Around the Blogosphere
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May 3, 2013 FEATURED BLOG
"The Importance of Roe vs. Wade," Joseph Blady, Huffington Post blogs:
"When abortion became legal in this country, its benefits to society were so obvious that one could be deluded into thinking that the issue was settled," Blady writes. "Since there is no scientific basis for declaring a six-week-old fetus a person, the obvious origin of the laws that have recently cropped up in North Dakota and four other states is religious," he argues, adding, "These states are rampaging against birth control for the same reason." He adds, "The answer to the abortion issue is so simple that it beggars belief that we haven't gotten to that place." Blady continues, "If you don't want an abortion, don't have one," but "leave the less pious of us alone to do what, unfortunately, has to be done to make more livable the lives of women who have to make the terrible decision to have an abortion" (Blady, Huffington Post blogs, 5/1). |
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April 30, 2013 FEATURED BLOG "Florida's Racist Anti-Choice Bill Prompts Walkout by Female Legislators," Amanda Marcotte, RH Reality Check: "Of the many and varied lies told by anti-choicers in their quest to separate women from their basic human rights to bodily autonomy, the claim that women need to lose their rights in order to protect Black people is one of the most odious," Marcotte writes. She notes that during a recent debate over a Florida bill (HB 845) "requiring doctors to interrogate Black patients about whether they are seeking an abortion to avoid giving birth to Black children, an estimated five legislators walked out in anger." According to Marcotte, "There are only two reasons to claim that Black women's abortions are about race," as the bill's sponsor asserted. "Either you believe that Black women hate Black children and are getting abortions to avoid being mothers to Black children, or you believe Black women are being coerced by outside parties who have a racist agenda," Marcotte writes, adding, "Both of these claims are deeply insulting to Black women" (Marcotte, RH Reality Check, 4/28). |
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April 26, 2013 FEATURED BLOG
"Abortion's Foes Twist Logic in Gosnell Case," Michelle Goldberg, Daily Beast 's "Women in the World": "There is a grotesque irony in the way that anti-abortion activists are trying to use the Kermit Gosnell case to further restrict access to abortion in Virginia," Goldberg writes, adding that it was "the lack of such access that drove Karnamaya Mongar, the woman Gosnell has been charged with killing, to his filthy clinic in the first place." Goldberg notes, "No one on any side of the abortion issue disputes the fact that, if the Gosnell grand-jury report is correct, his Philadelphia clinic was indeed a house of horrors," but it is "important to remember, though, that there are already a host of laws against the sort of hellish conditions that prevailed in" his clinic. Mongar "ended up there because she couldn't find a place to have an abortion" in her home state of Virginia, which has since further restricted abortion access by implementing a law that requires outpatient abortion clinics to meet hospital building standards. On Saturday, the state's Hillcrest Clinic closed its doors because it is unable to afford the $500,000 in renovations needed to comply with the law, Goldberg writes (Goldberg, "Women in the World," Daily Beast, 4/25). |
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April 23, 2013 FEATURED BLOG
"New TRAP Laws Force Virginia Abortion Clinic To Close After 40 Years of Service," Lori Adelman, Feministing: "Earlier this month, the Virginia Board of Health voted 11 to 2 for new, irrational regulations on abortion clinics in the state, which many reproductive health and justice advocates correctly noted were intended not to make clinics safer for patients but to effectively erode access to abortion care," Adelman writes. The effect of the TRAP law -- or targeted regulation of abortion providers -- was felt "loud and clear" at Hillcrest Clinic, which was forced to shut down after calculating that it would need nearly $500,000 in renovations to comply with the new building standards. Adelman writes, "These are the kinds of 'pro-life' policies that force desperate people and especially those at the margins to endure lower standards of care, and prop up shoddy, illegal, dangerous [abortion] operations like those of" Kermit Gosnell (Adelman, Feministing, 4/22). FEATURED BLOG "Another Fight Looms on a 20-Week Abortion Ban for D.C.," Robin Marty, RH Reality Check: D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton preemptively spoke out against "Rep. Trent Franks (R-Arizona) and the rumors that he is once more planning to submit a 20-week ban for D.C. residents," Marty writes. Holmes Norton said in a statement, "The pro-choice movement ... is unified, and with them, we will combat the insatiable Republican obsession with interfering with the rights of women in our city, as we have successfully done before." Marty notes, "D.C. is ripe for restrictions [on abortion] simply because it's the one place lawmakers can back laws without ever worrying about repercussions from the voters on which those laws are imposed" (Marty, RH Reality Check, 4/22). |
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April 19, 2013 FEATURED BLOG
"Bringing Down Arkansas' House of Cards," Becca Cadoff, American Civil Liberties Union's "Blog of Rights": On Tuesday, ACLU "filed a lawsuit in Arkansas to challenge what was, for a short time, the most extreme abortion ban in the nation," Cadoff writes. "The sad fact is we shouldn't have to be in court at all," she says, adding that the law is clearly unconstitutional. Nonetheless, "since Arkansas passed this bill, North Dakota passed a more extreme law, banning abortion even earlier in a woman's pregnancy," while lawmakers in other states continue to introduce "a flood of bills designed to interfere with our personal, private decision-making," she writes. Cadoff urges advocates "to speak up -- loudly" and "tell our elected officials to ... [l]eave these decisions to a woman, her doctor, and her family" (Cadoff, "Blog of Rights," ACLU, 4/17). |
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April 16, 2013 FEATURED BLOG
"State Policy Trends 2013: Abortion Bans Move to the Forefront," Elizabeth Nash/Rachel Benson Gold, RH Reality Check: In an overview of reproductive health-related legislation in the first quarter of 2013, the Guttmacher Institute's Nash and Gold note that "abortion restrictions are at the center of state legislative activity." However, "unlike in recent years, when the thrust of legislative activity was on regulating abortion (for example, requirements that women undergo an ultrasound, clinic regulations, or insurance coverage restrictions), this year legislators seem to be focusing on banning abortion outright -- either by declaring that 'personhood' begins at the moment of conception or by prohibiting abortion even during the first trimester of pregnancy," they explain. Fourteen states have "introduced provisions seeking to ban abortion prior to viability" and "10 states have introduced proposals that would ban all, or nearly all, abortions," according to Nash and Gold (Nash/ Gold, RH Reality Check, 4/12). FEATURED BLOG "Federal Court Blocks Mississippi Admitting Privileges Law," Jessica Mason Pieklo, RH Reality Check: On Monday, U.S. District Judge Daniel Jordan ruled that the "state of Mississippi cannot enforce onerous admitting privileges designed to close the state's lone abortion clinic," Mason Pieklo writes, noting that the judge "blocked all remaining forms of enforcement of the admitting privileges requirement, preventing the state Department of Health from revoking the clinic's license for failing to comply with the new regulations." Mason Pieklo adds, "While this ruling has no direct effect in states like Alabama and North Dakota that have passed similar measures targeting their lone clinics for closure, it does set a good tone for the legal arguments moving forward and re-affirms that inherent in the right to choose an abortion is the right to have reasonable access to the procedure" (Mason Pieklo, RH Reality Check, 4/15). |
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April 12, 2013 FEATURED BLOG
"In Just Three Months, States Proposed an Astonishing 694 Provisions About Reproduction," Annie-Rose Strasser, Center for American Progress' "Think Progress": During the first quarter of 2013, states proposed 694 provisions related to women's reproductive health, according to a new report by the Guttmacher Institute, Strasser writes. She notes that 47% of the measures were directly related to abortion, including seven states that are "edging closer to achieving full approval for laws that would reduce or essentially eliminate abortion access." She continues, "Enforcing unconstitutional abortion laws isn't just a threat to women's rights -- it's also costly to the states caught up in legal battles." For instance, North Dakota is considering authorizing $400,000 to defend a newly enacted abortion ban. However, the "upside" of the report is that more states "are moving toward the prevention of unintended pregnancy through sex education," Strasser writes (Strasser, "Think Progress," Center for American Progress, 4/11). |
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April 5, 2013 FEATURED BLOGS
"Outlawing Abortion Won't Help Children with Down Syndrome," Alison Piepmeier, New York Times ' "Motherlode": Piepmeier -- whose daughter has Down syndrome -- discusses recently enacted legislation (HB 1305) that made North Dakota the first state to prohibit abortions when the fetus has genetic defects. She writes that while it is "troubling ... that rates of termination for pregnancies where Down syndrome is identified are extremely high," legislation "outlawing abortion is not a reasonable response to this situation." In interviewing women for her book on prenatal testing, Piepmeier found that many who chose abortion felt it "was an incredibly painful decision" but "recognized that the world is a difficult place for people with intellectual disabilities." Rather than banning abortions, North Dakota lawmakers "should make the state a welcoming place for people with disabilities," she writes, concluding, "Let women have abortions for whatever reason they choose, but make it a world they would like to bring a child into -- even a child with an intellectual disability" (Piepmeier, "Motherlode," New York Times, 4/1). FEATURED BLOG "Seven States Working Hard To Shut Down Abortion Clinics," Tara Culp-Ressler, Center for American Progress' "Think Progress": Targeted Regulations of Abortion Providers -- or TRAP -- laws "represent one of the most serious threats to reproductive rights in the nation," Culp-Ressler writes. "Under the guise of 'protecting women's safety,' Republican lawmakers are successfully pushing unnecessary, complicated restrictions on abortion clinics that will ultimately force them to close their doors," she explains. She highlights efforts to "undermine women's right to legal abortion services" in Alabama, Indiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Texas and Virginia that could affect abortion clinic operations (Culp-Ressler, "Think Progress," Center for American Progress, 4/3). FEATURED BLOG "Nevada Lawmaker Receives Death Threats After Talking About Her Abortion," Culp-Ressler, Center for American Progress' "ThinkProgress": During testimony in support of proposed legislation (AB 230) that would require more comprehensive sex education in Nevada's public schools, state Assembly member Lucy Flores (D) shared "her own personal story about the consequences of inadequate sex ed -- all of her sisters became teenage mothers, and Flores herself decided to have an abortion when she became pregnant at 16," Culp-Ressler writes. Flores "faced some serious repercussions" -- including death threats -- "for her honesty about her own experience," Culp-Ressler reports. "Even though one in three U.S. women has had an abortion by the time she is 45 years old, pervasive stigma surrounding the topic prevents the vast majority of those women from feeling safe enough to talk about it," she adds, noting that "some women's health advocates insist that more people need to follow in Flores' footsteps and speak up about their own abortion stories -- including women of all walks of life, as well as the men whose partners have chosen an abortion" (Culp-Ressler, "Think Progress," Center for American Progress, 4/4). |
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April 2, 2013
FEATURED BLOG
"Why the Response to a Philadelphia Abortion Doctor's Ongoing Murder Trial Gets It All Wrong," Tara Culp-Ressler, Center for American Progress' "Think Progress": Philadelphia physician Kermit Gosnell is on trial for murder for the "illegal techniques that he and his staff used to perform late-term abortions for desperate, low-income women," Culp-Ressler writes, noting that abortion-rights opponents cited the case in pushing through tighter regulations on Pennsylvania abortion clinics. The Pennsylvania law is part of a larger effort by abortion-rights opponents across several states -- including Indiana, Mississippi, North Dakota, Texas and Virginia -- "to force abortion clinics to adhere to unnecessary new regulations in the name of 'ensuring women's safety.'" However, the measures -- known as Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers, or TRAP, bills -- "will actually limit women's options instead of keeping them safe," by forcing safe, legitimate clinics to close (Culp-Ressler, "Think Progress," Center for American Progress, 3/29). |
