On Tuesday we told you about the bishops’ campaign to contest the decision to make no-copay contraceptive coverage available to employees, including those working for Catholic institutions. This Department of Health and Human Services ruling was an important victory for the many women and men who need this coverage, especially during these tough economic times. With your help, this victory will actually reach the pocketbooks of American workers.
Right now, the Catholic voice reaching the White House is almost exclusively coming from conservative Catholics, including the US bishops and their allies. The media is continuing this misconception by running these reactions as a reflection of a monolithic Catholic outrage. These protests are not on behalf of employees’ conscience rights, and do not reflect most Catholics’ convictions or practice related to contraception. We need to speak up now and let the administration know that US Catholics support the right to choose contraception, just as they support no-copay coverage for employees’ contraception.
We need you to call and e-mail the White House today with a simple message: the bishops do not speak for me on contraceptive coverage.
Remember to include a personal story in your e-mail to the White House. Your voice is needed now more than ever to preserve this great advance for the well-being of US workers.
We are also looking to share your stories as part of a campaign bring a different vision of Catholics into the spotlight: the experiences of Catholics like you who believe this contraception coverage supports employees’ freedom of conscience and should be available to all Americans, regardless of their employer.
Share your story online and send this link to others you know. There is no more effective way to educate policymakers and the media about the widespread Catholic support for equitable access to contraception.
Thank you for taking action with Catholics for Choice. Please forward this alert to your friends, family, colleagues or any others who may be interested in getting active on this important issue.
Healthcare Reform has meant a lot to people who need access to health care and as the law is fully implemented, it will mean even more. Over the last year, we’ve watched as some leaders have tried to take it back. Check out this ad by Family Planning Health Services to find out how health care reform helps people and what we stand to lose.
[This letter from Lon Newman appeared at Factcheck.org.]
Thanks for the fact check on the South Carolina Gingrich-versus-Romney ad ["Gingrich’s ‘Baloney’-filled Attacks on Romney," Jan. 11]. Confusing the public about emergency contraception pills (ECP) is deliberate, pervasive, and routinely served by opponents of contraception.
Although fact-checking the fact-checking seems tedious sometimes, it is important to explain that available research on Plan B One-Step (“the morning after pill”) shows that it prevents pregnancy by preventing ovulation and/or fertilization.
Ron Hamel, a Catholic ethicist publishing the conclusions of five years of scientific review in the January-February 2010 issue of Health Progress, said: ” … virtually all of the evidence in the scientific literature indicates Plan B has little or no post-fertilization effect, that is, it has little or no effect on the endometrium that would make it inhospitable to implantation. Its mechanism of action is to disrupt ovulation.”
One objection frequently repeated by Plan B opponents is that there is language in the pill package that the drug may prevent implantation. However, Nicanor Pier Giorgio Austriaco, a priest, theologian, and scientist also studied the active drug’s effects and determined that it has no post-fertilization effect. On the argument of labeling, he stated that: “ … labels mean nothing without the scientific data to back up their claims.”
The important answer to the question on emergency contraception is that there cannot be an abortion before there is a pregnancy; therefore, preventing unwanted pregnancies prevents abortions. But even if you believe pregnancy is the same as fertilization, you no longer have to put up with the warmed-over baloney that Plan B is an “abortion pill.”
Thanks, again, for your excellent work.
Lon Newman Executive director, Family Planning Health Services Wausau, Wisc.
President Obama listened to all of the women and men who called, e-mailed and wrote to the White House to express their support for family planning decisions staying in the hands of women. In so doing, he remained true to the original vision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and refused to bend the knee to intense lobbying from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Catholic healthcare industry and other special interests who wanted him to expand a refusal clause that would have denied millions of women access to affordable family planning.
The president of Catholics for Choice, Jon O’Brien, said, “The bishops pulled out all the stops in their campaign against women’s access to contraception. The Obama administration stood with those who support religious liberty and believe in giving women the freedom of conscience to make their own reproductive health decisions.
“While the refusal clause that is contained in the legislation is still too expansive, denying many women, as it does, affordable access to contraception, we are relieved by this announcement. Catholics for Choice and our colleagues in the reproductive rights movement expended a huge amount of energy and resources mobilizing the public to take action on this pivotal issue. In the final analysis, this was a victory for common sense and scientific advice in the interests of the common good.
“The battle over this issue is a warning about what is to come, especially as the bishops are playing the victim card in their pleas for special treatment and their false assertions about alleged attacks on religious freedom. The president and Congress will need to get real about what is going on, and remember that this coming November the electorate will not be listening to the bishops, so neither should they.”
