Recent Articles
Association of Reproductive Health Professionals Alert
[We received this as a comment, and thought it warranted being moved up to its own post. Dino]
The Association of Reproductive Health Professionals issued this alert to it’s membership. Please consider following this link to easily and electronically express your opinion about this proposal to HHS Secretary Leavitt.
http://capwiz.com/nfprha/home/
Dear ARHP member,
We have an urgent matter to bring to your attention. Recently, the Bush Administration proposed new regulations under which the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) would redefine pregnancy as beginning prior to implantation and adopt a definition of abortion that includes many forms of contraception, including some birth control pills, IUDs, and emergency contraception. Both of these proposed definitions are alarmingly at odds with science. This regulation would also allow health care providers and facility staff to refuse to provide any medical service – if doing so would violate their moral beliefs.
If adopted, the new regulations could mean that providers of federally-funded family planning services could no longer guarantee their patients access to contraception. We cannot tolerate this last ditch attack on family planning as the Bush Administration prepares to leave office.
To make it quick and easy for you to learn more about and take action on this outrageous proposal, ARHP has partnered with our colleagues at the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association (NFPRHA). Please click here (http://capwiz.com/nfprha/home/) to easily and electronically express your opinion about this proposal to HHS Secretary Leavitt.
Thank you for your quick response on this critical issue.
Sincerely,
ARHP Policy Team
57 Leading Groups Urge Administration to Abandon Proposed Rule that Would Limit Women’s Access to Essential Medical Services
Dear Secretary Leavitt:
The undersigned medical, public health, religious, advocacy, and research groups committed to women’s health strongly oppose the Department of Health and Human Services’ draft regulations that could significantly limit women’s access to basic reproductive health services, including some of the most common forms of birth control. If implemented, these regulations may preempt state laws that protect women’s access to health care and undermine the nation’s fragile network of safety net providers that serve low income women. We strongly urge the Department to immediately abandon its effort to bring about these ill-conceived and harmful policy changes.
Is “Teen Pregnancy” a mischaraterization of reality?
In Sunday’s Los Angeles Times, Mike Males writes, “The Real Mistake in ‘Teen Pregnancy.’” This op-ed takes a fascinating look at how teen pregnancy is charaterized in the United States. His look at how society views the situation is insightful and challenging for those of us working to improve the lives of families through delayed and planned childbirth. What do you think about his take?
Texas: Time to Change Course
Recently, The Statesman Editorial Board penned an opinionon Texas’ funding of abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. This well written and reasoned editorial also sparked an interesting debate among online readers about how to approach the topic of comprehensive sexuality education in schools.
“No Babies?” and World Population Day
On June 29th the New York Times Sunday Magazine published Russell Shorto’s essay titled “No Babies?”that fostered a timely discussion related to World Population Day (July 11th). In the article, Mr. Shorto writes, “The fears on the right are of a continent-wide takeover by third-world hordes – mostly Muslim – who have yet to be infected by the modern malady called family planning and who threaten to transform, if not completely delete, the storied, cherished cultures of Western Europe.” It seems clear that changing global economics and regional immigration pressures must be addressed. However, it is unreasonable to deal with these issues solely in the context of specific regional/ethnic birth rates.
HIV Prevention Online
Most of us know someone who’s dated online. With the explosion of internet dating and the (possibly related) prevelence of sexually transmitted infections, it’s delightful to see someone take the opportunity to use technology to improve reproductive health care in a less traditional way. This article, published in the Minneapolis StarTribune, Josephine Marcotty talks to University of Minnesota developers about the website and why they think it will work. “Web May Hold Key to Fighting New HIV Wave”, is a fascinating read about the possibilities open to us through the internet. I look forward to seeing the results of their project in the future.
Appropriations Committee Sex Trading
Political profiteering may well be older than Congress and sexual exploitation is certainly older. In Washington D.C., political exploitation of sexuality has been perfected over the past 30 years and last week it showed up in its second-most familiar form: appropriations negotiations. Elected officials appreciate the advantages of sexual moralizing and, on the other side of the same thin coin, elected officials understand human weakness and salacious sexuality. This obsession is a weak representation of human sexuality — especially when it comes to reproductive health and family planning — nonetheless it provides a throw-away bargaining chip for our representatives.
The Pill Doesn’t Kill
It is no secret that anti-choice groups have long used radical tactics to oppose abortion. This year, we saw young children outfitted in “I survived the American Holocaust” tee shirts in legislative hearings in the Wisconsin capitol. Last July, we watched in horror as a group of “pro-lifers” staged, in front of a Milwaukee abortion clinic, a celebratory reenactment of the murder of a Florida abortion provider and his escort by Paul Hill. In short, their campaigns and demonstrations have grown increasingly extreme and more inappropriate as of late.
Removing the Global Gag Rule
The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief is up for renewal. This article, published in the Boston Globe, demonstrates Congess could help increase the effectiveness of this funding. In “Global AIDS Policy and Women’s Health”, Pat Daoust explains how the Global Gag Rule has stunted the success of AIDS prevention initiatives in Africa and what Congress could do about it.
Not Just Babies
May is Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month. Every year about this time, we take a moment to talk about pregnancy as a consequence of unprotected or underprotected sexual activity. In “The Silent Epidemic”, Lisa Kaiser of The Shepherd Express takes a look at the prevelence of sexually transmitted infection (STI) rates among teens in the Milwaukee area. Ms. Kaiser rightly points out in her article that while many were shocked when it came out that 1 in 4 teen girls in the United States has an STI, the numbers can be higher in our backyard.