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March 29, 2013 FEATURED BLOGS
"Is Abortion Heading Back to the Supreme Court?" Andrew Rosenthal, New York Times' "Taking Note": North Dakota's law (HB 1456) that bans abortions as early as six weeks of pregnancy and Arkansas' measure (SB 134) to ban most abortions after 12 weeks "are clearly unconstitutional" and "will be challenged," but the "lawmakers who voted for and signed them know that. In fact, it may well be the whole point of this exercise," according to Rosenthal. In a recent interview with the Washington Post's "Wonkblog," Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood Action Fund President Cecile Richards said she thinks the Supreme Court will not undo Roe v. Wade, Rosenthal writes, adding, "I hope she's right" (Rosenthal, "Taking Note," New York Times, 3/27). FEATURED BLOGS
"The Landscape of Abortion Bans, In One Must-See Map," Sarah Kliff, Washington Post 's "Wonkblog": Kliff discusses an interactive U.S. map showing at which point in pregnancy most abortions become illegal in each state. She argues that Nebraska in 2010 launched the trend of states enacting increasingly earlier abortion bans when it passed the nation's first law banning abortion at 20 weeks. "In the course of three years, nine states passed abortion bans at 20 weeks," at least partially in attempt to "bring a new abortion case to the Supreme Court." According to Kliff, since that strategy "didn't quite work," states started to push earlier restrictions, such as Arkansas' 12-week ban and North Dakota's recent six-week ban. "In a way, Nebraska might end up getting more than it aimed for, three years ago, with its 20-week ban," Kliff writes, adding, "It may have the Supreme Court weighing [in] on the constitutionality of abortion altogether" (Kliff, "WonkBlog," Washington Post, 3/28). |
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March 26, 2013
FEATURED BLOG
"Washington State May Require Insurers To Cover Abortion as Part of Maternity Care," Tara Culp-Ressler, Center for American Progress' "ThinkProgress": Washington state lawmakers are considering a bill (HB 1044) that would prevent insurers that participate in the state's insurance exchange "from adopting the same kind of anti-abortion policies that have been sweeping the nation over the past two years," Culp-Ressler writes. She notes that the "proposed Reproductive Parity Act ... may become the first to ensure that insurance companies aren't permitted to segregate abortion care from the rest of the women's health services covered under their plans." Culp-Ressler cites Guttmacher Institute statistics that show how women in states "that have enacted roadblocks to abortion coverage" often have to pay "large out-of-pocket costs" for abortion care. Guttmacher State Issues Manager Elizabeth Nash has noted that the bill, if passed, could be a "'watershed event'" and "'be a model for other states to follow,'" Culp-Ressler writes (Culp-Ressler, "ThinkProgress," Center for American Progress, 3/25). FEATURED BLOG
"North Dakota Votes To Ban All Abortions by Defining Life at Conception," Culp-Ressler, Center for American Progress' "ThinkProgress": North Dakota lawmakers on Friday approved a resolution (ND 4009) authorizing a 2014 ballot measure that would "endow fertilized eggs with all the rights of U.S. citizens and effectively outlaw abortion," Culp-Ressler writes. She notes that the measure would have "far-reaching consequences even beyond abortion care, since it will charge doctors who damage embryos with criminal negligence" and "prevent them from performing in vitro fertilization," leading some doctors to threaten to leave the state if the measure is enacted. Culp-Ressler writes that the personhood bill is "so extreme" that even some antiabortion-rights Republicans in the state -- including Rep. Kathy Hawken (R) -- oppose it (Culp-Ressler, "ThinkProgress," Center for American Progress, 3/22). |
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March 22, 2013
FEATURED BLOG
ATTACKS ON REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS IN THE STATES: "Coercion, Not Consent," John Culhane/Gayle Matthews, Huffington Post blogs: Culhane and Matthews, a physician, discuss the rhetoric in the debate surrounding state laws requiring ultrasounds before abortions. As with many antiabortion-rights bills, ultrasound measures are not "designed to follow the best medical practice, but to impose the state's view on the pregnant woman." Although the laws often are passed "under the pretext of informing a woman's choice," the ultrasound requirements are "deliberately coercive," the authors write, adding, "Mucking with the physician-patient relationship by skewing informed consent will over time erode the trust that patients must place in their health care providers." They write that the "best argument" against these laws is that "[i]n the long-term, they will undermine the physician-patient relationship by making the doctor the mouthpiece of the state" (Culhane/Matthews, Huffington Post blogs, 3/20). |
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March 19, 2013 FEATURED BLOG
"North Dakota Heartbeat Ban: Will the Governor Sign? And Does it Matter?" Robin Marty, RH Reality Check: "On Thursday, the North Dakota Senate passed the strictest abortion ban in the country," which "would prohibit abortion at a stage that precedes when many women realize they are pregnant," Marty writes. Even if Gov. Jack Dalrymple (R) rejects the measure, legislators have enough votes to override his veto; however, that "wouldn't make it enforceable -- especially since the bill's own supporters say it is intended to spur a legal challenge," Marty notes. She adds, "At this point, the biggest issue with the ban is not whether it's constitutional (it's not) or whether it will stop abortions (it won't), but whether the state wants to pay for a legal fight." Marty concludes, "The only thing that seems certain is that it will be a long time before women are subjected to the ban, if they are ever subjected to it at all" (Marty, RH Reality Check, 3/18). |
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March 8, 2013 — FEATURED BLOG
"Arkansas Abortion Ban Disproportionately Affects Poor Women and Teenagers," Amanda Marcotte, Slate's "XX Factor": Marcotte notes the irony in Arkansas' recent passage of a "blatantly unconstitutional ban on abortions after 12 weeks," as the "anti-choice movement bears a lot of responsibility for the prevalence of second trimester abortions." For example, Arkansas has a "mandatory lecture and then waiting period, restrictions on insurance coverage, parental notification laws, and a gag rule on state-funded clinics so they can't help women find abortion providers," she writes, adding, "In other words, they make it hard for women to get abortions in a timely manner, and then they turn around and ban abortions for the women they've forced to wait." Marcotte also notes that nearly one-third of abortions after 12 weeks are for teenagers, "who often don't understand the symptoms of pregnancy," a problem that is "made worse by Arkansas' hostility toward comprehensive sex education" (Marcotte, "XX Factor," Slate, 3/7). |
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March 5, 2013 FEATURED BLOG "Some Arkansas Legislators do the Time Warp; Pass Most Extreme Abortion Bill in the Nation," Hayley Smith, ACLU's "Blog of Rights": Smith highlights two antiabortion bills that advanced in Arkansas last week -- one bill (SB 134) that would ban abortion at about 12 weeks and another (HB 1037) that would ban the procedure after 20 weeks. "Seems like politicians in Arkansas want to send us back to a time before abortion was made legal nationwide," Smith writes, adding, "Until we can walk in another woman's shoes, we simply can't interfere with the difficult decisions that she might be faced with." She notes that legislators in Alabama, South Dakota and Texas also recently advanced abortion restrictions (Smith, "Blog of Rights," ACLU, 2/28). FEATURED BLOG "States With the Highest Teen Pregnancy Rates Lack Adequate Sex Ed Requirements," Rebecca Leber/Adam Peck, Center for American Progress' "ThinkProgress": Although "[t]een pregnancies have fallen to record lows," a new report by the Guttmacher Institute shows that the "decline is uneven across the country," according to Leber and Peck. According to the report, the states with the highest teen pregnancy rates -- including New Mexico, Arizona and Texas -- "have something in common: They have poor sexual education in schools, and consequently tend to have [a] lower rate of contraception use among teens." Thus, although the "decline in teen pregnancy is 'almost exclusively' a result of more contraceptive use," as the study suggested, many "states still emphasize abstinence-only sex education over contraception, when they do teach teens about their own bodies at all," they write (Leber/Peck, "ThinkProgress," Center for American Progress, 3/1). |
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March 1, 2013 FEATURED BLOG
"Medicaid Coverage for Abortion Care Elusive Even in States Where it is Legal," Steph Herold, RH Reality Check: Although 17 states offer Medicaid coverage for abortion, actually using the coverage to pay for an abortion is so difficult that it seldom happens in some states, according to research briefs from Ibis Reproductive Health. For instance, abortion providers in Maryland indicated that "while their state Medicaid theoretically covers abortion regardless of the circumstances, in practice, it rarely covered abortion at all," Herold writes. Meanwhile, abortion providers and low-income women in Arizona reported challenges enrolling in Medicaid and obtaining abortion coverage through the program. The briefs "reveal that having Medicaid coverage of abortion doesn't necessarily guarantee access to timely safe abortion care," Herold writes, adding, "Medicaid coverage is in theory an invaluable resource, but in reality it is not accessible at all if the system does not work properly or actually cover the procedures it is supposed to cover" (Herold, RH Reality Check, 2/26). FEATURED BLOG
"Hope in Indiana? Both Republicans and Democrats Express Reservations on Banning Medication Abortion," Marty, RH Reality Check: Indiana lawmakers modified a bill on medication abortion "in the face of massive criticism [that it would] force women to undergo unnecessary trans-vaginal ultrasounds," Marty writes, but "the actual motive behind SB 317 -- the attempt to close down the only clinic in the state that provides only medication, not surgical, abortions -- is still just as intact." She discusses pressure on lawmakers from various angles as the measure heads into a vote in the House. "Eventually, if SB 317 passes all chambers, it would then be up to Governor Mike Pence to decide whether to sign or veto the law," Marty writes, noting that while Pence stressed fiscal issues when he pursued the governorship, "[s]igning the bill would reinforce that regardless of what he says on the campaign trail, his primary aim is to use his office to advance the religious right's crusade" (Marty, RH Reality Check, 2/26). |
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February 26, 2013
FEATURED BLOG
"Mandatory Ultrasound Removed From Indiana TRAP Law, but Will Probably Still Close Lafayette Clinic," Robin Marty, RH Reality Check: Marty discusses an Indiana bill (SB 371) that would tighten restrictions on medication abortion. Although lawmakers dropped a provision that would have required women to obtain a second ultrasound as part of follow-up care, the bill still includes requirements that women undergo an ultrasound before a medication abortion and that medication abortion providers become licensed as surgical abortion clinics, even if they do not provide surgeries. As a result, the measure "is still likely to result in the closure of the only medication abortion clinic in the state," according to Marty. The full Senate is expected to vote on the bill on Tuesday (Marty, RH Reality Check, 2/25). FEATURED BLOG
"Arizona Federal District Court Blocks Efforts To Defund Planned Parenthood," Jessica Mason Pieklo, RH Reality Check: Pieklo highlights a recent court decision striking down an Arizona law that blocked funding to Planned Parenthood, which is "an important victory that comes on the heels of a similar victory in Indiana." The injunction in the Arizona case "guarantees that women in the state will continue to have access to lifesaving cancer screenings, birth control, and STI screenings at Planned Parenthood clinics across the state," Pieklo writes. However, she notes that fights over funding for Planned Parenthood continue in Kansas, North Carolina and Tennessee (Mason Pieklo, RH Reality Check, 2/22). |
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February 22, 2013 FEATURED BLOG "Anything But Delicate: Alabama's Solution to Substance Abuse During Pregnancy," Josie Sustaire, Law Students for Reproductive Justice's "Repo Repro": An Alabama law originally aimed at protecting children from methamphetamine labs "has been expanded through litigation to encompass fetal exposure to drugs in utero, essentially offering legislator[s] a backhanded way of circumventing a woman's rights," law student Sustaire writes. She notes that more than 60 women have been incarcerated under the statute. "We must find a way to reconcile the rights of women with the interests of the state in ensuring the health and safety of infants," Sustaire writes, adding, "Drug treatment options seem like a much more beneficial option" (Sustaire, "Repo Repro," LSRJ, 2/20).
