May 2, 2008
Down-ballot races, McCain on judges, and rape survivors paying for the cost of rape kits?
It's Friday! And, at least in DC, the weather is beautiful, so I'm in a good mood today. And, I'll admit it, a little of it might also have something to do with this kind 'kudos' post I read this AM. It feels good to know that all of the hard work the NARAL Pro-Choice America staff put into our blog and social networking sites is noticed and appreciated by others. Thanks Viva La Feminista!
Anyway... enough of that, and on to some Friday must-read articles:
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The White House Isn't the Only House at Stake on May 6: Check out this blog post from NARAL Pro-Choice America political director, Elizabeth Shipp. In this piece, Beth examines the importance of the May 6 primary (in Indiana and North Carolina), and why voters need to remember the down-ballot races.
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McCain swings outreach to right: Oh dear. This USA Today article discusses McCain's upcoming pitch to conservatives, including a Tuesday speech on judges. McCain and judges... I can't wait to hear him speak on that one, given that he has voted in favor of four anti-choice U.S. Supreme Court nominees during his 25 years in Congress. Yikes.
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N.C. hospitals bill rape victims: This one really frustrates me. I mean, should rape survivors have to pay for the cost of rape kits? Some North Carolina hospitals are charging rape survivors for the cost of collecting evidence during an emergency room examination. Click here to sign a NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina petition demanding that survivors not be forced to pay for these costs.
So, Happy Friday all, and be sure to check back on Monday for the new edition of "The Liberty Lowdown!"
Posted by Molly at 11:37 AM | Comments (0)
April 29, 2008
Going on Faith: Silent Choices
Have any of you out there seen Silent Choices, by the fabulous Faith Pennick?? Fun fact: Did you know that Faith Pennick was honored as one of our "Everyday Heroes" during the Roe v. Wade 35th Anniversary Luncheon in Washington, DC. You can watch our video by clicking here.
Anyway, according to the website:
Silent Choices is a documentary film about abortion from the perspective of African Americans. The film explores the thorny intersection of race, gender, personal freedom and reproductive choice. Silent Choices won the Best Documentary award at the 2007 Roxbury Film Festival.
Featured commentary includes Dorothy Roberts, Byllye Avery, Rev. Carlton Veasey and Elaine Brown, as well as three Black women who had abortions.
It really is an incredibly powerful movie that you should really go see if ever you have the opportunity. I know a couple of our affiliates have shown the film, and the response has been overwhelming. So, for those of you that don't live in a NARAL Pro-Choice America affiliate state, you can check out the next showing of Silent Choices here (according to the website):
Sunday, May 4 - 11:30 a.m.
Black Lily Film and Music Festival
International House
3701 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA
Tickets are $7 adults/$5 students and seniors
www.blacklilyfilm.org
If you are in the Philadelphia region, definitely stop by and check it out.
(Purchase the educational DVD from New Day Films. The film is ideal for classes in African American Studies, Women's Studies, History, Sociology and Law. Women's health organizations and clinics can also use Silent Choices for outreach purposes and counseling. Go to www.newday.com for more info or call 888-367-9154.)
Posted by Molly at 5:48 PM | Comments (1)
April 14, 2008
ch-ch-ch-changes
I just wanted to check in and welcome you to the new home of our new blog, BlogForChoice! If you were directed here from our old blog, BushvChoice, please take a moment to update your bookmarks and RSS feeds so you can keep up to date with our content!
[I apologize for the excessive use of exclamation points, but I'm just so dang excited for this blog to finally launch!]
As you can see, we have a new name, new design, and new features, so feel free to surf around and check it all out. If you see anything screwy - links not working, dead pages, etc. - please email us at blog@blogforchoice.com so we can fix it.
And please be sure to check back later this week, when we make the launch official!
Posted by Molly at 12:27 PM | Comments (2)
April 11, 2008
Hampshire College, reproductive rights, and the very hungry activist
Amber Wobschall is Assistant Director of Affiliate and National Programs for NARAL Pro-Choice America
Hey, I'm Amber and I've worked at NARAL Pro-Choice America for more than five years. You may know me from my antics on YouTube dressed up as a pro-choice voting booth.
This past weekend, I made my way to Hampshire College for the Civil Liberties and Public Policy program's annual conference on reproductive rights. On a side note, the campus is home to a museum dedicated to the author of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar". Awesome.
Anyway, one of the best things about my job is attending conferences and events like these and getting to see my friends from our partner organizations - folks from the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, Choice USA and NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts are in this fine photo with me:
This is the second year in a row that I have attended this particular conference- learning from workshop presenters, meeting other great pro-choice activists, and spreading the word about NARAL Pro-Choice America's work. There were a wide variety of workshops including Art and Activism, Empowering Birth, Healthcare Politics, Careers in the Movement, and Organizing for Reproductive Justice in Immigrant Communities.
One of the most inspiring speakers I heard from I will not name. I will not name her because she is an abortion provider. She and her family are the targets of violence, intimidation, and harassment in their community. She had to ask the crowd not to take her picture, as it could be used to target her. As she pointed out in a joke that I wish she did not have to make, "It's hard to accessorize a bullet proof vest" on your way to work every day.
The story of this provider inspired me, reminded me why I need to keep doing my job and lit that fire in my belly all over again. As did Loretta Ross, Ellen Story, Byllye Avery, and other presenters I heard throughout the weekend.
If you were at the conference too, I want to know what you thought. Please share in the comments section below.
Posted by blogforchoice at 2:40 PM | Comments (0)
February 28, 2008
Virginia Senate cuts Planned Parenthood funding
Here is some massively terrible news:
The Virginia Senate voted Wednesday to cut off state funding to Planned Parenthood of Virginia because it offers abortions, an action that could endanger hundreds of thousands of dollars in state aid for women's health-care programs.The decision, a major setback for the Senate's new Democratic majority, marks the first time in more than a decade that the Senate has decided against giving state aid to the organization because of its abortion-related activities.
Can someone say slippery anti-choice slope? Senate Majority Leader Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax) noted that, "Once we start down this road, there will be no stopping."
Sen. Janet D. Howell (D-Fairfax) pointed out that Planned Parenthood does a lot more than provide abortions - it provides affordable contraception!
"The irony is, Planned Parenthood probably prevents more abortions than any other organization in the country," she said. But of course, anti-choicers aren't concerned about preventing abortion - if they were, they'd be touting birth control - their real concern is limiting women's choices and rolling back our rights.
Posted by Jessica at 4:07 PM | Comments (0)
February 25, 2008
Docs refusing to perform paps on unmarried women
Better women get cancer than doctors be forced to provide health care to sinners. At least, that's the sentiment of some Canadian doctors.
RH Reality Check reports that in Canada, some doctors are refusing to give unmarried women pap smears, citing religious objections. (You know, because we shouldn't be having sex to begin with.)
To look for answers, I turned to Patricia LaRue, Executive Director at Canadians for Choice, to see what she could tell me if doctors have the right to refuse ANY procedure that they see as going against their religion. She reminded me that doctors have a "conscience clause," allowing them to refuse prescriptions for birth control, abortion, and now pap smears. The conscious clause is put in place by the Canadian Medical Association so that physicians are not forced to act in any way that goes against their personal beliefs.
Even if that means risking women's health. Charming.
Posted by Jessica at 9:44 AM | Comments (2)
February 12, 2008
SD Legislature strikes down Birth Control Protection Act
Looks like I spoke too soon in South Dakota, where the legislature has struck down the Birth Control Protection Act, which would have ensured women's access to contraception at pharmacies.
Kate Looby, Planned Parenthood South Dakota Director called the decision "a missed opportunity to take a positive, concrete step toward reducing unintended pregnancy and the need for abortion in South Dakota."
If you're interested in hearing more about this decision, Karina (the web editor at PP Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota) has a great podcast interview with Looby.
Posted by Jessica at 11:51 AM | Comments (2)
February 11, 2008
Manila women fight ban against contraception
Twenty of Manila's poorest residents have filed a legal challenge against what they say is a ban on contraception.The group - 16 women and four of their husbands - are fighting a policy which they say denies them access to condoms, to the pill and other effective forms of family planning.
It seems a policy touting "natural" family planning (you know, none) made sure that free contraception was removed from local health centers and that access was pretty much impossible.
Clearly, this policy is effecting low-income women disproportionately. Just horrible.
Posted by Jessica at 10:54 AM | Comments (0)
February 8, 2008
Romney leaves presidential race!