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Catholics for Choice shapes and advances sexual and reproductive ethics that are based on justice, reflect a commitment to women’s well-being and respect and affirm the capacity of women and men to make moral decisions about their lives.
[This blog post appeared here. We think the message is simple and direct. Thank you to Laura Kendellen for such a well written response.]
Dear Laura,
Thank you for contacting me regarding right to life and the issue of abortion.
I fully understand the controversy and diverse opinions surrounding this issue. My own views have been forged over a lifetime of raising a family and following the national debate. In all sincerity, and with due respect to the beliefs of others, I believe that life begins at conception.
Our founding documents establish that we have an unalienable right to life endowed by our creator. Because the abortion debate concerns more than one life, there is not a national consensus as to when life begins or when the life of an unborn child should be protected.
Unfortunately, the Supreme Court in Roe v Wade imposed a judicial dictate that did not end a debate that would be better resolved through the legislative process. As a result, the controversy over abortion has raged for over 3 decades, and there will continue to be attempts to come to a better resolution of the issue legislatively.
I have cosponsored two current bills in the Senate that help define and resolve the issue. I support S. 91 that defines life as beginning at conception, and S. 906 that prohibits the use of taxpayer funds for procedures that so many Americans strongly believe are morally wrong.
Thank you again for taking the time to share your thoughts. It is important for me to hear the views and concerns of the people I serve. Since taking office, I have received over 300,000 pieces of correspondence and have had over 150,000 people participate in live forums and telephone town hall meetings. Please feel free to contact me in the future if I can further assist you or your family. It is an honor representing you and the good people of Wisconsin in the U.S. Senate.
Sincerely,
Ron Johnson
United States Senator
________________________________
I received the above email this morning. I immediately posted it on Facebook and the comments keep coming.
I’m not sure which email Sen. Johnson is replying to here, but I am so appalled by his use of religious language in official correspondence that I have to share it.
I’m referring specifically to Sen. Johnson’s candid mention of “our creator.” As if everyone believes whatever Sen. Johnson believes. As if imposing his religious beliefs on his constituents is part of his job as a U.S. senator.
Regardless of “our founding documents,” I am a strong proponent of separation of church and state. Everyone is entitled to their own religious beliefs or having no religious beliefs, but religion should have no place in government- in theory and practice.
Unfortunately, that’s not the reality. After all, organizations like NARAL wouldn’t have to exist if it weren’t for the religion-politics crossover.
Although the majority of Americans identify as Christians, 3.9-5.5% identify as non-Christian, and 15% don’t identify with any religion at all.
Furthermore…
A recent Gallup poll shows that those who believe that abortion should be illegal in all cases are the minority;
A Guttmacher report shows 78% of women who have abortions have a religious affiliation;
And the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, for example, is made up of about 40 national religious and religiously affiliated organizations from 15 denominations and faith traditions
Clearly, religion and anti-choice sentiments don’t always go hand in hand.
I expected Sen. Johnson’s response to be anti-choice, but I did not expect such a blatant disregard for religious freedom and separation of church and state. Like many politicians, he is using “the issue of abortion” as a platform to promote his personal religious beliefs rather than to simply state his position.
Sen. Johnson’s response illustrates that he is both out of touch and out of line.
Arriving at the National Women’s Law Center three months ago, I never anticipated just how sustained and systemic the efforts to dismantle women’s health and reproductive rights had become. Sure, I had paid attention to the Planned Parenthood defunding fight (which included the “trade” for a ban on DC funding of abortion services and the “this is not meant to be a factual statement” debacle) and had heard about HR 3and the disgusting “forcible rape” debate. Indeed, it was those events that informed my decision to work on reproductive rights issues full time. But even though I was aware of what was going on, it was only when I became involved with the issues on a daily basis where I gained a whole new perspective on just how far those who oppose reproductive rights are going in order to completely unravel women’s rights. And it got me thinking, if so many bad things can happen in just my three months here, what will 2012 look like?
So in order to be prepared for this year, I decided to give a quick review of my first three months – a recap of the numerous anti-choice measures that cropped up in just the final months of 2011. Because when you lay it all out, you can’t ignore how serious these efforts really are.
