Tag: Planned Parenthood

Tara Parker-Pope writes in the Health section of The New York Times about "the myth of rampant teenage promiscuity", saying that though the media encourages us to believe teenagers are engaging in more risky sexual behavior at younger ages the data actually shows the opposite.

An article on Beliefnet.com discusses why repealing the global gag rule can be viewed as a "pro-life" position since no U.S. funds will be paying for abortions, but the money will go towards saving the lives of women and children in the developing world.

After a CDC report showing Mississippi has the highest teen birth rate in country and rising STD rates, legislators are discussing introducing comprehensive sex education into schools' curriculum, though the move is drawing opposition from some Republican lawmakers: (via The Sun Herald).

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has launched a post card campaign to protest the Freedom of Choice Act by having parishioners send mail to legislators urging them to oppose the legislation, though the bill has been around for 20 years, only making it out of committee once, and does not appear to be a priority for the current session: (via The Times-Picayune).

The Minnesota man who drove his SUV into a Planned Parenthood clinic last Thursday has been charged with two felony counts of first-degree criminal damage to property. The driver seems to have been motivated by religious beliefs, but according to his mother also may suffer from mental health problems: (via The South Washington County Bulletin).

The Seattle P-I editorial board writes in support of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act, saying passing these laws would be "restoring average Americans' right to justice".

As a result of a major donor, Picower, being defrauded by the Madoff scheme Planned Parenthood Federation of America had to lay off about 20% of its headquarters' staff, but says the reductions will not impact health services offered at Planned Parenthood clinics: (via Crains New York).

The New York State legislature is considering two bills this session on reproductive health, one called the Healthy Teens Act would set up a grant to fund medically accurate sex education and the other, called Reproductive Health and Privacy Protection Act, would establish a woman's fundamental right to make decisions about contraception and pregnancy: (via Poughkeepsie Journal).

The Philadelphia Daily News calls on Obama to maintain his campaign promise of purging ineffective federal programs from the budget by eliminating funding for abstinence-only education, which costs taxpayers $200 million a year and has failed to curb teen pregnancy and STD rates.

Wyoming lawmakers are trying to pass legislation that would increase the penalty for the intentional murder of a pregnant woman after a bill that would make it a double homicide to kill a pregnant woman and the fetus was vetoed by the governor, who thought the law would create unnecessary controversy over abortion: (via Billings Gazette).

Three Utah lawmakers are putting on hold their attempt to ban abortion in the state, due to Utah lacking funds to defend such a law in court, but are instead attempting to create a law that would set up a legal defense fund for supporters to donate money for the eventual court battle that would follow a statewide abortion ban: (via Salt Lake Tribune).

Wall Street Journal columnist William McGurn addresses the recent media attention to the Johns Hopkins Study that found virginity-pledging teens were no more likely to abstain from sexual behavior than like-minded peers, noting that much of the media focus has left out a crucial part of the study, that more conservative and religious teens did in fact delay sexual activity, but that the "pledge" made no significant difference in behavior.

A University of Wisconsin clinic may begin to provide 2nd trimester abortions following the recent retirement of the area's only provider of 2nd trimester abortions, though the anti-choice groups Alliance Defense Fund and Pro-Life Wisconsin are protesting the decision and threatening legal action to prevent the clinic from performing the procedure: (via Chicago Tribune).

New research from UC Berkeley suggests that pregnant women who take maternity leave before they give birth are four times less likely to require a costly Caesarean section when they go into labor: (via Contra Costa Times).

Washington state Attorney General Rob McKenna plans to ask lawmakers to approve an increase in prison sentences for domestic violence perpetrators that have a record of misdemeanor abuse: (via Tri City Herald).

Planned Parenthood of Idaho has merged with organizations in Washington and Alaska to create Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest; no jobs were lost in the merger which was reportedly done to allocate more resources to health care centers: (via Seattle Times).

Amie Newman of RH Reality Check criticizes a recent Atlantic article by Ross Douthat on Planned Parenthood where he unconvincingly argues that Planned Parenthood provides more abortion than it says, does not reduce unintended pregnancy and does not deserve to receive tax money for its STI and unplanned pregnancy prevention work.

On Huffington Post, women's health care advocate Kirsten Moore discusses future HHS Secretary Tom Daschle's support of the Federal Employees Health Benefits program, which may be a way for the government to help the uninsured afford health insurance, saying he should work to rescind the ban on coverage of abortion care if the program is to be implemented.

An RH Reality Check article examines the "adoption consensus", a middle ground that both sides of the abortion debate supposedly agree on, saying that while we ought to work to make adoption easier for those who choose it, doing so will not reduce the number of abortions.

New York City councilmember Christine Quinn introduced a bill, which is expected to pass, that would extend the rights of abortion clinic workers and patients against harassment from protestors outside of clinics, after NARAL Pro-Choice New York informed her of the problem happening at a number of area health centers: (via NY Times).

Despite Vatican objections, next month the RU-486 abortion pill will be made available to women in Italy through prescription by a doctor in a hospital, a decision that was made by the previous, more liberal government in February but cannot be overturned by the current, more conservative administration: (via Times Online).

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.

President Bush has threatened to veto the Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act, passed by the House last week, which gives federal and congressional employees four weeks of paid parental leave after birth, adoption, or placement of a foster child (via The Washington Post).

The UN Security Council has adopted a resolution declaring rape and sexual violence as a war tactic (via The Daily Nation).

The president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California has released a statement denying allegations that PPAC overcharged the government for oral contraceptives (via the LA Times).

The president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California has released a statement denying allegations that PPAC overcharged the government for oral contraceptives (via the LA Times).

The Virginia Senate has voted to cut off state funding to Planned Parenthood of Virginia because it offers abortions, marking the first time in over a decade that the Senate has decided against giving state aid to the organization because of its abortion-related activities (via the Washington Post).  

The Missouri Senate has preliminarily approved a bill that would require parents of girls entering the sixth grade to be sent information on how HPV is transmitted, the virus' symptoms and its link to cervical cancer, as well as require parents to tell the state whether their daughters have received the immunization (via Belleville News Democrat).  

A Tennessee House subcommittee has voted not to increase limits on abortion by rejecting a resolution that would have amended the state's constitution to say that "nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion or requires the funding of an abortion" (via The Daily News Journal).

And meanwhile in New York, abstinence only education does more harm than good.

A DailyKos diarist, starts a 3-part series entitled:  "Coming Out of the Abortion Closet".  She advocates telling personal abortion stories and being proud of the decision to have an abortion.

If you want to see what one organization is doing for pregnant women, check out the National Advocates for Pregnant Women website.

Does the future of birth control lie with men? From RhRealityCheck.org.