Republican Mitt Romney has suspended his presidential run. From The Wall Street Journal:
But in the end, Mr. Romney didn't fit the part. Amid cries from critics of changing stances on key issues, the former governor of Massachusetts never connected with voters. He devised a message that alienated party stalwarts. And although he was the first to air negative ads against opponents in Iowa, the millionaire investor proved weak at blocking his rivals' last-minute punches.The result: a dismal performance in the coast-to-coast primaries on Tuesday, the moment that Mr. Romney, who lost Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida, needed to shine. The passion he lacked on the campaign trail instead came during his concession speech, when he suspended his candidacy. Fighting back emotion, he told the crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference here that he was withdrawing "for our party and our country."
Any thoughts?
Posted by Jessica at 9:53 AM | Comments (0)
January 30, 2008
Everyday Heroes
Yesterday I was at NARAL Pro-Choice America's luncheon celebrating the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. It was really great: Sarah Weddington - the lawyer who won Roe (!) - spoke, as did Nancy Keenan and Dana Delany.
But what really stuck out for me was this amazing video NARAL played at the event, Everyday Heroes (above). I think it serves as an important reminder that these issues aren't just talking points and politics - they're women's lives.
Posted by Jessica at 9:48 AM | Comments (0)
January 24, 2008
Inmates in Missouri win right to obtain abortions
A federal appeals court said this week that inmates in Missouri have the right to obtain elective abortion. Damn straight.
The unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals came on the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. It throws out a policy by Gov. Matt Blunt’s administration and the Missouri Department of Corrections that restricted an inmate’s access to abortion.Thomas M. Blumenthal, the St. Louis lawyer who brought the suit on behalf of an anonymous “Jane Roe” inmate, applauded the decision.
“This (abortion) is not a right that is lost at the jailhouse door,” he said.
Blunt responded, "Over the last three years, we have … enacted laws that reflect our profound respect for the inherent dignity of each and every life...I am hopeful and prayerful that we can further protect life by enhancing our laws to defend the dignity of human life.”
Unless that life is an incarcerated woman, then her dignity doesn't really mean shit to Blunt.
Posted by Jessica at 10:38 AM | Comments (0)
January 21, 2008
Don't Forget: Blog for Choice tomorrow!
Tomorrow is Blog for Choice 2008, so if you haven't signed up yet--hop to it! Even if you don't have a blog, you can still participate by encouraging your favorite bloggers to take part in Blog for Choice Day or by joining our Facebooks group "I'm celebrating the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade."
This year, let's commemorate Roe by ensuring that the blogosphere is jam packed with pro-choice posts!
Posted by Jessica at 9:30 AM | Comments (1)
January 17, 2008
Tonight! Celebrate the 35th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade at University of Texas at Austin
Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, will deliver a speech on the importance of the future of the pro-choice movement tonight: Thursday, January 17 at 6:30 p.m.
I just posted a message from Sara Cleveland, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Texas, on the fabulous Burnt Orange Report, and I hope you'll take a few moments to check it out. Here's an excerpt:
So why is the anniversary so important this year, as opposed to others? Well, as this anniversary coincides with the 2008 presidential elections, we know the best way to protect a woman's right to choose for future generations is to elect pro-choice leaders who share these values.Nancy's address will talk about the need to make sure all Americans see a place for themselves in the conversation over a women's right to choose. It makes sense for this call to action to take place in Texas, where the Roe case originated. You will see generations of pro-choice supporters and hear from Nancy about the importance of uniting behind our common goal of protecting women's freedom and privacy to ensure future celebrations of Roe v. Wade.
And certainly, if you're in the Austin are, I sincerely hope you will join us. Here's the information:
Thompson Conference Center, University of Texas at Austin
2405 Robert Dedman Drive
Austin, Texas
January 17, 2008
6:30 p.m.
Posted by Molly at 3:38 PM | Comments (1)
January 16, 2008
Quick Hit: Show Me the Pattern: Missouri's Abortion Ban
Check out RH Reality Check's great post on Missouri's abortion ban and the politics behind it. Great stuff.
Posted by Jessica at 9:19 AM | Comments (0)
January 14, 2008
Christina Page: Abstinence education not working
Christine Page, author of the fabulous How the Pro-Choice Movement Saved America: Freedom, Politics and the War on Sex, has a great op-ed out by abstinence only education and the pregnany of Jamie Lynn Spears. Here's a snippet:
The Spears family can't be shocked by much these days. Still, the news last month that 16-year-old Jamie Lynn is pregnant seemed to unsettle them. No matter how well-to-do (or bizarre) the family, it's always a tragedy to have one's child's adolescence taken away by pregnancy. Jamie Lynn Spears is not your average teen, but her situation -- premature parenthood -- is becoming a more common experience for many girls of her generation....Abstinence-only programs not only have failed to convince kids not to have sex -- they have led many not to use contraception. To scare teens away from sexual activity, abstinence-only programs focus on the dangers of sex. If contraception is ever mentioned, it is to highlight (and exaggerate) its failure rates. If a girl is told that even if her boyfriend uses a condom she'll get pregnant once every seven times -- as the popular abstinence program "Choosing the Best Way" instructs -- the incentive to use one dissipates.
Make sure to read the whole thing!
Posted by Jessica at 9:07 AM | Comments (0)
January 10, 2008
Spanish abortion clinics on strike
Health centers that provide abortions in Spain are on a week-long strike as part of an effort to change the law.
They say women and doctors should have better legal protection. The strike is expected to affect up to 2,000 women.Police raided abortion clinics in Barcelona and Madrid late last year.
Most abortions in Spain are carried out under a law requiring a doctor's diagnosis that the pregnancy poses a risk to the woman's mental health.
Spanish doctors, who started strike action on Tuesday, want the law changed in line with many other European countries, where a woman can choose to have a termination within the first three months of pregnancy.
Okay, I'm clearly sympathetic to doctors who provide abortions and think that the law should be changed as well so that they're not harassed--but is this the best way to create change? What about the women who won't be able to access services?
Posted by Jessica at 9:24 AM | Comments (1)
January 2, 2008
Huckabee would criminalize abortion providers, condescend to women
Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee said Sunday, "I think if a doctor knowingly took the life of an unborn child for money, and that's why he was doing it, yeah, I think you would, you would find some way to sanction that doctor...I don't know that you'd put him in prison, but there's something to me untoward about a person who has committed himself to healing people and to making people alive who would take money to take an innocent life and to make that life dead."
Nice. (And you have to love that he assumes the doctor is a man.) But even better: "I think you don't punish the woman, first of all, because it's not about ... I consider her a victim, not a criminal." Yet another women-don't-realize-they're-getting-abortions argument. Sigh.
Posted by Jessica at 8:57 AM | Comments (6)
Happy New Year, Pro-Choice America!
Now that the holidays are over, we're back in full force. Consider this an open thread...how was your New Year?
Posted by Jessica at 8:54 AM | Comments (2)
December 21, 2007
Check it: www.RoeAt35.org
I'm about to head home for the holidays, but before I do, I wanted to write a quick post to let you know about NARAL Pro-Choice America's awesome new webpage: http://www.RoeAt35.org/
It was released earlier this week - 35 days away from the 35th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision - and was designed to energize pro-choice activists (like you!) and reinforce the important role elections play in protecting a woman’s right to choose.
“NARAL Pro-Choice America is proud to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and pledges to continue protecting the fundamental American values of freedom and privacy that this landmark Supreme Court decision represents,” said Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. “We launched RoeAt35.org to reinforce the importance of the 2008 elections in protecting a woman's right to choose for future generations. We are using the latest technology to develop and build the next generation of pro-choice activists.”
So please be sure to check it out, and spread the word!
Posted by Molly at 3:10 PM | Comments (0)
December 18, 2007
Bad news of the day
Unable to override a promised veto, Democrats have backed down on their insistence that the 2008 foreign aid budget reverse President Bush's ban on providing aid to family planning groups abroad that offer abortions.
Sigh. Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY), says, "This dogmatic adherence to an illogical position diminishes our influence around the world and prevents us from working effectively to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS and unintended pregnancies and reduce abortions." But of course, that's not really what Bush cares about. And he certainly doesn't care about women dying worldwide because of his policy.
Posted by Jessica at 10:38 AM | Comments (0)
December 17, 2007
(More!) States refusing abstinence only funds
Now this is the kind of news I like to start my week with!
The number of states refusing federal money for "abstinence-only" sex education programs jumped sharply in the past year as evidence mounted that the approach is ineffective.At least 14 states have either notified the federal government that they will no longer be requesting the funds or are not expected to apply, forgoing more than $15 million of the $50 million available, officials said. Virginia was the most recent state to opt out.