In my very first week, the House of Representatives voted on HR 358, which literally would allow women to die at hospitals instead of getting the emergency care they need if it included abortion care. Seriously? Ok, next? How about the Rehberg Draft, the House’s version of the Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations bill, which was never reviewed, debated, or marked up in subcommittee before the subcommittee chair posted it online (meaning circumventing the typical process for getting bills through). The draft included defunding Title X (the family planning program), ensuring Planned Parenthood gets no federal funds whatsoever (once again), expanding refusal rights, and taking away funding for implementing the Affordable Care Act. So basically everything that would hurt women’s and their families’ health. Thankfully, these provisions did not make it into the final appropriations bill (although there was a cut in Title X funding), so take a momentary sigh of relief. But with this sigh of relief there is also one of frustration when considering the 2012 appropriations didn’t include provisions providing coverage of abortion in case of rape, incest, or life endangerment for Peace Corps volunteers or permanently banning the global gag rule. Oh, and don’t forget, the bill prevents DC from using its own funds to cover abortion services. Sigh.
Ok, next up we have the debate of the National Defense Authorization Act, where Senator Shaheen was trying to include an amendment in the bill that would correct a very serious gap in coverage for women who rely on the military for insurance. Does it make sense that military women who fight and sacrifice for our country are left without any health insurance coverage for abortion services when they find themselves pregnant after surviving sexual violence? Does it make any more sense that civilian federal employees and those on Medicaid get such coverage and women in the military do not? Despite it making no sense for not providing this coverage to military women, the amendment was blocked from coming to a vote.
Now back to the House again, where there was a hearing in the Subcommittee on Health of the Energy & Commerce Committee on whether the groundbreaking HHS rule guaranteeing no cost sharing coverage of contraception should have an even bigger exemption for more religious entities, like hospitals and universities. Even though the rule in no way forces someone to take contraception, several witnesses at the hearing said that the rule still impinges on hospitals’ and universities’ consciences. Contraception is widely accepted, widely used, and used to be non-controversial. So it makes you think, are we really debating this? Is this where we are now, that even contraception is now up for negotiation? Ugh.
Just weeks after the HHS rule hearing, there was another House hearing, “HHS and the Catholic Church: Examining the Politicization of Grants” where HHS officials were questioned why a grant to help survivors of trafficking (including sex trafficking) wasn’t given to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Although claims were made of an administration bias against the Catholic Church, the issue boiled down to the fact that the Bishops would not provide or refer for all services that were required to get the grant. This includes providing or referring for the full range of gynecological care (remember what we are talking about here – providing care to sextrafficking survivors). The Bishops weren’t going to provide what the grant required, so they didn’t get the grant. Simple enough.
Next, we move on to a real roller coaster of a week. First, the House held a hearing on the Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act of 2011, a bill that would criminalize race and sex selective abortions. The hearing was unbelievably depressing as members of the House advanced the extremely anti-choice, anti-woman bill in the name of civil rights, even quoting famous civil rights leaders, all the while ignoring the very big elephant in the room – i.e. the fact that those touting this “civil rights” law voted against every other civil rights legislation in the past several years. This one requires a big sigh…
Ok, but no time to dwell on a bill that would basically require doctors to racial profile patients, because now we are at one of the most stunning decisions of the year – i.e. Secretary Sebelius’s alarming decision to overrule the FDA’s conclusion that Plan B should be given over the counter status. Ouch, this one really hurt. And just to add salt to the wound, the next day President Obama said he agreed with the decision,because he didn’t want his daughters to be able to get Plan B between the bubble gum and batteries.Thud, my head has officially hit the table. There are so many problems with this decision (including ignoring the difficulty women can face in obtaining Plan B at a pharmacy) and the subsequent commentary, but, at its core, the decision to deny women over the counter access to contraception is a huge loss for this country.The decision has done great damage to the message about the benefits of access to contraception, women’s ownership of their reproductive health decisions, and elevating science over an incorrect political calculation (yeah sometimes I really want to think global warming isn’t happening, but then I look at the science…). Oh, and did you know that Obama’s daughters could get a lot more dangerous medicines at the pharmacy next to the bubble gum that is a lot cheaper than the $50 needed to buy Plan B… But that’s beside the point, right?
And so, with that great disappointment, 2011 is over, and with it the end of my first three months at the Law Center. Oh, and just as an fyi, this is just what happened on the national level, I did not even step into theNINETY-TWO anti-abortion restrictions passed in the states, which would make this blog even more depressing than it is and, not to mention, as long as the dictionary. But just as a reference - this total is almost THREE times higher the last highest number of state anti-abortion restrictions, which was 34 in 2005.
