This week I speak to Stacy Falkner of Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest. She and I discuss pending legislation in Idaho, Senate Bill 1353. This is the so called Conscience Bill that seeks to redefine what an abortifacient is in Idaho. Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest has opposed this legislation. For more information email Stacy at Stacy.Falkner@ppgnw.org.
Planned Parenthood Refusal Letter to the Senate Floor
I spoke to Rep. Donna Seidel about the passing of The Health Youth Act in Wisconsin. The Healthy Youth Act is Assembly Bill 458 and can be found here.
In this podcast I speak to 4 teens from Appleton, Wi about the OWL (Our Whole Lives) program that they take part in at their church. We compare it to the sex ed program that they went through at the public schools in Appleton.
Today I spoke to Alexa Kolbi-Molinas from the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project regarding Cochran V. Kentucky. The case of Ina Cochran, and her pregnancy prosecution.
To follow the State Supreme Court of Kentucky regarding this case, please go here.
You can also follow the case at the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Website.
If anyone listening has been prosecuted or threatened with prosecution, or knows anyone who has been prosecuted or threatened with prosecution, for allegedly harming their fetus, they should definitely get in contact with Alexa and the folks at the ACLU. You can email rfp@aclu.org or send a letter to the Reproductive Freedom Project at 125 Broad Street, 18th floor, NY, NY 10004. For more information about the ACLU’s work on pregnancy prosecutions and other reproductive freedom issues, please visit www.aclu.org.
In this podcast I speak to Louise Melling, the Director of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, about the Stupak Pitts Amendment and its ramifications on reproductive rights in this country.
Here is a copy of the Bill.
From the Center for Reproductive Rights…
“On March 23, 2009, the Center for Reproductive Rights scored a major victory when a federal court ruled that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had put politics before women’s health when it decided to limit over-the-counter access to the emergency contraceptive Plan B to women over 18. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York ordered the FDA to reconsider its decision. It also ordered the FDA to act within 30 days to extend over-the-counter access to 17-year-olds. On April 22, 2009 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it will clear the way for Plan B’s manufacturers’ to make the “morning-after pill” available without a prescription to 17-year-olds.”
On this podcast I speak to Suzanne Novak about the lawsuit. We talk about what was learned, and how this will impact us all going forward.
The documents from the case can be found here.
From the ACLU of Kentucky…
“As a result of a business merger between the secular St. Luke Hospitals and a religiously affiliated institution that restricts reproductive health care, women in northern Kentucky can no longer obtain many reproductive health services, including birth control counseling and services, IUD insertion, infertility procedures, and tubal ligations.
In violation of Kentucky law, St Luke Hospitals stopped providing these key services without community input and without seeking authorization from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. Moreover, St. Luke has failed to make good on its promise to build a separate Women’s Health Ambulatory Surgical Center that would provide many of the lost services.”
In this podcast I speak to Derek Selznick from the ACLU of Kentucky about this merger, and the resulting legal case for Candice Rich. Derrick encourages all of the listeners to contact Gov. Beshear of Kentucky, and encourage the Show Cause Hearing in this case to be scheduled ASAP.
We also talk to Lois Uttley the director of Merger Watch, who is taking part in this action as well. Lois and I talk about the growing trend of merging hospitals, and the impact it is having on services for women.
To contact Gov. Beshear of Kentucky go here or here.
Mailing Address:
700 Capitol Ave, Ste 100
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
(502)564-2621
George Tiller was shot and killed on May 31, 2009, during worship services at the Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita, where he was serving as an usher and handing out church bulletins. Tiller was shot once in the head at point blank range by a gunman who escaped after threatening two others, then fleeing in a car.
My co worker Frances Irwin recently went to a vigil in Madison, Wi and spoke to several attendees. These voices are important, and we are proud to share them.
On this, the second part of our interview with Guttmacher Legislative Director Rachel Benson Gold we discuss what Title X is, how it differs from state Family Planning Waivers, and this intersection. She and I also talk about decreasing funds to Title X, the root cause of this decrease, as well as our hopes for the future for this administration.
Lon Newman, Executive Director of Family Planning Health Services, give us a report (from the airport terminal no less) from his recent trip to Washington to meet with the staff of various elected officials.
