The following summarizes selected women's health-related blog entries.
~ "Do the Right Thing: Make Emergency Contraception Accessible and Affordable," Sondra Goldschein/Vania Leveille, The Hill's Congress Blog: Although a federal judge this week ordered FDA to "do the right thing and revisit its politically motivated decision to unnecessarily restrict access to the emergency contraceptive Plan B," the ruling is "only the first step," Goldschein, director of state advocacy for the American Civil Liberties Union's Reproductive Freedom Project and Leveille, a legislative counsel for ACLU, write. "More work is needed to make sure that all women have true access to emergency contraception," they continue, noting that they "remain concerned about the high cost" of nonprescription EC. "Most state Medicaid plans ... currently don't cover Plan B, meaning that many low-income women who rely on Medicaid for their health care needs currently can't afford access," Goldschein and Leveille write, adding that "with the mounting cost of health care in general, coupled with our tough economic times, more and more women -- many of whom don't qualify for Medicaid -- will find it difficult if not impossible to cover the costs of Plan B when they need it." They conclude that the "court decision has given us the opportunity not only to put science and health care back into the FDA decision-making process, but to simultaneously reconsider ways to make Plan B accessible and affordable for all women who need it" (Goldschein/Leveille, The Hill's Congress Blog, 3/24).
~ "Ignoring Evidence, Mexican States Move to Increase Abortion Restrictions," Sharon Camp/Fatima Juarez, AlterNet: In Mexico, a "new spate of state-level laws further restrict[s] Mexican women's already limited access to legal abortion," Camp and Juarez of the Guttmacher Institute write in a blog entry. They continue, "Worse, there is evidence that women are being denied abortion care even when they meet the strict criteria for a legal procedure." The "trend" among Mexican states to "reinforce what are already strict restrictions on abortion access comes in reaction" to a 2007 policy legalizing the procedure during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, which was recently upheld by Mexico's Supreme Court, Camp and Juarez write. The new policies "not only demonstrate a shocking lack of compassion, they also directly contradict strong evidence from Mexico and other parts of the world that restricting abortion access does not make abortion less common -- it just results in more women dying or being injured by clandestine and unsafe practices," Camp and Juarez continue. They add, "If Mexican policymakers are concerned about reducing the need for abortion and safeguarding women's health, they should heed the strong evidence and focus on policies that promote prevention" (Camp/Juarez, AlterNet, 3/24).
~ "Why Canada's on Top in Teen Pregnancy," Vanessa Richmond, Huffington Post blogs: Canada's policies regarding sex education and access to pregnancy prevention methods "might actually be beacons of sustainable light, not dull lead weights," Richmond writes. The U.S.' teen birth rate rose for the second year in a row from 41.9 births per 1,000 in 2006 to 42.5 in 2007, which is "not a huge jump, but it's still significant because until two years ago, it had declined every year for 14 years," Richmond writes. The U.S. has the highest observed juvenile birth rates among industrialized countries, almost twice the rate in Canada and 10 times higher than Japan and the Netherlands, according to a comparative study from Statistics Canada. Richmond writes that the "main reason" for this is that "Canada's teens of all social classes get comprehensive information about contraception and about how to avoid unwanted pregnancies." Teens in Canada "get more sex-ed in school, and can access high-school-based family planning counseling through the nurse," she continues, adding they can "also always access universally free medical services, including visiting a family doctor and special health clinics." In addition, "at all levels, there's a more positive attitude towards the pill, and either cheaper or free prescriptions for it," Richmond writes. In the U.S., the "role institutions can play is one of providing information about the pill and condoms, rather than telling kids they shouldn't have sex," Richmond writes, concluding, "When adults treat teens as intelligent beings capable of making informed decisions when armed with good information, then they do. That's backed not just by belief, but by actual numbers and science" (Richmond, Huffington Post blogs, 3/26).
~ "The Down and Dirty Politics of Sex," Lon Newman, Below the Waist: The Obama administration "will need to sideline a few of the professional wrestlers and sports announcers in the abortion-rights contest" to achieve a "solid" reproductive health care policy as part of larger health care reform efforts, Newman writes. The "ongoing face-off" over issues like abortion rights, access to contraception and sex education "provides a dramatized competition that does not reflect the real lives of Americans," Newman says. He continues, "In their personal choices, citizens have accepted and embraced the right to informed consent on reproductive health issues," and, "[i]n this case, public policy should reflect private behavior." Although Obama has "reached out to listen to fundamentalist members of Congress and to interest groups who disagree, most of the time he has tried to set policy based on practical scientific decision-making instead of partisan crowd noise," Newman writes. The administration and Congress "must continue on this course of providing leadership on the principle that reproductive health care policy will be based on two foundations of American democracy -- reason and science," he continues, concluding, "We must not be distracted from that principle by battles over who holds higher moral ground. Instead, we must keep our attention on developing reproductive health care policy that is down to earth" (Newman, Below the Waist, 3/24).