FEATURED BLOG
"Something To Celebrate: Philadelphia Board of Health Calls for Public Funding, Insurance Coverage for Reproductive Health Care," Claire Cooper, RH Reality Check: The Philadelphia Board of Health on Thursday passed a resolution calling on state and federal leaders to "maintain existing public funding for comprehensive reproductive health care and to repeal current discriminatory policies that deny coverage for abortion care," Cooper writes. "The resolution makes a strong case that women -- regardless of their income -- deserve access to a full range of safe, affordable reproductive health care services throughout their life," she adds. She notes that the move is "incredibly encouraging" because "the damage of current restrictive policies is so clear" (Cooper, RH Reality Check, 2/21). |
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February 19, 2013 FEATURED BLOG "State Funding Cuts and Anti-Choice Policies Cited for Closure of Four Wisconsin Planned Parenthood Clinics," Robin Marty, RH Reality Check: "Citing Republican [Gov.] Scott Walker and the anti-choice state legislature's continued budget cuts to family planning and sexual health programs, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin announced that it will be forced to close four of its Wisconsin clinics," Marty writes. She notes that the clinics were all the "sole providers of reproductive health care for low-income women in their communities" and the cuts result "in a loss of services to approximately 2,000 patients." The clinics will close between April and July. Marty writes, "For opponents of abortion, contraception and even basic health care itself, they simply won't be happy until every clinic is gone, and access to birth control and reproductive health care is left only for those who can afford it" (Marty, RH Reality Check, 2/18). FEATURED BLOG "State Legislatures Increasingly Provide Tax-Payer Funding of Non-Medical Crisis Pregnancy Centers," Robin Marty, RH Reality Check: Crisis pregnancy centers "are no longer subtle about their grab for taxpayer funding and, instead, have become outright aggressive," Marty writes. She adds that "a key tenet of [CPCs] is to convince a pregnant woman to continue a pregnancy by any means necessary." She highlights the efforts of CPCs in Wisconsin and Missouri to obtain low-interest loans from city governments and tax credits meant for organizations that help underprivileged children. "As CPCs continue to pass off inaccurate medical information as a 'religious right to free speech,' they are coming up with even more egregious ways to force all taxpayers to fund them, regardless of our personal feelings about their mission or their religious beliefs," Marty writes (Marty, RH Reality Check, 2/15). FEATURED BLOG "North Dakota Attorney General Says Sex Ed Program Can Move Forward," Jessica Mason Pieklo, RH Reality Check: Wisconsin Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem (R) gave public health advocates "a decisive victory" when he concluded that North Dakota State University "can legally accept a three-year federal grant" to run a voluntary, comprehensive sex education program in partnership with Planned Parenthood without running afoul of a 1971 law that may have defunded the project, Mason Pieklo writes. She explains that there were questions about how to interpret rulings regarding a previously challenged state law, which "forbids using any government funding 'as family planning funds by any person, public or private agency which performs, refers, or encourages abortion.'" Stenehjem found that the state statute was completely invalidated by one of the rulings, meaning that abortion-rights opponents' goal of "making North Dakota abortion and contraception-free" is just a "little more difficult," Mason Pieklo states (Mason Pieklo, RH Reality Check, 2/18). |
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February 15, 2013 FEATURED BLOG ABORTION COVERAGE: "From the Ground Up: Restoring Insurance Coverage for Abortion Care," Tara Sweeney/Kelly Baden, RH Reality Check: Sweeney and Baden, both of NARAL Pro-Choice New York, highlight a recent resolution (Res 1635-A) adopted by the New York City Council. The resolution calls on the U.S. Congress to support funding for reproductive health care, including abortion, and provides an "example of the kind of proactive move that elected officials can take to break the mold of defensive responses that have characterized" the reproductive-rights movement, they write. "With more actions like these from brave and prominent leaders in our cities, the quiet acquiescence that reinforces the Hyde Amendment's ban on coverage just might start to disintegrate," they conclude (Sweeney/Baden, RH Reality Check, 2/13). |
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February 12, 2013 FEATURED BLOG
"North Dakota's War on Women: The State's Top 5 Attacks on Women's Health So Far This Year," Tara Culp-Ressler, Center for American Progress' "ThinkProgress": "North Dakota is pulling into the lead" for "the dubious title of the very worst state for women," Culp-Ressler writes. She outlines five "serious attacks on women's health" in the state, including legislation that could close the state's only abortion clinic and a "personhood" measure that could "ban abortion, some forms of contraception, and even invitro fertilization." Lawmakers also are considering a bill that would ban abortion if a fetal heartbeat is detectable, which would "necessitate a transvaginal ultrasound -- an unnecessary, invasive procedure -- since that's the only way to detect a fetal heartbeat so early in the pregnancy," Culp-Ressler writes. She notes that abortion-rights opponents also are reportedly pressuring a university to block a grant to researchers studying a sex education program for at-risk youth (Culp-Ressler, "ThinkProgress," Center for American Progress, 2/8). FEATURED BLOG
"Five Facts To Remember as Anti-Choice Activists Launch Attacks Against 'Webcam Abortions,'" Culp-Ressler, Center for American Progress' "ThinkProgress": "[D]espite the significant evidence to the contrary, anti-abortion lawmakers are increasingly advocating legislation to outlaw" the use of telemedicine in abortion care because they claim it is unsafe, Culp-Ressler writes. She outlines "five facts to keep in mind" in the face of these efforts, including that "[m]ost of the states that are restricting telemedical abortion consultations don't offer those service in the first place" and that restricting the services "disproportionately hurts low-income women in rural areas." Culp-Ressler also notes that abortion is the only type of telehealth service that is tightly restricted (Culp-Ressler, "ThinkProgress," Center for American Progress, 2/11). |
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February 8, 2013 FEATURED BLOG
"It's Up to Us To Defend Abortion Rights," Mary Lou Greenberg, RH Reality Check: Despite laws "that legally prohibit harassing people seeking to enter women's health facilities and obstructing the entrance," some legal experts consider the issue a "gray area" because some laws have not been tested in courts, Greenberg writes. She discusses her experience as an escort for women visiting the Choices Women's Medical Center, an abortion provider in New York. "[T]he only way to prevent anti-abortion protestors ... from physically interfering with women (and their accompanying partners, relatives or friends) going into a clinic is by relying on our own efforts -- and not laws which may or, more frequently, ... may not be enforced," Greenberg writes (Greenberg, RH Reality Check, 2/5). FEATURED BLOG
"State Politicians May Force Me to Turn Away Patients," Stephanie Dahl, American Civil Liberties Union's "Blog of Rights": "One of the most rewarding aspects of my job is helping cancer survivors who are now facing infertility from their lifesaving chemotherapy and radiation treatments achieve their dream of having a family," writes Dahl, a physician in North Dakota. However, a series of antiabortion measures before the North Dakota Legislature could "prohibit IVF, outlaw most donor sperm and donor egg[s], and threaten access to several forms of contraception," Dahl writes, noting that she would "have to turn away cancer survivors" and "many other couples with infertility." She continues, "Not only are several states attempting to tell women how and when they can end a pregnancy, in North Dakota, lawmakers are telling women how and when they can or can't conceive that pregnancy, too" (Dahl, "Blog of Rights," ACLU, 2/6).
What others are saying about state attacks on reproductive rights:
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February 5, 2013 FEATURED BLOG
"Which State Will Ban Abortion First?" Elissa Berger, American Civil Liberties Union's "Blog of Rights": "[L]ess than a month into state legislative sessions, and about a week after the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, politicians are working overtime to block a woman's access to abortion care," Berger, ACLU advocacy and policy counsel, writes, noting that in Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, North Dakota and several other states, "legislators are playing at the same game -- introducing legislation that takes away a woman's ability to have all options open to her." She adds, "These bills are shocking at any time, but especially now when lawmakers have heard men and women across the nation say we don't want politicians interfering in personal private decisions." Berger calls on readers to "[s]hare this blog. Email your friends. Call or email your state legislators and let them know -- enough is enough" (Berger, "Blog of Rights," ACLU, 2/2). FEATURED BLOG
"New York City Public Schools Handed Out 'Morning-After Pill' To Thousands More Than Reported," Sara Gates, Huffington Post blogs: Contraception and emergency contraception handouts at New York City public schools "may be a contributing factor in the city's decreased rate of teen pregnancy," which fell by 27% over the past 10 years, Gates writes. She highlights the city's Connecting Adolescents To Comprehensive Health pilot program for distributing 12,721 doses of emergency contraception to at least 40 "school-based health centers," but also acknowledges that those numbers are "surprising" given that city officials said only 567 girls had received EC (Gates, Huffington Post blogs, 2/4).
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February 1, 2013 FEATURED BLOG
"Oregon is the Only State Left That Hasn't Imposed Any Restrictions on Abortion," Tara Culp-Ressler, Center for American Progress' "ThinkProgress": "Despite the fact that Roe v. Wade first legalized abortion four decades ago, anti-choice lawmakers have successfully chipped away at abortion rights on a state level," leaving Oregon as the "sole state" that has not imposed any restrictions on abortion rights, Culp-Ressler writes. She references a chart compiled by Remapping Debate, which provides a "helpful visual" to "illustrate the recent flood of anti-abortion laws across the country" (Culp-Ressler, "ThinkProgress," Center for American Progress," 1/31). FEATURED BLOG
"The Worst State for Women?" Amanda Marcotte, American Prospect: In recent years, states seem to be "competing for the dubious honor of being the worst place for women to live," Marcotte writes, noting that this year, North Dakota has "risen to the top of the competitive field." The state is considering a bill that threatens to close the state's only clinic by requiring that providers obtain hospital admitting privileges, as well as two others that would give rights to fertilized eggs and ban abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detectable, she explains, adding that abortion-rights opponents also are attacking sex education programs. The threats extend beyond reproductive health "to women in general," with programs including those intended to address violence against women being cut. Native American women in the state are especially vulnerable, Marcotte adds (Marcotte, American Prospect, 1/30). |
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January 29, 2013 FEATURED BLOG
"Where Abortion Bans Lead," Juliet Lapidos, New York Times ' "Taking Note": After a "totally predictable outcry" over a New Mexico bill that "would make it a third-degree felony for women to terminate pregnancies resulting from rape by classifying such abortions as 'tampering with evidence,'" state Rep. Cathrynn Brown (R) revised the bill to exempt victims from prosecution, Lapidos writes. However, Scott Forrester -- executive director of the New Mexico Democratic Party -- noted that the bill still classifies a fetus as "evidence" and makes it a crime to "facilitate" an abortion, which could mean personnel at abortion clinics could be prosecuted. Lapidos writes, "If [Roe v. Wade] were overturned, and states banned abortion in some or all circumstances, state legislatures would inevitably pass bills similar to Ms. Brown's." She concludes, "Legions of otherwise law-abiding women, doctors and nurses would enter the maw of the criminal justice system" (Lapidos, "Taking Note," New York Times, 1/28). FEATURED BLOG "The Alabama Supreme Court Decision: Will it Make Delivering Appropriate Health Care to Pregnant Women More Difficult?" Sarah Roberts, ANSIRH Blog: The Alabama Supreme Court's decision that pregnant women can be prosecuted under a state law intended to protect children from chemical endangerment should concern anyone "interested in improving outcomes for children born to women who use drugs during pregnancy," Roberts writes. She notes that "prenatal care-based interventions -- such as screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment for drug use (also known collectively as SBIRT) -- may help women have healthier babies." However, these strategies can only be successful if pregnant women "go to prenatal care" and "trust their prenatal care providers." If prosecutions and convictions increase, "it seems fair to anticipate that women's fears of being prosecuted will increase and that fewer pregnant women who use drugs will attend prenatal care," Roberts argues, adding that it is also "reasonable to assume that trust [in providers] will be eroded" if women fear repercussions for disclosing their drug use histories (Roberts, ANSIRH Blog, 1/25). |
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January 25, 2013 FEATURED BLOG "Women Spoke -- Will Lawmakers Listen?" Marcia Greenberger, Huffington Post blogs: After former Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) and other politicians made controversial comments about rape, "[w]omen made clear on Election Day what they thought of the candidates' abhorrent remarks and the myriad attacks on their reproductive health," Greenberger, co-president of the National Women's Law Center, writes. However, several states -- including Wyoming and Texas -- have continued to entertain bills that would "restrict women's reproductive health care." Greenberger asks whether a recently passed measure allowing servicewomen who get pregnant as the result of rape or incest to have insurance coverage for abortion was "a glimmering that lawmakers will actually listen to their female constituents," concluding, "The jury is still out, but women will be watching" (Greenberger, Huffington Post blogs, 1/24). |
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January 22, 2013 FEATURED BLOG
"Inaugurating Roe: Remove Restrictions on Abortion Coverage," Laura Murphy, Huffington Post blogs: The definition of inaugurate, to "put something into operation," takes on additional significance in light of President Obama's recent inauguration ceremony and the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, writes Murphy, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Washington Legislative Office. While both milestones should "be celebrated, for too many women the promise of Roe has yet to be 'put into operation'" because of federal restrictions on abortion coverage in Medicaid. Murphy calls on Obama to submit a budget proposal to Congress that "omit[s] the restrictions on coverage of abortion," which would "send a strong signal to Congress and to women and families around the country: Not only are these restrictions unfair, they're also not inevitable. Together, we must work to eliminate them" (Murphy, Huffington Post blogs, 1/21). FEATURED BLOG
"Mississippi May Be First State With Zero Abortion Providers," Jessica Pieklo, Care2: "Roe v. Wade may have confirmed that women have a constitutional right to choose an abortion, but for women in Mississippi, they may soon learn whether that federally protected right means anti-abortion legislators in states cannot drive out abortion providers," Pieklo writes. She notes that Mississippi's sole abortion clinic has missed the deadline to comply with a law "that mandated doctors performing abortions at the [clinic] have admitting privileges at local hospitals." She adds, "Legislators in the state have been very clear that their crusade is about one thing and one thing only: re-criminalizing abortion," a goal that is "in sight" (Pieklo, Care2, 1/18). |
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January 15, 2013 FEATURED BLOG "Virginia Legislators Move to Offense To Win Back Reproductive Rights," Robin Marty, RH Reality Check: In response to "mandatory forced ultrasounds and TRAP bills meant to shut down most of the clinics in the state," Virginia lawmakers who support women's reproductive choice this year "are putting out an aggressive message: We will fight to get those bad laws off the books," Marty writes. "The preemptive strike is logical," she writes, adding, "By taking an aggressive stance, pro-choice legislators can not only bring the battle onto more favorable ground, but hopefully with the support of enough constituents force their opponents into rolling back their own past restrictive laws" (Marty, RH Reality Check, 1/13).
