More now on the Supreme Court where health care was not the only case decided today. The justices struck down the Stolen Valor Act, which made it a crime to lie about receiving military decorations or medals. The Court ruled it may be unethical to lie about receiving the Medal of Honor, but it's protected speech under the First Amendment.
NPR's Larry Abramson reports that veterans groups are disappointed, but they say the decision leaves room for Congress to try again.
We want to find out what today's ruling means for someone who's had difficulty with his health-care coverage. So we're turning to Shawn Pollock. He's 30 years old. He said he had excellent benefits until he was laid off from his job at a TV station, in 2009. He couldn't afford insurance, even under COBRA. And then he got viral meningitis and was hospitalized, leading him to be labeled high risk when he applied for insurance.
Shawn Pollock joins me now from Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Welcome to the program.
So in the end, it was the chief justice, John Roberts, providing the key fifth swing vote to uphold the health-care law. Roberts, the conservative appointee of George W. Bush, ended up siding with the liberal wing of the court.
To talk about that turn, I'm joined by Jeffrey Rosen, law professor at George Washington University. Welcome back, Jeffrey.
Across the street at the Capitol, lawmakers lined up to issue their reactions to the court's ruling upholding the health care law. Democrats celebrated what for many of them was an unexpected victory. Republicans denounced the decision and vowed to repeal the law.
Bank of America stadium in Charlotte, N.C., where President Obama will accept his party's nomination on Sept. 6.
Credit Ron Edmonds / AP
Joe Manchin, then-governor of West Virginia, speaks at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver. Now a U.S. senator up for re-election, Manchin said he won't attend the convention in Charlotte, N.C.
This summer's Democratic National Convention has already gotten shorter, shrinking from the traditional four-day extravaganza to three days. Now it appears the attendance for the event is shrinking, too.
At least a dozen Democrats say they won't be able to make it to Charlotte, N.C., when the convention begins Sept. 4. It's no coincidence that all are facing tough election campaigns in places where President Obama's popularity lags.
Modern reproductive technologies can give older women the same chances of having a baby as younger women, researchers reported Wednesday.
The new study found that women age 31 and younger have about a 60 percent to 75 percent chance of having a baby after three IVF cycles. The chances drop to about 20 percent to 30 percent for women ages 41 or 42, and to about just 5 percent to 10 percent for those age 43 or older.
People view the AIDS Memorial Quilt at the National Mall this week.
Credit Scott Stewart / AP
A sunrise ceremony is held in 1987 in Washington, near part of the quilt bearing the names of people who have died of AIDS.
Credit Stephen R. Brown / AP
Thousands of people examine the individual panels of the AIDS Memorial Quilt as it is displayed in Washington in 1992.
Credit Wilfredo Lee / AP
Volunteers lay out the quilt on the grounds of the Washington Monument in 1992.
Credit Jamal Wilson / AFP/Getty Images
Then-President Clinton and first lady Hillary Clinton visit the quilt on the Mall in 1992, when it was made up of 40,000 panels that covered the equivalent of 24 football fields.
Credit David La Spina / AFP/Getty Images
Marchers carry portions of the quilt through the Mall during a 2001 march in observance of the 20th year of public awareness of HIV and AIDS.
Credit Ebony Bailey / NPR
Visitors tour portions of the AIDS Memorial Quilt on display at the National Mall this week.
The AIDS Memorial Quilt is too big to display all in one piece. Since 1987, it has grown to more than 48,000 panels that honor the lives of more than 94,000 people who have died of AIDS. The last time the whole quilt was shown together was in 1996, on the National Mall. Now it's back in Washington, D.C., for its 25th anniversary.
In order to salvage its common currency, Europe is working toward a tighter fiscal union. That will require a tradeoff — sovereignty for economic stability. Over the next two days European Union leaders will try to come to an agreement to boost growth.
It will be weeks — maybe longer — before the one part of Arizona's immigration law the Supreme Court left standing goes into effect. A lower court has to remove its injunction before local police are required to ask about immigration status. But as NPR's Ted Robbins reports, there's already been a backlash.
