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Healthcare Prof:

Opinion pieces within the Los Angeles Times and Salon reflected on the role abortion-rights issues play in elections and public debate. Summaries appear below.

~ Tim Rutten, Los Angeles Times: While it is “hard to make a credible case that anything but the miserable economy and joblessness mattered in this midterm,” that has not “stopped determined culture warriors on both sides of the aisle from arguing that their party’s future prospects turn on reviving conflict over essentially the most divisive social issues,” including abortion rights, columnist Rutten writes. For Democrats, “it’s hard to imagine anything more ill-timed than an attempt to revive abortion as an electoral wedge concern,” he continues, noting that the midterms “reaffirmed a contemporary political axiom: Elections are won among the independents and swing voters whose loyalties are determined by circumstance.” Rutten argues, “Making support for access to abortion a litmus test ignores that historical calculus,” especially among Catholic voters, who make up the largest bloc of swing voters in key areas of the U.S. “[S]olving the Catholic electoral equation is likely to become far more difficult for Democrats” after the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on Tuesday elected New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan as president, Rutten writes. In accordance with Rutten, Dolan is “regarded as an articulate advocate” for voicing the Church’s opposition to abortion rights and “takes a much more confrontational approach” to not offering Communion to politicians who support abortion rights. “A confrontation at the communion rail between a conservative bishop and a visible Democratic officeholder … long has been the holy grail of GOP activists who would like to prematurely wean Catholics from the Democratic Party,” Rutten writes, adding, “It’s the sort of divisive event with unforeseeable consequence from which nobody ultimately would benefit” (Rutten, Los Angeles Times, 11/17).

~ Frances Kissling, Salon: Recent “failures to make progress inside the electoral and policy arena on abortion ought to come as no surprise” after the midterms, which resulted in 44 additional antiabortion-rights House members and six inside the Senate, based on Kissling, former president of Catholics for Choice and a visiting scholar at the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania. “Politics is about the here and now,” and “if anything is ever to change the back-and-forth dynamic of so-called electoral solutions to the problem of abortion, [President] Obama’s effort to get people to talk to each other has be tried, outside of the Beltway,” Kissling argues. In the course of October’s “Open Hearts, Open Minds and Fair-Minded Words” conference at Princeton University, “some cross conflict but civil conversations … made my head spin,” she writes. She continues, “While couple of think there is much common ground on abortion to be located between, say, the Catholic bishops and [the National Organization for Women], the damaging effect of abortion conflict on the political process has pushed moderates on all sides toward more civil debate, which was a goal with the conference.” Each side had a “singular focus, … one on females and the other on fetuses,” which “was a complicating factor in achieving understanding” at the meeting, Kissling states. She adds, “It is perhaps an eternal divide, but it is becoming a richer and less polarized division as more partisans recognize that there are blind spots on both sides of the divide.” The “assumption of the Open Hearts conference was that [the] bar really should be set higher for both those who are pro-life and those who are pro-choice,” she continues. “Perhaps some issues are ‘wrenching’ enough or involve complex enough ‘choices’ that the ways in which philosophers approach them in the academy are not that different from the way girls and men sitting at their kitchen tables wrestle with decisions,” Kissling argues, concluding, “Those who came to Princeton had the audacity to hope that way of thinking may possibly have relevance to the political process as well” (Kissling, Salon, 11/16).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You are able to view the whole Daily Women’s Wellness Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women’s Well being Policy Report is a free of charge service with the National Partnership for Girls & Families.

? 2010 National Partnership for Girls & Families. All rights reserved.

Healthcare Prof:

A recent conference “for an open-minded discussion” on abortion rights “illuminate[d] several steps each side could take to advance a common agenda,” Slate columnist William Saletan writes. In a two-part feature, Saletan offers “lessons” for both sides with the abortion debate on achieving common ground.