I love it. States governments are realizing that abstinence only ed is a waste of money. My favorite quote in this WaPo piece was from Ned Calonge of the Colorado Department of Health and Environment, "Why would we spend tax dollars on something that doesn't work?...That doesn't make sense to me. Philosophically, I am opposed to spending government dollars on something that's ineffective. That's just irresponsible." Indeed.
Happy Monday, folks!
Posted by Jessica at 1:59 PM | Comments (0)
December 14, 2007
Anti-choice bill in Missouri moves forward
The ballot initiative in Missouri which seeking to basically outlaw abortion got the okay from Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, who found that the language of the bill met state standards--so the petition can move forward. Sigh.
The proposal would require doctors to extensively review any so-called medical literature on abortion and investigate each patient’s background and lifestyle. It also would require doctors to certify that the abortion was necessary to avoid a woman's death or prevent permanent disability. Even abortions to save a women’s life would be subject to a 48-hour waiting period. The proposal would subject doctors to lawsuits from women who later regretted their decision to terminate a pregnancy, and would offer no exception whatsoever for the victims of rape or incest.
Charming, huh?
Posted by Jessica at 8:55 AM | Comments (1)
December 10, 2007
EC bill stalls in PA
A bill that would require hospitals to provide sexual assault victims with emergency contraception has stalled in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.
Rep. Daylin Leach, a Montgomery County Democrat, says the bill won't be brought up for a vote anytime soon.Disappointed advocates say the only way it would have passed is if it had been watered down considerably.
Can someone tell me what's so controversial about giving rape victims health options? Seriously.
Posted by Jessica at 2:16 PM | Comments (0)
December 7, 2007
Schools picking up birth control slack?
In response to the rising costs of birth control, some schools are taking on the burden themselves. Princeton, for example, began to subsidize the cost of oral contraceptives this month.
The subsidy reduces the price of oral contraceptives on campus from $15 per pack to $6, Interim UHS Director Janet Finnie said. "There were a number of students who voiced concern about losing access to birth control, including representatives of student government," she said. "The current subsidy is a direct response to concerns about affordability as we closely monitor national efforts to reverse the federal changes."
That's great news, but not all schools are going to be able to afford to do what Princenton can.
Posted by Jessica at 9:37 AM | Comments (0)
December 4, 2007
Could Missouri ban abortion?
A new ballot initiative in Missouri is seeking to essentially outlaw abortion.
The proposal would require doctors to extensively review the medical literature on abortion and investigate each patient’s background and lifestyle. It would require doctors to certify that the abortion was better for the woman than a full-term pregnancy.
Because when deciding what's best for a woman, the idea of actually trusting the woman herself is silly-talk. That's what doctors, legislators, and men are for. I suppose we shouldn't be shocked that they're going the "women are too stupid to know that when they get abortions, they're getting abortions" route, but it's still infuriating. The proposal would also allow women to sue doctors if they later regretted their decision to terminate a pregnancy and would offer no rape or incest exception.
NARAL Pro-Choice Missouri says that the proposal would mean a near-total ban on abortion and that the wording would actually mean that a dying woman seeking an abortion that would save her life would be required to wait 48 hours before obtaining the procedure. You know, so she had sufficient time to mull the decision over and all. Disgusting.
Posted by Jessica at 9:02 AM | Comments (5)
December 3, 2007
Quick Hit: Series on obstetric fistula spreads awareness
RH Reality Check has launched a great blog series on obstetric fistula, which effects two million women in the developing world. Through photo essays, information spreading and ways to get involved, the blog series shines a light on this tragic--but preventable and treatable--injury. Make sure to check it out.
Posted by Jessica at 9:27 AM | Comments (0)
November 26, 2007
Why is abortion the "A word" in flicks?
Why is it that American movies rarely, if ever take on abortion?
In America, about one in five pregnancies end in abortion, according to the latest figures from the Guttmacher Institute. In recent American movies, however, every unplanned pregnancy is carried to term.From Knocked Up to Waitress to Juno, opening Dec. 14, abortion is The Great Unmentionable, euphemized as "shmashmortion" (Knocked Up), "we don't perform, uh, -" (Waitress), and "nipped it in the bud" (Juno), comedies in which pregnancy is the situation. Abortion is likewise obliquely referenced, if actually considered, in the drama Bella, now in theaters.
Seems kind of strange, no? What do folks think--is abortion so readily available movies don't have to address it (yeah right), or are filmmakers too afraid to show reality?
Posted by Jessica at 9:04 AM | Comments (4)
November 20, 2007
Huckabee: Abortion not for states to decide
Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has come out against the idea that states should decide whether to make abortion legal or not.
"It's the logic of the Civil War," Huckabee said Sunday, comparing abortion rights to slavery. "If morality is the point here, and if it's right or wrong, not just a political question, then you can't have 50 different versions of what's right and what's wrong.""For those of us for whom this is a moral question, you can't simply have 50 different versions of what's right," he said in an interview on "Fox News Sunday."
Abortion is the same thing as slavery, huh? Charming.
Posted by Jessica at 10:04 AM | Comments (1)
November 15, 2007
Fertilized eggs unite?
This is just bizarre.
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday to allow a proposed 2008 ballot initiative to proceed that would extend certain rights to fertilized eggs. Huh? NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado Executive Director Kathryn Wittneben said it well:
“Proponents of this initiative have publicly stated that the goal is to make all abortion illegal -- but nothing in the language of the initiative or its title even mentions abortion. If that’s not misleading, I don’t know what is.”
It really is ridiculous. Check out more info on the decision here.
Posted by Jessica at 10:42 AM | Comments (0)
November 9, 2007
Dr. Susan Wicklund: Telling women's stories
The New York Times had a great profile recently of Dr. Susan Wicklund, an abortion provider who travels by plane to bring care to women. Her decision to become a health care provider for women came in large part due to a terrible experience with her own abortion where she was treated poorly and told to "Shut up" by providers.
Determined that other women should have better reproductive care, she began work as an apprentice midwife and eventually finished college, earned a medical degree and started a practice in which she spends about 90 percent of her time on abortion services.
Dr. Wicklund describes her work in an soon-to-be released book, "This Common Secret: My Journey as an Abortion Doctor", which she hopes will open the door for more discussion about a controversial but common procedure.
“We don’t talk about it,” she said in a telephone interview. “People say, ‘Nobody I know has ever had an abortion,’ and that is just not true. Their sisters, their mothers have had abortions.”Dr. Wicklund, 53, said that at current rates almost 40 percent of American women have an abortion during their child-bearing years, a figure supported by the Guttmacher Institute, which researches reproductive health policy. Abortion is one of the most common operations in the United States, she said, more common than tonsillectomy or removal of wisdom teeth. “Because it is such a secret,” she said, “we lose sight of how common it is.”
It's a really interesting article, so make sure to read the whole thing.
Posted by Jessica at 9:19 AM | Comments (0)
November 6, 2007
Is the South Dakota ban back?
An abortion ban may be back up for a vote in South Dakota, this time with exceptions for rape, incest and the health of the woman.
Last year, state voters rejected by 56 percent to 44 percent a measure that would have banned almost all abortions in South Dakota, except to save the life of the mother.The newest measure might be similar to the broader exceptions in a proposed abortion ban the state Legislature rejected in February.
Republican State Rep. Gordon Howie says, "The majority of South Dakotans would support a measure with exceptions, and I believe the people of South Dakota are going to have that opportunity."
I don't know about all that. But I do know that the "rules" surrounding the abortion ban exceptions are fairly reprehensible. In fact, the hurdles that would be in place would make the exceptions pretty much ineffectual.
Dr. Marvin Buehner, a Rapid City obstetrician and gynecologist who opposed the 2006 ban and the 2007 bill, said the exceptions were so difficult to comply with, they were "pointless."Last winter's bill and the draft of the proposed initiated measure include exceptions for rape or incest, but only after police reports are filed. Doctors also would be required to collect DNA samples of the aborted fetus for use by police.
"They turn doctors into policemen," Buehner said.
Doctors could perform abortions to protect a woman's health, but only if continuing the pregnancy would result in "serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of the functioning of a major bodily organ or system."
Oh, well that's comforting. So basically, the exceptions for rape, incest and women's health are just rhetoric. This is the same old abortion ban.
Posted by Jessica at 10:39 AM | Comments (0)
November 5, 2007
Quick Hit: Thompson on abortion
While on Meet the Press, Fred Thompson said he wouldn't seek a constitutional ban against abortion. Not that this makes him a great candidate for choice or anything, but I thought it was worth noting.
