April 21, 2008
Taxpayer Funded Crisis Pregnancy Centers in Texas: A Hidden Threat to Women's Health
Last week, NARAL Pro-Choice Texas Foundation released their third annual report: Taxpayer Funded Crisis Pregnancy Centers in Texas: A Hidden Threat to Women's Health. This 2008 report "provides an overview of what a crisis pregnancy center (CPC) is and what it isn't, why public funding for its services is controversial and detrimental to the health of Texas women, and why Texans should be seriously concerned about the lack of accountability and regulation in the use of millions of dollars of taxpayer money." According to the report:
During the 2005 Texas legislative session, anti-choice Texas lawmakers forced an unprecedented rider onto the state budget. This rider cut a total of $5 million from family planning funding over the biennium (FYs 2006-2007) and shifted the money from preventive health screening and contraceptive services into unlicensed and unregulated crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs). Now, over two years later, the program this rider created has proved itself to be a controversial, failed experiment with a multi-million dollar cost to Texas taxpayers.
Read the full report here and check out these articles for more information.
Posted by Molly at 11:35 AM | Comments (2)
February 29, 2008
Hypocrisy, thy name is Bill Bolling
Tarina Keene is executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia.
On Wednesday, anti-choice Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling cast the decisive vote in the Virginia Senate to defund state family-planning clinics that provide low-income women with access to basic health care, such as contraception and screenings for breast and cervical cancer.
Bolling’s vote — which broke a 20-20 tie in the Senate — was outrageous enough, but this politician takes hypocrisy to a whole new level.
Check out his web site and you will find (I am not kidding here) Bolling promoting public-service announcements in which he encourages women in Virginia to get screenings for cervical cancer:
Busy women in today’s modern world must make the connection between HPV, Pap testing and avoidance of a nearly preventable cancer. Urge the women in your life to get a Pap test. Pass on the information to friends.
Mr. Bolling, you just voted for a bill that will deny cervical-cancer screenings to thousands of women in Virginia.
You can bet that we are going to tell everyone we know about this hypocrisy. At a time when so many Virginians cannot afford health care, you cut funding for the very services you encouraged women to get – services that are available at Planned Parenthood and other family-planning clinics.
We have your number—literally. 804-786-2078. Our public-service announcement begins with a call to your office to express our displeasure with your vote against women’s health.
Posted by Blog for Choice at 4:31 PM | Comments (0)
December 12, 2007
In the meantime...
While a Pennsylvania bill requiring hospitals to provide emergency contraception has stalled in the House of Reps, it's good to see that Wisconsin is at least moving forward with a similar bill:
The Assembly, which worked into the early morning hours Wednesday on a variety of measures, passed a revised version of that bill on a 56-41 vote just before midnight.Both houses must adopt identical legislation before it can go to Gov. Jim Doyle for his signature. Republicans who control the Assembly objected to a final reading of the bill Tuesday night, meaning the full body won't be able to vote to send it to the Senate until January.
The bill has already gone through a number of challenges, including efforts to get parental notification and allow hospitals to pull the old "conscience clause" and let them refuse EC on "moral or religious" grounds, but it was a no-go. Rep. Ann Hraychuck, D - Balsam Lake hit the nail on the head: "This is not about what my moral beliefs are. This is not about what your moral beliefs are. This is about victim's rights."
Indeed.
Posted by Jessica at 12:10 PM | Comments (0)
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)
September 25, 2007
Teens lack EC access in NYC?
As gleeful as I was about yesterday's news that New York has rejected federal funds that would have gone towards abstinence-only education programs, having access to the resources you're educated about would probably help too.
Despite New York City's campaign launched in 2005 to incease access to emergency contraception and family planning services, it looks like teens may have slipped past the radar. A study of teen health clinics operated by the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation found that less than half of them provided emergency contraception and prescriptions for birth control. Yikes.
The corporation claims that the report was inaccurate and misleading, but would look into training staff at their clinics who might be asked about the availability of EC.
Posted by Jessica at 12:16 PM | Comments (0)
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 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
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)
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)
March 21, 2007
The Horrifying Honaker Nomination
by Sharon Breitweiser, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Wyoming
Talk about a blast from the past… President Bush is at it again, this time in my own backyard. I swear, nothing this administration does surprises me anymore, yet somehow I was still shocked when I heard the latest news.
