Kathleen Gallagher, director of pro-life activities for the New York State Catholic Conference, joins Bob to talk about the fall-out from that state’s passage of extreme abortion legislation in January. Next, Jenn Briemann, executive director of the Maryland Catholic Conference, talks about how physician-assisted suicide legislation suddenly took off this spring. The Maryland House passed PAS legislation on March 7 by a 74-66 vote. The legislation went on to be considered by the full Senate on March 27, where it was defeated when it fell to a 23-23 tie vote. Then, Robert McCoppin, a reporter for the Chicago Tribune, discusses how legalization efforts for marijuana are progressing in the legislature. Gov. J.B Pritzker’s proposed budget counts on $170 million from the sale of licenses, but no language for the authorizing legislation is expected until late April. Finally, Michael O’Rourke, policy advisor with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, talks about federal criminal justice reforms embodied in the First Step Act, passed and signed into law in late December.