Posted by Jessica at 9:04 AM | Comments (0)
November 1, 2007
Medicaid matters.
This report was just released by the Guttmacher Institute and the Kaiser Foundation on Medicaid's role in family planning services. In short, Medicaid is the largest source of public funding for family planning services in the country. It helps make contraceptive services available to women who otherwise couldn't afford it, and has served as a great resource for millions of low-income women across the country.
Posted by Jessica at 1:56 PM | Comments (0)
October 31, 2007
Unneccessary bill of the day?
A bill in Wisconsin would mandate that doctors determine whether a woman seeking an abortion was doing so "voluntarily."
The plan would require doctors who think that women are being forced to have abortions to tell them about services for victims of domestic abuse.The Assembly approved the bill on a 65 to 32 vote. But it is likely to be blocked in the Democratic-controlled Senate. Many Democrats say the plan is unnecessary because coerced abortions are not a problem and physicians already make sure their patients are acting on their own.
Seems to me this is just another attempt to make it seem like abortion hurts women...or that women aren't capable of making their own choices. Thoughts?
Posted by Jessica at 8:46 AM | Comments (2)
October 29, 2007
Why I (heart) New York
Well, one of the many reasons of course.
At the annual meeting of Family Planning Advocates in New York, State Health Commissioner Richard Daines said that the agency will add $2.2 million to this year's grants to cover the cost of emergency contraception. Woo hoo!
Daines also said, "We should have easier methods to these methods of contraception. We shouldn't have a paper chase to get some kind of money together for let's say Plan B contraception or for treatment for an STD. They can just go right to their family planning center and get it." Nice.
Posted by Jessica at 9:04 AM | Comments (0)
October 26, 2007
FOCA reaches its 100th congressional cosponsor
Promising news for a rainy Friday... but first, a recap:
The anti-choice movement has been slowly but surely chipping away at a woman's right to choose. In fact, more than 500 anti-choice measures have been enacted in the states since 1995. The most recent and devastating of these attacks on choice was the Supreme Court's closely divided and bitter decision upholding the Federal Abortion Ban.
In response, the pro-choice community is working to guarantee the right to choose through the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) – a measure that will codify Roe v. Wade and guarantee the right to choose for future generations of women.
We're excited to announce that FOCA recently reached its 100th congressional cosponsor. To see if your member of congress is one of the cosponsors, click here.
If not, click here to urge them to become a sponsor.
Make no mistake—a woman's right to choose is being actively attacked and is very vulnerable. Now is the time to stand up for what you believe in—by getting active, speaking out, and helping to elect pro-choice candidates this year and a pro-choice president in 2008!
Posted by Molly at 3:56 PM | Comments (1)
October 25, 2007
MA Senate expands limits on anti-choice protestors
Some good news out of Massachusetts: A bill establishing a 35-foot no-protest zone around health care clinics where are abortions are provided has won the support of the state Senate.
The legislation would almost double the current 18-foot buffer zone and bar protesters from entering it. Currently, protesters may come within 6 feet of someone within the zone to provide counsel or share information, as long as the individual consents.Supporters say the measure is a public safety initiative that would protect women from intimidation they may face from protesters and would make it easier to prosecute violators.
Naturally, anti-choicers are not too pleased and are making a stink saying the bill would violate their First Amendment right to free speech. You know, the right to intimidate women already in a vulnerable state. Sigh.
Posted by Jessica at 8:20 AM | Comments (0)
October 24, 2007
Quick Hit: UK Health Minister defends abortion time limit
The Guardian reports that UK Health minister Dawn Primarolo has defended the country's 24-week abortion limit, saying there was no reason to justify a reduction.
Thoughts?
Posted by Jessica at 9:16 AM | Comments (0)
October 22, 2007
Ruth Bader Ginsburg speaks out on threats to choice
At a recent talk in Atlanta, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg spoke out on the increasing threats to women's rights--most notably those coming from the Supreme Court.
One of those decisions allowed states to outlaw a procedure known as partial-birth abortion; Bader Ginsburg complained that the state law in question allowed no exception to protect the health of the mother.The justice said she did not expect the court to overturn Roe v. Wade, the decision that made abortion a constitutional right. But she contended that even if the court disposed of the right, abortion would still be widely available.
The difference would be that middle-class women would be able to travel to a state that allowed the procedure, while poor women would be trapped — much as in the days before Roe v. Wade, when a woman who could afford to do so could go to New York, California or Hawaii to have an abortion.
Ginsburg said a Roe reversal "would have a devastating impact on poor women." Indeed.
Posted by Jessica at 10:53 AM | Comments (0)
October 19, 2007
Quick Hit: BC available to middle schoolers
The Portland School Committee recently voted to make birth control and the patch available in King Middle School, without parental permission.
A lot of states already allow minors to access birth control without their parents' permission, so this just seems like a good idea to me. This way, kids have a safe place to go if they're sexually active.
Thoughts?
Posted by Jessica at 9:05 AM | Comments (0)
October 17, 2007
Doctors in UK don't back current abortion law
A new survey out of the UK shows that over half of general practitioners believe that the okay of just one doctor should be enough for a woman to get an abortion. Right now, a woman has to convince two doctors that carrying her pregnancy to term would be a health risk.
However, the Marie Stopes survey of 1,000 GPs also showed two-thirds wanted the current 24-week time limit for abortion to be reduced.The government said there were no plans to change the law on abortion.
The survey also showed that 80% of doctors support the right to abortion.
Posted by Jessica at 9:25 AM | Comments (0)
October 15, 2007
Abortion rates the same whether procedure is legal or not
A new study by the Guttmacher Institute and the World Health Organization shows that abortion rates are similar in different countries whether the procedure is legal or not. Of course, what wasn't similar was the risk to women's health.
The study indicated that about 20 million abortions that would be considered unsafe are performed each year and that 67,000 women die as a result of complications from those abortions, most in countries where abortion is illegal.
Moral of the story? Safe, legal abortion is the best bet. Always.
Posted by Jessica at 9:28 AM | Comments (0)
October 12, 2007
Quick Hit: What Planned Parenthood really does
Check out this great post from a med student who is doing a rotation at his local Planned Parenthood. He breaks down the myth that PP is all about abortions--it's good stuff.
Thanks to RebelDad for the link!
Posted by Jessica at 10:19 AM | Comments (0)
October 5, 2007
Nicaragua abortion ban is killing women
Human Rights Watch has just released a report, Over Their Dead Bodies, documenting how the stringent abortion ban in Nicaragua is killing women. In fact, the ban has caused the deaths of at least 80 women since it was put into action 11 months ago.
The U.S.-based rights group said women with risky pregnancies whose lives might be saved by aborting the fetus were dying because of the ban on terminations in any circumstance."They died because of the intimidation effect of penalizing abortion," said Human Rights Watch investigator Angela Heimburger, presenting the data in Managua.
The ban includes rape victims and women who risk dying in childbirth. But women in Nicaragua are fighting back; hundreds marched in Managua last week calling for an end to the ban.
Posted by Jessica at 3:12 PM | Comments (0)
October 3, 2007
Quick Hit: NY Times on Verizon censorship
The New York Times has a great editorial today, taking apart the ridiculousness was Verizon's refusal to run NARAL text messages.
A snippet:
Leave aside for the moment the sorry spectacle of a major American company aiming to make campaigns even more substance-free than they already are. The Verizon policy was textbook censorship. Any government that tried it would be rightly labeled authoritarian. The First Amendment prohibits the United States government from anything approaching that sort of restriction.
Make sure to read the whole thing.
Posted by Jessica at 11:28 AM | Comments (1)
October 2, 2007
Planned Parenthood Aurora clinic will open today!
Well thank goodness this nonsense is over.
A Planned Parenthood clinic that has been shuttered while city officials reviewed how it obtained its building permits will be allowed to open, city officials said Monday. Mayor Thomas Weisner said reviews by three different attorneys found no legal basis to deny the clinic an occupancy permit.
Find out more at Planned Parenthood Aurora's blog.
Posted by Jessica at 9:15 AM | Comments (5)
October 1, 2007
SCOTUS won't hear birth control case
The Supreme Court has declined to hear a case about whether religious organizations can be forced to pay for workers' birth-control health insurance benefits.
The court let stand a New York court ruling upholding a state law that forces religious-based social service agencies to subsidize contraceptives as part of prescription drug coverage they offer employees.New York is one of 23 states that require employers that offer prescription benefits to employees to cover birth control pills as well, the groups say. The state enacted the Women's Health and Wellness Act in 2002 to require health plans to cover contraception and other services aimed at women, including mammography, cervical cancer screenings and bone density exams.
