Educators for Reproductive Freedom

2008-10-21T15:29:00.000-07:00

Our Reality: Abstinence Comes to Albuquerque, Part 1 from RH Reality Check on Vimeo.

Sarah was in ninth grade when she attended a mandatory 5-day health class on sex-ed in her public school. But when Sarah's mother heard that she was being taught that condoms don't work, abortion is baby-killing comparable to the deaths on 9/11, and that young people are at risk for suicide if they engage in pre-marital sex, she took action and rallied a community to stand up for their children.

Abortion puzzles, part two

2008-10-21T05:35:00.001-07:00

Are we obligated to do something about the large number of spontaneous abortions?

http://www.cognitionandculture.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=29:abortion-puzzles-part-two&catid=8:moral-psychology&Itemid=34

Birth Control and Bill O'Reilly

2008-07-26T05:33:00.001-07:00

Bill O'Reilly thinks birth control is a choice not a medical condition.

Discussing the issue of whether health insurance plans that cover Viagra should also cover birth control, Fox News' Bill O'Reilly asserted: "Viagra is used to help a medical condition -- that's why it's covered. Birth control is not a medical condition, it is a choice." But O'Reilly's assertion is contradicted by professional medical associations that have stated that pregnancy is a medical condition and that "[c]ontraception is medically necessary" for women.

Media Matters - O'Reilly: "Birth control is not a medical condition, it is a choice"

McSexist: McCain's War on Women

2008-07-24T05:24:00.003-07:00

Kate Sheppard has much to say about McCain's concern for women.

McCain is ignorant about pay equity, wants to overturn Roe v. Wade and likes to brag about his "sexual conquests" and visits to a strip club.

McSexist: McCain's War on Women | Reproductive Justice and Gender | AlterNet

Bush Administration to Undermine Women's Rights (again)

2008-07-21T10:15:00.001-07:00

The Bush Administration is at it again. Hillary Clinton alerts us to the latest insult to our intelligence.

The Bush Administration is up to its old tricks again, quietly putting ideology before science and women's health. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is poised to put in place new barriers to accessing common forms of contraception like birth control pills, emergency contraception and IUDs by labeling them "abortion." These proposed regulations set to be released next week will allow healthcare providers to refuse to provide contraception to women who need it. We can't let them get away with this underhanded move to undermine women's health and that's why I am sounding the alarm.

An Outrageous Attempt by the Bush Administration to Undermine Women's Rights | Reproductive Health | RHRealityCheck.org

House Bill 287

2008-07-16T07:37:00.000-07:00

This just arrived from Planned Parenthood Affiliates of Ohio.

Will the Ohio General Assembly Give Men the Final Decision about a Woman's Reproductive health Care Choices?

One year ago, State Rep. John Adams (R-Sidney) introduced one of the most outrageous pieces of legislation we have ever seen.

House Bill 287 would require a woman to have the written informed consent of the prospective father of her fetus before being allowed to have an abortion.

That's right...If the man says "No," there will be no abortion. Period!

This bill may actually be scheduled for hearings in the coming weeks.

To raise awareness about this offensive bill, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of Ohio is partnering with ProgressOhio, an outreach organization that builds awareness of legislative issues.

Please click here to help us stop this bill!

You're not going to believe this...

HB 287 also requires that, if the identity of the prospective father is unknown, a paternity test must be performed to determine his identity so that his consent could be obtained prior to performing the abortion.

What is left unsaid is that prenatal paternity testing:

cannot be performed until at least the 10th week of pregnancy, near the end of the first trimester,
is an invasive procedure using a long needle through the abdomen to collect fetal cells,
is expensive – up to $2,000 per test, and
poses a potential medical risk.

The practical effect of the paternity test requirement would prevent some women from obtaining an abortion during the first trimester.

Once paternity is established, if the man says "No," there will be no abortion.

Please make a secure contribution to help us say "No!" to this outrageous bill!

Even worse...

If the pregnancy resulted from rape, the woman would be required to provide a police report proving it.
If the pregnancy resulted from incest, the woman would be required to provide a paternity test or a police report.
If the woman chooses not to identify the prospective father (perhaps out of fear for her own physical well-being), her only recourse would be to continue the pregnancy against her wishes or have an illegal abortion, a first degree misdemeanor.

Speak out! Help ProgressOhio and Planned Parenthood "veto" this bill now!

We can't let them get away with this!

Here's what you can do to help us fight this outrageous legislation:

Click here to make a secure contribution to the PPAO Action Fund to support our efforts to fight this legislation and to support pro-choice candidates.
Sign our petition against HB 287.