In the first column, Saletan writes that antiabortion-rights advocates must strive to reduce the abortion rate “through voluntary indicates,” such as by studying data on the reasons ladies seek abortions. “This approach recognizes that the right to life and the right to choose are not antithetical,” he continues, adding, “Help women avoid pregnancies they don’t want, and you’ll wipe out the vast majority of abortions without having to enact a single restriction.” Saletan also suggests “subsidizing maternity,” supporting contraception and accepting that “[e]arly abortions are better than late ones.” Saletan’s final recommendation for antiabortion-rights advocates is to “choose your friends by your mission, not your mission by your friends.” Young advocates within the movement are “thinking in new ways and taking on new challenges when the older generation has lost its compass or its courage,” Saletan argues, adding, “These forward thinkers may have to choose between preventing abortions and pleasing the pro-life establishment. It’s up to them to choose well” (Saletan, Slate, 11/16).

In his second column, Saletan writes that abortion-rights advocates must “admit the value with the fetus” and work to “[s]how that our high rate of abortion can be sharply reduced inside a framework of free choice.” Despite the fact that supporters of abortion rights “hate to moralize about sexual behavior,” Saletan argues that they need to “think and talk about [contraception as] not just as an selection, but as a responsibility.” He continues that abortion-rights advocates must “reclaim” the stigma surrounding abortion and target women who undergo repeat abortions. His final recommendation is to “reconsider the legality of second-trimester abortions.” He writes, “Imagine a deal … in which pro-choicers accept restrictions on second-trimester abortions in exchange for pro-life support of contraception,” adding, “Both concessions would hurt, but that’s what makes the deal fair.” Saletan continues that abortion “would remain safe and legal, but it would be rarer,” and “in exchange for a 12-week deadline on elective abortions, women would get better options for avoiding pregnancy.” Saletan concludes, “I hate half of this proposal, but I think I could tolerate it. If you feel the same way — and the other side does, too — we may well have a deal” (Saletan, Slate, 11/17).

Reprinted with type permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You are able to view the entire Day-to-day Women’s Well being Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women’s Health Policy Report is a totally free service with the National Partnership for Ladies & Families.

? 2010 National Partnership for Females & Families. All rights reserved.

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Healthcare Prof:

The following summarizes select women’s health-related blog entries.

~ “Walgreens Continues Gender Discrimination at the Pharmacy,” Lisa Graybill/Brigitte Amiri, American Civil Liberties Union’s “Blog of Rights”: Grayball, of ACLU of Texas, and Amiri, of ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom Project, write that “local Walgreens in Texas have repeatedly refused to sell contraception to men, despite corporate headquarters policy and federal guidelines to the contrary.” In a recent case, Adam Drake tried to purchase emergency contraception at a Walgreens in Houston but was told he could not buy the product due to the fact he is really a man. Although “no one must face gender discrimination at the pharmacy,” the Drake case is “even more troubling” simply because ACLU “had already asked Walgreens earlier this year to ensure that its stores sell [EC] to men” after similar incidents in Mississippi and Texas, in accordance with the blog. In June, Walgreens responded that it had notified all stores that they must sell EC to men. “Apparently, the Walgreens that Mr. Drake went to did not get that message,” Graybill and Amiri write. As a result, ACLU has “asked Walgreens to train its pharmacists and store managers and send secret shoppers to its stores to ensure that corporate policy is followed,” they add (Graybill/Amiri, “Blogs of Rights,” ACLU, 11/17).