~ "Colorado House Passes Birth Control Bill," Wendy Norris, RH Reality Check: Norris reports that the Colorado House this week passed the Birth Control Protection Act (S.B. 225) "on a largely party-line roll call vote of 39 to 25," after efforts to block the measure "shriveled" and supporters squelched an attempt to "add a poison pill amendment to insert the religious definition of pregnancy as at the moment of conception." According to Norris, the Birth Control Protection Act "codifies 'contraception or a contraceptive device as a medically acceptable drug, device or procedure used to prevent pregnancy.'" The measure is an attempt by two Democratic state representatives to "thwart future legal or constitutional challenges similar to Amendment 48," a failed November 2008 ballot measure that "sought to grant constitutional rights to fertilized eggs," she says. "The lawmakers reasoned that having a clear-cut definition that complements state law defining pregnancy will eliminate a debate over whether contraception includes abortions," Norris explains. She writes that the bill was amended to exclude mifespristone "and other federally approved pharmaceuticals that induce abortion, from the proposed legal definition of contraception," which will likely result in Gov. Bill Ritter's (D) approval of the bill (Norris, RH Reality Check, 3/25).
~ "Pope Condom Quote Undermines Credibility," Wayne Besen, Huffington Post blogs: Besen, founder of Truth Wins Out, responds to Pope Benedict XVI's recent comments that the distribution of condoms will not help curb the spread of HIV in Africa. Besen asks, "How many people is this man willing to see die to defend his outdated dogma? How high must the body count be before the Pope is no longer considered pro-life?" He continues, "How ironic that a pope fixated on staunching the decline of the Catholic Church in Western Europe would declare something so out of touch with the modern world," adding, "His unconscionable cruelty has transformed him into a crusty relic on the verge of irrelevance." Besen writes that it is "such wanton disregard for reality and wearing of rose-colored shades to blind oneself from avoidable carnage that define fanaticism." He continues, "There is something pathological and perverse in the psyche of people willing to do enormous wrong in order to prove their doctrine right." Besen says Benedict will continue to "dupe the developing world," particularly countries "where people aren't as attuned to the ethical depravity of his unscientific proclamations." He continues, "Far from infallibility, this pope has failed on so many levels that he has virtually no credibility on matters of morality," concluding that "sadly, compassion is out of fashion at the Vatican these days" (Besen, Huffington Post blogs, 3/25).
~ "Do the Right Thing: Make Emergency Contraception Accessible and Affordable," Sondra Goldschein/Vania Leveille, The Hill's Congress Blog: Although a federal judge this week ordered FDA to "do the right thing and revisit its politically motivated decision to unnecessarily restrict access to the emergency contraceptive Plan B," the ruling is "only the first step," Goldschein, director of state advocacy for the American Civil Liberties Union's Reproductive Freedom Project and Leveille, a legislative counsel for ACLU, write. "More work is needed to make sure that all women have true access to emergency contraception," they continue, noting that they "remain concerned about the high cost" of nonprescription EC. "Most state Medicaid plans ... currently don't cover Plan B, meaning that many low-income women who rely on Medicaid for their health care needs currently can't afford access," Goldschein and Leveille write, adding that "with the mounting cost of health care in general, coupled with our tough economic times, more and more women -- many of whom don't qualify for Medicaid -- will find it difficult if not impossible to cover the costs of Plan B when they need it." They conclude that the "court decision has given us the opportunity not only to put science and health care back into the FDA decision-making process, but to simultaneously reconsider ways to make Plan B accessible and affordable for all women who need it" (Goldschein/Leveille, The Hill's Congress Blog, 3/24).
~ "Ignoring Evidence, Mexican States Move to Increase Abortion Restrictions," Sharon Camp/Fatima Juarez, AlterNet: In Mexico, a "new spate of state-level laws further restrict[s] Mexican women's already limited access to legal abortion," Camp and Juarez of the Guttmacher Institute write in a blog entry. They continue, "Worse, there is evidence that women are being denied abortion care even when they meet the strict criteria for a legal procedure." The "trend" among Mexican states to "reinforce what are already strict restrictions on abortion access comes in reaction" to a 2007 policy legalizing the procedure during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, which was recently upheld by Mexico's Supreme Court, Camp and Juarez write. The new policies "not only demonstrate a shocking lack of compassion, they also directly contradict strong evidence from Mexico and other parts of the world that restricting abortion access does not make abortion less common -- it just results in more women dying or being injured by clandestine and unsafe practices," Camp and Juarez continue. They add, "If Mexican policymakers are concerned about reducing the need for abortion and safeguarding women's health, they should heed the strong evidence and focus on policies that promote prevention" (Camp/Juarez, AlterNet, 3/24).
