Plain Talk 237: Is this new North Dakota law a threat to academic freedom?
Earlier this year North Dakota's lawmakers approved a bill that prohibited institutions in the state's university system from working with groups that promote abortion. The bill, as passed, also included a financial penalty, denying matching state fundraising dollars for campuses that ran afoul of the provision. The impetus for the legislation was a long-standing grant relationship between Planned Parenthood, which is involved not only in promoting abortion rights but also in partisan politics on the side of Democrats. Governor Doug Burgum signed the law, though he vetoed the penalty, leaving only the prohibition in place. Many on the state's campuses see the Legislature's actions as an affront to academic freedom. Is it? Dr. Bo Wood, a professor of political science at the University of North Dakota, joins this episode of Plain Talk to discuss that as well as the controversy around Rep. Liz Cheney and the splintering of the GOP.