Tag: Obama

Readers respond to Ross Douthat's New York Times editorial on the GOP and abortion politics, including co-chairwoman for Republican for Choice who says most self-identified "pro-life" voters still think abortion is a woman's choice and a board member of Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health who calls Douthat "out of touch": (via NY Times).

Thomas Frank responds to Alex Kuczynski's article in the New York Times Magazine about her experience with surrogacy, discussing the complicated and exploitative nature of surrogate pregnancies and criticizing Kuczynski for her lack of insight about the ethical dilemmas involved and for ignoring the voice of the surrogate mother: (via Wall Street Journal).

An RH Reality Check article explores the unique way the pro-choice community was able to frame and thus defeat the 2008 South Dakota abortion ban, including using more empathetic language and stories, and by appealing to the South Dakotan libertarian mindset that government should not make personal medical decisions for families.

Amanda Marcotte discusses what the Bush administration is hoping to accomplish by passing the HHS "rule of conscience" regulation, which will likely be overturned either by Obama or the next Congress, but not before giving ammunition to the anti-choice community that the new administration is targeting the religious right.

An opinion piece in The Wichita Eagle agrees, saying Bush is "operating at the far edge of reasonableness" with the implementation of the HHS conscience clause regulation and ensuring Obama will be forced to face an unnecessary abortion controversy within his first months as president.  

An FDA panel is set to hear testimony on whether or not to approve a new female condom made by Female Health Co., which uses a different, less expensive material than the first version of the female condom. With FDA approval, USAID will be able to distribute the condom internationally to help women make more independent sexual health decisions: (via Reuters).

A pilot program to dispense birth control pills without a prescription will go into effect next year in some areas of England to determine whether unintended pregnancy can be reduced by women receiving birth control from behind-the-counter from a trained pharmacist rather than receiving a prescription by a doctor: (via AP/Google).

Australia officials are considering lifting the country's 12-year ban on foreign aid for abortion services, a similar policy as the U.S. global gag rule, though the Prime Minister faces pressure from religious conservatives who do not want to see the ban lifted: (via smh.com).

The Washington Post asks why Sarah Palin has granted so few interviews since her selection as John McCain's running mate, saying that while McCain is entitled to his choice, he is not entitled to keep the public from being able to make an informed assessment of his judgment.

The Washington Post examines South Dakota's proposed abortion ban, which would ban abortion except in cases of rape, incest and a narrow interpretation of the health and life of the woman, and if passed could be used to bring a challenge to Roe v. Wade in the Supreme Court.

Obama's campaign responds to McCain's abortion attack ads with television spots highlighting McCain's extremist views (via Politico).

Legal experts question the constitutionality of a Texas judge's ruling ordering a woman to stop having children as a condition of her probation (via the Austin-American Statesman).

The National Organization for Women (NOW) rarely endorses a presidential candidate, but says that Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin's fundamentalist beliefs and opposition to abortion rights has forced its hand (via The Independent).

New York Times columnist Bob Herbert analyzes the proposed McCain-Palin healthcare plan, noting that it will force millions of Americans into the weakest segment of the private insurance system and increase family costs for medical care.

Feministing points out that devastating impact this will have on women's healthcare, as twice as many women as men access health care as a dependent.  

The New York Times reports that the issue of abortion is dividing Catholic voters, with many feeling that focusing only on the candidates' positions on abortion ignores whether or not their administrations will support the church's social justice teachings.

RH Reality Check examines the presidential candidates' strategies to address the global and domestic HIV/AIDS crises, noting that none of the speakers at the Republican National Convention mentioned the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States and the 2008 Republican platform offers no direct plan to address it, while Barack Obama introduced a plan to address HIV/AIDS in 2007 and the Democratic platform specifically calls for a National AIDS Strategy.

RH Reality Check reports that Sarah Palin's nomination has reenergized conservatives wishing to outlaw abortion and has the potential to again polarize the healthy discussion that has developed about working together to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies.

The RH Reality Check commentary also calls out a Wall Street Journal report on double-standard employed by the Catholic church which grills Catholics like Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden about their faith and voting records, while failing to examine John McCain and Sarah Palin's anti-choice credentials.

