Results tagged “EC” from Blog for Choice

As many of you are likely aware by now, given the media coverage in the Associated Press and the Washington Post, an independent committee at the Department of Defense (DOD) recently added emergency contraception (EC) to the list of medications made available to servicemembers overseas. Approximately 350,000 women serve in the military or depend on military facilities for their health care abroad, so this decision couldn't have come any sooner.

That's good news, right? The vast majority of Americans would agree, but some people took the opportunity to further expose their extreme views. Who, you ask? Focus on the Family and Concerned Women for America. These two anti-choice organizations are very critical of this action, and have denounced it with all the hysteria and hypocrisy we've come to expect. Concerned Women for America's Wendy Wright said:

... The military should be focusing on "discipline and proper behavior - because lives depend on it - not promoting risky behavior," as reported by LifeSiteNews.com.

Jeanne Monahan, director of Family Research Council's Center for Human Dignity commented:

"In the last year we have witnessed the Obama Administration move from the status quo of abortion as legal and available in health care plans to aggressively promoting U.S. government funded abortions."

And

"It can prevent the embryo from implanting and therefore destroy a human life..."

That's just plain absurd, but still - Monahan went on to claim, "We can all agree that there is a huge difference between preventing and destroying human life. And women in uniform deserve to know the truth about their medications."

Well, I agree with Monahan's latter statement - Women do deserve to know the truth about their medications... and the truth is that EC is simply a concentrated dose of ordinary birth-control pills that can significantly reduce a woman's chance of becoming pregnant if taken soon after sex. EC does not cause abortion (PDF); rather it is a safe and effective way to prevent pregnancy. In fact, the Food and Drug Administration approved over-the-counter sales for adults in August 2006.

We know one vet that will agree with the independent Pentagon panel's decision, and that's Kayla Williams. Kayla is a friend of NARAL Pro-Choice America and is a former sergeant and Arabic linguist in a Military Intelligence company of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). During her year in Iraq, Kayla spent her time at the forefront of U.S. interactions with Iraqis, while simultaneously navigating the challenges that come with being part of the 15 percent of the Army that is female.

In a blog post for VetVoice - the online home of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans - Kayla blogged about sex in the military and her support for the Compassionate Care for Servicewomen Act:

Women in the military may not like to talk about it, since many of us are still fighting to prove that we belong in the military and do our jobs well. Quite frankly, I don't want to talk about sex in a war zone - I want to talk about how women are proving ourselves not only competent but indispensable in counterinsurgency.

But the reality is that humans do have sex. The Army even lets married soldiers live together in Iraq. Condoms are sold at the PX. And - tragically - nonconsensual sex happens too; the DoD reports that reports of sexual assaults are on the rise, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Go Kayla! - and thank you for your service.

One final note: In an editorial, The New York Times agreed with Kayla and applauded the Pentagon panel's decision and even went a step further, calling for an end to the anti-choice policy that prohibits servicewomen's access to abortion, even when they use their own money:

Next, Pentagon officials and members of Congress need to address the callous treatment of servicewomen with regard to abortion. Under current rules, military doctors may perform abortions only in cases of rape, incest or when the women's lives are endangered. And even in cases of rape and incest, the women must pay. It is outrageous that politics is allowed to interfere with the health care decisions of women who wear the nation's uniform.

Be sure to read the entire column and share it with your friends and family.

I know, I know, it's been a while since our last update. It's not a good excuse, but remember that whole DC "Snowpocalypse" thing? Yeah. It was that bad, and it set me back a bit, so apologies for the lack of blog posts. Before we get back to the regularly scheduled blogging, I wanted to give you an update of what's been going on in the world of choice-related news. I hope this is helpful.

So-Called "Personhood" Measures are the New Abortion Ban: Mississippi and Colorado - get ready to fight because anti-choice opponents set their sights on outlawing abortion in your states. Late last week and early this week, anti-choicers put the wheels in motion to get anti-choice "personhood" measures on the ballot. In Mississippi, the Associated Press reported:

Personhood Mississippi, led by Les Riely of Pontotoc, delivered petitions with signatures of 105,167 people on Tuesday. The group's goal is to extend rights to fetuses and stop abortion in Mississippi. Similar efforts have been under way in several other states, including Colorado, Florida, Montana and Nevada.

