this year, gun violence has now become as American as baseball, hot dogs, and apple pie. -more-