~ “Bullying and Post-Abortion Trauma,” Feminists for Choice: Recent widely publicized bullying cases — especially ones directed toward lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered individuals — have prompted many celebrities to “voic[e] their belief that life will get better for those bullied,” the blog states. However, “it only gets better if individuals grow stronger against criticism or if society becomes more accepting of differences,” it notes. The blog adds, “Bullying does not magically disappear once one gets older as we would like to believe, as evidenced from antiabortion bullying” by protesters outside abortion clinics. “While there are many [protesters who] just want to inform ladies of their options, there are also those who outright pressure and scare women searching for abortions” in an attempt to make them “believe they have done something inherently wrong that they must regret.” The blog notes, “Ironically, antiabortion advocates use the emotions felt by a woman after an abortion to evidence that abortion indeed is wrong, even if they may cause the negative emotions (not the abortion itself).” The blog questions no matter whether the symptoms of so-called post-abortion syndrome — which abortion-rights opponents claim exists but is not medically recognized — are actually the result of bullying. Therefore, “we, as individuals of society, need to have to consider what causes the emotions felt by a woman after abortion,” it argues (Feminists for Choice, 11/17).

~ “Fight for Well being Care Reform or Lose It,” Amanda Marcotte, RH Reality Check: Republicans gained a significant number of House seats in this month’s elections, boosting their hope that “by continuing to make health care reform (PL 111-148) a contentious, news-grabbing problem, they can make people even more wary of it,” Marcotte writes. In accordance with Marcotte, overturning the well being reform law is “a tactic favored strongly by the anti-choice movement.” She writes, “Knowing that most Americans favor reproductive rights, … anti-choicers instead just kick up a lot of dirt and make themselves so annoying that the general public is open to making concessions in exchange for some relief.” Marcotte adds, “Basically, it is bullying,” and “[a]s anyone who spent time in middle school can attest, sadly, bullying often works” (Marcotte, RH Reality Check, 11/17).

~ “Center for Reproductive Rights Sues FDA for Limiting Access to Emergency Contraception,” Kelly Castagnaro, International Women’s Health Coalition’s “Akimbo”: Castagnaro reports that the Center for Reproductive Rights on Wednesday filed “a motion for contempt against” FDA for “failing to follow a 2009 court order that would make emergency contraception available over the counter for females of all ages.” She notes that in 2005, CRR sued FDA “for failing to grant over-the-counter status for [EC], and in 2006, the FDA agreed to make EC available with no a prescription — but only to girls 18 and over, and only behind the pharmacy counter.” The center “then pursued legal action to ensure that EC would truly be available over the counter for all females, including young females,” she continues. FDA made EC available over-the-counter to individuals 17 and older but has not considered making it available to younger youth. CRR President Nancy Northup said, “FDA has had ample time, countless opportunities, and overwhelming scientific evidence put before it to make a decision.” She noted that President Obama “promised that his administration would reverse the [George W.] Bush policy of politics trumping science. But when it comes to emergency contraception, it??s a new administration playing the same old games” (Castagnaro, “Akimbo,” IWHC, 11/16).

~ “Couple Asks Web: Must We Abort?” Tracy Clark-Flory, Salon‘s “Broadsheet”: A Minnesota couple is using their blog, birthornot.com, to ask “anonymous Internet strangers to vote on whether or not they abort” their 17-week pregnancy, Clark-Flory writes. “Cleary, this screams ‘pro-life’ Internet prank,” she says. The website is “chock full of ultrasound images and updates on their perfectly healthy” fetus, she continues, adding that the couple “say this can be a way for Americans to really make their vote matter.” Clark-Flory notes that the couple’s “Web trail” suggests they are not serious about aborting, as they have indicated support for social conservative figures like Glenn Beck and President George W. Bush. “If this is indeed a prank — and either way, it’s scary to think of these two procreating — it is a perfect illustration of just how poorly some anti-choicers understand the pro-choice position,” Clark-Flory argues, concluding, “The [pro-choice] belief is that the choice of whether or not or not to abort ought to be left up to a woman and her doctor, not to the entire Internet” (Clark-Flory, “Broadsheet,” Salon, 11/18).

