April 22, 2010
Happy 50th, Birth Control!
Wow: it's been 50 years since the birth control pill was first approved by the FDA. What's changed since then?
By the 1970s the true impact of the Pill could begin to be measured, and it was not on the sexual behavior of American women; it was on how they envisioned their lives, their choices and their obligations. In 1970 the median age at which college graduates married was about 23; by 1975, as use of the Pill among single women became more common, that age had jumped 2.5 years. The fashion for large families went the way of the girdle. In 1963, 80% of non-Catholic college women said they wanted three or more children; that plunged to 29% by 1973. More women were able to imagine a life that included both a family and a job, which changed their childbearing calculations. As an Indiana teacher, 23, told TIME in 1967, "When I got married I was still in college, and I wanted to be certain that I finished. Now we want to buy a home, and it's going to be possible a lot sooner if I teach. With the Pill I know I can keep earning money and not worry about an accident that would ruin everything."
How do you think your life has been changed by access to birth control? Check out the whole article in Time to find out more about the history and the impact the Pill has had on women's lives in the last half-century. If you want to get geeky about it, you can read our fact page to learn more.
If you wanna watch more, here's a video of the author, Nancy Gibbs, discussing her book and the story behind the 50th Anniversary of "The Pill":
Posted by blogforchoice at 3:51 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
March 12, 2009
A "conscience cause" to fight the "conscience clause"
I have a post up over at Huffington Post, about the Federal Refusal Rule, and I wanted to make sure that everyone takes a look. Here's a quick snippet:
After enduring eight long, long years of unrelenting attacks on women's freedom and privacy from the anti-choice Bush administration, it's incredible to continue to receive good news from the Obama administration, and we should all take a moment to thank President Obama so that he knows he has the support of pro-choice America behind him.
Believe me; I understand that winning the election was a huge step forward - HUGE! - but right now, we need an activist's "conscience cause." That means that we have to act on our values and be partners in power in supporting a pro-choice president in the same way we helped elect him.
Read the full post and let me know what you think.
Posted by Nancy at 3:03 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
May 22, 2008
Bush Appointee To HHS Family-Planning Post, Susan Orr, Resigns
Remember back in October when President Bush appointed anti-choice, right-wing, anti-birth-control activist Susan Orr as acting director of the federal family planning programs at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)? Yeah, well, news broke that Orr resigned after less than a year on the job.
RH Reality Check and Think Progress have more on some of the controversy. From RH Reality Check:
Why so controversial? Her position oversees the administration of Title X, the only federal funding program providing contraceptive services to low-income women and men, but she had applauded President Bush's proposal to eliminate the requirement that federal employees' health insurance provide coverage for a range of birth control methods, saying, "We're quite pleased because fertility is not a disease. It's not a medical necessity that you have [contraception]."
Just last week Amie pointed out that the Family Research Council was heading up a group of conservative political groups all pressuring President Bush to cut Title X family planning funding for clinics who also provide abortion services -- and their former employee, Dr. Orr, was the person to whom they made their request. Amie wrote, "Was this...strategy discussed with Susan Orr prior to the letter they recently sent? Isn't this a bit like the oil companies setting energy policy with Dick Cheney?"
You can click here to read the letter that 19 Senators sent to Secretary Leavitt regarding Orr's appointment.
While at the Family Research Council, Orr made this comment after Bush proposed cancelling federal employees' contraceptive coverage: "We're quite pleased because fertility is not a disease. It's not a medical necessity that you have it" (Washington Post, 4/12). [As reported by American Political Network, American Health Line, Volume 6 No. 9, April 12, 2001]
I wonder who will be appointed in her place... or do I even want to know?
Posted by Molly at 4:56 PM | Comments (50)
May 21, 2008
NARAL Pro-Choice Montana: Ask candidates where they stand on the issue of pharmacy access
(I'm sorry that I'm a little late on this one - due to a cold I just couldn't shake - but it's important enough that I wanted to highlight it here.)
In last Saturday's Billings Gazette, Allyson Hagen, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Montana, had an opinion piece where she reminded Montana voters to ask their legislative candidates where they stand on the issue of pharmacy access:
Three years ago, Montana women won a major victory when the attorney general issued a rule requiring insurance companies that cover prescription medication to pay for prescriptive contraception.
Montana became the 25th state to guarantee equitable insurance coverage, which is important since 98 percent of women, from all religious and cultural backgrounds, access some form of birth control during their reproductive lives. Birth control is basic health care.
As with all progress, however, this major step forward didn't stop anti-contraception groups from seeking new ways to block women's access to birth control in Montana.
The debate now goes from the insurance company to the pharmacy counter.
Last month, our state's pharmacy board refused to consider adopting a policy to guarantee that customers with valid prescriptions could walk into their pharmacy and get their medication - without intimidation, without inconvenience and without delay.
Read the rest of the opinion piece here and if you have friends or family in Montana, be sure to share with them this important message in anticipation of Montana's June 3 primary.
Posted by Molly at 10:06 AM | Comments (5)
February 21, 2008
Where can you access Plan B in Washington state? Check out our map!