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January 11, 2013 FEATURED BLOG
"Texas Has Created a Costly Roadmap for Defunding Planned Parenthood," Molly Redden, New Republic 's "The Plank": After courts stopped lawmakers in various states from "strip[ping] funding from their local Planned Parenthood chapters," Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) decided he would achieve this goal in his state "by forfeiting hundreds of millions of federal dollars in Medicaid tagged for women's health care," Redden writes. She continues that when combined with the Texas Legislature's 2011 decision to reduce the state's family planning budget by two-thirds, the state will face an estimated $231 million in additional costs from unplanned pregnancies. Redden writes, "Politicians anywhere who are interested in defunding Planned Parenthood need only follow Texas' roadmap: Give up hundreds of millions of free federal money, launch their own state-run health care apparatus, and steel themselves for the cost of all the unwanted pregnancies that result" (Redden, "The Plank," New Republic, 1/11). |
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January 8, 2013 FEATURED BLOG
"Republican Lawmakers To Kick Off New Year by Limiting Women's Reproductive Health," Tara Culp-Ressler, Center for American Progress' "Think Progress": "Republican legislators are already gearing up for the new abortion restrictions they hope to introduce this year," Culp-Ressler writes, noting that 2012 had the second-highest number of such measures ever enacted in a single year -- 19 states passing 43 bills. Culp-Ressler includes updates on how Indiana, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin are already "moving forward with their attempts to continue restricting women's right to choose" (Culp-Ressler, "Think Progress," Center for American Progress, 1/7). |
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December 21, 2012 FEATURED BLOG
"Dear Rick Perry: Caring for Children Doesn't Stop at Birth," Melissa Harris-Perry, MSNBC: In announcing his support for a 20-week abortion ban this legislative session, Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) "drew a line deeply in the sand and planted his flag in support of not just weakening -- but completely obliterating women's reproductive rights," MSNBC host Harris-Perry writes. In response to Perry's declaration, Harris-Perry posts an open letter asking the governor to acknowledge that the measure is really about trying to challenge Roe v. Wade. She adds that instead of passing laws that address the state's high uninsurance rate or expand its Medicaid program, Perry is "more interested in laws whose only use is to block women's rights and make a difference in the life of one person in Texas -- [him]self" (Harris-Perry, MSNBC, 12/18). FEATURED BLOG
"In Search of Solidarity: Vastly Different Responses to Michigan's 'Right To Work' and Attacks on Right To Choose," Angi Becker Stevens, RH Reality Check: Becker Stevens draws several similarities between Michigan's "right to work" legislation and a recently passed measure (HB 5711) that would impose several new restrictions on abortion, including "that they are both attacks on the working class." She continues, "[A]s is always the case with restrictions on abortion, these barriers will have the greatest impact on those with the least resources," adding, "And as Right to Work laws push more people toward or below the poverty line, it becomes even more terrifying to consider what the future of abortion access will look like for women in Michigan." Becker Stevens notes that several pro-union protesters seemed to feel that her signs supporting reproductive rights were inappropriate at a recent rally. "Those who seek to dismantle unions and those who seek to deny women's bodily autonomy are not two separate groups with two separate motivations," she writes, calling on union and women's rights supporters to both "stand in solidarity to defend all the rights of the working class" (Becker Stevens, RH Reality Check, 12/18). |
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December 18, 2012 FEATURED BLOG
"What Republican 'Soul-Searching'?" Michael Keegan, Huffington Post blogs: Despite Republicans' "talk of post-election 'soul-searching,' there doesn't appear to be any self-examination going on among those currently clinging to their seats in Congress and state legislatures," People for the American Way President Keegan writes. He cites Michigan, which recently passed "extreme anti-choice" legislation (HB 5711), as a primary example of the recent "right-wing rampage." He continues, "Anybody who was paying the least bit of attention to this year's elections would have noticed that two of the things voters find most repugnant about today's GOP is its blind allegiance to big corporations and its enthusiasm for regulating women's health," adding, "Apparently the Republican Party wasn't paying attention. Or is just too beholden to the interests of the Corporate and Christian Right to care" (Keegan, Huffington Post blogs, 12/14). FEATURED BLOG
"Rick Perry: Legislature Will Work Out Punishment for Women Seeking Later Abortions Under Proposed Ban," Andrea Grimes, RH Reality Check: Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) recently voiced support for legislation that would ban abortion in the state after 20 weeks of pregnancy, but his office said it will be up to the Legislature to determine if there are any exceptions to the ban and punishments for those who violate the measure, Grimes writes. She quotes Amelia Long -- president of the Lilith Fund, a not-for-profit that helps women find funding for abortion care -- who said that a 20-week abortion ban "unfairly burdens people that are already experiencing some of the worst problems in their lives." Grimes concurs, "Indeed, how compassionate is it to suggest that an unemployed mother of two, a student looking for waitressing jobs who found herself pregnant at 20 weeks after an unsuccessful medical abortion, should pay a fine or serve jail time?" (Grimes, RH Reality Check, 12/17). FEATURED BLOG "Major Medical Societies Call for End to Legislative Intrusion Into Women's Medical Care and Decisions," Andrea Friedman, RH Reality Check: Friedman, director of reproductive health programs at the National Partnership for Women & Families, highlights a recent New England Journal of Medicine commentary by several medical groups criticizing legislation that interferes with the physician-patient relationship in reproductive health care. Organizations representing tens of thousands of physicians have endorsed the article, and state medical associations across the country also "have been taking up the cause, openly opposing harmful laws," Friedman notes. "These statements are a sharp rebuke to legislators around the country busy passing laws that interfere with women's health care," she continues. "Anti-choice lawmakers often try to argue that these laws promote women's health and protect women from bad decisions," Friedman writes, adding, "But the reality is just the opposite; they harm women by taking the important decisions about their individual care away from them and their doctors and instead put them in the hands of politicians" (Friedman, RH Reality Check, 12/14). |
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December 14, 2012 FEATURED BLOG
"Memo to Michigan: Did You Not Hear the Voters on Women's Health?" Cecile Richards, Huffington Post blogs: In a lame-duck session, Michigan legislators are sending an "alarming" package of antiabortion legislation (HB 5711) to Gov. Rick Snyder's (R) desk that would make "Michigan one of the most regressive states in the nation on women's health," Richards -- president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood Action Fund -- writes. She notes that the bill includes provisions that would "likely shut down many health care providers that provide abortion by enacting unnecessary and burdensome licensing rules." Richards calls on Snyder to "heed the message sent on election night: we simply will not tolerate politicians inserting themselves into a woman's personal health care decisions" (Richards, Huffington Post blogs, 12/12). FEATURED BLOG "In Rehearing Maryland Crisis Pregnancy Center Cases, the Fourth Circuit Can Reverse Decisions That Threaten Women's Health," Kelli Garcia, National Women's Law Center's "Womenstake": Garcia writes that the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals can protect women's health by overturning two lower court rulings that struck down laws requiring crisis pregnancy centers to clarify the nature and extent of their services. The two Maryland laws -- one in Baltimore and another in Montgomery County -- were overturned based on claims that they "compelled" CPC's to "speak" via waiting room signs that disclosed the limits of CPC services, including that they do not offer abortion or birth control. Garcia writes, "Anti-abortion advocates, no matter how sincere their beliefs, should not be allowed to use lies to try to convince women not to have an abortion or to delay women" from obtaining an abortion until it is less safe, no longer available or prohibitively expensive (Garcia, "Womenstake," NWLC, 12/12). |
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December 11, 2012 FEATURED BLOG
"Why are Michigan Politicians Adopting Ireland's Deadly Abortion Policy?" Jennifer Dalven, American Civil Liberties Union's "Blog of Rights": "[F]or reasons I can't begin to understand, politicians in Michigan are telling hospitals it is okay if they treat a pregnant woman exactly like the Irish hospital treated Savita [Halappanavar]," Dalven writes, referring to a bill passed by the Michigan Senate last week that would protect a hospital from penalties for refusing "on religious grounds to provide appropriate care to a pregnant woman facing an emergency." Dalven adds that "when a pregnant woman is taken to a hospital in an emergency she shouldn't have to worry that the hospital will withhold the care she needs to protect her health" (Dalven, "Blog of Rights," ACLU, 12/10). |
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December 4, 2012 FEATURED BLOG
"5 States Where GOP Extremists Still Rage Against Women," Sarah Seltzer, Salon: Seltzer writes that the "war on women" continues with attacks on abortion rights and threats to Planned Parenthood funding in several states, including Arizona, Arkansas, Mississippi, Ohio and Wisconsin. "All of these states show that the misguided crusade against women's rights is not over, despite the overwhelming 'out of our exam rooms, out of our bedrooms' message sent by the 2012 election," she writes, adding, "In 2013, keep your eye on the states to see whether the 'war' on reproductive health services comes to an end, continues or, as some activists wish, goes the other way" (Seltzer, Salon, 11/30). |
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November 30, 2012 FEATURED BLOG
"The Election is Over, but the Fight Goes On," Kate Michelman, Huffington Post blogs: "The national vote, while worthy of high-fives all around, is hardly the end of our struggle for women's rights," writes Michelman, former president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. Conservatives have "redouble[d] their efforts to force their cause at the state and local levels," she adds. "Extreme conservatives can't roll back Roe v. Wade, but they can and will try to crawl beneath the radar of broad publicity with seemingly innocuous ways to shame us, to deny our rights, our equality," she continues, adding, "They will count on our satisfaction in winning the White House to soon give way to apathy. To ignore their zeal is to risk forfeiting our hard-fought gains" (Michelman, Huffington Post blogs, 11/27). |
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November 27, 2012 FEATURED BLOG
"The Fight for Women's Rights in America's South," Nick Purves, Huffington Post blogs: Although "several female candidates came out victorious" on the federal level in the election, "on a state level there remain many ... who are prepared to use their legislative positions to decrease the number of [abortion] facilities available," writes Purves, editor of the London Word. He cites recent regulations approved by the Virginia Board of Health that threaten to force some of the state's abortion clinics to close. He notes that Virginia is not alone in enacting TRAP -- or targeted regulation of abortion providers -- laws. "All across the country, there are states that have introduced TRAP laws, forcing abortion clinics to spend tens of thousands on non-essential upgrades, thereby leading many to have to close down," he writes (Purves, Huffington Post blogs, 11/26). |
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November 20, 2012 FEATURED BLOG
"Reflections on the 2012 Election and Abortion," Carole Joffe, ANSIRH Blog: "[W]hile the results of the 2012 election were encouraging in a number of ways to those who support abortion rights, abortion providers and the women who seek their services will still face enormous challenges in large parts of the United States," Joffe writes. Exit polls found strong support for abortion rights among voters, suggesting "that the high visibility of abortion and contraception in this election cycle ... made many voters anxious that legal abortion could be virtually abolished," she adds. However, despite the election results at the federal level, "we will most likely not see a diminishing of the abortion wars" because "real action regarding abortion is in the states," Joffe writes (Joffe, ANSIRH Blog, 11/16). |
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November 20, 2012 FEATURED BLOG
"Ohio is the Latest Battlefield in the War on Contraception," Amanda Marcotte, RH Reality Check: "The latest battle in the war on contraception is being fought in Ohio, where the House Health and Aging Committee" recently approved a bill (HB 298) that would effectively block distribution of federal family planning money to Planned Parenthood and other organizations that operate family planning clinics, Marcotte writes. Although "the word 'abortion' gets tossed around a lot, this bill makes it clear that the biggest sin of Planned Parenthood and other family planning clinics, in anti-choice eyes, is that they help women have better sexual health and control their family sizes," she writes. By ending the competitive grant process, Ohio's conservative lawmakers "aren't even trying to tie this to abortion anymore, but blatantly objecting to a model of providing reproductive health care that's been proven to work, precisely because they don't want it to work," Marcotte concludes (Marcotte, RH Reality Check, 11/18). FEATURED BLOG "How Video Technology has Improved Abortion Access for Women in Rural Iowa," Tara Culp-Ressler, Center for American Progress' "ThinkProgress": A recent study that examined the impact of an Iowa-based telemedicine program found that "[p]roviding women in rural areas with access to abortion services through new technology -- such as video conferences with doctors who can prescribe abortion pills, and then distribute them using a remote control -- can help give those women the medical services they need without actually increasing abortion rates," Culp-Ressler writes. Iowa Planned Parenthood officials noted that the study "underlines the fact that telemedicine allows women to make the medical decisions that are best for them, including about where and when they want to end a pregnancy," Culp-Ressler writes (Culp-Ressler, "ThinkProgress," Center for American Progress, 11/16). |
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November 16, 2012 FEATURED BLOG
"It was a Good Election for the Pro-Choice Movement -- But the Culture Wars Aren't Over!" Carole Joffe, Huffington Post blogs: Although "this year's election contained much good news for abortion rights supporters" at the federal level, in the states, "nothing will likely change," Joffe writes. She adds, "In spite of Obama's and Democrats' senatorial victories, the Republicans did very well in state races, and now control 30 governorships." Noting that Ohio lawmakers already announced plans to act on antiabortion legislation, she concludes, "The culture wars, at least on the abortion front, sadly are not going away" (Joffe, Huffington Post blogs, 11/13). |
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November 13, 2012 FEATURED BLOG
"State Legislators Double Down on Most Restrictive Abortion Law in Nation," Mike Brickner, American Civil Liberties Union's "Blog of Rights": Brickner writes that Ohio lawmakers announced they might have reached a compromise on a bill (HB 125) that would "ban essentially all abortions in the state," meaning that the legislation could pass by the end of the year. "[W]hy are Ohio politicians now doubling down on the most radical abortion restrictions in the nation?" Brickner asks, adding, "Did they not see the election results or do they just not care about what women have to say?" He notes that "this isn't just about Ohio. Across the country, out-of-touch state legislators remain poised to push anti-abortion proposals" (Brickner, "Blog of Rights," ACLU, 11/10). |
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November 9, 2012 FEATURED BLOG
"STUDY: Women Rely on Publicly-Funded Health Clinics Like Planned Parenthood for Their Primary Care," Annie-Rose Strasser, Center for American Progress' "ThinkProgress": A new study by the Guttmacher Institute finds that 40% of women rely on publicly funded women's health clinics -- like Planned Parenthood -- for their primary care needs, while 60% rely on the clinics specifically for contraception. The study underscores how moves by states, such as Texas, to defund abortion providers and affiliates of abortion providers "would have the unintended effect of undermining women's health care as a whole," Strasser adds (Strasser, "ThinkProgress," Center for American Progress, 11/8). FEATURED BLOG
"ELECTION 2012: Florida Voters Defeat Amendment 6, the 'No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion' Amendment," Robin Marty, RH Reality Check: "On election night, Florida voters rejected an amendment that would have dramatically limited access to safe abortion care by restricting state funding for abortion, though it does not exist, limiting private insurance coverage of abortion care, and stripping privacy rights from teen girls seeking to terminate a pregnancy," Marty writes. She quotes Jennifer Dalven, director of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, who stated after the election, "The people of Florida have sent a clear message that politicians have no place in a woman's deeply personal and private medical decisions" (Marty, RH Reality Check, 11/6). |
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November 6, 2012 FEATURED BLOG
"Getting Reproductive Rights out of Politics," Nancy Northup, Huffington Post blogs: "The idea that [reproductive rights] could ever be extricated from the heated political debates currently on display strikes most people as improbable, if not downright unrealistic," writes Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights. In several cases, "courts have stepped in to ensure that shifting political winds don't sweep women away with them, holding fast to the principle that fundamental rights are not subject to a vote or determined by whichever party happens to be in office," she continues. For instance, a judge in North Dakota blocked a law aimed at banning medication abortion, and the Oklahoma Supreme Court voted to strike a "personhood" initiative from the state ballot. "We would be wise to follow the example of our independent judiciary and adopt a similar stance toward reproductive rights -- and to call on our political leaders on both sides of the aisle to do the same," Northup concludes (Northup, Huffington Post blogs, 11/5). |
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Nov. 2, 2012 FEATURED BLOG "Texas Will Continue Funding to Planned Parenthood, For Now," Andrea Grimes, RH Reality Check: Texas Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner Kyle Janek on Wednesday announced that the state's Women's Health Program will continue to receive federal funding and include Planned Parenthood as a provider, for the time being -- despite previous plans to bar the organization from participation beginning on Nov. 1. Grimes writes that the result is that "at least for now," women can continue to receive WHP services, such as Pap tests and contraception, through Planned Parenthood (Grimes, RH Reality Check, 10/31).