~ “This Won’t Work,” Scott Lemieux, American Prospect‘s “Tapped”: Lemieux writes that there were “some good points” in William Saletan’s recent Slate columns about finding common ground on abortion. “In the abstract, it may possibly be possible to generate a strong consensus by combining a legal regime of legal, safe, accessible abortions with measures dedicated to reducing unwanted pregnancies,” Lemieux writes. However, “in the current American political universe, this deal isn’t going to happen,” as Republicans have “if anything become more hostile to providing adequate support to poor mothers and expanding access to contraception,” he continues. “Any analysis [of] American abortion politics that doesn’t recognize that the organized opposition to abortion is not just about protecting fetal life but is bundled up with a whole set of reactionary assumptions about gender and sexuality isn’t going to get you very far,” Lemieux argues. He notes that Saletan’s columns also “consist of arguments for more moral hectoring of ladies.” Lemieux adds that “it’s hard to see the causal logic where repeatedly criticizing women who have abortions for reasons Saletan considers inadequate is going to increase support for the legal access to abortion that is really a central part with the alleged compromise” (Lemieux, “Tapped,” American Prospect, 11/18).

~ “Feminist Wellness Center Closes After Thirty Years, What Does It Mean For Girls?” Amie Newman, RH Reality Check: “Feminist women’s health centers may be a dying breed,” RH Reality Check Managing Editor Newman writes, adding, “Of the over fifty or so operating over the years, only fourteen remain.” She asks, “What makes feminist well being centers so vulnerable, and what does Planned Parenthood have to do with it (if anything)?” Newman writes that unlike smaller clinics, Planned Parenthood is able to receive government funding since it has the implies to separate public money for family planning services from any funding streams for abortion care. By contrast, “feminist wellness centers are locally grown, small businesses at heart,” and they effortlessly “fall prey to a variety of factors, from increased competition from larger-sized providers to a challenging economic environment,” in accordance with Newman. She notes that many feminist clinics continue to accept Medicaid patients, despite low reimbursement rates, meaning that they are “literally giving away thousands of dollars in care each year. That’s not sustainable without having immense support from the public.” Feminist Abortion Network President Anita Kuennen has said the closing of a Cedar River Clinics’ branch in Yakima, Wash., this week must serve as a “wake-up call to all who support access to choice and access to wellness care.” Newman concludes that if the “closure is a wake-up call, I think we’ve hit snooze one too many times” (Newman, RH Reality Check, 11/18).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. It is possible to view the entire Everyday Women’s Well being Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for e-mail delivery here. The Daily Women’s Wellness Policy Report can be a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families.

? 2010 National Partnership for Women & Families. All rights reserved.

Healthcare Prof:

5 (1 votes)

On Wednesday, five Louisiana abortion clinics and one physician filed a civil suit in federal court in Baton Rouge, arguing that a state law that allows officials to close their clinics for alleged violations before the charges might be appealed is unconstitutional, the AP/New Orleans Times-Picayune reports. The suit is the third challenge to new antiabortion-rights statutes in the state (AP/New Orleans Times-Picayune, 11/18).

The suit targets a law that gives state health authorities expanded authority to suspend or revoke abortion clinics’ licenses and immediately close clinics if they determine that violations pose wellness or safety threats to patients. Before the law, abortion clinics were able to continue operating although they corrected alleged violations or submitted a corrective action plan and underwent a repeat inspection. The New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights represents the plaintiffs in the case (Women’s Well being Policy Report, 9/21). The case initially was filed in New Orleans, but the plaintiffs voluntarily moved it to Baton Rouge in response to a motion for dismissal or change of venue.

CRR argues that “by treating outpatient abortion facilities differently than all other medical facilities,” the new law violates the equal protection clause of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment. “Unlike a hospital and some other licensed medical facilities, an outpatient abortion facility no longer has the right to a suspensive appeal,” the plaintiffs argue. They add, “Thus, if the outpatient abortion facility files an administrative appeal, it will still be deprived of its license, cannot operate and cannot generate revenue to avoid bankruptcy throughout the pendency with the appeal.”