Catholic Charities and other religious groups argued New York's law violates their First Amendment right to practice their religion because it forces them to violate religious teachings that regard contraception as sinful.
Charming. NARAL Pro-Choice New York was understandably pleased. Organization president Kelli Conlin said, “Again, the Court has shown that women have a right to access reproductive health care services under their employer health plans. This law ensures that women will be able to afford the vital care the need to make healthy decisions."
Posted by Jessica at 12:01 PM | Comments (1)
September 27, 2007
YOU did it!
By Nancy Keenan, president, NARAL Pro-Choice America
On behalf of NARAL Pro-Choice America, I want to thank those of you who jumped on The New York Times story (subscription may be required to view story) about Verizon censoring our text-message program.
Last night, after I read the story online, I went onto Technorati and saw the posts on this story mushrooming ...and the momentum kept going. We alerted our activists, and they sent more than 20,000 messages to Verizon in less than two hours!
Let’s hope Verizon has learned a lesson today: citizen participation in democracy is neither ‘unsavory’ nor ‘controversial.’ (Without a doubt, these two words Verizon used to describe actions related to our issue will haunt that company.)
This massive victory is a testament to our combined strength. It could not have happened without your work.
Please take a look at this letter from the CEO of Verizon Wireless. It is a reminder of how even a powerful corporation can be forced to do the right thing when the public speaks up.
As those of you who are actively engaged in the net neutrality debate know, Verizon’s initial rejection of our text-messaging application is yet another reminder of why we must remain vigilant in fighting against third-party interference in how citizens participate in the democratic process.
Now, please, keep taking those so-called ‘unsavory’ and ‘controversial’ actions!
Thanks again,
Nancy Keenan
P.S. It’s ironic that when we launched our text message program last week, we were rallying opposition to Bush’s Global Gag Rule. While our domestic “gag rule” may be cleared up with the Verizon corporation, there are still women and families around the world who don’t receive the family-planning assistance they need because the Bush administration censors international family-planning groups’ free speech. Please take action today.
Posted by Blog for Choice at 3:01 PM | Comments (1)
Verizon rejects pro-choice text messaging
Apparently, being pro-choice is "unsavory."
Saying it had the right to block “controversial or unsavory” text messages, Verizon Wireless has rejected a request from Naral Pro-Choice America, the abortion rights group, to make Verizon’s mobile network available for a text-message program.The other leading wireless carriers have accepted the program, which allows people to sign up for text messages from Naral by sending a message to a five-digit number known as a short code.
And what was this oh-so-controversial message? "End Bush’s global gag rule against birth control for world’s poorest women! Call Congress. (202) 224-3121. Thnx! Naral Text4Choice.” Uh, yeah.
This isn't just a reproductive justice issue, though. Timothy Karr at The Huffington post writes:
The truth is that whenever given the choice, phone companies will opt to discriminate against content they don't like. Such efforts to stem the free flow of information should be a wake up call for anyone concerned about phone company plans to begin filtering Internet content.Verizon and AT&T routinely rail against Net Neutrality as a "solution in search of a problem." They swarm Washington with lobbyists offering promises never to interfere with the free flow of online content. And then they lobby for new laws that will allow them to do just that.
So please, support NARAL Pro-Choice America and sign up for their text-messaging campaign.
Come back later, we'll have more ways to take action.
Posted by Jessica at 9:21 AM | Comments (1)
September 24, 2007
New York turns down abstinence-only funding
Gawd, I love my home state. NY will not be accepting federal dollars marked to go to dangerous and inaccurate abstinence-only education.
New York state Health Commissioner Richard Daines, in a statement on the department's Web site, stated that "The Bush administration's Abstinence-Only program is an example of a failed national health care policy directive, based on ideology rather than on sound scientific-based evidence that must be the cornerstone of good public health care policy."Starting October 1, the state money will be funneled into sex education programs that provide a full range of information about preventing pregnancy and disease.
More and more states are refusing ab-only funds. I'm get cheerier and cheerier.
Posted by Jessica at 8:54 AM | Comments (0)
September 20, 2007
Everything you need to know about the Global Gag Rule in 90 seconds!
NARAL Pro-Choice America's Donna Crane drops some knowledge.
Posted by Jessica at 9:26 AM | Comments (0)
September 19, 2007
Wisconsin tramples on rape victms' rights
A Wisconsin bill making emergency contraception available to rape victims has a horrific amendment that would allow health care professionals and hospitals to refuse to dispense EC if it goes against their religious beliefs.
The amendment would allow hospitals and health care professionals to refuse to It also says such hospitals would be exempt from civil liability if they withhold care from rape victims. Further, the amendment states that this care could be withheld from rape victims even by hospitals that receive federal or state aid.Rep. Terry Musser, R-Black River Falls, the author of the Assembly bill, said Gundrum's amendment unravels the very protections the bill is intended to provide.
"How do you exempt a hospital from treating rape victims?" Musser said. "That's basically what the amendment says."
Kelda Helen Roys, executive director of the NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin, has called the the amendment "reprehensible."
Posted by Jessica at 12:00 PM | Comments (0)
September 17, 2007
Help out in Illinois
As you may have heard already, there have been a bunch of anti-choice protests happening in Aurora, Illinois where Planned Parenthood is building a health center.
Four days before the scheduled opening of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Aurora, an estimated 800 abortion protesters huddled around community religious leaders Saturday morning and called for closure of the new clinic and an end to abortion.Standing in an empty field in front of the Planned Parenthood clinic building, which is scheduled to open Tuesday, clergy from across denominations called for the protesters to band together to work against the clinic and its presence in the city. The event was in response to statements earlier in the week from Chicago and suburban religious leaders who spoke out in favor of the clinic and women's reproductive rights.
Planned Parenthood is working hard to make sure that the center will open on time, but they could use your help. Because what happens in Aurora, happens to all of us. Take action here.
Posted by Jessica at 9:28 AM | Comments (0)
September 13, 2007
I (heart) the New Jersey Supreme Court
The NJ Supreme Court ruled yesterday that doctors have "no legal duty" to tell women who obtaining abortions that the fetus is "a complete, separate, unique and irreplaceable human being."
Justice Barry T. Albin, who wrote the 5-to-0 decision, said, "There is not even remotely a consensus among New Jersey’s medical community or citizenry that the plaintiff’s assertions are medical facts, as opposed to firmly held moral, philosophical and religious beliefs, to support the establishment of the duty she would impose on all physicians."Ed Barocas, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, which filed a friend-of-the-court brief, welcomed the ruling. "Today’s victory sends a message that New Jersey will not tolerate backdoor efforts to curtail reproductive rights or free speech," he said. "We will not allow the anti-choice lobby to force its moral or theological beliefs upon others."
Excellent news. (And I think we all needed some of that!)
Posted by Jessica at 9:53 AM | Comments (0)
September 11, 2007
Abstinence only proponents put pressure on MA Governor
According to Education Week, proponents of abstinence-only education (which, I think at this point we all know as medically inaccurate, ineffective and even dangerous) are pushing Governor Deval Patrick to accept a $700,000 federal grant funding the programs.
The Democrat, who vetoed language in the state budget supporting the program, has indicated he won’t apply for the money. The application deadline is Sept. 30.That’s raising the ire of an abstinence-only education group in the state that relies on the money to teach middle school children the benefits of postponing sex instead of safer-sex methods.
Also last week, a Washington-based lobbying group, the National Abstinence Education Association, launched a $75,000 media campaign and unveiled a new Web site urging Mr. Patrick to change his mind.
You know what would change my mind? Programs that told, you know, the truth.
Posted by Jessica at 12:23 PM | Comments (0)
September 10, 2007
Campus birth control costs soar
The price of prescription contraception like birth control bills and patches have soared lately--a package of pills has gone from $7 to between $30 and $50, for example. (This is because of a change in the 2005 Medicaid rebate law.)
Not only is this completely, well, screwed--it's dangerous.
"The likelihood of there being some gaps in usage will increase," said Karen Engall, director of Mount Holyoke's health services.Health officials also worry that some students will not use insurance to buy contraception because their parents see the pharmacy bills.
So basically, women will stop using their contraception, increasing the chance of unintended pregnancy. Bad news, bad policy.
Posted by Jessica at 9:40 AM | Comments (0)
September 6, 2007
Quick Hit: The Republican Debate
Amie at RH Reality Check has a great roundup of the anti-choice messages in last night's Republican debate.
