Roundup: Women's Status in 2010 at the Ballot Box

Roundup: Women’s Status in 2010 at the Ballot Box

Jan 20, 2010, 9:10am

Rachel Larris

Today everyone is still hashing over the news of Scott Brown's win, what does it mean, and where are we going. But there's plenty of evidence of where women's rights stand right now.

Today everyone is still hashing over the news of Scott Brown’s
win in Massachusetts, what does it mean, and where are we going. But if you
want to see where women’s reproductive rights stand at this exact moment, NARAL
Pro-Choice America has released the 19th edition of Who
Decides? The Status of Women’s Reproductive Rights in the United States, a comprehensive report with analysis of
choice-related legislation and court decisions.

You can check out
the map to see the laws in your state but there are some
highlights from 2009.

In 2009, 14 states and Washington, D.C. enacted 21 pro-choice measures.

Wisconsin enacted a law that requires health-insurance plans that provide
prescription-medication benefits to cover contraceptives and required
pharmacists to fill valid birth-control prescriptions.

Hawaii, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, and Washington enacted laws that
improve sex education in schools.

Utah and D.C. enacted laws to ensure that sexual-assault survivors receive
information about and access to emergency contraception in emergency rooms.

And the
low-lights:

In 2009, 14 states enacted 29 anti-choice measures, increasing the number
of anti-choice measures enacted in states since 1995 to 610.

Virginia enacted a law that establishes "Choose Life" license
plates. A portion of the proceeds from these plates funds anti-choice
organizations known as "crisis pregnancy centers" that target women
considering abortion and often mislead, coerce, and intimidate them.

Arizona enacted a far-reaching law that includes a litany of anti-choice
provisions that, among other things, subject women to state-mandated lectures
and waiting periods that delay access to abortion care. The law also allows
certain individuals or entities to refuse to provide abortion services and to
refuse to provide or dispense contraceptives.

Speaking of that Virginia "Choose Life" license plate, ever
wondered where the money collected from sales of the plate is being
distributed? So
does the Washington Post, which reported that one of the so-called crisis
pregnancy centers listed by Heartbeat International, the sponsor of the
Virginia plate, seems to be nothing but someone’s house.

One pregnancy center listed by
several anti-abortion groups as a certified clinic — the Mattingly Test Center
in Loudoun County — is a two-story brick house owned by Linda Mattingly, a
former director at Care Net, a Leesburg-based pregnancy network. There are no
signs in front indicating it is a clinic, the Internal Revenue Service has no
record of it as a 503(c) nonprofit, and it is not registered as a corporation
with the Virginia secretary of state.

A woman who answered the door of
the Ashburn house last week said pregnancy services had been, but no longer
were, provided there. She did not give her name before closing the door. The
Washington Post tried to reach Mattingly by phone, but messages were not
returned.

Mattingly is listed on Heartbeat’s
Web site as among the anti-abortion clinics in Virginia in good standing and, according
to the Richmond Coalition for Life, is eligible for funding.

In other election forecasting, predictions for 2010 are
going to be flying fast and furious what the Massachusetts loss "means." One issue that could be shaping up, there could be a fight just for pro-choice candidates within the Democratic party. In Michigan, for example, the top two likely Democrats contender for
the governorship are pro-life. That would be state House Speaker Andy Dillon and
the infamous
U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak.

"In a Democratic primary, we hate to see a
candidate who is anti-choice," Sarah Scranton, executive director of Planned
Parenthood Affiliates of Michigan, told Michigan Messenger. "Not only are
[Dillon and Stupak] anti-choice and against abortion rights, neither of them
have been with us on the family planning issues."

"For us,
even if you’re against abortion, you should be with us on the prevention
issues," she added, "because we know those are the things that will prevent
unintended pregnancy and therefore abortion."

As the legislature convened for its 2010 session
last week, Scranton and her allies among the state’s 28 Planned Parenthood affiliates
are tracking no
fewer than 11 House bills at the moment. The bills range from the issues
Scranton first mentioned to enforcing a so-called "duty to dispense" at
pharmacies to requiring health insurance plans to cover pap smears and even
infertility treatment.

In other election news: the Alaskans for Parental Rights campaign is
claiming they have enough signatures to put a parental notification measure on
the Alaska ballot in 2010.

Lastly, perhaps because we need something to laugh about,
Mens’s Daily News wants everyone to know, that’s it’s really unfair that women
get all the rights when it comes to
whether they give birth or not. Men, after all, only get the option of using a
condom, having a vasectomy or not having sex at all, none of which, we are to
understand, is
the same as equality in reproductive rights for men.

I have sometimes wondered if my
lack of rights as a man is because, being male; I am regarded as not quite a
human? Or because our feminized society simply prefers having a men as a slave
caste.

January 20, 2010

Where’s
the logic in abortion study by Dr. Henry P. David? Washington Post (Letter)

Speaker
asks for prayers to move ‘mountain’ of abortion
Peoria Journal Star

January 19, 2010

Wordsmiths
distort abortion debate WatertownDailyTimes.com

Phony
Calls Tell Massachusetts Residents Pro-Life Group Opposes Scott Brown
LifeNews.com

Alaska Pro-Life
Group Submits Signatures for Parental Notification on Abortion LifeNews.com

Pro-Life Rallies in New England Draw
Large Crowds Lifesite

Planning
families Salt Lake Tribune

TEXAS
FAITH: Do religions oppress women? Dallas
Morning News

Who Has
Reproductive Rights? Men’s News Daily

Dozens of
Haitian Orphans Travel to US for Adoptions FOXNews