What We’ve Been Reading
“Catholics do not need the support of civil law to be faithful to their own religious convictions and they do not seek to impose by law their moral views on others of society.” How different a view Cardinal Dolan has from Cardinal Cushing in Boston, 1965.
How can you not love Jessica DelBalzo’s piece on RH Reality Check entitled, “I Love Abortion: Implying Otherwise Accomplishes Nothing for Women’s Rights”? All I have to say is thank you, Jessica!
The Nation, profiles Planned Parenthood’s fearless leader, Cecile Richards.
The Federal Government stopped Medicaid funding for the Texas Women’s Health Program this week after the state decided to block abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, from participating in the program.
ICYMI, or in case your local newspaper didn’t print them, here’s the rundown on Doonesbury, and here’s the week’s worth of strips.
A little Friday Fun, Congress vs Planned Parenthood infographic…Guess who has the higher approval rating?
7 in 10
This week the Catholic Conference was in Albany lobbying hard against the Reproductive Health Act, a bill that will guarantee every woman’s right to make personal, private healthcare decisions on her own, especially when her health is at stake.
This bill is important. For the first time, it will guarantee every woman’s right to access contraception and decide whether and when to become a mother; it will make sure a woman can make these intensely private decisions even when her health is endangered; and finally, it will make sure that abortion is regulated in the public health code, just like other medical procedures, and not the criminal code.
For years, we’ve counted Governor Andrew Cuomo among our Planned Parenthood supporters. But every elected official faces pressure from various groups, and this week the Catholic Conference spread myths about the Reproductive Health Act when they visited Albany.
New Yorkers know what we want: 7 out of 10 New Yorkers want to see the Reproductive Health Act become law, including 70% of Catholics. Let’s make sure Governor Cuomo hears from us loud and clear: ask him today to lead the charge to pass the Reproductive Health Act this session. And let’s show the nation, in the midst of this terrible national diatribe against women’s health, that everyone can count on New York to lead the way to equality and access.
What We’ve Been Reading & Watching
On Rush Limbaugh’s misogyny: “Real men care about women & their reproductive health.”
Thank you Mother Jones for reminding us that, at heart (vulva?), all women are sluts.
One woman’s story: “My abortion was the best decision of my life.”
TX is one of the states taking away women’s health care, but Governor Perry must learn: Don’t mess with Texas women! That includes the fearless Stephanie March, whose great-grandmother founded one of the health centers that is now part of Planned Parenthood. (And who you may know from Law & Order SVU.) I love this supporter’s sign:
In more news from TX, a GOP aide decided to leave her job because of the party’s increasingly anti-woman stance.
A clear-eyed, funny look at Romney’s Women Problem.
Ever wonder why women give birth lying on their back? (Well, not always.) This Women’s History Month, Feminists for Choice’s Maria gives us a concise history of obstetrics.
Colorlines provides an explanation of why voter id laws are so bad.
Helping kids learn healthy sexuality (even if you didn’t).
The Democratic women of the U.S. Senate tell Speaker Boehner to back off. (Now if only the headlines stopped using terms like “twist the knife” or – in the National Journal – “the ladies.”)
Last but definitely not least, did you see Cecile Richards on The Daily Show? Watch both parts – the one that aired and the one that didn’t – here.
Health Has No Borders
Today is International Women’s Day, a day set aside to focus on women’s social and economic advancement globally. All around the world, women’s health and rights have greatly advanced in the last century – particularly in reproductive and sexual health and rights. Yet lately, there seem to be an increasing number of examples of misogyny, and attempts to roll back the many rights our foremothers fought so hard to achieve.
Honduras is one of 68 countries where abortion is either prohibited altogether, or only allowed to save a woman’s life. (See world map of abortion laws.) Last month, the Honduras Supreme Court upheld a decision outlawing emergency contraception, reasoning that it’s the same thing as abortion. Today, any woman or doctor found using or distributing the “morning-after pill” in that country could face criminal prosecution and jail time.
As the name clearly states, emergency contraception is not abortion. It is a form of contraception. This latest ruling in Honduras, however, reflects a larger global trend of opponents of legal abortion now going after birth control.
Sound familiar? It should. This messaging is an American export. The global debate clearly echoes the regressive conversation taking place at home. Recent deliberation over health insurance coverage of contraception without co-pays has revealed the extreme positions held by some members of Congress. Unfortunately, I’ve known for years that opponents of legal abortion also want to end access to safe and effective forms of contraception. In other words, they not only want to bar women’s access to the safest forms of abortion, but to the most effective means of preventing it. And these same opponents of birth control coverage for American women routinely propose slashing U.S. foreign aid for international family planning programs.
Those of us who work in public health know firsthand the consequences of denying women access to birth control. The picture is grim, but there is a solution – funding programs to support family planning. I’ll let Connie Britton explain, because she does it very simply and clearly on Planned Parenthood Global’s behalf:
The president’s recent budget request to Congress stays true to these ideals and protects funding for family planning programs at home and abroad. Let your member of Congress know how vital it is to fund family planning internationally. Sign our petition here.
Maybe on a future International Women’s Day, we can celebrate our success, rather than listen to Presidential candidates, their supporters, and members of Congress attempt to dismantle it. Better access to family planning is the legacy we should be supporting at home and exporting.
What We’ve Been Reading & Watching
Secretary Clinton: pro-woman, pro-children, pro-family, pro-choice… pro-global family planning funding!
Let’s start talking about reproductive health and climate change.
State-mandated rape – through requiring transvaginal ultrasound – is already going on in several states. Read more about the anti-choice efforts in Alabama and in Michigan.
…and LOVE Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.
Have you heard about the “I Have a Say” campaign? Watch more women tell the reasons we will have a say – and deserve access to contraception – here and here.