All of these attacks on women’s reproductive health, what is it about? Is it about controlling women’s decisions? Is it about nervousness about people having sex? Or is it just about scoring political points, and getting reelected?
Whatever it is or isn’t, it is madly saddening. Not only because women’s bodies are being used as political points, but because the conversation that happens in Washington about women’s bodies is completely ignorant of the conversation that is happening in the rest of America. That conversation is that there is an America that is struggling to make it. That there is a stubborn high unemployment rate (which, if the proponents of sex and race selection abortion were really concerned about discrimination and civil rights issues, they would work on legislation to help with the fact that black women in America have been particularly hit by job loss during the recovery). That the income gap is growing, people’s houses are underwater, extreme poverty is rising. These are all serious issues that are affecting Americans. But instead of dealing with these real issues, Washington is focused on women’s reproductive organs and figuring out new and unique ways to restrict, deny, and control them.
Today (Friday, January 6th), the President’s Council on Science and
Technology will hold its bi-monthly meeting, and 5 representatives from
different sectors of the reproductive health community will address the
Council during the public comment period at 1:30. The speakers will be:
* Dr. Francesca Grifo, Program Director of the Union of
Concerned Scientists Scientific Integrity Program
* Dr. Susan Wood, Associate Professor at the Jacobs Institute of
Women’s Health, George Washington University School of Public Health and
Health Service
* Mr. Wayne Shields, President and CEO of the Association of
Reproductive Health Professionals
* Dr. Doug Laube, MD, Obstetrician and Gynecologist; Board Chair
of the Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health
* Ms. Kelly Cleland, MPA, MPH, Executive Director of the
American Society for Emergency Contraception; Research Staff at the
Office of Population Research at Princeton University
If you’re interested in watching a webcast of the meeting tomorrow,
click here. Each
speaker only has 2 minutes, so hopefully we will succeed in getting the
attention of the Council (and the President) in that brief amount of
time.
The never-ending efforts of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to force US law to comply with the bishops’ interpretation of Catholic teachings continue. The USCCB has rounded up its colleagues in the Catholic healthcare industry and allies in Catholic education, social services, NGOs and religious orders and placed a full-page ad in today’s Washington Post calling for an expansive refusal clause that will ensure that millions of women and men are denied no-cost family planning coverage.
Jon O’Brien, president of Catholics for Choice, issued the following statement today about the bishops’ lobbying efforts.
“The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops isn’t satisfied with its privileged status in US policymaking. Having held healthcare reform hostage over insurance coverage for family planning and abortion services, it is now demanding that Catholic institutions be given unprecedented conscience rights over the people to whom they provide health insurance coverage. This is unacceptable.
“The bishops’ conference is focused like a laser on politics. It wants to increase its role in policymaking so that the bishops can impose their own narrow religious views about sexuality—views that are only shared by a tiny minority of Catholics—on the entire nation, all the while keeping the billions of dollars they receive from state and federal budgets.
“Just weeks ago, the USCCB launched its Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty. The committee isn’t designed to focus on religious beliefs, or worship, or catechesis, as one might expect a committee of Catholic bishops would. The committee’s mandate is to work in six areas, with five of those related to sex issues and the other seeking allowances to discriminate in the employment arena.
“The committee is a major lobbying initiative that seeks to give the bishops a free pass—allowing them to get taxpayer dollars for their social service charities without having to adhere to the standards that apply to others working in the same field or competing for the same contracts. Just look at what the bishops have spent the last few months working on: an all-out assault on the Obama administration and allies in Congress demanding the right to block workers at Catholic institutions from gaining access to contraception through their insurance without a copayment.
“The USCCB wants to take taxpayer money while refusing to provide condoms as part of HIV outreach; to ban employees and their dependents from getting the benefit of contraceptive coverage that other Americans enjoy; and to opt out of providing emergency contraception to victims of sexual violence who come to Catholic hospitals.
“Catholic teachings tell us that we each have a responsibility to listen to our own consciences in matters of moral decision making and to respect other people’s right to do the same. Our tradition also tells us to care for the most vulnerable. The bishops need to remember this when they are making decisions about where to expend their political energies.
“Rather than playing politics to impose their beliefs on people in need, the bishops should focus on their own flock, the people they have yet to convince to follow their lead on key issues related to conscience and religious freedom. I trust that President Obama will listen to the electorate and not the US bishops and their allies when making decisions about healthcare delivery.”