The suit was brought by Bossier City Medical Suite; Choice of Texas, which operates as Causeway Medical Clinic; Delta Clinic of Baton Rouge; Midtown Medical; and Women’s Health Care Center. A physician identified as John Doe is listed as the sixth plaintiff.

Agreement in Other Challenge

The five clinics and Hope Medical Group for Girls filed a suit in August challenging two other state antiabortion laws as unconstitutional, based on the AP/Times-Picayune. One law prohibits abortion providers from participating in a state-run medical malpractice fund. The other law needs females searching for abortions to undergo an ultrasound and be told they are entitled to a copy of the image.

Chief U.S. District Judge Ralph Tyson initially issued a temporary restraining order against enforcement with the laws, but dissolved the order last week after an agreement was reached. Under the agreement, state officials must provide girls with a list of facilities that provide no-cost ultrasound services, and females cannot be compelled to receive an image of the ultrasound (AP/New Orleans Times-Picayune, 11/18).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You’ll be able to view the entire Everyday Women’s Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for e-mail delivery here. The Daily Women’s Health Policy Report is a cost-free service with the National Partnership for Ladies & Families.

? 2010 National Partnership for Females & Families. All rights reserved.

5 (1 votes)

Healthcare Prof:

On Thursday, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) held a subcommittee hearing to urge ratification with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, a 1979 United Nations convention that has been ratified by nearly every country except the U.S., the Lincoln Tribune reports (Colombant, Lincoln Tribune, 11/18). The convention “protects fundamental human rights, addressing violence against women, the right to vote, sex trafficking, and access to education, among other issues” (Wilkie, “The Washington Scene,” The Hill, 11/18). Though President Carter signed CEDAW in 1980, the Senate has never voted on it. Thursday’s hearing was the first on the concern in eight years.

Durbin, chair with the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Human Rights, said he hopes Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will schedule a Senate vote on CEDAW (Koenig, St. Louis Beacon, 11/18). Sixty-seven senators need to vote for the treaty for ratification to occur. The only other countries that have not ratified CEDAW are Iran, Sudan, Somalia and some small Pacific Island nations (Lincoln Tribune, 11/18).

Most Testimony Supports Ratification

“Look at the company we are keeping by refusing to ratify this treaty,” Durbin said. He quoted from a letter by former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor stating that “the Senate’s failure to ratify CEDAW gives other countries a retort when U.S. officials raise issues about the treatment of girls, and thus our ratification may hamper the effectiveness of the U.S. in achieving increased protection for girls worldwide.”

Marcia Greenberger, co-president of the National Women’s Law Center, testified that 70% with the 1.3 billion people living in poverty are females. An estimated 5,000 girls per year “are killed within the name of ‘honor’ for being a victim of rape, for instance, or for talking to a man who is not a relative,” she added (St. Louis Beacon, 11/18).

Actor Geena Davis also testified, emphasizing the importance of setting an international example. “It is critically urgent now for the United States to stand using the 186 countries that have ratified the treaty, rather than using the company we are currently keeping,” she said.

Antiabortion-rights lawmakers have accused the convention’s oversight officials of pressuring nations to rescind antiabortion-rights laws, the Tribune reports. Only one person testified against the treaty on Thursday. The Heritage Foundation’s Steven Groves argued that the U.S. “should only ratify those treaties that advance the U.S. national interest. And it does not advance our interests, I submit, to submit ourselves to scrutiny by a committee of so-called gender experts that has repeatedly demonstrated its divergence with American legal, social and cultural norms” (Lincoln Tribune, 11/18).

Sen. Coburn Stalls Bill Combating Sex Trafficking

Meanwhile, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) has requested consultation on a largely bipartisan bill (S 2925) aimed at fighting sex trafficking, effectively stalling the bill’s progress, CQ Today reports. The bill would allow the Department of Justice to problem one-year grants, totaling $45 million over three years, to six state or local law enforcement agencies to combatant the sex trafficking of minors. Coburn argues that the bill lacks price offsets (Lesniewski, CQ Today, 11/18).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the whole Every day Women’s Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for e-mail delivery here. The Daily Women’s Well being Policy Report is actually a totally free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families.