Since declaring his candidacy for President of the United States, Romney has been forthcoming about his anti-choice platform. He has proudly sparred with Senator Brownback on who is the more "pro-life." During last night's debate, when asked about abortion and his vision for an eventual constitutional amendment to ban it, Romney firmly stated that while he would like to overturn Roe v. Wade because "we'd love to have an America that didn't have abortion", he favors a more gradual approach to criminalizing abortion.
Make sure to check out the whole thing!
Posted by Jessica at 8:59 AM | Comments (0)
September 4, 2007
UK campaign seeks to increase access to abortion
Here's some great news: Folks in Britain are launching a campaign that would allow women to get abortions without approval from a doctor.
Under the proposed modernization of abortion laws, women would be allowed to have early abortions on an “informed consent” basis, with a doctor or a nurse carrying out the procedure, Britain’s The Independent reported.The campaign aims to increase the number of clinics offering early abortions so women would not be restricted to facilities officially licensed to perform abortions.
Women who have been pregnant for 12 weeks or more would still be required to obtain permission from a doctor, The Independent reported.
The "permission" thing is just so gross--whether it be from a doctor, a parent, a husband, whatever. The idea is that women are moral children who need an okay from someone truly able to make a decision. Ugh. So good on this campaign--we'll keep you updated and let you know how it goes.
Posted by Jessica at 8:56 AM | Comments (0)
August 31, 2007
Anti-choice groups take firmer anti-contraception stance
RH Reality Check points out that Iowa's first statewide anti-choice groups is just one among 86 around the country that are opposed to all forms of contraception:
Iowans for LIFE (Life Is For Everyone) has joined a coalition of anti-abortion groups under the umbrella of the American Life League and, by joining, has signed a document in opposition to not only abortion but all contraceptives and in vitro fertilization....Abortion will never end as long as society approves the use of contraception. The practice of contraception means children are unwanted and provides the rationalization for abortion. It is a violation of human dignity to promote or accept the use of contraception.
Blogger Lynda also notes that recent statements by Republican presidential hopefuls indicate that they might throw their support behind sentiments like these. Charming.
Posted by Jessica at 9:22 AM | Comments (0)
August 29, 2007
Quick Hit: Gonzales’ anti-choice legacy
In the wake of Attorney general Alberto Gonzales' resignation, let's not forget his lovely anti-choice history. Page Rockwell at Salon says...
When I heard about [the resignation], my first thought wasn't about what his overdue departure will mean for women's issues. His audacious defenses of administration policies on torture and domestic surveillance, and his role in the firing of U.S. attorneys, make it easy to forget that Gonzales is also the guy behind Gonzales v. Carhart and Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood, the landmark cases in which the Supreme Court upheld the speciously named 2003 Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act.Which is sort of amazing, because that decision was a huge victory for the campaign to chip away at women's reproductive rights. As the Washington Post noted earlier this year, the court's opinion "marked the first time justices have agreed that a specific abortion procedure could be banned"; in a piece by Broadsheet's Lynn Harris, Center for Reproductive Rights president Nancy Northrup observed that the opinion basically overturned three decades of settled constitutional law. But because it's Gonzales we're talking about, the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act decision doesn't even make the first page of his résumé; he's flown in the face of settled law so many times that his role in restricting abortion access feels like a footnote.
Indeed, but that certainly doesn't mean we shouldn't take note of it. So Gonzales, good riddance.
Posted by Jessica at 12:24 PM | Comments (0)
August 27, 2007
OH court supports abortion privacy
A state appeals court Friday ruled that Cincinnati Planned Parenthood clinic doesn't have to give other minors' abortion records to a family who is suing over a teenage girl's abortion.The ruling overturns a lower-court judge's order in the suit, which alleges that the Planned Parenthood clinic here unlawfully failed to get consent from a parent before performing an abortion on the girl, as required by Ohio law. The lawsuit sought records of other minors' abortion records going back 10 years in an effort show that the clinic had a pattern of violating the law, and a Hamilton County judge last year agreed to the request.
But a three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeals ruled unanimously that others' records weren't necessary for the lawsuit, which it said was about whether Planned Parenthood violated its legal duties to the girl's parents in performing her abortion.
The court ruled that the invasion of privacy rights trumped the probative value of the records in the parents' case. Thank goodness, though I'm sure the anti-choicers won't be too pleased. What is it with them and trying to invade patient privacy?!
Posted by Jessica at 11:20 AM | Comments (0)
August 24, 2007
Americans support contraception research
An MSN-Zogby Interactive poll released last week reports that 83 percent of those surveyed "believe scientists should continue to research birth control options."
Younger people were most supportive of expanding birth control options.
Posted by Jessica at 9:03 AM | Comments (0)
August 22, 2007
Quick Hit: The quiet campaign against birth control
Cristina Page, author of the great book How the Pro-Choice Movement Saved America: Freedom, Politics, and the War on Sex (and Vice President of the Institute for Reproductive Health Access at NARAL Pro-Choice New York!), has a terrific article in the The Baltimore Sun.
At National Right to Life's conference this year, Mitt Romney set out to convince anti-abortion leaders he was their candidate. At the podium, he rattled off his qualifications. To a layman's ears, it sounded pretty standard for abortion politics. He wants to overturn Roe v. Wade. He supports teaching only abstinence to teens.But for those trained to hear the subtleties, Mr. Romney was acknowledging something more. He implied an opposition to the birth control pill and a willingness to join in their efforts to scale back access to contraception. There are code phrases to listen for - and for those keeping score, Mr. Romney nailed each one.
Read the whole article here.
Posted by Jessica at 11:43 AM | Comments (0)
August 20, 2007
Celebrating Plan B's anniversary!
Last year, on August 24th, the Food and Drug Administration approved emergency contraception (aka Plan B) for over-the-counter sales to adults.
To celebrate the one-year anniversary of this victory, NARAL Pro-Choice America is hosting some great guest bloggers this week!
Miriam Perez, Advocacy Associate with the National Latina Institute, which ensures the fundamental human right to reproductive health for Latinas, their families, and their communities through public education, policy advocacy, and community mobilization.
Priscilla Huang, Policy & Programs Director with the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum (NAPAWF), which connects and empowers Asian American women by providing them a venue to bond and share their experiences with one another.
Susan Berke Fogel with the National Health Law Program (NHeLP), which seeks to improve health care for America's working and unemployed poor, minorities, the elderly, and people with disabilities.
Rev. Irene Monroe is a Ford Fellow and doctoral candidate at Harvard Divinity School.
So make sure to come back and check out these amazing women and their posts!
Posted by Jessica at 10:32 AM | Comments (1)
Quick Hit: Amnesty ends abortion neutrality
It's official: "The human rights group will campaign for woman to have access to abortion in cases including rape and incest."
Posted by Jessica at 8:27 AM | Comments (0)
August 16, 2007
Medical abortions are safe
A new study done in Denmark showed that abortion pills (aka medical abortion) pose no risk to a woman who decides to have a child later in life.
The study in the New England Journal of Medicine found no difference in the rates of subsequent tubal pregnancies, miscarriages, premature births or low birthweight births for women who had previously had surgical abortion, usually through vacuum aspiration, or those taking any of the three drug regimens that eliminate a fetus.About 2.4 percent of later conceptions led to tubal pregnancy and just over 12 percent miscarried, regardless of the type of earlier abortion, the researchers found.
The likelihood of having a premature birth (5.4 percent) or a low birthweight baby (4 percent) was slightly lower among the women who had received the abortion pill but the difference was not statistically significant.
Dr. Jun Zhang of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, who worked on the study, said "The short-term safety of medical abortion has been well established."
Previous studies have established the safety of surgical abortion in the first trimester.
Posted by Jessica at 9:09 AM | Comments (0)
August 14, 2007
Amnesty International stands up for choice
Despite threats from the Vatican, Amnesty International is set to take a stand on abortion access for victims of rape.
The decision, which will also cover women whose health is at risk from giving birth, follows the use of mass rape as a political weapon in the conflict in Darfur. But Amnesty has infuriated the Vatican by expanding its definition of human rights to include access to abortion, prompting leading Catholics to accuse the organisation of having "betrayed its mission". Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, has threatened that unless Amnesty's policy is reversed, the Vatican will call upon Catholics worldwide to boycott the organisation.
Amnesty's deputy general secretary, Kate Gilmore, says "Amnesty International's position is not for abortion as a right but for women's human rights to be free of fear, threat and coercion as they manage all consequences of rape and other grave human rights violations."