FEATURED BLOG
"Heartbeat: My Involuntary Miscarriage and 'Voluntary Abortion' in Ohio," Tamara Mann, Huffington Post blogs: Mann writes about her experience obtaining an abortion after learning that the fetus had severe anomalies that were incompatible with life outside the womb. Her doctors recommended she obtain an abortion as soon as possible to minimize risks to her own health, but her insurance company initially refused to cover the procedure because the fetus had a heartbeat. Once her insurer agreed to cover the abortion, Mann was required to sign a state-mandated consent form for elective abortion because of the presence of a fetal heartbeat. "Ohio is not the only state preoccupied with the heartbeat, [but] it seems to be one of the most committed," Mann writes, adding, "Why have so many people settled on the heartbeat as the best marker of life in-utero? This is not science. It is the tyranny of a metaphor" (Mann, Huffington Post blogs, 11/1). |
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October 26, 2012 FEATURED BLOG
"The Sinister Motives Behind Challenges to Medicaid Funding of Planned Parenthood," Jessica Mason Pieklo, RH Reality Check: Recent court rulings in Arizona and Indiana that blocked states' efforts to ban Medicaid funding to facilities affiliated with abortion providers are "victories for women, but also hit fault-lines in the culture wars that will undoubtedly pique the interest" of the Supreme Court, Pieklo writes. The cases give the court "the perfect chance to reach the issue" of how a civil rights statute (42 USC 1983) -- "which provides individuals a right of action for an infringement of a specific constitutional right" -- relates to Medicaid rights, according to Pieklo. The justices "could answer that question without necessarily determining the larger issue of whether or not states should be free to exclude a provider from Medicaid funding generally if they provide abortions," she writes, adding, "Instead, they'd just cut-off any ability to challenge those determinations by those actually affected by them all under the guise of curtailing federal power. And that may be the true victory anti-choice activists are after" (Pieklo, RH Reality Check, 10/24). FEATURED BLOG "New York City Launches Clinic Escort Program, Anti-Choicers Offended by 'Government Interference,'" Robin Marty, RH Reality Check: Marty discusses a New York City proposal that would recruit and train escorts to "assist women safely past the protesters and self-proclaimed sidewalk counselors attempting to block them from entering reproductive health care facilities" and how it has left antiabortion-rights activists "aghast" at what they see as the government's "invasion into health care and personal lives." In the eyes of the activists, government interference is "totally fine to push your own viewpoint when it comes to blocking abortion," but "not so welcome when it comes to enforcing a woman's legal rights," Marty adds (Marty, RH Reality Check, 10/24). |
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October 19. 2012 FEATURED BLOG "No 'Personhood' Amendments Will Appear on Any Ballot This Election Day," Erin Gloria Ryan, Jezebel: Although no "personhood" amendments will appear on state ballots this fall, "that doesn't mean [they're] not seeing demoralizing success in state legislatures," Ryan writes regarding attempts by some abortion-rights opponents to declare that fertilized eggs are people. She notes that in the past seven years, 10 out of the 11 antiabortion-rights state ballot measures have failed, indicating a lack of public interest "in voting to limit the rights of other people." She concludes, "If only our elected officials felt the same way" (Ryan, Jezebel, 10/16). FEATURED BLOG "The Woman who Dared To Show us a Transvaginal Probe," Steve Williams, Care2: Williams highlights a recent campaign advertisement by North Carolina Senate candidate Deb Butler in which she displays a transvaginal ultrasound wand and criticizes abortion restrictions that her opponent supported. "Butler's ad does something that few have dared: it actually shows the public what a transvaginal probe looks like," Williams writes, adding that advocates of mandatory ultrasounds before abortion "have been quite shy" about that. Butler's opponent, state Sen. Thom Goolsby (R), called her a "complainer," Williams writes, adding, "When it comes to transvaginal probes and the violation of women's bodies, we can agree the complaint is justified" (Williams, Care2, 10/16). |
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October 12, 2012 FEATURED BLOG
"Briefs in Support of Arizona's Pre-Viability Ban Show the Evolution of a Legal Challenge to Roe," Jessica Mason Pieklo, RH Reality Check: "Next month the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments on the constitutionality of Arizona's 20-week abortion ban," Mason Pieklo writes, adding, "What is unfolding is not the direct debate about a woman's right to terminate a pregnancy but a proxy debate on whether anti-choice science supports that right." She notes the state is arguing that "[b]ecause science has changed" since Roe v. Wade "and the court has moved away from viability as a bright-line test for banning abortions in favor of the looser 'undue burden' standard, ... Arizona's pre-viabil[i]ty ban not only meets the state's legitimate interest in protecting fetal life, it amounts to nothing more than a regulation of pre-viability [abortions] since the law provides for an emergency exception for maternal life and health" (Mason Pieklo, RH Reality Check, 10/9). |
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October 9, 2012 FEATURED BLOG
"San Francisco Judge Rules That Crisis Pregnancy Centers Cannot Mislead Women," Tara Culp-Ressler, Center for American Progress' "Think Progress": "Although [CPCs] often present themselves as valid alternatives to women's health clinics, they actually serve as a tool for anti-abortion advocates to talk women out of getting abortions," Culp-Ressler writes. She commends a judge's decision last week to uphold a San Francisco law that bars CPCs from using deceptive advertising "to shame women into making a different choice for their bodies." San Francisco "is not the first city to attempt to prevent CPCs from spreading misinformation, but it is the first to succeed," she notes (Culp-Ressler, "Think Progress," Center for American Progress, 10/5). |
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October 2, 2012 FEATURED BLOG
"A Wink and a Nod: Anti-Choice Laws Invite Anti-Choice Harassment and Terrorism," Jen Russo, RH Reality Check: "[F]acilities that provide abortions in states with heavy restrictions on contraception and abortion experience more harassment than do their counterparts in states whose laws tend not to interfere in patients' decisions about birth control and abortion," Russo writes, referencing a recent study she co-wrote in the journal Contraception. The study analyzed the experiences of 357 abortion providers and facilities from a July 2010 Feminist Majority Foundation survey. "When a state government hinders abortion access with baseless restrictions, it adds fuel to the anti-choice fire," Russo concludes (Russo, RH Reality Check, 10/1). FEATURED BLOG
"Missouri Fines Insurance Provider $1.5 Million for Not Letting Employers' Personal Beliefs Dictate Contraception Coverage," Amanda Peterson Beadle, ThinkProgress: Missouri insurance regulators have fined Aetna $1.5 million for violating a state law that requires insurers to offer plans without contraceptive coverage to employers with moral or religious objections, Peterson Beadle writes, adding that the settlement comes shortly after Missouri legislators overrode Gov. Jay Nixon's (D) veto of a bill (SB 749) that expands refusal exemptions for insurance coverage of abortion, contraception and sterilization. She states that the measures "directly contradict" the federal contraceptive coverage rules, adding that "Missouri lawmakers cannot change [federal law] with a new or existing law to restrict women's access to birth control" (Peterson Beadle, ThinkProgress, 9/28).
FEATURED BLOG "Why we Should all Care That Texas is 'Dismantling' Women's Health," Thanh Tan, Seattle Times ' "Ed Cetera": "[I]t's worth warning everyone that what happens in Texas can happen anywhere else," Tan writes about the impact of the state's decision to reduce family planning funding by two-thirds and exclude Planned Parenthood from preventive care programs because it offers abortion services. "We've seen numerous states (and even the federal government) try to follow suit and defund family planning by targeting Planned Parenthood, including efforts in Arizona and Pennsylvania," she notes. The efforts are misdirected and shortsighted, she argues, noting that publicly funded family planning is proven to help "break the cycle of poverty, promote self-sufficiency and save taxpayers' money in the long run" (Tan, "Ed Cetera," Seattle Times, 9/28). |
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September 25, 2012 FEATURED BLOG
"Why are New York's Teen Pregnancy Rates so Much Lower Than Mississippi's?" Amanda Marcotte, Slate 's "XX Factor": Marcotte writes that states' approaches to public school sex education are a good gauge of the "vast and possibly growing cultural divide between red and blue states." She points out that only 1% to 2% of parents opted out of a New York City high school program that provides students with access to contraception but that in Mississippi schools, "scolding kids about the supposed evil of sex is considered more important than protecting their health." Noting that the teen birth rate in Mississippi is more than twice that of New York state's, Marcotte writes the "differences aren't just a matter of sex education" but also reflect "cultural values kids learn in school, at home, and in the community at large" (Marcotte, "XX Factor," Slate, 9/24). FEATURED BLOG
"Rick Perry Wants To Replace Planned Parenthood With Crisis Pregnancy Centers That Don't Provide Health Services," Amanda Peterson Beadle, Center for American Progress' "ThinkProgress": Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) said recently that he wants to include antiabortion crisis pregnancy centers in the state's Women's Health Program for low-income women, Beadle writes, noting that the state has excluded Planned Parenthood from the program. Beadle adds that "the Women's Health Program doesn't even cover pregnant women, so there is no clear reason why crisis pregnancy centers should be included." The CEO of the CPC chain Source for Women said the centers will start offering Pap tests and contraception to participate in WHP, but Beadle notes that CPCs typically consider most contraceptives to be "abortifacients" (Beadle, "ThinkProgress," Center for American Progress, 9/21). |
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September 21, 2012 FEATURED BLOG
"Alabama Abortion Clinic Struggles; Mississippi's Forges On," Lauren Barbato, Ms. Magazine blog: Barbato discusses the situations facing two abortion clinics owned by Diane Derzis, who is "known as the 'Abortion Queen' by both her opponents and her supporters in the Deep South." Derzis operates Mississippi's only abortion clinic -- Jackson Women's Health -- which almost closed "due to an overreaching new TRAP [targeted regulation of abortion providers] law" but remains open by court order. However, another one of her clinics, "New Women All Women, one of only five abortion clinics in Alabama, has not been so lucky," Barbato writes, noting that an attempt to reopen it failed last Thursday after the state Department of Public Health denied a new operator's appeal (Barbato, Ms. Magazine blogs, 9/19). |
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September 18, 2012 FEATURED BLOG
"Sad Day For Science and Women's Health," Talcott Camp, American Civil Liberty Union's "Blog of Rights": "Virginia Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli [R] strong-armed the [state] Board of Health into reversing previous decisions based on medical evidence and patient safety in favor of unprecedented regulations on doctors and facilities that provide abortion care," Camp writes of the board's recent decision to end an exemption for existing facilities from new regulations for abortion clinics. The board's "move will endanger women by shutting down good, safe providers of abortion care," Camp continues. By requiring the board to reconsider its initial decision, Cuccinelli "twisted the law in order to twist the arms of doctors on the Board of Health -- the very doctors Virginians entrust to rely on medical expertise to ensure their health and safety," she adds (Camp, "Blog of Rights," ACLU, 9/14). FEATURED BLOG
"Where do Women Turn When Planned Parenthood is Gone?" Jessica Pieklo, Care2: Efforts to cut public funding to Planned Parenthood have resulted in "an increasingly segregated and discriminatory method of delivering health care to women," Pieklo writes. She notes that when local officials ended a nearly $400,000 grant to Planned Parenthood in Shelby County, Tenn., "[t]he demand for health care didn't go down, it just became less accessible." Meanwhile, in Texas, finding a clinic that provides health services for low-income women through the state's Women's Health Program has become "practically impossible" because Texas excluded Planned Parenthood from the program (Pieklo, Care2, 9/15). |
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September 14, 2012 FEATURED BLOG
"In Texas, the Numbers Reveal Just How Dire Things Will Be for Medicaid Patients Without Planned Parenthood," Andrea Grimes, RH Reality Check: Grimes discusses her recent video report that examined claims by Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) and others that "there are plenty of health providers in Texas who can see Women's Health Program patients should Planned Parenthood be excluded from participating in the program." She found that even though the state's website lists 181 providers in the Austin area that supposedly accept WHP patients, many were duplicate entries or didn't offer women's health services at all; in total, just 13 said they would accept a WHP patient when Grimes called. She notes that providers in the Austin area would have to take on 60 more patients to account for the 1,748 patients that the area's Planned Parenthood clinic saw last year (Grimes, RH Reality Check, 9/11). |
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September 4, 2012 FEATURED BLOG
"Abortion Rights and Judicial Bias in Texas Planned Parenthood Decision," Jessica Mason Pieklo, RH Reality Check: The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' decision allowing Texas to move forward with barring Planned Parenthood from its Women's Health Program is the "most recent evidence of [the circuit's] deep and structural bias against women in general and reproductive rights in particular," Mason Pieklo writes. She explains that the case involves the unconstitutional conditions doctrine, which "says, essentially, that a funding condition, such as excluding abortion services, can't be unconstitutional if there is some way the government can impose that condition directly." She argues that "it should be pretty clear that any regulation that attempts to [end abortion access], under the unconstitutional conditions doctrine, should fail as an unconstitutional condition on other rights -- in this case the association rights of women's health providers" (Mason Pieklo, RH Reality Check, 8/27). FEATURED BLOG "Our Bodies, Our Votes," Judy Norsigian, WBUR's "Cognoscenti": "Throughout the United States, attacks on women's reproductive health services, including contraception, are at unprecedented levels," writes Norsigian -- executive director of Our Bodies Ourselves -- citing laws passed in Arizona, South Dakota and Texas that target those services. But, she adds, "the most serious threat to women's reproductive health gains lies with proposals to rescind the Affordable Care Act, which now benefits millions of women who are privately insured by making them eligible for many services without any co-pays" (Norsigian, "Cognoscenti," WBUR, 8/30). |