NARAL Pro-Choice America has launched its first video in a planned series showing just how extreme and radical the McCain-Palin ticket is when it comes to a woman's right to choose. The video showcases the candidates' own remarks on choice, including their opposition to Roe v. Wade.

RH Reality Check reports that Sarah Palin's nomination has reenergized conservatives wishing to outlaw abortion and has the potential to again polarize the healthy discussion that has developed about working together to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies.

The RH Reality Check commentary also calls out a Wall Street Journal report on double-standard employed by the Catholic church which grills Catholics like Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden about their faith and voting records, while failing to examine John McCain and Sarah Palin's anti-choice credentials.

NARAL Pro-Choice America has launched its first video in a planned series showing just how extreme and radical the McCain-Palin ticket is when it comes to a woman's right to choose. The video showcases the candidates' own remarks on choice, including their opposition to Roe v. Wade.

Karen Cooper, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Washington, issued a statement on the selection noting that Senator Biden has consistently expressed support for a woman's right to choose and has a strong record of opposing judicial nominees with hostile anti-choice records.

The Seattle Times editorializes against the Bush administration's HHS proposal, saying that it is an unnecessary change that "isn't solving a problem as much as it is taking an 11th-hour stand against choice".  

Norman Gant, executive director of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology has publicly released his organization's response to the HHS proposal, noting that it seems that the HHS is willfully misinterpreting ABOG certification rules in order to justify the new regulations.

An anonymous author has started blogging about the process of terminating her pregnancy, after searching the Web for abortion blogs and finding only anti-choice propaganda.  

Broadsheet comments that, given that abortion is still taboo in pop culture, it's not surprising that bloggers have previously avoided the subject and commends the author for opening this dialogue.  

ABC News reports on new studies by Gynuity and Ibis Reproductive Health to research how many women undergo non-medically supervised abortions and why, highlighting the need to improve communication of reproductive rights and address barriers to reproductive health care.

Women's eNews reports on the increased role of women at the Democratic National Convention.

The New York Times reports on the difficulties faced by Mexico City's government in increasing access to abortion services in a country with obstructive conscience clauses, which may foreshadow future problems in United States as refusal rules such as those recently proposed by the HHS are implemented.

Barack Obama seeks to increase his already significant lead over John McCain amongst female voters by focusing on the issue of pay equity (via The Washington Post).  

The New York Times publishes a disappointing article on HPV vaccines in which the author uses the fact that HPV is of a much graver concern in the developing world than the United States to downplay the need for women to protect themselves.  

Writing about Obama and McCain's comments on abortion at the Saddleback Church presidential candidate's forum, Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. writes that John McCain's `crisp and concise' answers were more conducive to the format, but cautions readers "not to mistake stark simplicity for wisdom".

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.

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.  

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.  

Barack Obama clarifies his position on health exceptions for late-term abortions, reiterating that he does support mental-health exceptions (via The Chicago Tribune).

Slate senior editor Emily Bazelon says that South Dakota's so-called `informed consent' law sets a dangerous precedent for future abortion laws as it describes a fetus as a "human being", despite the Supreme Court's ruling in Roe v. Wade that a fetus is not legally a person.  

A New York Times editorial highlights the importance of the upcoming Presidential election in determining the next Supreme Court Justice, saying that one more conservative appointment would shift the balance to the far-right bloc and likely result in an elimination of constitutional protection of women's reproductive rights.  

The citizen-initiated grand jury investigation of abortion provider Dr. George Tiller has adjourned without finding that any violation of abortion law (via The Wichita Eagle).

Minnesota combats rising sexually transmitted infection rates with patient-delivered partner therapy (PDPT) which allows physicians to dispense prescriptions for the partners of patients who have tested positive without seeing the partner for an evaluation (via RH Reality Check).

RH Reality Check reports that only 28 states are still participating in the federal government's Title V abstinence-only funding scheme - meaning that 23 states have now opted out.

Republican Presidential candidate John McCain has told conservative leaders that he will actively seek the support of Christian conservatives by emphasizing his anti-choice record (via MSNBC).  

Conservative Christian organization the Family Research Council's latest television ads attack presidential candidate Barack Obama's pro-choice stance (via The New York Times).  

Scotland's government leads the way in EC access by launching a program to provide free over-the-counter emergency contraception through all community pharmacies (via The Scotsman).