In an unprecedented decision that has prompted outrage by women’s health providers and advocates, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, overruled recommendations of the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research that would have made Plan B One Step ™ available to all as an over-the-counter product. Plan B One Step ™ has been available without a prescription to women 17 and older, but a prescription has been required for younger women; the proof-of-age restriction has kept the product behind the counter. The sooner Plan B is taken after unprotected sex, the more effectively it reduces the risk of pregnancy.
Family Planning Health Services (FPHS) administers a statewide emergency contraception (EC) hotline which provides Plan B One Step ™ to women in need. Lon Newman, FPHS executive director, commented on the decision: “I am surprised by this administration’s willingness to divorce drug policy from medical evidence, but my response, is grim determination. I am not angry and I am not discouraged.”
Newman explained that the statewide hotline (866-EC-FIRST or 866-323-4778) makes Plan B One Step ™ easily accessible by giving women access to prescribing clinicians and helping them find the fastest and the best no-cost or low-cost delivery in their area. “It is important that people are aware of access to Plan B One Step ™ provided in Wisconsin with the Hotline,” explained Newman. “We want people to have swift access to this medication to help prevent unintended pregnancies. Mistakes can happen. We want people to know they have safe and sound options to help prevent an unintended pregnancy.” National publicity has focused on the policy and controversy, and that may leave women ill-informed or misinformed. Newman gave examples of important points that Wisconsin women of reproductive age should know:
Plan B – One Step ™ is available and accessible to all women at risk of unintended pregnancy through the statewide network of family planning providers, all of which
provide EC at low or no cost. The EC Hotline 866-EC-FIRST is able to connect people quickly to medication and resources in their area. Plan B One Step ™ remains available to women ages 17 and older over-the-counter.
There is no medical evidence to support the claim that Plan B One Step ™ prevents implantation of a fertilized egg and it does not disrupt an existing pregnancy.(Source: Contraception Volume 84, Issue 5 , Pages 486-492, November 2011)
There is a great deal of misinformation about this – often from otherwise reliable sources – and this mistaken belief is the reason many women of religious faith are uncertain about whether they should take Plan B One Step ™.
Newman said that there has been a reduction in the unintended pregnancy rate among FPHS patients over the past six years. “Birth control methods have improved over the past few years and our ability to provide them has improved, but the major difference in our protocols has been the provision of EC in advance of need to our patients. I believe that EC has prevented almost 200 unintended pregnancies and more than 75 abortions every year since 2006.”
Newman, when asked about the broader repercussions of Secretary Sebelius’ decision, said that he fears it may foreshadow a separation between the Women’s Health preventive services recommendations of the Institute of Medicine and the Obama administration’s policy for the Affordable Care Act (which makes contraception available through insurance without co-pays or deductibles). “This administration has pledged to base policy on best medical evidence. The public must tell them that it’s time to prove it.”
Washington, DC – Congresswoman Gwen Moore expressed her disappointment in a decision by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to overrule the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) proposal to significantly expand young women’s access to a critical medication that can prevent unintended pregnancies.
“I regret that HHS has stepped in and overridden the FDA’s long-overdue decision to remove the unnecessary age restriction on Plan B One-Step emergency contraception,” said Rep. Gwen Moore. “The FDA’s proposal would have meant that emergency contraception would be brought out from behind the pharmacy counter, onto the shelves with other similar contraceptive methods. Medical experts, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, agree that Plan B is perfectly safe for over-the-counter use for anyone at risk of an unintended pregnancy, including younger women. I fervently hope that HHS is not putting politics or ideology over science in their decision.”
Plan B One-Step is a safe and effective emergency contraceptive that is meant to be taken within 72 hours after contraceptive failure or unprotected intercourse. Plan B prevents fertilization from happening, and does not work if the woman is already pregnant.
“I thought we could all agree on the importance preventing unintended pregnancy, especially among teenagers,” said Rep. Moore. For the past few years, my home city of Milwaukee has worked very hard to reduce our epidemic teen birth rate. We’ve seen a 15% drop since 2005, when our teen birth rate was second in the nation only to Baltimore. But we still have a long way to go. A recent study released by United Way of Greater Milwaukee showed that statutory rape is among our biggest challenges to reducing teen pregnancy. Seventy-one percent of babies born to Milwaukee’s teenage girls were fathered by men at least 20 years of age. These pregnancies have serious consequences not only for these young women—who often experience tremendous isolation and vulnerability—but for their communities at large. Decisions like the one made today by HHS will only exacerbate the problem in places like Milwaukee.”
