Who let Texans make laws?

Certainly, from an ethical and medical point of view, in most cases self-restraint is a far better option than abortion. But there are cases where self-restraint simply was not an option. And because of those cases - and the impossibility to be certain that it might have factored in - the only sensible moral position is to allow for abortion at the woman's discretion. Counseling may or may not take place; but in the final analysis, only the pregnant woman (or her guardian) has the right to decide what is best for her.

In this light, the new law in Texas, which effectively outlaws abortion and makes anyone even tangentially involved with the process a target for bounty hunters, is most odious. It is an oppression of women, American puritanism at its worst.

A tawdry end to a tawdry war

Afghanistan... By what right did the USA invade that country? By what right did it remain there? But having abused its power for so long, when leaving could the US not have fulfilled promises to local supporters and protected all its citizens? Yes, certainly it was the right move to leave. But there's a right way and a wrong way to do that. No amount of political pretense will change the fact that Biden's departure from Afghanistan was every bit as arrogant and presumptuous - every bit as cruel and unethical - as Bush's entry.