Tag: Hillary Clinton

NARAL Pro-Choice New York President Kelli Conlin writes in the Albany Times-Union that an important task lies ahead for Gov. David Paterson in appointing a new senator to replace Hillary Clinton, and that her successor ought to be as passionate about using the Senate to advocate for women as Clinton has been.

President Bush is expected to announce the "right of conscience" rule allowing any employee in a health care facility that receives federal money to deny care based on personally held beliefs, which proponents such as the Christian Medical Association and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops say extends to birth control and artificial insemination: (via Seattle Times).

A San Francisco Chronicle article highlights the several treaties President-Elect Obama may seek to have ratified as president, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, which has been ratified by every other industrialized nation and was signed by President Carter in 1980 but has never made it to the U.S. Senate.

An RH Reality Check article discusses the intersection between natural disasters and the extra reproductive health care difficulties faced by women during them, noting the need for increased training and access to reproductive health care resources during times of crisis.

The anti-abortion group, Christian Defense Coalition, is planning to gather activists to sidewalk chalk Pennsylvania Avenue with "pro-life messages and pictures" to greet the Obamas at the White House: (via Colorado Independent).

A new Spanish radio ad launched for World AIDS Day yesterday aimed at Catholics promotes a message that "good Catholics use condoms", focusing on a Catholic person's responsibility to care for loved ones by protecting themselves and others: (via RH Reality Check).

With the nomination of Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano as Secretary of Homeland Security abortion rights activists are concerned her replacement, Republican Secretary of State Jan Brewer, will be detrimental to progressive abortion policy in the state: (via azcentral.com).

Planned Parenthood in Indiana has created quite a stir in the anti-choice community by offering gift certificates for services, which are intended to help financially strapped men and women pay for preventative health care, but can also be used for abortion services: (via NY Times).

The American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology published a study finding that between 2005 and 2007 access to emergency contraception from pharmacies has increased considerably since the medication has become available without a prescription, with large chain stores more likely than smaller local chains to stock and dispense EC: (via National Parternship.org).

In the journal Contraception an editorial examines possible reasons why increased availability of emergency contraception has not necessarily reduced the incidence of unintended pregnancy, including possible sporadic use of the medication or women using EC when no true risk of pregnancy exists: (via National Parternship.org).

A Guttmacher Institute policy review provides suggestions for making contraception more accessible and easy to use and calls for more attention towards the issue since 9 in 10 women at risk for unintended pregnancy use contraception, yet half of all pregnancies remain unintended: (via National Parternship.org).

The Catholic priest in California that called for parishioners to go to confession for voting for Obama attempts to clarify his statements to his congregation and in an interview with the Modesto Bee.

A recently released New Zealand study finds a small link between abortion and mental health issues, saying for many women abortion may be a stressful or traumatic time but does not cause devastating effects on mental health, as the anti-choice community would like people to believe: (via medicalnewstoday.com).  

Though abortion in Bolivia is legal in some circumstances, access for women who are able to legally obtain one are often practically prevented from doing so by anti-abortion judges and doctors, and illegal abortion remains frequent and dangerously unsafe: (via RH Reality Check).

Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the ACLU, and Center for Reproductive Rights sent a letter to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs questioning how the conscience clause rule met the "extraordinary circumstances" necessary to implement a regulation after the deadline has passed: (via RH Reality Check).

Some anti-abortion activists are looking for ways to reach middle ground on the abortion debate by pushing aside goals to outlaw the procedure and instead focus on implementing policies that reduce abortion by providing health care and financial support to pregnant women, though other anti-choice activists view this shift as "selling out": (via Washington Post).

Cristina Page writes on the "Obamagelical Reformation", whereby Evangelical Christians supported Obama at twice the numbers than they did for John Kerry in 2004, and how among those Obamagelicals, most believe in reducing abortion by increasing access to education and contraception or by helping pregnant mothers: (via BirthControlWatch.org).

Kansas late-term abortion provider Dr. George Tiller's attorney is trying to get misdemeanor charges dismissed based on ex-Attorney General Dan Monnat's intentions to prosecute Dr. Tiller prior to taking office and his hiring of anti-choice activist Bryan Brown, who has been arrested a dozen times during abortion protests, to be his consumer protection chief: (via Bellingham Herald).

The UK paper The Guardian is reporting that Hillary Clinton will accept the role of Secretary of State in the Obama administration barring any problems that arise during the vetting process of former President Bill Clinton's post presidential activities.

The New York Times has more on what specific ties the Clintons have that could make becoming Secretary of State for Hillary Clinton difficult.

This action flies in the face of sanity in that the pro-choice movement is seen as stabbing its friends in the back...a friend named Hillary Clinton.

Their action created a firestorm last night on the NARAL Blog and many others have come forward to disagree vehemently with NARAL's ill-chosen action.

Abortion providers have alot to thank the Clintons for, as the Clinton administration did everything it their power to protect abortion rights and use their Justice Department under Janet Reno to protect the lives of providers.

All this brought to mind a hatchet job done on Bill Clinton by PBS's Frontline a few years ago, when Mr. "Moderate Republican" himself, Sen. Bob Dole, was running for prez against Bill.

(When Bob Dole when Jerry Ford's hatchet man as vice prez candidate against Jimmy Carter et al, represents the "moderate branch of the Republican Party," it demonstrates conclusively to anyone who has watched American politics as long as I have, just how radically fascistic the modern Repugnican Party has become!)

I first met Hillary Rodham in 1974 when she came to teach at the University of Arkansas law school after she had served on John Doar's staff in the US Congress's investigations into the "high crimes and misdemeanors" of President Richard M. Nixon and his gang of Repugnican thugs in the White House.

Nixon resigned in August of that year, and Hillary came to Arkansas to join her then boyfriend and future husband, Bill Clinton.  

At that time, I has involved in a very busy ObGyn practice, and it would be several years before I gained the status of "the local abortionist" in Fayetteville, AR.  Back then, there was a group of three physicians working in the other group ObGyn practice in town who provided the bulk of abortion care in this part of Arkansas.

I think I might have done three abortions the year I met Hillary.  And, much as the "Pro-Life" community would like for one of them to have been for Hillary, I only saw her for routine gyn services.

"They don't just want to wage a war on choice," Clinton said. "They want to wage a war on contraception. They are against family planning. In the 21st Century, they want to prevent women from having access to the tools they should have to determine their own reproductive futures."