Posted by Jessica at 9:09 AM | Comments (0)
August 13, 2007
Bias, anyone?
Oh dear. It seems the judge in the case against Dr. George Tiller, who is being tried for violating laws concerning late-term abortions, was once an anti-choice activist.
The judge who will decide the case — Sedgwick County District Judge Anthony Powell — was a leading voice for anti-abortion lawmakers during his eight years as a legislator. Powell was appointed to the case this week.
Charming. By the way, Tiller is being charged not for any medical malfeasance, but because of an accusation that he had an "improper financial relationship with a physician who signed off on the late-term abortions." Hmm. Sounds like a witch-hunt to me.
Posted by Jessica at 10:36 AM | Comments (0)
August 9, 2007
Romney on his past abortion stance (sigh)
Shockingly, Romney is doing just a tad of pandering.
Mitt Romney yesterday called his onetime support for abortion rights his greatest personal and political mistake, and sought to reassure voters during a Republican presidential debate that he is a reliable and determined foe of abortion, an issue important to the party's religious conservatives.
Wonder what he'll say next week. Ugh.
Posted by Jessica at 9:32 AM | Comments (0)
August 3, 2007
Almost Too Close To Call…It All Hinges On ‘08
By Nancy Keenan, president, NARAL Pro-Choice America
Can one vote make the difference between a pro-choice victory and an anti-choice success?
You bet it can—and that’s what happened late last night on the floor of the U.S. Senate.
Pro-choice senators led the fight to defeat an anti-choice amendment to the children’s health bill by a vote of 50 – 49. That’s one, single vote. (For more information on the amendment, click here.)
The failed amendment, offered by anti-choice Sen. Wayne Allard (R-CO), would have codified a controversial Bush administration regulation, put in place in 2002.. This Bush regulation allows states to make an embryo or a fetus – but not a pregnant woman – eligible for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).
That’s right—anti-choice senators wanted to deny health coverage to pregnant women.
This amendment showed just what anti-choice politicians will do to undermine a woman’s right to choose, even if it means derailing a bill that would provide health care for children and working families.
This close vote is a reminder for us. We made big gains in last year’s elections and restored pro-choice leadership to the Senate. But legislative attacks like the Allard amendment underscore our need to continue to elect more pro-choice senators.
Until we have the numbers, we will continue to see dangerous and divisive assaults on our right to choose. We have to spread the word…Elections Matter.
For more information on how to get involved in electing pro-choice candidates, click here.
Posted by Vanessa at 4:40 PM | Comments (0)
August 1, 2007
Ohio law would let men have a say in abortion
Oh this is rich. A group of legislators in Ohio are pushing a bill that would give men a say in whether or not a woman can have an abortion.
"This is important because there are always two parents and fathers should have a say in the birth or the destruction of that child," said [Rep. John] Adams, a Republican from Sidney. "I didn't bring it up to draw attention to myself or to be controversial. In most cases, when a child is born the father has financial responsibility for that child, so he should have a say."As written, the bill would ban women from seeking an abortion without written consent from the father of the fetus. In cases where the identity of the father is unknown, women would be required to submit a list of possible fathers. The physician would be forced to conduct a paternity test from the provided list and then seek paternal permission to abort.
Written notes? Submitting a list of potential fathers? Sometimes I think that anti-choice folks forget that women are, you know, adults.
But seriously here's the best part of the bill:
Claiming to not know the father's identity is not a viable excuse, according to the proposed legislation. Simply put: no father means no abortion.
Lovely.
NARAL Pro-choice Ohio executive director Kellie Copeland says in the article, "This extreme bill shows just how far some of our state legislators are willing to go to rally a far-right base that is frustrated with the pro-choice gains made in the last election...It is completely out of touch with Ohio's mainstream values. This measure is a clear attack on a woman's freedom and privacy."
Posted by Jessica at 10:36 AM | Comments (1)
July 31, 2007
Quick Hit: New era of legal abortion in Portugal
The LA Times has an article about newly-legal abortion in Portugal:
For years, Portuguese women seeking an abortion crossed over the border to Spain, where Yolanda Hernandez awaited.Now, Hernandez is coming to them.
In the abortion business for nearly three decades, Hernandez is opening Portugal's first private abortion clinic.
Read the full article here.
Posted by Jessica at 12:37 PM | Comments (0)
July 30, 2007
No comment necessary
Posted by Jessica at 4:04 PM | Comments (0)
July 26, 2007
Romeny makes sex ed accusations
This is just odd. Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney (and notorious choice flip-flopper) is saying that Barack Obama has called for sex education in kindergarten.
The dispute began last week, when Obama said in a Planned Parenthood forum that he had been vilified by his 2004 Senate opponent, Alan Keyes, for supposedly supporting sex education for kindergartners because he backed a sex education bill as an Illinois state senator."But it's the right thing to do, to provide age-appropriate sex education, science-based sex education in schools," Obama said at last week's forum.
Yeah, how terrible. Sigh.
Posted by Jessica at 8:53 AM | Comments (1)
July 25, 2007
Madness in Missouri
Not even a month after Missouri governor Matt Blunt signed legislation that limits abortion providers' ability to teach sex education classes, a measure will go into effect next month that will require that any medical clinic performing more than five first-trimester abortions a month, or any abortions later in pregnancy, to be licensed as an “ambulatory surgical center.”
This means a number of regulations imposed on clinics that would result in up to $2 million in renovations. (In other words, forcing some out of practice.)
That'll help; make abortion even less accessible than it already is. Ugh.
Posted by Vanessa at 10:03 AM | Comments (0)
July 24, 2007
New York ain't as safe as you think.
While many would think New York state is dandy when it comes to reproductive rights, think again.
A New York Times letter to the editor by Galen Sherwin and Corinne Carey, the director and an attorney with the New York Civil Liberties Union Reproductive Rights Project, reminds us that New York receives more abstinence-only funds than any other state, with the exception of Florida and Texas.
Let's hope New York joins the other states that have rejected the funding this year and increase real sex education in New York.
Posted by Vanessa at 1:22 PM | Comments (0)
A new sheriff's in town.
Since anti-choice district attorney Phil Kline previously invaded the personal information of ninety patients of Planned Parenthood while he was Attorney General of Kansas, the tables surely have turned. And fast.
Not only is Planned Parenthood filing a lawsuit in order to force him to return the personal records of patients, but Kline's successor, present Attorney General Paul Morrison, has decided to join the party and aid Planned Parenthood in their efforts to get these records back.
Let's Morrison's support will make this happen.
Posted by Vanessa at 10:04 AM | Comments (0)
July 22, 2007
Anti-Choice Ass of the Day
Well, this is quite a gem.
Former Republican Majority Leader Tom DeLay told a group of College Republicans last week that there's a link between abortion and immigration. No joke. His words:
"I contend [abortion] affects you in immigration. . . If we had those 40 million children that were killed over the last 30 years, we wouldn't need the illegal immigrants to fill the jobs that they are doing today. Think about it."
Wow.
Posted by Vanessa at 8:03 PM | Comments (3)
July 20, 2007
I hereby give permission...
This is just infuriating.
Sen. John Adams has introduced a bill in Ohio that would require a woman seeking an abortion to bring a - I kid you not - permission slip from the would-be father:
Under Adams’ proposal, a woman seeking an abortion must provide the name of the unborn fetus’ father, who then must give written consent for the procedure. Not knowing the father is no excuse and women who try and lie or doctors who perform abortions without permission of the father could be charged with “abortion fraud," a fifth-degree felony punishable by up to a year in jail and $2,500 in fines.
"Abortion fraud"??? This is one of the most ludicrous, paternalistic and heinous bills I've heard about in a while. It's almost more ridiculous than an actual ban, which Adams is actually also co-sponsoring.
“You put this bill in the real world and it is unworkable,” said Kellie Copeland, executive director of NARAL Pro-choice Ohio. “We believe the decision should be a woman’s.”
Um, yeah.
Posted by Vanessa at 10:09 AM | Comments (4)
July 19, 2007
Democratic frontrunners talk about choice.
On Tuesday, Sen. Barack Obama, Sen. Hillary Clinton and John Edward's wife Elizabeth made speeches at a Planned Parenthood Action Fund event about their position on choice, as well as pledges of how they will change the future of reproductive rights in the nation (if elected president in '08, that is).
You can check out videos of their speeches here.
Posted by Vanessa at 2:26 PM | Comments (0)
Update: Clinic director arrested in AL
This is just so screwed.
Just one day after the beginnings of the anti-choice protests taking place in and around Birmingham, Gloria Gray, the director of the West Alabama Women's Center, was arrested for disorderly conduct.