This week, before a vote to defeat a terrible amendment that would have allowed all employers to deny health care coverage to their employees for just about any reason imaginable, several U.S. Senate Democrats spoke out to support women’s health.
Speaking of the Senate, we’re going to miss Senator Olympia Snowe… thank you, Senator Snowe, for your leadership & commitment to good governing.
For change to occur, our leaders must understand that there is not only strength in compromise, courage in conciliation and honor in consensus-building — but also a political reward for following these tenets. That reward will be real only if the people demonstrate their desire for politicians to come together after the planks in their respective party platforms do not prevail.
What We’ve Been Reading & Watching
At a town hall meeting this week, Congresswoman Nan Hayworth used the “ham sandwich defense”. As Jodi Jacobson points out in this great piece about Bishop Lori’s use of the analogy, it underscores “just how shallow legally, philosophically and practically is the “religious freedom” argument against access to contraception. It revealed just how desperate male patriarchal religious bodies and their political surrogates are to curtail the ability of women to make decisions about their bodies and their lives.” The shoe fits here too.
Talk about male patriarchal bodies: I’m fascinated by the fight in Virginia against an ultrasound bill, and the governor’s backtracking on the issue. We agree with Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro: “These institutions do not trust women.”
Which leads me to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand on Morning Joe. Imagine if Congress was 51% women! Clearly women don’t always agree (See above re Congresswoman Hayworth) - but I think the whole world could change.
Finally, did you see these incredible statements by people in the public eye this week? From offensive remarks about aspirin to lies about how contraception works, don’t miss what government officials and candidates for office are saying about women’s health. After you watch all five, cast your vote for the most offensive one.
What have you read or watched this week that really made your blood boil? Or even better – do you have a clip of a champion for women’s health? Share it with us!
What We’ve Been Reading & Watching
Surely you’ve seen the panel of chaste men talking offering expert testimony on women’s sexual health:
The testimony that should be heard: Representative Issa refused to hear this testimony from Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke about the consequences of the Catholic Bishops’ refusal to cover contraception.
And here’s another perspective from workers at a religiously-affiliated social service organization, and their difficulties in getting contraceptive coverage in their insurance plan.
The truth is that this new benefit won’t increase premiums at all.
It’s all part of the larger assault on women’s health. In Virginia, scary anti-choice bills advance, including one that could mandate an invasive transvaginal sonogram.
The case that could have been: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg reflects on a case she worked on before Roe.
Contraception Is About Freedom – Just Not Religious Freedom
Last week President Obama found an elegant solution to resolve the pressure he was under to allow religiously-affiliated organizations to avoid paying for contraception. Many people have weighed in on both sides of the issue – clearly, we are on the side thanking President Obama for his strong stance supporting women’s health. While I strongly disagree with her framing of the issue as one about religious freedom, I wholeheartedly agree with Sally Blount’s point that we are skirting what is really at stake here: Sex and the ability to control the outcome of sexual activity.
The true issue here is about the basic human right for women to able to plan and control if, when, and how many children to parent, and to make those decisions without having to abstain from sex. That’s what contraception enables women to do. Contraception is as much about my autonomy as a woman as abortion is, and that’s why it’s such a hot-button issue. It almost doesn’t matter that 99% of sexually active American women have used birth control. You may not be able to get any more mainstream than that – but as long as it’s about women’s autonomy, it will be controversial.
It’s also about public health. Half of all pregnancies in the U.S. are unintended, and unintended pregnancies cost money. Every dollar spent on voluntary family planning (contraceptive care) saves nearly $4 in the same budget year, and that figure only factors in the costs of prenatal care, labor and delivery, and one year of well-baby care. (If you want sources for this information, check out the Guttmacher Institute.) Women on Medicaid don’t have to share in the costs of their contraceptives, and one of the main reasons we as advocates have been able to preserve that benefit in tight budget times is precisely because contraceptive care is so cost-effective – it’s a bargain for public health. Women who are fortunate enough to be insured without the safety net still struggle to share in the costs of their birth control.
Being sexually active and being able to control if, when, and how many children to parent is a basic human right. Women deserve this.
What We’ve Been Reading
NARAL’s response to Washington Post columnist E. J. Dionne: Contraception is a Catholic value!
Ever hear of labiaplasty? Apparently more women are “choosing” it. Check out this documentary: Perfect Vaginas.
Jamie Lynn Spears reflects on her teen pregnancy in the spotlight.
A chilling reminder of what can happen when a society values boys over girls.
What We’ve Been Reading
Victory! The Obama Administration announced today that they will require virtually all health care plans to cover birth control Don’t miss NPR’s coverage of the decision, and make sure to sign our thank you note to President Obama.
Yesterday marked the 39th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Huffington Post has a great look at how 2011 might have been Roe’s worst year yet.
Ever wonder what Planned Parenthood is all about? This says it all: “Planned Parenthood is not about judging women — their decisions or their faith — but caring for them.”
More women in elected offices is a nonpartisan movement.
Also this week: we found out that unsafe abortions are on the rise around the world. Related: check out the Center for Reproductive Right’s newly updated, interactive world map of abortion laws.
A study by the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health and the Reproductive Health Technologies Project finds that an overwhelming number of Latino voters oppose government intrusion in personal healthcare decisions.
The Washington Post takes an interesting look at Mitt Romney’s rise and fall as a Moderate Republican.
New York’s Senate Democrats submitted a resolution to make January 22-28, “Reproductive Health and Justice Week”. Leave it up to the Senate Republicans to shoot it down. All hopes not lost though, here’s hoping the Assembly can make it happen.
Not surprisingly a new study from The Center for Women and Work at Rutgers finds that, “paid leave is good for working families, businesses and our economy.” The National Partnership for Women and Families has the run down.