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August 17, 2012 FEATURED BLOG "Virginia Forced Ultrasound Law Interferes With Health Services, Clinic Director Says," Reilly Moore, RH Reality Check: A Virginia law (HB 462) "forcing women to receive an ultrasound at least a day before having an abortion has already caused a Northern Virginia health clinic to reduce its non-abortion services in the month since it took effect," Moore writes. The Falls Church Healthcare Center has been forced to "add appointment times, hire additional staff and reduce its non-abortion gynecological services" to accommodate the two visits now required by abortion patients to comply with the ultrasound law, he explains. Previously, the clinic performed ultrasounds on abortion patients only when medically appropriate, and it could be done on the same day as the abortion procedure (Moore, RH Reality Check, 8/16). FEATURED BLOG "Attacks on Planned Parenthood in Texas Forced at Least 50 Unaffiliated Health Clinics To Close," Tara Culp-Ressler, ThinkProgress: "Planned Parenthood has become a buzzword for anti-choice Republicans who seek to equate Planned Parenthood clinics with death and destruction," Culp-Ressler writes in response to a Texas Observer report that 60 family planning clinics in Texas have closed since the state slashed family planning funding last year. Supporters of the cuts cited their desire to cut off money to Planned Parenthood, but Culp-Ressler notes that most of the closed clinics were not affiliated with the organization. "[T]he real destruction is wreaked when overarching, politically-motivated attacks on women's health providers leave low-income women with no affordable contraceptive options, no available STI tests, no regular cancer screenings and no control over their reproductive health," she writes (Culp-Ressler, ThinkProgress, 8/16). |
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August 14, 2012 FEATURED BLOG
"Proposed Colorado Measure Would Effectively Ban Abortion," Casey Michel, TPMMuckraker: Colorado voters this fall will consider a measure that would define a person as "every member of the species homo sapiens at any stage of development"; prohibit the "intentional killing of any innocent person"; and ban "birth control that kills a person," as well as medical treatments and assisted reproduction procedures that do so. Approval of the amendment would "appear to eliminate all legalized abortion, including in instances of rape or incest," Michel writes, adding that some contraceptives, such as intrauterine devices, also would be banned, although the amendment's supporters said they are not sure if it would apply to birth control pills. Michel notes that the measure is "nearly identical" to proposals that Colorado voters rejected in 2008 and 2010 (Michel, TMPMuckraker, 8/10). FEATURED BLOG
"How To Save an Unconstitutional Abortion Ban, as Dictated by the Supreme Court," Jessica Mason Pieklo, RH Reality Check: One of the "most dangerous signals" in U.S. District Judge James Teilborg's recent decision to uphold an Arizona law (HB 2036) criminalizing abortion after 20 weeks is "the federal court's willing acceptance of the idea that an otherwise unconstitutional abortion ban may be salvaged so long as that ban only affects just a few women," Pieklo writes. "Of course, those women most affected are those women most in crisis who already face significant hurdles accessing reproductive health care: poor women, women of color and women who live in remote parts of this country," Pieklo adds. She writes that these women's "only hope of legal relief comes from lengthy, expensive and fact-intensive litigation, a truth anti-choice advocates are counting on in their crusade to eliminate abortion rights across the country" (Pieklo, RH Reality Check, 8/13). FEATURED BLOG
"Abortion, the States and the World Health Organization," Anu Kumar, Huffington Post blogs: The World Health Organization's new guidelines on abortion policy and standards of care "make it painfully clear that, nearly 40 years after Roe v. Wade, we're doing everything wrong here" in the U.S., Kumar, executive vice president of Ipas, writes. "Whether it's gestational limits, ultrasounds, counseling or human rights, nearly every policy proposed by anti-abortion legislators directly contradicts the new WHO guidelines, which are based on years of consultation and discussion, incorporating scientific evidence and international human rights standards" (Kumar, Huffington Post blogs, 8/10). |
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August 7, 2012 FEATURED BLOG MEDICAID: "Branstad Denies Iowa GOP Request To Ban Medicaid Funding for Rape Victims," Robin Marty, RH Reality Check: Iowa House Republicans' petition to prohibit the state's Medicaid program from covering abortion care in cases of rape "has once more been rejected, this time by the governor's office itself," Marty writes. She notes, "That this new ban was shot down by the office of Republican Governor Terry Branstad, who himself is no friend of reproductive rights, is a sign that even some Republicans see members of their own party as too extreme when it comes to ending the legal right to terminate a pregnancy" (Marty, RH Reality Check, 8/6). |
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August 3, 2012 FEATURED BLOG "'Life at Conception' Issue Reaches Court," Lyle Denniston, SCOTUSblog: There are three constitutional questions raised by the recent request from a "personhood" group for the Supreme Court to consider an Oklahoma court's rejection of a ballot proposal seeking to give constitutional rights beginning at fertilization. Two of the questions relate to the ballot initiative process and the right of a state to amend its constitution, while the third question "is the one that could raise the abortion issue anew," Denniston explains. "That question asked whether the state court decision was wrong in concluding that a state could not constitutionally define 'person' to include unborn fetuses," he writes (Denniston, SCOTUSblog, 7/31). FEATURED BLOG
"Pro-Life Sentences," Scott Lemieux, American Prospect 's "The Docket": Lemieux explains how two recent court rulings in South Dakota and Arizona "conspicuously refuse to take a woman's reproductive rights seriously" and violate the Supreme Court precedent of Planned Parenthood v. Casey. In the South Dakota decision, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a statute requiring doctors to inform women seeking an abortion that the procedure can lead to increased risk of depression and suicide, while the Arizona decision by U.S. District Court Judge James Teilborg upheld a state law that bans most abortions after 20 weeks. Both cases rely on "antiabortion junk science," Lemieux writes, adding that they also "threaten the reproductive freedom of women and should be overturned by higher courts" (Lemieux, "The Docket," American Prospect, 7/31). |
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July 31, 2012 FEATURED BLOG "Fatal Fetal Defect Counselors Brace for Influx of Families After Arizona's Abortion ban," Aviva Shen, ThinkProgress: Not-for-profit groups in Arizona are working to develop birth plans, provide counseling and prepare funeral services for families affected by the state's new law banning abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy, Shen writes. "The Legislature has allocated no funding for these services, which are expected to kick into high demand once the abortion ban goes into effect," she writes, noting that the bill will require women to "carry to term a baby who will almost certainly die as soon as it is born" (Shen, ThinkProgress, 7/30).
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July 27, 2012 FEATURED BLOG "Planned Parenthoods Rescued by Obama Administration With Large Title X Grants," Laura Bassett, Huffington Post blogs: President Obama's administration has awarded large Title X family planning grants to Planned Parenthood clinics in New Jersey, Tennessee and North Carolina after those states' legislatures defunded the clinics. A clinic in Durham, N.C., on Wednesday was awarded $426,000, Planned Parenthood Greater Memphis was awarded $395,000 annually for the next three years and the New Jersey Family Planning League received $3.1 million for providers in its network, including Planned Parenthood. Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of policy, advocacy and communications for Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said, "This is really about the women and men in this country who need high quality, affordable health care." Bassett points out that the grants are not unusual -- they were awarded to Planned Parenthood clinics under Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton -- but the clinics recently requested the funding because of the loss of state money (Bassett, Huffington Post blogs, 7/26). FEATURED BLOG
"When Lying to Women Is Mandated Care: Informed Consent, Abortion, and the Role Played by Justice Kennedy," Jessica Pieklo, RH Reality Check: "Thank Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy" for his role in the decision to uphold a South Dakota law that requires physicians to tell women that abortion increases the risk of suicide, Pieklo writes, noting that it was Kennedy who first articulated that "states are free to pass informed consent laws that favor childbirth over abortion" as long as the "information isn't based on a lie," even "when there's a lack of medical consensus on an issue." Pieklo writes that if there was "truth" of a suicide-abortion link, "then doctors would already have an obligation to disclose it." She adds, "That this is not standard medical practice but one invented by anti-choice legislators [that] says all that needs to be said about the truthfulness of these disclosures or the necessity of these practices" (Pieklo, RH Reality Check, 7/25). |
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July 24, 2012 FEATURED BLOG
"One Down and 23 to Go: Judge Tosses Baseless Challenge to Birth Control Coverage," Sarah Lipton-Lubet/Brigitte Amiri, RH Reality Check: Lipton-Lubet and Amiri of the American Civil Liberties Union write that they "applaud" the recent decision by a Nebraska federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the federal contraceptive coverage requirement. "Real religious freedom gives everyone the right to make personal decisions -- including whether and when to use birth control -- based on our own beliefs," they write, adding that they hope judges in the other two dozen lawsuits challenging the rules "affirm that basic principal" (Lipton-Lubet/Amiri, RH Reality Check, 7/20). FEATURED BLOG
"Opponents of Women's Health Include Everything But the Kitchen Sink in Budget Bill Attacks," Jacqueline M., Planned Parenthood Action Fund's "Women Are Watching": The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies recently voted to approve "an appropriations bill with provisions including everything but the kitchen sink, designed to eliminate, restrict or dismantle significant women's health programs, reminding us once again how important the November election is and just how high the stakes are," Jacqueline M. writes (Jacqueline M., "Women Are Watching," Planned Parenthood Action Fund, 7/20). FEATURED BLOG "Prosecuting Pregnant Women," Rachel Walden, Our Bodies, Our Blog: Walden writes that the "notion that every action of pregnant women should be policed for its potential effect on the fetus, and that jailing women for such things" is "preposterous" and "a gross violation of women's human rights." She points to recent cases in Idaho and Indiana, where women have been prosecuted for obtaining medication abortion online and attempting suicide that resulted in fetal death, respectively. She also highlights a recent Vitamin W article that shows "the absurdity of the actions pregnant women would have to take to avoid any possibility of endangering a fetus" (Walden, Our Bodies, Our Blog, 7/20). |
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July 20 FEATURED BLOG
"Open Letter to Representative Trent Franks: What Caring About Women and Babies Really Looks Like," Bria Murray, RH Reality Check: Murray, who became pregnant as a result of rape, asks a number of questions of Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), who authored a bill (HR 3803) that would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy in the District of Columbia. They include how he can claim to care about babies and women when he continually supports policies that harm them. She asks how he can "claim to care about pregnant people and the babies they are carrying when you voted to deny federal funding to Planned Parenthood, the very organization that helped empower me to keep my baby?" She continues, "The answer is you can't, Representative Franks, and that is why you must do your best to support all options a person could possibly make regarding an unintended pregnancy, even if you do not agree with it" (Murray, RH Reality Check, 7/19). FEATURED BLOG "In Maryland, Free Speech Protects the Right of Crisis Pregnancy Centers To Lie to Women: An Analysis of the Baltimore CPC Case," Imani Gandy, RH Reality Check: Responding to a ruling that struck down a Baltimore ordinance (FID 09-0406) requiring crisis pregnancy centers to post signs saying they do not provide abortions or birth control, Gandy writes that the ruling "paved the way to allow religion to trump common sense and women's health concerns." She adds, "As with reproductive health issues in politics generally, the health of women is treated as some sort of academic or religious inquiry, rather than the life-and-death matter that it is" (Gandy, RH Reality Check, 7/17). |
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July 17, 2012 FEATURED BLOG "Hey Nikki Haley! Preventing Violence Against Women Helps Everyone," Amanda Marcotte, Slate 's "XX Factor": South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) last week "vetoed a whole slate of budget items, including half a million dollars for domestic violence and sexual assault prevention," and "her justifications for these cuts are finally getting some publicity," Marcotte writes. She notes that Haley said the "special add-on lines distract from the agency's broader mission of protecting South Carolina's public health." Marcotte argues that "it seems self-evident that rape and domestic violence aren't 'distractions' from public health issues so much as major public health issues in and of themselves" (Marcotte, "XX Factor," Slate, 7/13). FEATURED BLOG "Mississippi TRAP Law Upheld, Clinic Given Reprive To Comply," Jessica Pieklo, Care2: Pieklo calls the latest ruling on Mississippi's newest antiabortion law "a partial win for both the Jackson Women's Health Organization and the state." A judge gave the clinic more time to comply with the law, while allowing the state to enact provisions that require abortion providers to have admitting privileges at local hospitals. Although abortion services will continue in Mississippi for the time being, "those services remain isolated to one clinic and with additional pressure to close down," which is "hardly a win when women's lives are on the line," Pieklo writes (Pieklo, Care2, 7/13). FEATURED BLOG "Virginia Promotes CPCs, Along With Anti-Abortion Agenda," Anna Bahr, Ms. Magazine blog: In conjunction with a controversial Virginia law requiring women to receive an ultrasound before an abortion, the state Department of Health recently "released a list of clinics offering no-cost ultrasounds -- and every single one listed is a crisis pregnancy center," Bahr writes. She adds, "State sanctioning of CPCs [is] just one more attempt to make abortion disappear from Virginia," and "considering CPCs' lack of privacy, medical standards and medically accurate information, recommending them is certainly no way to protect the health of Virginia's women" (Bahr, Ms. Magazine blog, 7/16). |
