Plenty o' liberals around the country are probably groaning and lots o' Republicans are likely cheering upon quickly perusing one of today's big news stories. According to the go-to pollsters, Gallup, Americans who identify themselves as "pro-choice" are at an all-time low. Just 41 percent ascribe that label to themselves, whereas 50 percent say they're "pro-life."

Ack! When you consider that back in 1995, the numbers were dramatically different, with 56 percent identifying as pro-choice to only 33 percent as pro-life, it feels like -- between this and the GOP's war on women -- we've taken a huge step backward as a country. But then again, choicers like me, take heart: It's not really as bad as it sounds on the surface.

What is with the so-called Christian pastors in North Carolina lately? A few weeks ago we had the creep who told dads to punch their toddler sons for acting "gay," and now we have the Rev. Charles Worley whose idea of delivering a stirring Mother's Day sermon is to suggest we round up all the gays and lesbians and place them in concentration camps. 

Worley was videotaped standing at the pulpit of the Providence Road Baptist Church on May 13 calling for an electrified fence to be built to keep the nation's LGBT community. There Worley said they can "die off."

Disturbing. And a somewhat ironic choice of words for a guy who also called President Barack Obama a baby killer.

Considering that the women's suffrage movement began more than 100 years ago and second-wave feminism was born almost 50 years ago, you would think we as a country would be further along when it comes to gender discrimination. Unfortunately, it feels like we've have been thrown under the political bus more than ever in the past year (see: the GOP's war on women). So it's no wonder that President Obama has made the point in recent days to reiterate his strong record on women's rights -- and, for that reason, that NARAL Pro-Choice America has endorsed him, calling him "a leader who stands with women and their families."

They've even released a video that really gets at the heart of why President Obama deserves women's votes this fall. (Hint: His pro-choice stance is just one reason.) Check it out ...

The National Network of Abortion Funds (NNAF) recently held a Bowl-a-Thon and raised over $400,000 for abortions. On its website, it highlighted the story of 14-year-old Darcy, who was given a “second chance” when she terminated her child’s life pregnancy with money provided by the group’s “George Tiller Memorial Fund.”

Reminder: George Tiller was the late-term abortion provider that was murdered by nut-job anarchist Scott Roeder in 2009.

You'd have to be living under a rock to not know that there's been a war going on in Washington over issues most of us thought were settled some 30+ years ago (birth control, abortion, etc.) A war you would think most American women would be appalled by. But noooo. Some Republican women don't seem to mind. They're not keen on D.C.'s "socialist" taxes and health insurance. Yet, when it comes to their reproductive freedoms? Their attitude seems to be "Have at it, government! Get all up in it!"

That's why the latest FunnyorDie.com sketch, featuring Kate Beckinsale, Judy Greer, and Andrea Savage as "typical Republican women" is downright hilarious. These women say they want small government. They don't want government in their banks or their classrooms. Where do they want it? Their vaginas! Where the bigger it is, the better! HA! Check it out ...

If I were going to ask Mitt Romney and Barack Obama three questions, here's what I'd ask. While the 2012 election has cast a sharp line between both sides, my first question would be about bringing the two parties together.

"What characteristics do you have that would appeal to members of the opposition and help eliminate the stalemate in Washington?" 

Americans want progress, not gridlock. I would love to know how each of them could be effective in building bridges around the issues that concern us all. And I would like them to cite examples where they initiated change but had to work with the other party to get it implemented.

When Rush Limbaugh called Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke a "slut" (for testifying to the U.S. government on behalf of a friend who needed birth control for medical reasons), bet he never in a million years could have imagined the can of worms that he would have cracked open. A fullblown war against women's reproductive rights has erupted over the past few months, and "sluts" everywhere aren't going to take it anymore! 

It's not just a fringe group of few women here or there decrying the sick political games old white men are playing with our rights. I'd actually venture to guess that most women in the U.S. would be labeled a "slut" under the current Limbaugh/GOP definition. And now, there's an activist group just for us called Rock the Slut Vote, founded by Susan McMillan Emry.

Progress in this country has seemed seriously stunted this year. All you need to do to draw that conclusion is look at the series of attacks on Planned Parenthood and women's reproductive rights -- in Congress nonetheless. Thankfully, it seems like in the past few weeks, arguments about birth control and chipping away at Roe v. Wade have died down a bit. Unfortunately, in turn, Planned Parenthood is nervous that the far right-wing may have taken matters into their own hands.

There have been several suspicious incidents at Planned Parenthoods across the country, which have given the organization reason to believe that anti-abortion activists are targeting them in a new undercover sting operation. Oh, boy, here we go again! Reportedly, the operation employs "hoax visits" by women asking really kooky, unnerving questions about the gender of their fetus ...