In Colorado, the Denver Post noted:

So-called "Christian soldiers" announced Friday that they have handed in the thousands of signatures needed to place the Personhood Colorado amendment on the 2010 ballot. But proponents of the anti-abortion measure fell well short of the 131,000 signatures submitted for a similar amendment in 2008. This year they will be handing in only 79,817 signatures, just 3,770 more than then 76,047 valid signatures needed for the Secretary of State's office to certify the initiative for the ballot.

Thankfully, our colleagues at NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado are working hard to defeat this extreme measure in their state, just as they did in 2008.

R.E.S.P.E.C.T: An independent Pentagon panel's decision to ensure military women have access to EC at military health facilities received excellent coverage in The New York Times this weekend. The "Gray Lady" even called for an end to the anti-choice policy that prohibits servicewomen's access to abortion, even when they use their own money:

Next, Pentagon officials and members of Congress need to address the callous treatment of servicewomen with regard to abortion. Under current rules, military doctors may perform abortions only in cases of rape, incest or when the women's lives are endangered. And even in cases of rape and incest, the women must pay. It is outrageous that politics is allowed to interfere with the health care decisions of women who wear the nation's uniform.

It's a must read, and a must share.

Things May Go South for Some Women in North Carolina: This week, we learned that county employees of Wake County, North Carolina, might lose abortion care from their insurance policy. NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina calls this move "a slap in the face to every female employee" and is standing up to this attack on choice at the local level.

Because Crazy Talk Never Goes Out of Style: All this unexpected snow in Washington, D.C. must have sent crazy dust across the country. This week, we had not one, not two, but three extreme examples of crazy-talk from anti-choicers. Let's file these under ARE YOU KIDDING US WITH THIS?

Via Hotline's Wake-Up Call, courtesy of the Associated Press:

A Tea Party organizer in eastern WA who told a crowd that she'd like to "hang" Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) says her remark "was taken out of context," and that she meant she'd like to "hang Patty Murray, by vote."

Uhhh, WHAT? Statements like that have no place in the political dialog and, in fact, are downright scary.

The New York Times' Caucus Blog reported on a speaker, Jason Mattera, who bashed President Obama at the infamous Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). That alone doesn't surprise anyone, but highly-insensitive remarks like the one below gave cause for a double take (or read, rather):

He then mocked what he described, with a Chris Rock voice, as "diversity," including, he said, college classes on "cyber feminism" and "what it means to be a feminist new black man." Describing the latter, he said: "Think of a crossover between RuPaul and Barney Frank."

REALLY, Mr. Mattera? Really?

Finally, Ken Blackwell - senior fellow at the Family Research Council, visiting professor at Liberty University School of Law, and chairman of Ohio Faith and Freedom Coalition - was at it again this week, this time attacking Dawn Johnsen, President Obama's nominee for a top job at the Justice Department:

If Mr. Obama is serious about civility he needs to withdraw Dawn Johnsen's nomination. If she is confirmed, we will see a radical anti-Catholic, pro-abortion zealot influencing policy th[r]oughout the Justice Department--but also policy throughout the entire federal government.

Riiiiiiiiiight. Ironic that Ken Blackwell is calling someone other than himself a radical and a zealot.

The Problem with Pro-Choice Men?: Nope, that isn't a set-up to a lame joke, but rather the subject and headline of an article that ran in the Daily Beast.

Pro-choice activists argue that there's more to the issue than one poll, however. Ted Miller, Communications Director at NARAL Pro-Choice America, points to South Dakota. When a legislative ban on abortions was defeated in 2006, anti-abortion activists claimed that a similar bill, with exceptions for rape and incest, would pass in the next legislative cycle. In 2008, the bill, now with exceptions, was handily defeated again, and both pre- and post-polling showed men and women equally against it.

... Miller says that NARAL's ongoing research project among young voters has found that of those who "were supportive of a woman's right to choose... almost all the young men talked about women in their lives who had gone through the experience of choosing abortion."

We thought it was an interesting piece, and would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

Finally, we'd like to offer pro-choice Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) our best wishes for a speedy recovery following his diagnosis of stomach lymphoma. The entire staff of NARAL Pro-Choice America will keep you and your family in our thoughts and prayers.