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July 13, 2012 FEATURED BLOG
"Mississippi Abortion Clinic Gets Another Temporary Reprieve," Amanda Marcotte, Slate 's "XX Factor": The case over a Mississippi law that imposes new requirements on abortion providers is different than fights over similar statutes in other states, Marcotte writes. "Most TRAP (Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers) laws are passed with the defenders making a big show out of how this isn't about restricting abortion ... but about protecting women's health," she notes. However, in Mississippi, "the politicians advocating the law have been blunt that they don't care about women's health so much as ending legal abortion." The judge specifically noted this in his decision to put the law on hold for now (Marcotte, "XX Factor," Slate, 7/11). FEATURED BLOG "The State of Abortion Rights, in One Chart," Sarah Kliff, Washington Post 's "Wonkblog": "This year, state legislators are introducing just as many bills targeting abortion rights as they did in 2011," yet a recent Guttmacher Institute report shows that "fewer are becoming laws," Kliff writes. She credits public outcry for blocking or impeding the more extreme abortion bills, adding, "That being said, it's not like abortion restrictions are going away: 39 of them have so far become law in 2012" (Kliff, "Wonkblog," Washington Post, 7/11). "NEWSFLASH: Rape Prevention 'Distracts From Public Health,' Says S.C. Governor," Molly Bryant, Ms. Magazine blog: In defense of her veto of nearly half a million dollars in the state budget for domestic violence programs, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) said that the programs "distract from the [state Department of Health]'s broader mission of protecting South Carolina's public health" and that rape survivors are only a small portion of South Carolina residents who need support, Bryant writes. However, Bryant notes that according to Sexual Trauma Services of the Midlands, "the rate of sexual violence in the state surpasses the national average, and 'every four hours and 46 minutes, someone is ... raped in South Carolina'" (Bryant, Ms. Magazine blog, 7/11). "Abortion Ban Plays Politics With Women's Health," Sarah Lipton-Lubet, American Civil Liberties Union's "Washington Markup": A House bill (HR 3803) that would ban abortion in Washington, D.C., after 20 weeks of pregnancy, "shamefully plays politics with women's well-being," Lipton-Lubet writes. She adds, "[T]he only exception to the bill's criminal penalties is when a woman's life is in peril," forcing a woman and her doctor "to wait until her condition was terminal to finally act, but by then it is often too late" (Lipton-Lubet, "Washington Markup," ACLU, 7/10). |
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July 10, 2012 FEATURED BLOG "Idaho Trial Over 'Unlawful Abortion' Could Have National Repercussions," Robin Marty, RH Reality Check: Marty discusses the case of an Idaho woman, Jennie Linn McCormack, who "was charged with illegal abortion in 2011 after receiving pills to end her pregnancy from her sister, who procured them over the [I]nternet." Although the case includes some "gruesome details," Marty notes, "The reality is that McCormack is the reason why [Roe vs. Wade] exists, and why the whittling away of abortion rights is so critical at this point." She adds, "Just as being able to obtain an abortion shouldn't be dependent on a woman's economic status, being prosecuted for obtaining an 'illegal' abortion shouldn't be dependent on a woman's personal history" (Marty, RH Reality Check, 7/8). |
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July 6, 2012 FEATURED BLOG
"New Virginia Dept of Health Releases 'Free Forced Ultrasound' List Still Includes Unregulated and Unaccountable CPCs," Robin Marty, RH Reality Check: A controversial Virginia law requiring women to receive an ultrasound before an abortion went into effect on Sunday. The state recently updated a list of facilities that provide no-cost ultrasounds, but it still includes several antiabortion crisis pregnancy centers, Marty notes. "By releasing an updated list of available, no-cost ultrasounds, the Virginia Department of Health implies that the new set of providers will provide ultrasounds that can be used to meet the forced ultrasound required by the state prior to an abortion," Marty writes, adding, "In reality that is still not the case" (Marty, RH Reality Check, 7/5). FEATURED BLOG "Mississippi 'Moral Values,'" Irin Carmon, Salon: Supporters of a new Mississippi law hope it will make the state "abortion-free," and while "[t]hat is transparently the intent, ... as any honest person in a country that has actually banned abortion will tell you -- it's rarely the effect," Carmon writes. Lawmakers who support the law, which was temporarily blocked on July 1, hope it will lead some women to choose to continue their pregnancies, a suggestion that "combines a farcical conception of 'choice' and an utter contempt for women's decision-making capabilities," Carmon states (Carmon, Salon, 7/2). |
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July 3, 2012 FEATURED BLOG
"Federal Judge Blocks Mississippi TRAP Law, Abortion Still Accessible for Now," Robin Marty, RHReality Check: If Mississippi is allowed to enforce a new antiabortion law that threatens to close the only abortion clinic in the state, "women will still get pregnant, and will still need abortions, whether or not [the clinic] is the one who provides them," Marty writes. She adds, "Without the clinic, [women] would have to travel an additional 3 hours out of state to obtain safe abortion care, or they find a way to do them by themselves, however dangerous it may be" (Marty, RHReality Check, 7/2). FEATURED BLOG "NEWSFLASH: N.J. Gov. Christie Eliminates Family Planning ... Again," Lauren Barbato, Ms. Magazine blog: "Just days after the New Jersey state legislature approved a bill that would restore the state's family planning fund from oblivion, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie took out his red pen and vetoed it last Friday" for the third time in three years, Barbato writes. The funding would not have covered abortion care but "would have provided cancer screenings, STI and HIV testing, routine gynecological exams, affordable contraception, prenatal care and overall increased access to preventive services" to more than 130,000 low-income women, according to Barbato (Barbato, Ms. Magazine blog, 7/2). |
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June 29, 2012 FEATURED BLOG
"Tennessee's Idiotic Campaign Against 'Gateway Sex,'" Susan Milligan, U.S. News & World Report blogs: "Do Tennessee lawmakers really think that if young people don't touch each other at all, they will never know about sex, never be curious about it, and never experience a natural human drive to engage in it?" Milligan asks in response to a Tennessee sex education law that aims to discourage teens from engaging in "gateway" sexual behaviors. Applying the "just say no" mantra to address teen sexuality will only "drive sexuality into a dark, shameful place" and leave young people uniformed about contraception when they do have sex, she writes (Milligan, U.S. News & World Report blogs, 6/28). |
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June 26, 2012 FEATURED BLOG
"Kansas Doctor Loses License for Protecting Privacy of Abortion Patients," Andrea Peterson, ThinkProgress: "[T]he Kansas Board of Healing Arts refused to reinstate the medical license of Dr. Ann Neuhaus" based on allegations from an antiabortion-rights group that "she did not take the safety of teenage patients seriously in 2003 because of the short length of patient record files for her cases," Peterson writes. She adds, "But the sparseness of [Neuhaus'] patient notes was an attempt to protect their privacy from the anti-choice crusade" of former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline (R), who was subpoenaing medical records and discussing "those cases on right-wing television shows" (Peterson, ThinkProgress, 6/25). |
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June 22, 2012 FEATURED BLOG "How Censorship of the Word 'Vagina' by the Michigan House of Representatives Is Related to Child Sexual Abuse," Claudia Trevor-Wright, RH Reality Check: In an open letter to Michigan House leaders for silencing female legislators as part of an antiabortion debate, Trevor-Wright questions the message sent to children when "grown men find the use of the word 'vagina' -- the medically accurate term for that part of the human body -- to constitute a lack of decorum." She notes that 93% of minors who are victims of sexual violence are attacked by trusted adults, such as family members and acquaintances, but most cases go unreported because children are ashamed, confused or blame themselves for the abuse. The Michigan House leaders' squeamishness over medically accurate languages "perpetuate[s] an environment in which silences thrives, and predators serially offend for years uninterrupted" (Trevor-Wright, RH Reality Check, 6/21). |
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June 19, 2012 FEATURED BLOG "The High Price of Michigan's Anti-Women Crusade," Michigan Sen. Gretchen Whitmer (D), Huffington Post blogs: "When Michigan's Republicans vote to take away critically important healthcare options from women, options that provide life-saving care they would otherwise lack, that's bad enough," writes Whitmer, adding, "When those same Republicans silence the voices of female opposition during the debate, telling them that their opinions don't matter on legislation that directly impacts them, that's simply disgraceful." The antiabortion legislation (HB 5711) in question "takes away affordable healthcare options and allows insurance companies to deny care," and it "takes money out of the pockets of hardworking families around the state and drives up costs for all of us," she adds (Whitmer, Huffington Post blogs, 6/17). |
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June 15, 2012 FEATURED BLOG "North Dakota Ballot Measure 3 Decisively Defeated," Rebekah Horowitz, National Women's Law Center's 'Womenstake': The defeat of North Dakota's Measure 3 "sent a firm message to conservatives who are attempting to wrap limits to women's health in a shroud of 'religious liberty,'" Horowitz writes. The ballot initiative would have amended the state constitution to say that "[g]overnment may not burden a person's or religious organization's religious liberty." Horowitz writes, "The measure would have opened the door to use religious beliefs as a defense for breaking the law," such as by allowing insurers and doctors to deny women health care, including contraception (Horowitz, "Womenstake," NWLC, 6/14). FEATURED BLOG "Michigan House Denied Women the Right To Testify and Awakened a Sleeping Giant," Jacqueline M., Planned Parenthood Action Fund's "Women Are Watching": When a package of antiabortion bills was debated in a Michigan House committee last week, "Republican House members refused to let dozens of women, as well as numerous leading medical professional organizations testify against this restrictive legislation at a public hearing," Jacqueline writes, adding that now "their voices are being heard." She quotes Planned Parenthood of Mid and South Michigan CEO Lori Lamerand as saying the politicians "have awakened a sleeping giant," after hundreds of women protested at the Capitol "to make it crystal clear that politicians should not be involved in a woman's personal medical decisions about her pregnancy" (Jacqueline M., "Women Are Watching," Planned Parenthood Action Fund, 6/12). |
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June 12, 2012 FEATURED BLOG
"Jenni Lane: One Among Many Women Whose Stories Michigan Lawmakers Don't Want Us to Hear," Angi Becker Stevens, RH Reality Check: Stevens tells the story of a Michigan woman, Jenni Lane, who had an abortion at 21 weeks of pregnancy after learning that the fetus had a severe brain malformation. Stevens notes that Lane would have been forced to continue the pregnancy or travel to another state to obtain an abortion under proposed legislation that would ban abortion after 20 weeks in Michigan. Stevens criticizes state legislators for blocking testimony from women like Lane, adding that many "later abortions are performed for similar medical reasons, because so many serious conditions are impossible to detect until near or after the 20-week point" (Becker Stevens, RH Reality Check, 6/8). FEATURED BLOG "Connecticut Lawmakers: Abortion is Essential Health Benefit," Jessica Pieklo, Care2: This week, Connecticut "took a promising step forward and declared abortion to be an 'essential health benefit' for purposes of insurance coverage, meaning the procedure will be provided for in the health exchange the state is creating under the" federal health reform law (PL 111-148), Pieklo writes. She adds that "it makes good public health and good economic sense to make sure [abortion is] safely available and completely affordable" (Pieklo, Care2, 6/11). |
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June 8, 2012 FEATURED BLOG FEATURED BLOG "Michigan's Surprise Anti-Abortion Blitz," Carol King, Ms. Magazine blogs: A package of antiabortion bills passed by a Michigan House committee this week would "make safe, legal abortion virtually inaccessible to Michigan women," King writes. "Instead of dealing with the very real economic issues facing Michigan, elected officials have chosen instead to embrace the war on women," she adds (King, Ms. Magazine blogs, 6/7). |
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June 5, 2012 FEATURED BLOG
"Gail Collins on Texas's Abstinence Sex Education Problems," Gail Collins, Daily Beast 's "Book Beast": Collins, a New York Times columnist, posts an excerpt from her new book "As Texas Goes: How the Lone Star State Hijacked the American Agenda." She writes, "When Texas decisions stay in Texas, the rest of us might be willing to let the state do what its elected officials like, even if that means educating its children that condoms kill and frigid women can't get pregnant." However, "the decisions made about Texas sex education ... reverberate through the educational system, and then into the national workforce and the national economy a couple of decades down the line" (Collins, "Book Beast," Daily Beast, 6/4). |