There hasn't been much coverage of exactly what happened, except that when the director came outside to talk to one of the protestors for trespassing onto clinic property, the police directed her to go inside and then arrested her when she refused to, you know, get off her own property. She posted bail shortly thereafter.
I'm speechless.
Posted by Vanessa at 10:01 AM | Comments (0)
July 18, 2007
Lovely.
An anti-choice group in Denver is pushing for a ballot in November '08 that could ban all abortions in Colorado.
Colorado Equal Rights' measure needs 76,000 signatures to be even placed on the ballot, which would say that life begins at conception.
Carrie Gordon Earll, a spokeswoman with the anti-choice Focus on the Family, said the intitiative is "a fresh and novel approach to the issue." Saying life begins at conception is certainly a new approach! They're really original, I tell ya.
But that doesn't mean that this shouldn't be something to worry about.
Posted by Vanessa at 2:01 PM | Comments (2)
Birth control is booming.
Check out this great opinion piece that talks about how "birth control is back." I don't know if I would necessarily say BC is back from the dead, but is certainly booming:
Barr Pharmaceuticals, maker of the "Plan B" morning-after contraceptive pill, estimates that sales doubled since the Food and Drug Administration approved over-the-counter sale of the product after a long, politically inspired delay. Opponents had argued that the pill is tantamount to abortion -- which it is not. A woman takes the medication after unprotected sex, and it works like a high dose of birth-control pills. Plan B brought in $40 million annually when it was available by prescription only, according to Barr spokeswoman Carol Cox. The company estimates that sales this year, which marked the start of marketing without a prescription to women 18 and older, will reach $80 million.More teenagers who have sex, meanwhile, are using condoms -- 63 percent used a condom during their last sexual intercourse, according to data compiled by the National Center for Health Statistics. That's up from 46 percent of sexually active high school students who reported using condoms in 1991. Progress in reducing the rate of births to teenage mothers that began in the 1990s has held steady. So fewer girls are becoming mothers before they are emotionally and financially ready -- and fewer babies are born burdened by the toxic mix of poverty and social stress related to teenaged parenting.
Sounds good to me.
Posted by Vanessa at 10:07 AM | Comments (0)
July 17, 2007
Alabama mobilizes, but not without anti-choice haters
The Alabama Reproductive Freedom Summer kicked off in Birmingham late last week, but (of course) along with the anti-choice brigade behind them.
Less than a decade after the 1998 bombing of the New Women All Women Health Clinic, anti-choice protestors have begun to gather around the same clinic shortly after the kick-off:
A national anti-abortion protest in Birmingham confronted the city with large graphic signs and slogans this morning.About 100 protesters gathered in front of the New Woman All Women Clinic. Another 30 were in front of Planned Parenthood. About 20 people held signs along U.S. 280 at the Summit during rush hour traffic.
And of course so many more would choose to gather around the previously attacked clinic. Sigh.
If you're in the area, make sure to check out the event and show your support; let’s hope it goes smoothly.
Posted by Vanessa at 10:02 AM | Comments (4)
July 16, 2007
Quick Hit: Portugal legalizes abortion
It's a good news, bad news kinda thing. Abortion is legal now, but there are still highly restrictive laws and hurdles blocking the way to acccess.
Posted by Jessica at 8:55 AM | Comments (0)
LA first state to ban late term abortion
Gov. Kathleen Blanco signed legislation Friday that penalizes doctors who perform a late-term abortion procedure, making Louisiana the first to outlaw the surgery since a similar federal ban was upheld this year.The new law allows the procedure only when the mother's life would be endangered without it. It would be a crime in all other cases, including when the pregnancy is expected to cause health problems for the mother. (Emphasis added)
Because, really, who cares about women's health? Sigh.
Posted by Jessica at 8:45 AM | Comments (0)
July 11, 2007
Government health website has anti-choice message
The Department of Health and Human Services recently revised its website, 4Parents.gov, and replaced factual data designed to help parents talk about preventing teen pregnancy with biased and misleading claims, including one that says, "Abortions can have complications. There may be emotional consequences, as well: some women say that they feel sad and some use more alcohol or drugs than before."
NARAL Pro-Choice America President Nancy Keenan noted that he website's content is just another link in a long chain of the Bush administration manipulating science in order to spread anti-choice propaganda.
"They've done it again. President Bush and his allies are bent on misleading parents and teens...It is outrageous that the department charged with providing Americans objective information about health is disguising unproven political rhetoric as sound science."
Posted by Jessica at 12:45 PM | Comments (0)
July 9, 2007
MO abortion providers can't teach sex ed
Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt signed into law new restrictions that would limit abortion providers ability to teach sex education classes.
The measure places more abortion clinics under government oversight by classifying them as ambulatory surgical centers. Planned Parenthood has said the law could force it to spend more than $1 million on remodeling, plus some extra staffing costs.The law also bars people affiliated with abortion providers from teaching or supplying materials for public school sex education courses, and it allows schools to offer abstinence-only programs.
Well how convenient! Better that students get medically inaccurate, dangerous, information than comprehensive sex ed!
But truly, this part is my fave:
Missouri Right to Life, which backed the measure, argued that groups like Planned Parenthood have a conflict of interest in supplying sex education materials because they could make money if female students go to their clinics.
Um...what?! Planned Parenthood offers services on a sliding scale--they're certainly not in it for the dough! Just insane.
Posted by Jessica at 9:38 AM | Comments (0)
July 6, 2007
Rape and incest: just "buzzwords?"
South Dakota state Rep. Joel Dykstra--who The Hill reports has entered the race for the Republican nomination to face Sen. Tim Johnson (D) in 2008--has some interesting ideas about sexual assault:
"I think 'rape and incest' is a buzzword. It's a bit of a throwaway line and not everybody who says that really understands what that means. How are you going to define that?” --South Dakota state Rep. Joel Dykstra (R-Lincoln County) on why the state legislature didn't include those exceptions in its abortion ban, April 20, 2006.
I'm pretty sure that the women (and men, for that matter) in South Dakota know exactly what rape and incest mean. Maybe Dykstra needs someone to explain it to him.
Posted by Jessica at 9:51 AM | Comments (1)
July 5, 2007
File this under the "Gee, thanks" file
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Tuesday said he would support abortion in cases where a mother's life is in danger."If there is a circumstance where the life of the mother is at risk by virtue of proceeding with the pregnancy, then abortion in that case is acceptable," he said. "I do not believe it is immoral in that case. I know other people feel differently."
Are we supposed to be grateful or something?
Posted by Jessica at 8:12 AM | Comments (0)
July 3, 2007
Share your thoughts in this online poll!
A recent survey says that most women would rather donate to a favorite charity than to a political candidate. How about you?
Share your opinion on this poll sponsored by the Women's Campaign Forum Foundation.
Note: The poll asks for an email address, but you don't need to enter one to participate.
Posted by Jessica at 1:09 PM | Comments (0)
July 2, 2007
Headline of the day: Man apologizes for torching women's clinic
Um, yeah. 46 year-old David McMenemy was sentenced to five years in prison Friday for trying to burn down a women's health clinic in Detroit that he thought performed abortions. (They didn't.)
Alrighty then.
Posted by Jessica at 10:52 AM | Comments (0)
June 28, 2007
LA abortion ban: no health exception
Oh, Louisiana. The state legislature approved a late-term abortion ban this week with no exception for women's health. Louisiana is the first state to do as much since the Supreme Court upheld the federal abortion ban.
The procedure would be a crime in all other cases [other than to save the woman's life], including situations where the pregnancy is expected to cause health problems for the mother.The measure goes to Gov. Kathleen Blanco, who describes herself as anti-abortion but has not indicated whether she plans to sign the bill.
Come on, Blanco. Do the right thing for women.
Posted by Jessica at 8:40 AM | Comments (0)
June 27, 2007
UK doctors call for easier access to abortion
Doctors in the UK have voted in favor of giving women easier and quicker access to abortions.
Medics attending the British Medical Association (BMA) conference voted by 67% to 33% in favour of removing the need for two doctors' signatures to allow an abortion in the first trimester.The move effectively removes the need for women to meet pre-determined criteria that continuing with the pregnancy poses a risk to their medical or physical health. It will also allow them to access abortion services in the first three months of pregnancy as easily as other treatments.
Liberal Democrat MP Dr Evan Harris asked the conference: "Why on earth should women seeking termination - often distressed and anxious - be faced with irrational barriers, perceived or real, or face potential delays leading to later abortion when first trimester aborti