It turns out that earlier this week, with the blessing of anti-choice Sens. Craig Thomas (R-WY) and Mike Enzi (R-WY), President Bush nominated Rock Springs lawyer Richard Honaker for a federal judgeship in Wyoming.
And, boy, do I know Richard Honaker…
In my boxes of files from past legislative sessions, elections, and legal battles, I found example after example of Honaker’s blatant anti-choice bias. Yet he seems to consider his anti-choice record to be mere youthful exuberance. The man who once led an effort to outlaw abortion in Wyoming is now trying to downplay his own radical agenda. “As a state legislator,” he now says, “I took positions on a lot of legislative issues and public policy issues, and one of them was on the abortion issue. That was my role at that time…But my role as a judge would be far different.” In other words: Don’t worry your pretty little head, I’m going to change my anti-choice ways. Riiiight.
So, when an Associated Press reporter called for a quote, I didn’t know where to start! Should I start with the list of anti-choice legislation he championed in the state legislature – such as the “Human Life Protection Act,” a bill he authored that would have outlawed almost all abortion? Maybe I should highlight the major role Americans United for Life played in developing his “Human Life Protection Act?” The group even paid for his trip to Chicago, where they advised him on how to advance this legislation! Or maybe it would be better to focus on his role with the “Unseen Hands of Prayer Circle PAC” – the group that was formed to try to push an abortion ban through the ballot process after it failed in the legislature? Honaker even represented the extreme anti-choice group before the State Supreme Court and succeeded in getting the measure on the 1994 statewide ballot – but fortunately, Wyoming voters overwhelmingly rejected the Honaker abortion ban by a 61-39 percent margin.
Of all the Americans qualified to sit on the federal bench, this is whom George Bush picks?!?!?
Honaker’s nomination now goes to the U.S. Senate’s Judiciary Committee – so we’re watching closely to see what happens next. But it just goes to show: Despite the electoral gains we made last November, President Bush can still nominate whomever he wants to these crucial judgeships – and, if confirmed, they serve lifetime appointments!
Not surprisingly, the leader of Wyoming Right to Life, Steven Ertelt, is giving Bush a gold medal for the Honaker nomination, as evidenced by this statement: “Because of his pro-life views and past efforts to protect human life, it's obvious that Richard Honaker joins with attorneys on both side of the abortion debate who understand that Roe v. Wade was an example of unadulterated judicial activism and that the role of the courts to is interpret the law -- not make it up as you go.”
So, Richard Honaker receives kudos from two extreme anti-choice senators and a radical anti-choice group, and there are countless documents exposing his leadership in efforts to outlaw abortion. Nope – no anti-choice bias here!
Posted by Blog for Choice at 12:33 PM | Comments (0)
March 9, 2007
Kroger, We Know What You Did in Georgia!
By Nancy Keenan, president, NARAL Pro-Choice America
I just got off the phone with Dionne Vann, the executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Georgia. She had some good news to report from Atlanta—so I wanted to spread the word as fast as possible.
Long story short… today is not the day to work in the PR department for the conglomerate grocery store chain Kroger—and it all has to do with one courageous woman joining forces with Dionne at NARAL Pro-Choice Georgia to raise the public’s awareness of a pharmacy refusal incident.
Here is the story…
Carrie Baker, a resident of Rome, Georgia, walked into her local Kroger pharmacy to purchase the Plan B emergency contraceptive—some call it the “morning-after” pill.
As you know, the Food and Drug Administration approved over-the-counter sales of emergency contraception for women 18 and older last year. It is a safe, effective form of back-up birth control—and NARAL Pro-Choice America and its affiliates have launched a campaign to ensure that all national pharmacy chains adopt a written policy guaranteeing to their customers that they’ll stock this over-the-counter medication.
This is yet another example of why such a campaign is so necessary!
In Carrie’s case in Georgia, the pharmacist on duty refused…yes, that’s right, refused…to sell her Plan B and said the pharmacy didn’t stock it.
Carrie could have walked away from that experience, but she didn’t. Instead, she stood with NARAL Pro-Choice Georgia and state legislators outside the state capitol to share her story and call on Kroger to end its policy of allowing pharmacists to refuse to help women access Plan B.
We already have some early media reports, and my understanding is that several TV crews and print reporters showed up to interview Carrie.