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June 1, 2012 FEATURED BLOG "Oklahoma Doctor Refuses To Provide Rape Victim With Emergency Contraception," Annie-Rose Strasser, ThinkProgress: Strasser discusses an incident in which a doctor at an Oklahoma emergency room allegedly refused to provide emergency contraception to a rape victim because of her personal beliefs. The hospital also would not administer a rape kit because it did not have appropriate staff available. "Emergency contraception's effectiveness diminishes over time, and is most effective when taken immediately," Strasser explains, adding, "Oklahoma law, however, shields providers from offering the perfectly legal medication under a 'conscience clause,' which could significantly hinder women's access to contraception services" (Strasser, ThinkProgress, 5/31). |
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May 25, 2012 FEATURED BLOG
"It is Now Impossible To Get a Medication Abortion in Wisconsin," Robin Marty, RH Reality Check: Wisconsin's last medication abortion provider announced it will no longer offer the service because of an ambiguous state law (Act 217) that regulates the method. Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin also recently ended medication abortion services at its clinics, Marty notes (Marty, RH Reality Check, 5/22). |
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May 22, 2012 FEATURED BLOG
"Physician Speaks Out in Strong Opposition to the Proposed DC Abortion Ban," Willie Parker, RH Reality Check: In testimony submitted to the House, Parker -- a member of Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health and an ob-gyn in D.C. -- argues against a bill (HR 3803) that would ban abortion in Washington, D.C., after 20 weeks of pregnancy. He describes multiple cases of women in need of abortion care later in pregnancy, adding that the bill "takes away decision-making from DC women and their doctors and replaces it with political judgment." The bill not only "is clearly unconstitutional and would harm women's health," it is "incredibly disrespectful of women, doctors and the residents of [D.C.]," he writes (Parker, RH Reality Check, 5/18). "KS v. V-J-J," Meg, Buttered Toast: Meg outlines the "story of how, at 38 years old, [she] found [her]self without health insurance, sitting in the lobby of [a] local Planned Parenthood." She notes that she quit a job with health benefits in order to spend more time with her children, and sought care at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Kansas. She writes that after passing through protesters, a security guard and bullet proof glass, she realized she was "on the front lines of America's War on Women's Reproductive Rights," which she notes is "not restricted to family planning services, unless you also consider cancer screenings and hormone therapy for medical purposes family planning" (Meg, Buttered Toast, 5/19). |
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May 15, 2012 FEATURED BLOG "Moms Need Abortion Access Too," Phyllida Burlingame, RH Reality Check: "To anti-choice activists, talking about abortion in the context of mothers' day would seem an oxymoron at best," Burlingame writes. "But, contrary to popular stereotypes about who gets abortions in our country, data show that the majority of women who terminate pregnancies already have children, and many cite the need to care for their children as a significant contributor to their decision," she continues. Burlingame points to a California bill that would have allowed some non-physicians to provide early abortions as an example of legislation that would help ensure more women have access to timely, affordable abortion care (Burlingame, RH Reality Check, 5/13). FEATURED BLOG "Unchain My Heart: The Shackling of Pregnant Women in Prison Needs To Stop," Karen Shain, RH Reality Check: Despite support in the Legislature and from the prison guards union, California governors for two consecutive years have vetoed bills that would have banned shackling of pregnant women in prisons, Shain writes. Advocates are attempting to pass another bill this year that would prohibit the use of belly chains, leg irons or handcuffs behind the back for pregnant, incarcerated women (Shain, RH Reality Check, 5/11). |
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May 8, 2012 FEATURED BLOG
"1,000 Reasons To Trust Women," Colleen Crinion, Ms. Magazine blog: Crinion cites data from the Guttmacher Institute that show 944 reproductive health-related laws -- half of which aim to restrict abortion access -- were introduced in the first three months of 2012. Noting that several bills would require women to listen to the fetal heartbeat before an abortion, she writes, "The basic assumption behind such legislation is that women do not know what is happening to them -- that without these bills, women would get abortions out of ignorance." Crinion, a former clinic assistant at two Planned Parenthood facilities, adds, "More often than not, however, our patients had already thought about what they needed to do, and they just needed it done -- safely and with dignity" (Crinion, Ms. Magazine blog, 5/4). |
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May 1, 2012 FEATURED BLOG "Are Anti-Choice Groups Finally Pushing Lawmakers too Hard?" Robin Marty, RH Reality Check: Supporters of the Oklahoma "personhood" movement recently angered their political allies by trying to "strong arm them into voting on a bill they simply did not want to hear," Marty writes. She notes that the personhood advocates have since apologized, adding, "When your movement leader has to kiss and make up with his own political allies, you know a group's popularity -- and their legislation -- is in the toilet" (Marty, RH Reality Check, 4/30). FEATURED BLOG "This Should be Good News for Texas Planned Parenthood (but Isn't)," Abby Rapoport, American Prospect: A judge's ruling that "Texas cannot exclude Planned Parenthood from its Women's Health Program" is "seemingly good news for the organization," Rapoport writes. However, it "[t]urns out, if Planned Parenthood wins its lawsuit, state officials will simply end the program entirely," she writes, adding, "It's a lose-lose for the organization" and a "lose-lose for low-income women" (Rapoport, American Prospect, 4/30). |
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April 24, 2012 FEATURED BLOG "Giving Women Maternity Care is Illegal. Really?" Anna Benyo, National Women's Law Center blog: Benyo writes that the Missouri House recently approved a bill that would charge government officials with a class A misdemeanor for implementing any aspect of the federal health reform law. She says the measure is "pretty unfortunate because Missouri could stand to improve health care access for women," as all health plans in the individual market in the state charge women more than men for the same health coverage and none cover maternity services (Benyo, National Women's Law Center blog, 4/23). FEATURED BLOG "Alabama's New Abortion Bill Mis-reported by Associated Press," Amanda Marcotte, RH Reality Check: Marcotte writes that the Associated Press falsely reported that "Alabama was considering a law requiring women to take the morning-after pill, which can be purchased without a prescription from your pharmacist, in the presence of a doctor." In fact, the "bill specifically and by name addresses only one drug: RU-486, the abortion pill, which you can only get at a doctor's office," she writes. She notes, "It's a testament to the out-of-control nature of the anti-choice movement at this point that the story was intensely believable." Marcotte adds, "Even though it's not as politically entertaining, it's critically important for the media to be clear about the differences between various reproductive health technologies that the right is attacking" (Marcotte, RH Reality Check, 4/22). |
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April 20, 2012 FEATURED BLOG "The 10 Scariest Places To Have Ladyparts in America," Erin Gloria Ryan, Jezebel: Ryan presents a list of the 10 worst cities for women's reproductive health, particularly for availability of "services a woman might need in a worst case scenario." The rankings incorporate abortion and refusal laws, statistics on violence against women, and provisions "that would endanger pregnancy or adoption prospects," she explains. The 10 places include a few large cities -- such as Memphis and Cleveland -- as well as several lesser-known towns and "[a]ny hospital in Kansas" (Ryan, Jezebel, 4/18). |
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April 17, 2012 FEATURED BLOG "State Policy Trends: Abortion and Contraception in the Crosshairs," Rachel Benson Gold/Elizabeth Nash, RH Reality Check: Gold and Nash, both of the Guttmacher Institute, note that in the first quarter of 2012, "legislators introduced 944 provisions related to reproductive health and rights in 45 of the 46 legislatures that have convened this year." Half of the proposed measures would restrict abortion access. According to Gold and Nash, "legislators are particularly focused on measures that require a woman seeking an abortion to undergo an ultrasound; that limit access to medication abortion; and that prohibit abortion at a specific point in gestation," while many also are "considering measures allowing employers to refuse to provide insurance coverage for contraceptive methods" (Gold/Nash, RH Reality Check, 4/13). FEATURED BLOG "Saturday Salute, Courtesy of Kansas and North Carolina," NARAL Pro-Choice America's "Blog for Choice": "Blog for Choice" highlights "unsung heroes from Kansas and North Carolina," including the recipient of NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina's Susan Hill Award, McCoy Faulkner, "who for 27 years has provided security to abortion rights organizations, clinics and high-profile advocates." The blog also notes that 100 citizens in Kansas' Miami County raised $9,500 "to ensure that people in their community who rely on family-planning services for contraception and other basic health care" would continue to receive it, after the county commission "voted to reject any federal funds related to family planning" ("Blog for Choice," NARAL Pro-Choice America, 4/14). FEATURED BLOG "McDonnell's Forced Ultrasound Bill Awakens a Sleeping Giant -- Pro-Choice Virginians -- and They Are Going to the Polls," Tarina Keene, RH Reality Check: A poll by Quinnipiac University found that by a 52% to 41% margin, Virginia residents oppose the mandatory ultrasound required before an abortion under a new state law (HB 462), Keene reports. In addition, "72% of Virginians generally oppose laws that try to convince women seeking an abortion to change their minds," she writes. "This poll adds to the overwhelming evidence we've seen this year that once people understand the true intrusive nature and insulting intention of anti-choice laws like ultrasound mandates, they oppose this sort of government invasion into their private lives," she adds (Keene, RH Reality Check, 4/16). FEATURED BLOG "Two Years in the Life of a Texas Planned Parenthood: 'We're Figuring This Out as we go,'" Sarah Kilff, Washingon Post's "Wonkblog": "Over the past two years, Planned Parenthood has seen both its private and public funding come under siege like never before," and "[n]owhere in the country has this been more true than in Texas," Kliff writes. She spoke to Planned Parenthood of North Texas CEO Ken Lambrecht, whose organization was forced to close five clinics last year because of cuts in state funding. PPNT has been developing alternatives to provide care, such as establishing travel voucher programs for patients who no longer have a nearby clinic, providing more birth control prescriptions over the phone and considering larger facilities to lower overhead costs (Kliff, "Wonkblog," Washington Post, 4/15). |
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April 13, 2012 FEATURED BLOG "Abortion Options Fade in South," Irin Carmon, Salon: Carmon writes, "Of all the innovative abortion restrictions passed from state to state, so-called TRAP laws -- targeted regulation of abortion providers, which impose expensive and often unenforceable restrictions that other outpatient facilities aren't subject to -- may be the most insidious and the most effective." In Mississippi -- where a TRAP bill could force the closure of the state's only abortion clinic -- and neighboring Alabama -- where another clinic has been targeted for closure -- women are "slated to have fewer safe options to end a pregnancy than they have in decades," she adds (Carmon, Salon, 4/12). FEATURED BLOG "What to Expect if You're Expecting in Arizona," Ali MacLean, Huffington Post blogs: Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) on Thursday signed into law a bill (HB 2036) that will define gestational age as beginning on the first day of a woman's last menstrual cycle, rather than at fertilization. "[T]his means the woman only has 18 weeks, not 20 weeks, to decide to terminate a pregnancy because ... the baby's life would start the first day of the mother's last period. The baby would exist before the mother committed the act," MacLean explains (MacLean, Huffington Post blogs, 4/11). |
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April 3, 2012 FEATURED BLOG "Arizona Legislators Trying To Declare Pregnancy Two Weeks Prior To Conception," Amanda Marcotte, RH Reality Check: Aside from "forced ultrasounds and numerous attacks on access to basic contraception, ... one of the other favorite anti-choice approaches to maximizing the pain and suffering of women as punishment for sex has largely gone unnoticed by many outside of the pro-choice activist community: bans on abortions after 20 weeks," Marcotte writes. She notes that the bans are "based on the false, unscientific claim that fetuses at 20 weeks can feel pain," adding that "we need to pay attention to and resist post-20 week bans on abortion" because "if they're allowed to stand, it opens the door for more laws based on straight-up lies to be passed" (Marcotte, RH Reality Check, 4/1). What others are saying about abortion bans: FEATURED BLOG "Ultrasound Bill Won't Fly, Even in the 'Reddest' of States," Monica Hopkins, American Civil Liberties Union's "Blog of Rights": An ultrasound bill recently failed in Idaho, "the second-reddest state in the nation," because "Idahoans got engaged" and "demanded the government stop shaming women and treating them like they are stupid," ACLU of Idaho's Hopkins writes. Although similar legislation could be introduced again in the state, Hopkins writes that "this moment in time should be savored ... as an example of what we can accomplish when we stand up and make our voices heard" (Hopkins, "Blog of Rights," ACLU, 4/2). FEATURED BLOG "Delivering the Bad News to Texas Women: Your Trusted Provider Can't See You Anymore," Andrea Grimes, RH Reality Check: Medicaid beneficiaries who previously received health services at the Downtown Planned Parenthood Clinic in Austin, Texas, are being turned away after the state removed the clinic from the Medicaid Women's Health Program. "[W]omen have been getting that news from Planned Parenthood itself, which has been announcing its own demise, patient by patient," since the state health department has not yet notified beneficiaries of the change, Grimes writes (Grimes, RH Reality Check, 4/3). |
AT-A-GLANCE
Issues
State by State
ABOUT REPRO WATCH
Repro Health Watch — an exciting new edition of the Women’s Health Policy Report — compiles and distributes media coverage of proposed and enacted state laws and ballot initiatives affecting women's access to comprehensive reproductive health care, as well as litigation in response to those provisions.