A Brief History of the 'Health Exception'

2008-07-08T04:57:00.001-07:00

Some valuable background on the health exception from Vicki Saporta.

While the majority of women choose abortion care early in their pregnancies (89% of all abortions in the United States are obtained within the first 12 weeks - PDF), there are cases where a woman may need to obtain a later abortion in order to protect her life or preserve her health, including her mental health. Contrary to the speculation of some abortion opponents, a woman does not obtain a later abortion simply because she's "having a bad day." These cases often involve severe fetal anomalies that can cause great emotional distress and be devastating to a woman's psychological health. ...

A Brief History of the 'Health Exception' | Reproductive Health | RHRealityCheck.org

Inconsistancy in the “life begins at conception” argument

2008-06-25T05:10:00.001-07:00

Over at Human Enhancement and Biopolitics they try to introduce the anti-choice crowd to reality.

The view that human life begins at conception is a favoured view of most of the pro-life camp. By it, they do not mean that the sperm and ova were not alive and only became so at conception, but rather that ‘human life’ - in the special sense of a person who deserves protection under the law - begins at conception. Unfortunately for them, this view is logically inconsistent with that pesky thing called reality.

Inconsistancy in the “life begins at conception” argument « Human Enhancement and Biopolitics

Cashiers for Life

2008-06-24T04:51:00.001-07:00

Cristina Page takes on William Saletan, who seems to think it's no big deal to jump back in your Escalade and find another drugstore when the first refuses to sell you contraceptives.

William Saletan, the Slate columnist who's made a career of claiming to be pro-choice while justifying attacks on reproductive rights, has had yet another epiphany: We should all support the rights of pharmacists to refuse to fill our doctor's prescriptions for birth control.

Cashiers for Life | Reproductive Health | RHRealityCheck.org

George Carlin: Pro-Life is Anti-Woman

2008-06-23T05:46:00.000-07:00

George Carlin is gone but not forgotten.

Anti-Choice Pharmacies Help to Increase the Abortion Rate

2008-06-21T10:25:00.001-07:00

When ideology enters the pharmacy.... More at Feministe.

You can guess what “pro-life” pharmacies do: They don’t fill scripts for birth control or emergency contraception, which means that they make it harder for women to prevent unwanted pregnancies. And when you don’t have the tools to prevent pregnancy, guess what happens? You get pregnant! Since about half of unintended pregnancies end in abortion, you can thank your friendly “pro-life” pharmacist for doing his part in jacking up the abortion rate.

Feministe » Anti-Choice Pharmacies Help to Increase the Abortion Rate

The Voice of Moderation?

2008-06-20T07:10:00.001-07:00

Cristina Page on John McCain:

He's an unapologetic proponent of the failed abstinence-only approach as well. He voted against making "abstinence-only" programs medically accurate (the most authoritative study found that more than 80% of abstinence-only curricula, used by more than 2/3 of federal recipients, contains false, misleading, or distorted information.) He also wanted to take $75 million from the Maternal and Child Health Block Grant to launch an abstinence‐until-marriage program that prohibits sexually active teens from learning about birth control. Yet another time he tried to route one‐third of all HIV/AIDS prevention funds to the completely ineffective "just say no to sex" programs.

Cristina Page: The McModerate - Politics on The Huffington Post

McCain And Abortion

2008-06-18T07:30:00.001-07:00

Kevin Drum files this report on CBS News.

John McCain's reputation for cross-party moderation has been so ingrained for so long that a lot of people simply assume he holds positions he doesn't. In particular, an awful lot of centrist voters assume that McCain has fairly centrist views on abortion. So what happens when they find out that, in fact, McCain's actual position is pretty much identical to James Dobson's? A new Greenberg Quinlan Rosner poll of battleground states provides a clue:
Once balanced information about Obama and McCain's respective positions on choice is introduced, Obama gains 6 points overall, with his lead in battleground states expanding from a net 2 points (47-45 percent) to a net 13 points (53-40 percent).

....Despite the fact that the national focus seems to be on the economy, among pro-choice Independent women, pro-choice Republican women, and liberal to moderate Republican women, the issue of abortion produces a larger advantage for Democrats than the economy, the war in Iraq, or health care. Moreover, among these three groups critiques on McCain's anti-choice position are the strongest attacks against him, trumping attacks on the economy, the war, and special interests.
This kind of stuff is more than normally tricky, since you can almost always get a fair number of people to change their view by reading some carefully chosen critiques of whatever issue you're polling about. Still, in this case GQR's statement was fairly straightforward: Obama believes abortion is a personal decision and supports Roe v. Wade, while McCain is pro-life and wants to overturn Roe v. Wade. All by itself, that produced a 6-point swing.

