December 5, 2009, Sarasota Herald-Tribune

All Americans can agree that abortion is a morally complex issue often sparking a range of emotions and decisions which people of different faiths resolve differently. Our current federal laws respect these religious differences, while preventing federal funds from being used for abortions. The Stupak amendment contained in the House health-reform bill attempts to use federal regulation to further restrict abortion access and circumvent the legal rights of women. This amendment goes too far in restricting the kind of private health insurance a woman can buy for herself and her family. This amendment does not trust women or their families to make thoughtful decisions based upon their own faith, or to spend their own money wisely.

December 1, 2009, Tallahassee Democrat

Of all the heartbreaking moments in the movie "Precious," one defines the inescapable circumstances of the victim-turned-heroine.

In 1987, Clareece "Precious" Jones is a teenager with two children sired by her own father. Because of him, she is also HIV-positive. Back then, the diagnosis signaled a hastening death; today medical care and precautionary measures reduce the terror of this affliction.

Yet this new movie is a reminder of the importance of World AIDS Day, when nations turn their attention to education and prevention of the auto-immune disease that has ravaged our world — moreso in some nations than in ours.

November 30, 2009, St. Petersburg Times

On the eve of World AIDS Day on Tuesday, the medicine is getting better, but human behavior is not. AIDS deaths in Florida have declined for two consecutive years, thanks to drug therapies, but infections hold steady