U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., was appointed to the Senate in May 2011 to fill the vacancy left by Sen. John Ensign’s resignation. Heller previously represented Nevada’s 2nd District in the U.S. House, and before that, he served many years in state government.

Lisa Beavers, a licensed professional counselor in Nashville, is forming a safe haven program to meet youths’ concerns about gender or sexual identity formation.

Read a Sept. 23, 2009, New Orleans Times-Picayune story on Bartholomew’s visit to the United States and the Religion, Science and the Environment Symposium.

Timothy Johnson is Morse Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor of Political Science at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis-St. Paul. His books include, as co-author, Religious Institutions and Minor Parties in the United States. He wrote the entry on Roe v. Wade for the Encyclopedia of American Religion and Politics.

Catholics for Choice was founded in 1973 to give a voice to those “who believe that the Catholic tradition supports a woman’s moral and legal right to follow her conscience” on matters of reproductive health.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is an organization that works “to unify, coordinate, encourage, promote and carry on Catholic activities in the United States.”

The Susan B. Anthony List is a leading anti-abortion group. The organization and its political action committee work to elect lawmakers who oppose abortion. Marjorie Dannenfelser is president. Contact Mallory Quigley.

Priests for Life is one of the largest anti-abortion groups in the country. The Rev. Frank Pavone is the group’s leader.

The National Pro-Life Religious Council is a Christian coalition. Organizations that have representatives on its board are listed on the website.