Hypocrites

Opposition to the Bush administration's proposed HHS rules continues with 57 leading organizations in the fields of law, health, reproductive rights and women's rights sending a letter to the head of the HHS urging the department to abandon its efforts to implement "ill conceived and harmful" draft regulations that would limit women's access to contraception (via RH Reality Check).

ABC News reports that 104 House members have also sent a letter to President Bush calling on him to "halt all action" on a proposed regulation.

While the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association has an excellent post examining the right's concerted attempt to get rid of birth control in the United States.  

British MPs have tabled an amendment to enact the 1967 Abortion Act in Northern Ireland, which would give women in Northern Ireland the same abortion rights and access to public funding as women in the rest of Britain (via the BBC).

Feminist.org discusses the various challenges Afghan women face when it comes to fertility and maternal health, and how dire economic conditions are forcing many into the sex trade.

Kate Sheppard's article titled "McCain's War on Women" lists the candidate's many anti-woman stances, including his poor voting record on women's issues such as reproductive health and economic equality.

In an article for The Guardian, columnist Sarah Wildman chronicles the many disastrous policies enacted by the Bush Administration, and how such policies have successfully undermined the reproductive health of women worldwide.

RH Reality Check uncovers an HHS letter that promises that states applying for Title V abstinence-only sex-education grants for fiscal year 2009 will receive the money until 2013 without reapplying, in an attempt the lure states wary of accepting such funds because of the uncertainty of the future of the program, even though Congress has not yet approved such funding.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tells the Netroots Nation convention that "abstinence-only programs are bad policy and dangerous to the health of young women" and that more pro-choice members of Congress are needed in order to redirect money from abstinence-only programs to sex education (Via The New York Times).
Speaker Pelosi's comments can be viewed on YouTube.  

In a guest post for RH Reality Check, Senator Hillary Clinton states her opposition to Bush's proposed HHS rules, saying that the Administration is again putting ideology before science and women's health.  

The Nation's Katha Politt takes the mainstream media to task for failing to report on John McCain's opposition to birth control, pointing out that this fact is far more relevant to the electorate than most of the election topics they choose to cover.

Anti-choice gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi appears on King 5's Up Front program where he again claims that the office of governor has nothing to do with choice.  In response to David Postman's comment that candidates have a responsibility to address issues that are of concern to the electorate, Rossi claims he doesn't have time to talk to the voters about issues he's not focusing on.

Catholics for Choice has launched a global, grassroots campaign asking Catholics to pressure the Vatican to end its devastating 40-year ban on contraception.

A House subcommittee and the full Senate Appropriations Committee approved foreign assistance bills for fiscal year 2009 that would increase funding for foreign family planning programs, including the United Nations Population Fund. The Senate measure would also overturn the "global gag" rule which prevents U.S. money from going to NGOs that address abortion-related issues: (via NationalPartnersip.org).  

RH Reality Check provides a nice round-up on McCain's anti-woman positions, including a Keith Olbermann report on his off-color jokes and articles on his anti-birth control and abortion stances.

The New Mexico Independent covers more in-depth the story of three NARAL volunteers denied entry to a John McCain town hall meeting in Albuquerque and states that the activists intended to ask McCain a question relating to his recently scrutinized position on birth control.

The Seattle P-I published an opinion piece on the dangers of Colorado's proposed "Human Life Amendment" which would establish a fertilized egg the same legal rights as a human being.

Judith Warner writes that despite John McCain's attempts to persuade women voters he supports their issues his voting record shows strong evidence to the contrary.

Politico.com covers an increasing trend of Obama followers who define themselves as "spiritual" and also pro-choice, incorporating their faith with progressive positions on abortion and sex education.

Susan Wood discusses the serious flaws of the Bush Administration's proposed HHS rule to define some contraception as abortion and the dangerous implications that follow.

Starting today, doctors in South Dakota will be forced to tell women seeking an abortion the procedure "will terminate the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being", and that abortion may cause them psychological harm, including thoughts of suicide: (via The News Tribune).

Senators Patty Murray and Hillary Clinton have called on the Secretary of Health and Human Services to stop the potential federal rule that could limit birth control access, saying that the proposal is a poorly-veiled attempt to roll-back women's health care options before the current Administration leaves office.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has also voiced her objections saying that the proposal represents "a sustained pattern of the Bush administration to reject medical and sound science in favor of a misguided ideology that has no place in our government" (via the International Herald Tribune).

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer editorializes against the Bush Administration's proposal saying that "it's more important than ever for our courts and Congress to protect our right to access Plan B".  

The Senate has reauthorized the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, including several provisions - one of which will end the ban on immigration and travel to the U.S. by people with HIV, and another which will unfortunately increase the amount of funding required to go toward ineffective abstinence and fidelity programs (via the LA Times).

The Politico says that John McCain's offensive and sexist `jokes' are out of touch with today's voters and especially likely to alienate women.

While waiting in line with hundreds of others, three NARAL activists were denied entry into a John McCain Town Hall meeting held in Albuquerque Tuesday morning after being told they were trespassing and being threatened with arrest: (via New Mexico FBIHOP).

An ad by the Planned Parenthood Action Fund showing John McCain's July 10th interview where he fails to address his stance on health insurance coverage of birth control is being launched in the television markets of several swing states: (via The Washington Post).

Amanda Marcotte writes on "The Pro-Choice First Lady Stunt", whereby conservative candidates' wives pose as pro-choice in order to mollify their husbands' anti-choice views, and points out how ultimately this practice continues to confer women's reproductive rights in the hands of men: (via RH Reality Check).

Legislators and activists respond to yesterday's disclosure of the Bush administration's HHS proposal that would limit birth control access by redefining some types of contraception as abortion and that confuses the medical definition of conception: (via Reuters).

