We just posted a new Policy Watch piece on the Unintended Pregnancy Prevention Act, sponsored by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY). Our hope is that that article and others in our Policy Watch archive can be helpful references for tracking Congressional activity and understanding what is happening on reproductive health issues in government.
The Unintended Pregnancy Prevention act, introduced a month ago, would expand Medicaid coverage for contraception and family planning services.It represents a trend in Sen. Clinton’s policymaking and messaging of late.
I went into the ministry following a 25-year career as a sexologist. People are often surprised when I introduce myself as a minister and as a sexologist. But I believe that our sexuality and our spirituality are intimately connected, and that at its foundation, my work in the sexual and reproductive health field, and now my work as a minister, share a common moral vision - to teach people how to treat each other with love, dignity, and respect.
People in the SRH field come to work each day because of our values and because we want to make a difference. In theological terms, we are called to tikkun olam, to save the world - to heal the brokenness that so many suffer around unintended pregnancies, coerced and exploitive sexual experiences, attacks on bodily integrity, soul-numbing denial of one's sexual or gender identity, violence against women and sexual minorities, and children who are not loved or wanted. We believe that injustice and suffering in the world are intolerable and that the work we do empowering people to make and live healthy decisions about their sexuality and reproductive health makes a difference.
After writing last week about a seemingly dishonest attempt from C-FAM to campaign against human trafficking, their follow-up email for that campaign this week appears to confirm my suspicions.
It is the same email from last week, recycled in its entirety, with two small changes: a list of “progress” items at the front, and a change in the number of signatures needed at the bottom.But Austin Ruse didn’t spend too much time on even those changes – he updated how many signatures they had received, but he forgot to update how many they needed.Or did he?
It still says they need “50,000 more and we need it fast," same as last week.Do they need those signatures for the campaign, or do they just need some more email addresses for their mailing list?Considering that C-FAM has been on a “serious” fundraising kick for the past month, every email they can get on that list might translate into another person opening their pocketbooks, either now or in the future.
At Rewire, we’re willing to give credit where credit is due, and I think credit is due to the US Catholic bishops for their recent decision, reported yesterday, to not invoke a communion ban for politicians who do not support the Catholic Church’s perspective on abortion in their public life.
The possibility of bishops denying communion to such public officials made major news in the 2004 election cycle, when Sen. John Kerry, a Roman Catholic who supports reproductive rights, was targeted by critics for his views.The American Life League has led the efforts to pressure Catholic bishops to deny communion to Sen. Kerry and other politicians, and some in this camp have even called for the excommunication of such politicians.ALL started a campaign, the “Crusade for the Defense of our Catholic Church,” that produced ads demonizing a group they call the “Deadly Dozen” – the “most influential” pro-choice Catholic politicians, which has included Gov. George Pataki (R-NY), Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA), Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK).There was even a blog – Catholic Kerry Watch – dedicated to defaming John Kerry on account of this issue during the 2004 campaign.
The South African Health Department released some encouraging, but not necessarily surprising, statistics on Thursday: since 1997, when abortion was legalized under broad circumstances in South Africa, deaths from unsafe abortion have gone down an encouraging 91.1 percent. It’s a fitting reminder that making abortion illegal doesn’t make it stop, it just makes it unsafe. The South African Health Department should send the study to Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco, South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds, and Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, who have all signed or pledged to sign bills that would all but outlaw safe and legal abortion in their states.
Common Sense suggests that most people want their government to do the sorts of scientific research and make sound public health policies to inform the public's behavior. It is maddening when ideology trumps science, and narrow belief wins out over common sense solutions as has been the case at the FDA on Plan B emergency contracpetion, abstinence-only policies, the war on contraception, comprehensive sexuality education, and efforts to deny women's rights by turning the clock back on abortion by outlawing choice and making it unsafe.
It is easy to dismiss ideological and faith-based efforts from social conservatives because they are so completely lacking in sound science, public health data, and compassion.
But what about progresive faith-based efforts? The Rev. Debra Haffner leads the Religious Institute on Sexual Morality, Justice and Healing. Her goal is to help progressive faith leaders challenge social conservatives on issues of sexuality and reproductive health.
A new survey from the Center for American Progress indicates that consensus levels of American voters strongly agree that our politics should be informed by both sound science and our faith, and that chief among American values is respect for the individual. When asked what was the most significant moral crisis facing the country, ranking dead last, at a paltry four percent, was "abortion and homosexuality" the social conservative mantra upon which extreme ideologues hold the GOP, and real progress on other issues of the day, hostage.
Yet there are lonely Republican voices warning the GOP against the base politics that attempt to satisfy social conservatives and their anti-choice, anti-contraception, intolerant agenda.
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.
Just in time for hurricane season, another kind of storm will be descending on the state of Mississippi this July. Emboldened by recent draconian trends in limiting women's access to safe and legal abortion in a country where 87 percent of counties already lack an abortion provider, the folks at Operation Save America (formerly known as Operation Rescue) are currently organizing a one-week assault on the Jackson Women's Health Organization -- otherwise known as the last abortion clinic in the entire state of Mississippi -- from July 15-22. Yup, that's right, the last one.
[img_assist|nid=292|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=61|height=69]This post includes links to video footage of the entire presentation, as well as to Rewire interviews with panel members.
The report's author, Stan Bernstein of the UN Millennium Project and UNFPA, was joined on the panel by renowned author and development expert Jeffrey D. Sachs of the UN Millennium Project, and by Ana Langer, president and CEO of EngenderHealth and a leading expert in women's and family health services. The panel was moderated by Nils Daulaire, president of the Global Health Council.
It was a fantastic conversation, featuring some of the most expert voices in this field. These leaders and others like them do the work that makes Rewire possible -- they provide the solid research and thinking on reproductive health to counter the fuzzy logic of opponents.