Alison Mondi, NARAL Pro-Choice Washington Director of Communications
While Washington women’s access to emergency contraception (EC) was recently limited by a federal judge’s injunction allowing pharmacists to deny emergency contraception for personal, non-medical reasons, NARAL Pro-Choice Washington is supporting women’s access to birth-control – because that’s all Plan B® is. They have created an interactive map showing the locations of pharmacies in Washington state that stock EC, those that stock but refuse, and those that don’t stock EC at all.
The map is the outcome of a survey conducted by NARAL which found that 10% of Washington pharmacies may be turning away women seeking Plan B®, either because they don’t stock the medication or because a pharmacist on staff refuses to dispense it.
It’s encouraging that Washington’s major daily agrees that one in ten is one too many:
"Ten percent might not seem like a large number, but it seems ridiculous that women can be denied access to a legal, nonprescription medication at all."
At least while this ridiculous situation persists, NARAL Pro-Choice Washington’s map provides a great resource for women wanting to purchase Plan B® without refusal, hassle or delay. Check it out!
Posted by Blog for Choice at 9:39 AM | Comments (0)
December 20, 2007
Increase in Birth Control Prices: A Massachusetts Student's Perspective
Jamie Bence is a student at Wellesley College and a campus representative with NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts.
Let’s face it. College is expensive. And it isn’t getting any cheaper.
As student loans rise, tuition is raised, student activities fees soar and books get more expensive every year, the last thing students need is the additional expensive of skyrocketing birth control prices. But this year, that’s exactly what we’re getting.
Here’s the thing. We’re trying to be responsible. We buy the books, we work on campus jobs, we go to class and we make sure that when we have sex, we’re safe. Birth control pills are a critical part of that. When prices go up, it makes it harder for us to be responsible.
Why are students being targeted? The Deficit Reduction Act. Brought about primarily by the Iraq War, this legislation bears no correlation to birth control on college campuses. The raised prices were an unfortunate consequence. The students were neglected, the prices went up, and now we are left to cope with the fallout of the government’s mistake.
But we’re trying. Hanging in there for one more year. But with an administration that has made contraception more expensive, abortion less accessible and placed women’s health in peril, how much more can we take?
At NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts, we’re lucky to live in a state where every college student is required to have insurance. At Wellesley College, prices haven’t gone up (yet). But it seems that it’s only a matter of time before this administration finds a way to make basic healthcare expensive for us, too. So please, take a moment to click here and help restore affordable birth control today!
Posted by Blog for Choice at 1:50 PM | Comments (0)
November 5, 2007
Through Global Gag Rule, Bush Administration Engages In Egregious Oppression of Personal Liberties
On his first day in office in January 2001, President Bush reinstated the Global Gag rule, or Mexico City policy, a Reagan-era provision that denies the world's poorest women access to birth control measures. Specifically, the gag rule restricts foreign NGOs that receive U.S. family planning funds "from using their own, non-U.S. funds to provide legal abortion services, lobby their own governments for abortion law reform, or even provide accurate medical counseling or referrals regarding abortion."
In a hearing before the House Foreign Affairs Committee last week, activists a combination of restrictive access to contraception and limited information about women's options is creating tens of thousands of unwanted pregnancies among the world's poor. Joana Nerquaye-Tetteh formerly of Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana said that after the gag rule was implemented, PPAG lost $600,000 in funding from the U.S. We can prevent 52 million unwanted pregnancies if we fill the need for contraception, according to Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY).
The gag rule is also a question of free expression. Currently, our foreign dollars are being used as a vector to impose a right-wing ideological standard, stating that foreign women should not benefit from abortion and contraceptive rights. Dr. Duff Gillespie of Johns Hopkins University testified yesterday that as a former USAID employee, he was coerced by the administration on discussion of reproductive rights in papers; he added that the government heavily stifled discourse on the matter. Such efforts are consistent with the political efforts of the White House push a right-wing agenda onto science.
Throughout the hearing, reproductive rights activists were attacked by right-wing, anti-choice lawmakers. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) displayed an ultrasound of 10 week old fetus to prove that life "begins at conception." Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN) hounded Gillespie on his personal views of abortion, stating, "You don't have the guts to say one way or the other" whether he is pro-life or pro-choice.
Ultimately, the right-wing is engaging in a hypocritical desire to limit abortions while limiting access to contraception, creating "tens of thousands of unwanted pregnancies among the world's poor."
As Chairman Tom Lantos (D-CA) said in the hearing, "If banning abortion doesn't lower the abortion rate, what does? The answer is clear: ready access to contraception."
The guest blogger is Satyam Khanna, from the blog Think Progress.
Posted by Molly at 11:27 AM | Comments (0)
October 19, 2007
birth control prices set to skyrocket
Allyson Hagen, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Montana, blogs about the dramatically increasing birth control prices over on Left in the West.
Be sure to check out the post, read the article that ran in the Montana Kaimin, and be sure to take action!
Posted by Molly at 1:53 PM | Comments (0)