A Twist on the Adoption Option: Its About Choice

What exactly does it mean to be pro-choice? It’s as simple as respecting the rights of others to choose for themselves what to do when facing an unintended pregnancy. It means supporting women who choose to become a parent, those who choose abortion, and those who choose to give a child up for adoption. Yet, it is that last notion that seems to be causing quite an incredulous buzz.

Calling it “a highly unusual collaboration anywhere in the United States”, the IndyStar.com reports of Planned Parenthood of Indiana’s move to share office space with an adoption agency.

While it might be legal, is it moral?

Because you have probably been asked that so many times before, I bet you thought I was talking about that age-old abortion question. But, I'm not. For me, this question is about the role churches and other religious institutions are playing in politics, and more specifically, anti-abortion churches. As an activist, I have always viewed the issue through a political lens. Yet recent comments from a leading Catholic Bishop and the IRS suggest that there is also a lens of legality and morality that can be used when examining the issue.

Just Saying No (Again) to Emergency Contraception

After years of bureaucratic ping-pong, the answer is still no. Hell no.

No, you can’t protect yourself from an unintended pregnancy. Nothing to do if the condom breaks, the diaphragm slips, or you have been raped. It’s a no-go, even if you are trying to prevent having an abortion. No, no, no.

The FDA rejected yet another request from more than 60 reproductive health organizations seeking over-the-counter status of Plan B. Meaning you still need permission (oops – I mean a prescription), from a doctor, pharmacist, or other health care professional in order to access emergency contraception.

New Resource: Mapping Our Rights

A new online resource recently launched "Mapping Our Rights: Navigating Discrimination Against Women, Men and Families."

This interactive web site unambiguously illustrates the interconnectedness between reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, and the sexual rights of Americans contingent upon where they live. "The objective of this map is to document the vast differences in laws and policies on a state level and show the linkages" between the issues.

Pre-Conception Care: Women’s Health as Individuals or Incubators?

Improvements to studies in women’s health have been long overdue and slowly improving. Apparently some of the current policies towards women’s health look past the woman as individual, and see her only as potential incubator. Among them, recently released guidelines from the CDC regarding the status of women and their health care are causing great sparks, particularly in the blogosphere.

According to UPI, the CDC is now recommending that “All women who are able to become pregnant should treat themselves and be treated by healthcare professionals as being pre-pregnant.” This includes preteen girls just beginning menstruation, as well as women who have no plans to become pregnant – ever.

Around The States: EC Knowledge Is Low, Ballot Initiatives Are Building

In a recent study involving emergency room patients and their knowledge of emergency contraception (EC), researchers found that while 60% of those surveyed did not know how to get the medication, nearly 1/3 of respondents had never heard of EC. The report also found 70% of those surveyed had sex within the last 2 months but fewer than half of the participants used birth control regularly. As the American College of Emergency Physicians convenes this week in Washington DC, we hope that the above information from the Society of Academic Emergency Medicine is shared and appropriate action taken to educate ER personnel.

How About Some New BC?

With news of so-called “new” birth control methods that block periods making headlines in the last several days, lack of research for and approved availability of truly new contraceptive methods can’t be overlooked.  According to Reproductive Health Technologies Project, “…more can and should be done to help close the gap between Americans’ reproductive health needs and the information, technology and services currently available to them.” 

Ever Heard of a Purity Ball?

As the youngest and only girl in my family, I was the epitome of a daddy’s girl.  At 3, I loved pretending to be a princess.  At 13, however, I would have rather died than share intimate details of my teenage world with either of my parents – and they were totally open.  I can only imagine the mortification I would have felt if my father stood up at my Bat Mitzvah pledging to protect me and my precious virginity until the day he passed me off through marriage – not to mention had he asked me to make the same promise in front of all those people. Oy. 

But that is exactly what Focus on the Family and other organizations are promoting with Daddy-Daughter Purity Balls, complete with pledges of chastity, promises to guard virginity, and vows to oppose abortion.  Even more disturbing about this practice is that rather than opening lines of communication about sex, these symbolic promises are meant to be sufficient. 

No Women In Saudi News

While the news about this may have gone without notice, the lack of women to be found in Saudi news won’t.

Yesterday, the King of Saudi Arabia “… asked newspaper editors to cease publishing pictures of women because such photos could 'lead men astray'.”

The state-owned media recently began including pictures of women as they relate to stories, but “always wearing the traditional Muslim headscarf.”

Taking women out of the picture, so to speak, seems a rather backwards step for a country that is attempting to address such fundamental women’s rights, like the right to vote and the right to an education without a man's permission.

Rather ironically, the country has delayed “plans to replace male sales assistants in lingerie shops.”

Around The States

Wisconsin’s decline in abortions should be good news. The Wisconsin State Journal points out, the reason is not because birth control is more accessible or the number of unintended pregnancies in the state is on the decline. As abortion numbers drop, the unintended pregnancy rate among under-educated minority women is climbing due to politically-restricted access to reproductive health services, sex education, and publicly-funded contraception. As the editors of the paper write, “When the most vulnerable groups young women and low-income women account for a lower number of unwanted pregnancies, then it will be cause for a true celebration.”

As demonstrated in Wisconsin, restrictive laws against abortion don’t stop unintended pregnancies, yet access to birth control and sex education can.