? 2010 National Partnership for Ladies & Families. All rights reserved.

Healthcare Prof:

Our View On Your Wellness: Preventable Medical Mistakes Take An Intolerable Toll
If a 747 jetliner crashed each and every day, killing all 500 people aboard, there would be a national uproar over aviation safety and an all-out mobilization to fix the problem. Inside the nation’s hospitals, though, about the same number of people die on average each day from medical “adverse events,” many of them preventable errors such as infections or incorrect medications. Where’s the outrage? (USA Today, 11/18).

Opposing View On Your Wellness: Hospitals Take Steps To Improve
Every hospital is committed to providing patients together with the right care at the right time inside the right setting. … By way of the American Hospital Association, they work to share knowledge and put in place procedures that will prevent any practice that could lead to a bad outcome for a patient. But a misguided mechanism within the new well being reform law that would financially penalize a flat percentage of hospitals every year will discourage the crucial practice of reporting, and learning from, unfortunate events (Rich Umbdenstock, USA Today, 11/18).

Andy Harris Learns A Lesson
Mr. Harris, a Republican and a physician who was elected this month to represent Maryland’s 1st District, will surely chalk this one up as a painful object lesson in the “gotcha” culture of Washington, where reporters were eager to pounce on the wellness care reform opponent’s apparent dismay that his new benefits wouldn’t kick in until he’d been on the job for a month. But here’s hoping that instead, Mr. Harris takes away a lesson inside the problems millions of Americans face in getting and keeping well being insurance, and uses that encounter to inform his lawmaking. (The Baltimore Sun, 11/18).

Keep Up The Momentum Against Smoking In State
Wisconsin needs to continue to support funding for smoking cessation efforts. Unfortunately, Wisconsin’s program already was cut by 55% within the last budget, down to its lowest level ever. That is both shocking and sad. Any further cuts would be devastating (Dona Wininsky, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 11/18).

Abortion Problem May Return
As Democrats continue to sift by means of the electoral ashes with the midterm meltdown, a number of longtime activists have begun to insist that the party needs to reassert more clearly and forcefully its commitment to reproductive rights. Their argument is that in key states where Democratic senators survived the prevailing anti-incumbent sentiment notably California and, much more narrowly, Colorado, Nevada and Washington voters who indicated the greatest concern with a candidate’s stand on abortion provided the margin of victory (Tim Rutten, Los Angeles Times, 11/17).

This information was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You’ll be able to view the entire Kaiser Every day Wellness Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for e-mail delivery at kaiserhealthnews.org.

? Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

5 (1 votes)

Healthcare Prof:

In a letter sent on Thursday, the National Right to Life Committee urged House Republican leaders to name social conservative Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.) as chair with the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Wellness if Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) is made chair with the full committee, Politico reports.

The letter was sent to members with the House Republican Steering Committee, which is tasked with selecting a chair for the Energy and Commerce Committee. As the ranking Republican on the committee, Texas Rep. Joe Barton is the leading choice to head the committee, but he would want a term-limit waiver to do so. Upton would be next in seniority for the position if Barton is denied a waiver.

Incoming House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has said the Steering Committee will make decisions about the waiver and the chair position. If the committee selects a leader who needs a waiver, it will be granted, in accordance with Politico.

NRLC and social conservatives argue that Upton’s position on abortion rights is at odds with all the antiabortion-rights agenda, Politico reports. Within the letter, NRLC Executive Director Douglas Johnson cited antiabortion-rights votes in Upton’s record and quoted a 1990 document in which Upton said he opposes abortion only after viability.

Johnson said antiabortion-rights advocates would support Upton for chair only if Pitts were made chair with the Wellness Subcommittee and abortion-rights opponents were given seats on the committee (Allen, Politico, 11/18).