Things are happening in Georgia, so go to ProChoiceGeorgia.org and join the affiliate’s EC campaign. If you live outside Georgia, there are ways for you take action by joining our PLAN B. Where’s Yours? Campaign.
Better yet, if you live in an area with a Kroger pharmacy, walk in there this weekend and say, “Kroger, we know what you did in Georgia!—and we’re not going to stand for it there or anywhere else.” Let Carrie’s courage inspire you like it did me.
Posted by Blog for Choice at 4:15 PM | Comments (2)
March 8, 2007
Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPCs) in North Carolina
“[A]ll condoms are defective and have slots and holes in them.” (Alamance Pregnancy Services, Burlington)
“[Abortion is] horrifying, ruins your life, devastating.”
(Birthright of Winston-Salem, Winston-Salem)
These aren’t facts, though two different counselors at different so-called “crisis pregnancy centers” (CPCs) right here in North Carolina tell women they are. For years, NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina has worked to expose CPCs, which mislead pregnant women with scare tactics designed to dissuade them from choosing abortion. And now, thanks to an article in Time Magazine, we have a unique opportunity to show what goes on at these unlicensed and unregulated organizations.
CPCs often advertise themselves in the yellow pages and online as providing “pregnancy counseling” or “abortion information.” These anti-choice organizations, which outnumber abortion providers in our states nationwide by a 2-1 margin, misrepresent themselves as a source of neutral information and advice. Worse yet, President Bush is funneling millions of our tax dollars into these organizations.
A report from Rep. Waxman (D-CA-30), “Federal Funded Pregnancy Resource Centers Mislead Teens About Abortion Risks,” shows virtually all of the funding for CPCs is funneled through the federal “abstinence-only-until-marriage” program. Between 2001 and 2005, 50 of these centers received more than $30 million in tax dollars.
Women are entitled to accurate, comprehensive and unbiased medical information, which they can use to make their own personal medical decisions. Further, the government, both federal and state, should support legitimate, comprehensive reproductive-health clinics, rather than centers that refuse to discuss birth control and engage in aggressive tactics to keep women from exercising their constitutionally protected right to choose.
So how can we spread the word and make sure that pregnant women are treated with the respect they deserve by receiving all the facts they need? Luckily, this article provides us with a great start.
Help us build on this amazing publicity and spread the word by writing a letter to the editor of your local newspaper. Our online tool makes this easy to do.
To read more about NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina’s investigation of CPCs – see our report, "Choosing Lies and Deception: Crisis Pregnancy Centers in North Carolina” (pdf). For more information, email Amy Woodell at awoodell@ProChoiceNorthCarolina.org.
Posted by Blog for Choice at 10:02 AM | Comments (0)
December 8, 2006
Georgia: One Step Closer to Outlawing Abortion
By Dionne Vann, executive director, NARAL Pro-Choice Georgia
You must be kidding me!
Not even a month after South Dakota voters repealed a ban on abortion, and voters across the country put more pro-choice voices in Congress, anti-choice legislator Rep. Bobby Franklin (HD 43) introduced a similar ban to outlaw abortion in Georgia. Can you believe it? A BAN THAT WOULD OUTLAW ABORTION!
With pre-filed HB1, Georgia’s anti-choice politicians are, once again, interfering in women’s personal, private decisions. This bill would make providing abortion care in the state of Georgia a felony, even to protect a woman’s health. What’s more, the punishment is LIFE IN PRISON or the DEATH PENALTY. This ban is not only dangerous, it’s unconstitutional.
What anti-choice legislators fail to realize is that Georgians are tired of government interference in Washington and at the state house. They’re also tired of hypocrisy. If the legislators were really serious about reducing the need for abortion, they would stop writing bills that harm women and their families and focus on ideas that help prevent unintended pregnancy.
Georgians are tired of politicians overstepping and interfering in personal, private decisions that should be between women, their doctors, their families, and their God.
We must prepare to fight back against this attack on the Roe v. Wade case, which saved many women from “back-alley abortions”. That’s why NARAL Pro-Choice Georgia is raising funds now to hire a full-time lobbyist to make sure Georgia’s pro-choice majority is represented in the state capitol.
For more information, please click here. To take action, click here.
Posted by Blog for Choice at 11:36 AM | Comments (3)