Abortion is unlikely to be a major issue in this year's election, but it's not a big effort to simply make sure that voters know McCain's actual position: He thinks abortion should be illegal, and if he becomes president he'll do his best to appoint Supreme Court justices who think so too.

McCain And Abortion, By Kevin Drum - CBS News

NARAL Poll

2008-06-17T06:12:00.001-07:00

A new poll suggests that Obama has and edge among pro-choice Independents and Republicans.

The nation's largest abortion-rights group today released a poll of likely women voters in 12 battleground states that suggests presumed GOP presidential nominee John McCain could lose the support of significant numbers of independent and pro-choice Republican women—if they area educated about the Arizona senator's antiabortion voting record.

Remember, though, the poll was given by NARAL and women were asked to choose between a candidate who "believes that the decision to have an abortion is profoundly difficult for women and families and that these decisions are personal, between a woman, her family, her God, and her doctor, and that politicians should stay out of it" and one who "opposes a woman's right to choose" and would overturn Roe v. Wade--between a caring believer and an opposing overturner. Remember, too, that Bush held the same regressive positions on women's rights. Still, if you care at all about reproductive rights--or women's rights in general--, the choice is very clear.

NARAL Poll Shows Abortion Issue Could Push Independents and Pro-Choice Republicans to Obama - US News and World Report

The Contraception Failure

2008-06-16T07:19:00.000-07:00

Vanessa Valenti examines why unintended pregnancies occur in the United States , a country where most women use contraceptives during most of their child-bearing years.

Nearly all American women will use contraception at some point in their
lives. Birth control is the most effective way to lower the unintended pregnancy
rate, and the best way to decrease the abortion rate. But in an increasingly
polarized political debate about abortion rights, anti-contraception sentiments
have crept in. Sometimes they are blatant -- earlier this June for example,
anti-choice groups sponsored a national day of protest against the birth control
pill. But usually, they are more insidious and come in the form of
systematically and routinely denying women access to contraception. The grounds
of the reproductive rights debate are shifting -- and most Americans don't seem
to know it.

Fighting Sexism in Media

2008-06-13T13:03:00.000-07:00

On May 23, The Women's Media Center, along with their partners at Media Matters, launched "Sexism Sells, But We're Not Buying It," a new video and online petition campaign illustrating the pervasive nature of sexism in the media's coverage.

While Hillary Clinton's campaign has cast a spotlight on the issue of
sexism, this isn't a partisan issue: it's about making sure that women's voices
are present and powerful in our national dialogue.

Pure Tyranny - Judith Warner

2008-06-13T07:08:00.001-07:00

Judith Warner talks about hyman replacement surgery in France, Josef Fritzl in Austria, purity balls in the USA and the alleged male role of protecting a woman's chastity and dignity.

In highly secular France, the reaction to the drama over young women’s virginity playing out in Muslim communities has been public and profound. Justice Minister Rachida Dati recently had to fight off calls for her resignation after she upheld a ruling by a regional court that had annulled the marriage of two French Muslims because the bride turned out not to be a virgin.
Our condemnation of cultural practices and beliefs in our own country that violate girls’ and young women’s dignity and most intimate personal boundaries should be no less total. For, when it comes to female chastity, much of what passes for “protection” is nothing less than sick.

Pure Tyranny - Judith Warner - Domestic Disturbances - Opinion - New York Times Blog

Women's groups unite to support Barack Obama, not John McCain

2008-06-12T05:27:00.001-07:00

Two comments from a recent LA Times story reveal the alleged divide among Hillary-supporters, which seems to be overstated.

This is one woman who won't be backing Obama or the Democratic Party. I am appalled at the way Senator Clinton was treated in the primary campaign and ignoring it and moving on was never an option. I may be moving on but not to vote for Obama. I find it offensive to think that these women's groups would just give him a pass.
Posted by: Lynn | June 11, 2008 at 07:52 PM
Lynn, if a pro-life Republican President is what makes you happy, then that's who you should vote for. Just remember that when he sends up his first Supreme Court nomination. Don't see why you were for Hillary in the first place. I voted for her too, but it was based on her positions on the issues. Now given a McCain/Obama choice, there is no choice. And if he gets his way there won't be any choice.
Posted by: MM | June 11, 2008 at 08:32 PM

Women's groups unite to support Barack Obama, not John McCain | Top of the Ticket | Los Angeles Times

Obama: The Real Pro-Life Candidate

2008-06-12T05:16:00.001-07:00

An editorial from Cristina Page at Yahoo News.

