Free Republic

The Legislature in Iowa has passed the most restrictive abortion law in the country. Senate File 359, or the "heartbeat bill," will bar physicians from performing the procedure after a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can be as early as six weeks, when it is common for women not to know they are pregnant yet. If you looked at my life on paper, you might very well wonder why this news is a big deal to me. I have a life in New York City, a 3-year-old son, a current, wanted, planned pregnancy, a rewarding relationship and my mental health....

Growing up, my literary heroines were those who, like me, struggled to be good: Jo from "Little Women," Harriet the spy, Laura Ingalls and Pippi Longstocking. A strong-willed (and loud) child, I craved examples of unruly knuckleheads tethered to a loving family that encouraged us to be our best selves despite our natural inclinations. Precocious but naive, I thought of myself as an ugly duckling—misunderstood in my youth but destined for a beauty and stature completely impossible for my loved ones to comprehend. I shudder to think what a monster I would have become in the modern child-rearing era. Gorged...

Once upon a time – a time you probably don’t remember if you’re younger than 30 – American schools sought to teach children self-control, personal responsibility, and respect for others, especially adults. Students were corrected when they made mistakes and reprimanded when they slacked off or talked back. Most unfathomable to the current education establishment, teachers assessed students on qualities such as “gets along well with others” – and some children actually flunked. In the eyes of schoolteachers and parents, shaping kids into productive and responsible citizens was more important than protecting their egos. Then, sometime in the 1970s, schools...

A few weeks ago, U.S. champion skier Bode Miller turned in a stunningly poor performance at the Olympics, with two non-medal finishes, a disqualification and two incomplete races. Unabashed, he told the Associated Press: "I just did it my way. I'm not a martyr, and I'm not a do-gooder. I just want to go out and rock. And man, I rocked here." Mr. Miller's exuberant self-assessment makes him "a poster child" for "Generation Me," says San Diego State University psychology professor Jean Twenge. Americans born after 1970 -- including the so-called Generation X and Millennial Generation -- have become "an...

Whoa! What's happening? Why are people turning on us? We're the Baby Boomers, you know. The Mighty Boomers. We invented everything from money to music to sex, did we not? Nothing good ever happened until we came along. Now people are turning on us. We Baby Boomers are being made to feel . . . guilty. Ridiculous, isn't it? People have tried to make us feel guilty before. They said we consumed too much. Or we were too shallow. Or we only thought about ourselves. Excuuuuse me. Who should we think about? Somebody else? All that was just jealousy. Even...