Tag: family planning

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).

A Washington Post article discusses abstinence-only sex education, citing a new Johns Hopkins study which included 11,000 teens and found no difference in the sexual activity between those who took a "virginity pledge" and those who did not, though teens that took pledges were less likely to use condoms and other forms of contraception.

Ellen Goodman writes an op-ed responding to the recently released study, calling on Obama to end funding for the misguided abstinence-only policies, which she calls an "ideology in search of a methodology" that we ought to trade in for scientific and evidence-based curricula: (via Seattle Times).

A Huffington Post article by NARAL Pro-Choice America President Nancy Keenan outlines some overarching pro-choice goals that will ideally be accomplished by the new Congress and Obama administration, including increasing access to family planning in the U.S. and abroad, implementing comprehensive sex education and protecting Roe v. Wade.

The City of San Francisco is considering a lawsuit to get California to repeal legislation that allows private health insurers to charge women more for insurance than men, a practice many see as sex discrimination and one that ends up costing the city money as women who cannot afford insurance must use city resources for health care: (via San Francisco Gate).  

An RH Reality Check article highlights some reproductive health care-related legislation that may come before the 111th Congress, discussing what some potential bills aim to accomplish.

A call center in India operated by the government's National Population Stabilization Fund is providing anonymous advice to callers about family planning and contraception in an attempt to stabilize India's high birth rate by providing critical, but culturally taboo information to callers: (via Washington Post).

Sarah Palin's daughter, Bristol Palin, gave birth to her son on December 27th and released a statement celebrating his birth but also warning that teen pregnancy "isn't ideal" and needs to be prevented: (via Huffington Post).

RH Reality Check explores what the appointment of former Senator Tom Daschle to Health and Human Services Secretary for the Obama administration means for the reproductive health care community.

The Catholic church of the Philippines says it has the support to defeat the family planning bill being decided by the Philippine Congress, which includes promoting sex education and use of contraceptives, and will introduce its own bill to limit the sale of contraception and condoms: (via Yahoo.com)

The Pittsburg Post-Gazette editorializes against the Bush administration's decision to implement the "provider conscience" rule, saying the decision takes rights away from patients and that fears over the implications of the rule are "warranted".

Zita Lazzarini writes in the New England Journal of Medicine on how the South Dakota "informed consent" law, which requires abortion providers to tell patients they are terminating "the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being", is a breach of First Amendment rights and violates the patient-physician relationship by requiring doctors to provide misinformation.

A blogger for The Atlantic, Conservative Ross Douthat, writes in support of many anti-abortion measures, but also calls on the anti-choice movement to stop fighting access to contraception, especially as more evidence shows birth control pills and similar contraceptives do not work by preventing implantation.

Democratic strategist Laura K. Chapin says in a U.S. News and World Report article that the wedge issue of abortion is dead in the western states after the defeat of three abortion bans this election.

The California Supreme Court has decided to hear arguments on the constitutionality of Proposition 8 and will answer questions on the legality of the marriages between 18,000 same sex couples who were wed prior to the passing of Prop. 8: (via NY Times).

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).

While Slate columnist William Saletan posts a satirical critique of the proposed rules that highlights the proposal's lack of scientific underpinnings.  

Gloria Feldt says that the misogyny John McCain displays to his wife is indicative of his larger hostility towards women, and evidence that he is out of touch with the concerns of today's society and voters.

Kansas District Attorney Phill Kline has lost the Republican primary for his current seat, which many see as a backlash against his harassment of abortion providers (via Kansas City Star).  

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'.

While RH Reality Check writer Rev. Debra Haffner criticizes anti-abortion activist Rev. Jim Wallis' ineffective and insulting `abortion reduction' strategy, saying that a more effective way to lower the abortion rate is to reduce the instance of unplanned pregnancies and increase economic opportunities for women.  

The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health will ask the G8 summit to commit an additional $10.2 billion annually to support family planning and maternal and child health programs in developing nations (via Women's eNews).

South Dakota's Health and Welfare Committee has decided that state law should no longer protect pharmacists who refuse to dispense birth control pills, and has sent the bill to the full Senate for further debate (via Press & Dakotan).  

A bill introduced to Idaho's House Health and Welfare Committee would make it a crime, punishable by up to five years in prison and $5,000, to coerce a woman into having an abortion, and also would make it illegal for parents to threaten to kick a pregnant minor out of their house if she chooses to carry the pregnancy to term (via KIDK).  

The University of Washington's Daily publishes its Sex Edition, including feature pieces on the rising costs of contraceptives, preventing and monitoring sexually transmitted infections and the rising teen birth rate.

Stars and Stripes reports that the South Korean government may modify their incredibly restrictive abortion laws. As U.S. military medical facilities will not provide voluntary abortions this would provide improved access for those American servicemembers stationed in South Korea who can afford to pay for abortion services out of pocket.

Arsonists destroy one of Albuquerque's most prominent abortion clinics.  
          While a Daily Kos diarist points out the discrepancy in coverage between clinic attacks and other domestic terrorist actions.

Princeton University is subsidizing the cost of oral contraceptive for its students as the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 loophole causes birth-control prices to skyrocket (via NewsDay).

Dr. Susan Orr, like other recent Bush appointees to the position, actually opposes federal support for contraception. She is a former official with the anti-choice Family Research Council. According to news reports, she has fought against federal employees health insurance including contraception, has taught abstinence-only-until-marriage education, and cheered the Mexico City Gag Rule. I haven't found anything about whether she has actually worked against the Title X family planning program, which provides access to services for low income women, but I'm guessing she's not going to be a big supporter of services to adolescents.