~ "Why Canada's on Top in Teen Pregnancy," Vanessa Richmond, Huffington Post blogs: Canada's policies regarding sex education and access to pregnancy prevention methods "might actually be beacons of sustainable light, not dull lead weights," Richmond writes. The U.S.' teen birth rate rose for the second year in a row from 41.9 births per 1,000 in 2006 to 42.5 in 2007, which is "not a huge jump, but it's still significant because until two years ago, it had declined every year for 14 years," Richmond writes. The U.S. has the highest observed juvenile birth rates among industrialized countries, almost twice the rate in Canada and 10 times higher than Japan and the Netherlands, according to a comparative study from Statistics Canada. Richmond writes that the "main reason" for this is that "Canada's teens of all social classes get comprehensive information about contraception and about how to avoid unwanted pregnancies." Teens in Canada "get more sex-ed in school, and can access high-school-based family planning counseling through the nurse," she continues, adding they can "also always access universally free medical services, including visiting a family doctor and special health clinics." In addition, "at all levels, there's a more positive attitude towards the pill, and either cheaper or free prescriptions for it," Richmond writes. In the U.S., the "role institutions can play is one of providing information about the pill and condoms, rather than telling kids they shouldn't have sex," Richmond writes, concluding, "When adults treat teens as intelligent beings capable of making informed decisions when armed with good information, then they do. That's backed not just by belief, but by actual numbers and science" (Richmond, Huffington Post blogs, 3/26).
~ "The Down and Dirty Politics of Sex," Lon Newman, Below the Waist: The Obama administration "will need to sideline a few of the professional wrestlers and sports announcers in the abortion-rights contest" to achieve a "solid" reproductive health care policy as part of larger health care reform efforts, Newman writes. The "ongoing face-off" over issues like abortion rights, access to contraception and sex education "provides a dramatized competition that does not reflect the real lives of Americans," Newman says. He continues, "In their personal choices, citizens have accepted and embraced the right to informed consent on reproductive health issues," and, "[i]n this case, public policy should reflect private behavior." Although Obama has "reached out to listen to fundamentalist members of Congress and to interest groups who disagree, most of the time he has tried to set policy based on practical scientific decision-making instead of partisan crowd noise," Newman writes. The administration and Congress "must continue on this course of providing leadership on the principle that reproductive health care policy will be based on two foundations of American democracy -- reason and science," he continues, concluding, "We must not be distracted from that principle by battles over who holds higher moral ground. Instead, we must keep our attention on developing reproductive health care policy that is down to earth" (Newman, Below the Waist, 3/24).
~ "Colorado House Passes Birth Control Bill," Wendy Norris, RH Reality Check: Norris reports that the Colorado House this week passed the Birth Control Protection Act (S.B. 225) "on a largely party-line roll call vote of 39 to 25," after efforts to block the measure "shriveled" and supporters squelched an attempt to "add a poison pill amendment to insert the religious definition of pregnancy as at the moment of conception." According to Norris, the Birth Control Protection Act "codifies 'contraception or a contraceptive device as a medically acceptable drug, device or procedure used to prevent pregnancy.'" The measure is an attempt by two Democratic state representatives to "thwart future legal or constitutional challenges similar to Amendment 48," a failed November 2008 ballot measure that "sought to grant constitutional rights to fertilized eggs," she says. "The lawmakers reasoned that having a clear-cut definition that complements state law defining pregnancy will eliminate a debate over whether contraception includes abortions," Norris explains. She writes that the bill was amended to exclude mifespristone "and other federally approved pharmaceuticals that induce abortion, from the proposed legal definition of contraception," which will likely result in Gov. Bill Ritter's (D) approval of the bill (Norris, RH Reality Check, 3/25).
~ "Pope Condom Quote Undermines Credibility," Wayne Besen, Huffington Post blogs: Besen, founder of Truth Wins Out, responds to Pope Benedict XVI's recent comments that the distribution of condoms will not help curb the spread of HIV in Africa. Besen asks, "How many people is this man willing to see die to defend his outdated dogma? How high must the body count be before the Pope is no longer considered pro-life?" He continues, "How ironic that a pope fixated on staunching the decline of the Catholic Church in Western Europe would declare something so out of touch with the modern world," adding, "His unconscionable cruelty has transformed him into a crusty relic on the verge of irrelevance." Besen writes that it is "such wanton disregard for reality and wearing of rose-colored shades to blind oneself from avoidable carnage that define fanaticism." He continues, "There is something pathological and perverse in the psyche of people willing to do enormous wrong in order to prove their doctrine right." Besen says Benedict will continue to "dupe the developing world," particularly countries "where people aren't as attuned to the ethical depravity of his unscientific proclamations." He continues, "Far from infallibility, this pope has failed on so many levels that he has virtually no credibility on matters of morality," concluding that "sadly, compassion is out of fashion at the Vatican these days" (Besen, Huffington Post blogs, 3/25).
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