Jessica Arons of The Nation writes a piece on how the anti-choice movement has crafted the abortion debate to center on late-term abortions, when in reality other issues concerning reproductive health are much more imperative and widespread.

University of Michigan researchers found that teen sexual behavior is not a predictor of HPV risk, and because the virus is so common and easily transmitted researchers suggest all teens, regardless of current sexual behavior, should receive the vaccine: (via RH Reality Check).

Dr. Sue Makin, an OB/GYN working in Malawi, shares her account of the poor reproductive health conditions for women in a country where two-thirds of deaths among women of reproductive age are due to pregnancy or childbirth: (via The New York Times).

The Bush administration is seeking to codify its discrimination against family-planning measures by requiring all recipients of aid under federal health programs to certify that they will not refuse to hire nurses and other providers who object to abortion and even certain types of birth control (via the New York Times).
The proposed regulations also attempt to classify many types of birth control as abortifacients by defining abortion as "any of the various procedures -- including the prescription, dispensing and administration of any drug or the performance of any procedure or any other action -- that results in the termination of the life of a human being in utero between conception and natural birth, whether before or after implantation".

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer publishes an opinion piece which says that pharmacists who refuse to fill women's birth control prescriptions are exhibiting "unmitigated arrogance".

John McCain held a 'women only' town hall meeting in Wisconsin, in an attempt to woo female voters, but failed to address many issues affecting women including children's health care, early childhood education, unequal pensions and family medical leave.  In McCain claimed to be "committed to making sure that there's equal pay for equal work", despite having skipped a vote to invoke cloture on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which was filibustered in the Senate in April of this year (via Pioneer Press).

A U.S. study published in the British Medical Journal on a workplace training program that taught parents ways to talk to their kids about sex proved to be beneficial for improving communication about sex between parents and teens: (via Reuters).

An Austin American-Statesman article discusses the current debate over sex education in Texas, noting that Texas spends more money on abstinence-only sex-education than any other state but has a higher teen sex rate than the national average, one of the highest teen birth rates, and youths that are less likely to use condoms.

Despite recent reports of adverse events related to the HPV vaccine Gardasil, doctors in this ABC News article put the statistics into perspective and the FDA concludes the vaccine is still safe and effective.

In anticipation of a cloture vote that will determine the future of the $50 billion reauthorization for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief in Africa (PEPFAR), thirty-nine advocacy organizations specializing in global reproductive health issues have urged the Senate to remove the ideological restraints from funding guidelines which currently promote ineffective abstinence-only policies
to the detriment of proven prevention strategies (via RH Reality Check)
The full text of letter to Senators Reid, Biden, and Lugar can also be found on RH Reality Check.  

The United Nations Population Fund is focusing today's World Population Day on the issues of maternal mortality and family planning, and has called for governments to take more action to promote birth control, gender equality and reproductive health (via AlterNet)

The BBC reports that women in countries where abortion is restricted - such as Northern Ireland - are purchasing medications enabling them to abort a pregnancy at home from internet websites, however the quality of medical information provided by these sites greatly differs and government officials are concerned that sites which aren't well managed could lead to a new era of `backstreet abortions'.

Following yesterday's statement by McCain advisor Carly Fiorina that McCain will address the disparity of health insurance plans that cover Viagra but not birth-control, a reporter asked McCain on-camera if he still stands behind his `nay' vote on a bill that would have required coverage of contraception.  McCain responded that he did not want to discuss the issue and that "I don't know what I voted" (via the Wall Street Journal).  
MSNBC's footage of the gaff can be viewed on YouTube.

Barack Obama decries John McCain's opposition to an equal-pay Senate bill, support for conservative-leaning Supreme Court justices and abortion-rights objections (via The Seattle Times).
While McCain courts conservative voters in Ohio by emphasizing his anti-abortion record (via CNN).  

An Ohio health care facility providing non-surgical abortion care is being evicted from the office complex in which it and a number of other medical practices are located.  The owner of the complex owner claims the clinic has disturbed other tenants, however the only disturbance appears to have been created by anti-choice protesters outside the clinic (via The Akron Beacon Journal).

A committee in Brazil's lower house of Congress has voted down a bill, which had been stuck in Congress for 17 years, which would have legalized abortion in the world's most populous Roman Catholic nation.  It is now likely to be shelved (via Reuters).

RH Reality Check provides an excellent round-up of the G-8 summit's decisions regarding global maternal and newborn health policy, noting that this is the first time the G-8 agenda has addressed these issues.

McCain advisor Carly Fiorina, erroneously tells reporters that McCain will address the disparity of health insurance plans that cover Viagra but not birth-control, despite the fact that McCain actually voted against a proposal that would have required insurance companies to cover prescription contraception in 2006 (via Washington Post & CQ Politics).

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday heard arguments on the preliminary injunction against state Board of Pharmacy rules mandating that pharmacies must fill legal prescriptions, inclusing Plan B.  The judges expressed particular interest in whether the injunction could be limited to the plaintiffs, rather than the entire state, but isn't expected to rule for four weeks at the earliest (via the Seattle Post-Intelligencer).  

Planned Parenthood Action Fund announces its endorsement of Senator Barack Obama for president of the United States, marking only the second time in Planned Parenthood's history that the Action Fund has made a presidential endorsement.  

Canada will honour Henry Morgentaler - the doctor who led the fight to legalize abortion in Canada - with its highest civilian award, the Governor General's Order of Canada (via Reuters).  

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette examines Pennsylvania's decision to refuse more than $5.8 million in federal Title V abstinence-only education funding since 2003, pointing out that a refusal of federal funding shows just how little confidence states have in abstinence-only programs.