Reprinted with type permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You’ll be able to view the whole Daily Women’s Wellness Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women’s Wellness Policy Report can be a free service of the National Partnership for Girls & Families.

? 2010 National Partnership for Females & Families. All rights reserved.

2 (1 votes)

Healthcare Prof:

Republicans hope to capitalize on their majorities in 26 state legislatures to advance conservative policies on contraception, sex education, abortion rights and other social issues, the Washington Post reports. Prior towards the midterm elections, Democrats controlled 27 state legislatures. Now, Democrats’ manage has dropped to 17, whilst five states are split and New York officials are still determining which party has the majority inside the state Senate.

Antiabortion-rights advocates expect several Republican-led states to consider banning some private health insurance plans from covering abortion services, taking advantage of a provision inside the federal health reform law (PL 111-148) that allows states to restrict such coverage. Arizona, Missouri, Mississippi, Tennessee and Louisiana have passed similar measures.

Daniel McConchie, vice president of governmental affairs for Americans United for Life, said, “Ninety-nine percent of pro-life legislations happens at the state level, so the landscape change that we have now is huge.’

In North Carolina, liberal groups are bracing to defend a law that requires most students in grades seven through nine to learn about both contraception and abstinence. Meanwhile, Christian groups plan to push for increased restrictions on abortion and a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

In Wisconsin, Gov.-elect Scott Walker (R) will be buoyed by the new Republican-led Legislature in his opposition towards the state’s recent expansion of a no-cost birth manage program for low-income teens and adults (Somashekhar, Washington Post, 11/21).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. It is possible to view the whole Every day Women’s Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for e-mail delivery here. The Daily Women’s Health Policy Report is actually a cost-free service with the National Partnership for Girls & Families.

? 2010 National Partnership for Females & Families. All rights reserved.

3 (1 votes)

Healthcare Prof:

Article Opinions:1 posts
Last week’s discovery of about 2,000 fetuses on the grounds of a Buddhist temple in Bangkok has ignited a debate over Thailand’s abortion policies, the New York Times reports. The fetuses are believed to have been sent from illegal abortion clinics. Two undertakers and a woman who confessed to delivering fetuses have been arrested. After the discovery of the buried fetuses, police said raids uncovered 20 clinics that were performing illegal abortions.

In the predominantly Buddhist country, abortion is only legal in cases of rape, incest or life endangerment. Performing the procedure illegally carries a penalty of up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $330. The penalty increases if the procedure seriously injures the woman (Mydans, New York Times, 11/21).

The discovery with the fetuses led to calls for stricter abortion laws. Based on the Times, most Thai people are conservative about sexual issues. Many advocates say young people are not nicely informed about sexuality and birth manage, despite its wide availability. Public Wellness Minister Jurin Laksanavisith said one million Thai ladies become pregnant annually, 60,000 of whom expertise miscarriages and 80,000 of whom obtain legal abortions. He did not give an estimate with the number of illegal abortions (Mydans, New York Times, 11/20).

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Saturday, “Longstanding social values must be corrected.” He added that the current laws on abortion are “flexible enough,” and that the “problem lies in society’s values which require study and fostering appropriate values among at-risk groups.”

Several Buddhist officials have spoken about the situation and have announced that a cleansing ceremony will take place at the temple next weekend. One official said the ceremony would be similar to ceremonies of mourning. Phramaha Vudhijaya Vajiramedhi, a leading monk, said, “In Buddhist view, both having an abortion and performing an abortion amount to murder.” He said, “It is a serious sin,” adding, “Those involved in abortions will face distress in both this life and the next because their sins will follow them” (New York Times, 11/21).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You are able to view the entire Every day Women’s Well being Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women’s Health Policy Report can be a cost-free service with the National Partnership for Women & Families.

? 2010 National Partnership for Women & Families. All rights reserved.