Tag: abstinence

The new Democratic abortion platform has been praised by some anti-choice Christians who are finding common ground with pro-choice democrats in their pursuit of reducing the need for abortions: (via Reuters).

The American Psychological Association's finds that women choosing to abort an unwanted pregnancy do not experience mental illness as a result: (via NY Times).

An MSNBC article examines the complicated ways in which teenagers view both abstinence and sex, noting that many teenagers believe in abstinence but also have intentions to have sex at some point in the near future, a nuance missed by abstinence-only education that contends sex must only occur in marriage.

In his address at the International AIDS Conference in Mexico, environmentalist Jonathon Porritt stressed that increased funding for family planning in poor countries is needed as much as money going towards HIV/AIDS assistance because growing populations of such countries will cause an even bigger humanitarian crisis than HIV/AIDS will: (via RH Reality Check).

The number of abortions in Connecticut increased in both 2007 and 2006, despite a nationwide decrease of abortions, which Planned Parenthood of Connecticut says could be attributed to the federal Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 which prevents college health clinics from purchasing and providing birth control at discounted rates (via the Connecticut Post).  

Syndicated columnist John Young criticizes the proposed HHS rules which could preclude many family planning organizations and clinics from receiving federal funding, saying that "tax dollars don't pay for abortion" but in fact prevent abortion in the most effective manner possible by providing access to birth control (via The Seattle Post-Intelligencer).  

Hillary Clinton has a poll on AOL Hot Seat asking Americans whether birth control should be equated with abortion (as the new HHS proposal would do), so far 89% have voted no.

Sex columnist Violet Blue lays out a comprehensive sex education plan for Obama, taking note from a recently implemented Australian sexual health program and arranging a 5-point plan for changing sex education in America: (via San Fransico Chronicle).

The Oregonian covers the letter written by Senators Hillary Clinton and Patty Murray, and signed by several other senators, to Secretary Michael Leavitt urging Health and Human Services to change the proposal that would effectively define contraception as abortion.
And, the letter.

TIME Magazine published a piece on the rising trend of "purity balls" whereby girls as young as 4 engage in an elaborate ceremony with their fathers, and promise to remain "pure until marriage".

An RH Reality Check article examines the 30 years of journalism by NY Times court reporter Linda Greenhouse and includes a comprehensive summary of important Supreme Court decisions relating to abortion.

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.

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.

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.

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.  

Carol Roye of Women's eNews warns of the Family Research Council's efforts to lobby the Bush Administration to extend the global gag rule to domestic Title X funds, petitioning that funding family planning services in the same facilities as abortion services "sends the wrong message" and thus those clinics must not receive government resources.

Iowa and Arizona have been added to the growing list of states forgoing federal dollars that require abstinence-only sex-education since these grants require states to use some of their own money and increasing evidence disputes the effectiveness of abstinence education: (via Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

House Democratic leaders pulled a bill related to child abuse in residential treatment programs Tuesday after Republican leaders attempted to amend the measure with a clause that required parental consent before new prescriptions were authorized, including ones for contraception: (via National Partnership)

The Denver Post reports that anti-choice organization Colorado for Equal Rights claims to have collected almost twice the number of signatures needed to place an initiative on the November ballot that would define a fertilized embryo as a person.

In another victory for personal privacy California's Supreme Court overturns the state's ban on gay marriage (via L.A. Times).

NARAL Pro-Choice America's Policy Director Donna Crane blogs about her experience at the House hearing on Bush's dangerous and discredited "abstinence-only" policies.

Maine's governor has signed into law a bill giving pharmacists the authority to sell certain medications for pregnant women and infants to midwives who provide care primarily during home births, improving the reproductive options for women choosing home births in that state (via Bangor News).

In an interview for "60 minutes" Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia reiterates his opposition to abortion, and also claims that "there's nothing" in the Constitution to support abortion rights (via Associated Press).

A study comparing abstinence-only and comprehensive sex education published in the Journal of Adolescent Health has found that abstinence-only programs have no significant effect on delaying sexual activity or in reducing the risk for teen pregnancy and STIs, while comprehensive sex education programs are associated with a significantly reduced risk of pregnancy as well as a marginally reduced likelihood of a teen becoming sexually active.  

Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius has vetoed an anti-abortion bill that would have imposed new restrictions on both women and providers by allowing the woman's siblings, parents, grandparents or spouse to seek court orders prohibiting abortions after the 21st week of pregnancy.  Anti-abortion groups will attempt to override the veto when the Legislature returns from its spring break (via the Wichita Eagle).  

Iowa's Governor has signed into law a bill requiring that all state-regulated health insurance plans that cover vaccinations cover HPV vaccines (via The Des Moines Register).

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer points out that it's "just plain embarrassing" that wage discrimination based on gender is still a subject for debate in 2008, as the U.S. Senate finally considers an "equal pay for equal work" bill similar to one passed by the House last year.  

RH Reality Check's Lynda Waddington writes about the difficulty of removing the taboo around abortion when American network television engages in self-imposed censorship of both the term and the procedure.