Obama has a huge opportunity to win over an unlikely voting bloc: pro-life voters. The debate over reproductive rights has for decades existed in the abstract; it's been a back and forth volley over "values" that's heavy on emotion and light on fact. But the facts reveal surprising truths and they ought to be hammered home by Obama. The data show that the pro-choice approach is more effective at achieving what the American public views as "pro-life" goals i.e. reducing the number of abortions, preventing late term abortion, than the so-called "pro-life" approach.
McCain may campaign on the "immorality" of abortion but the policies he supports seem to lead to lots more of them. Isn't it time to turn the tables? Obama should hold McCain and and other anti-choice leaders accountable for their failure to find solutions to the high rates of unintended pregnancy and abortion. He has the opportunity to change the debate. It's not about abortion; it's about preventing unwanted pregnancy.
[...]

Obama: The Real Pro-Life Candidate - Yahoo! News

Why pro-choice Dems have nothing to like about John McCain

2008-06-10T12:22:00.001-07:00

More on the bizarre idea of pro-choice democrats moving over to John McCain.

Columnist Froma Harrop seems anxious to help. A Clinton backer, and a Democrat who purports to have a “libertarian streak,” Harrop now inexplicably plans to support McCain, and devoted her most recent column to explaining why McCain probably won’t be a disaster on abortion rights after all.
[...] Harrop concedes that Obama actually is pro-choice, but complains about some of his “present” votes in the Illinois state Senate on abortion issues (an attack that has already proven baseless).
This entire line of argument is hopelessly misguided. It’s so wrong, I’m hard pressed to know where to start.

First, Harrop is willing to gamble, but pro-choice Democrats have to know better. [...]

Second, McCain is going to great lengths to prove how completely wrong Harrop really is. [...]

And third, it’s utterly foolish to narrowly focus the inquiry to the Supreme Court. [...]

Don’t make a reckless and irresponsible gamble when so much is at stake — especially when a progressive Democrat who agrees with Clinton on practically everything is right there on the ballot next to the conservative Republican who disagrees with Clinton on practically everything.

Why pro-choice Dems have nothing to like about John McCain - The Carpetbagger Report

Women Give McCain a Zero

2008-06-10T12:12:00.000-07:00

More on John McCain's record on reproductive rights...

John McCain's record on reproductive rights couldn't be more appalling. There, we said it! We said it because the corporate media won't confront McCain on the real issues in this election. They won't tell you, for instance, that McCain has consistently received a big fat zero from NARAL on its pro-choice scorecard. Nor will they tell you that McCain has flip-flopped on Roe v. Wade and now supports overturning this all-too-crucial case.

Why Do Women Give McCain a Zero? by Robert Greenwald at the Huffington Post

Abortion foes take battle beyond Roe

2008-06-10T05:51:00.001-07:00

The Anti-Choice movement is looking to the courts and the next presidential election.

The national divide over abortion promises to resurface in the coming general presidential campaign. The presumptive Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, opposes abortion rights. Though he has never made that opposition a cornerstone of his congressional career, he has called for the overturning of Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 decision declaring that it was unconstitutional to ban abortion.

He also has turned up the attack on the federal judiciary in an attempt to woo skeptical conservatives. (Anti-abortion activists like Newman still express some discomfort with McCain, wondering whether he is truly committed to their cause.)

Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, solidly supports abortion rights—so much so that the nation's largest abortion-rights advocacy group, NARAL Pro-Choice America, endorsed him over Sen. Hillary Clinton last month in a move then considered highly controversial.

Few issues have galvanized voters more than abortion, and both parties have effectively used it as a fundraising mechanism. And in the heated rhetoric that's sure to come in the campaign, the focus will lie where it has traditionally been, on the prospect that a shift in the balance of the Supreme Court could result in Roe being overturned.

Abortion foes take battle beyond Roe -- chicagotribune.com

When there is no good choice

2008-06-09T08:43:00.001-07:00

An interesting article on later-term abortions.

Later-term abortions — those performed at 16 weeks and beyond — account for only 4.3 percent of the 1.21 million pregnancies ended in the United States each year, according to the Guttmacher Institute in New York City. These cases are often misunderstood, says Michael F. Greene, M.D., director of obstetrics at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. “Part of the strategy of [anti-abortion activists] is to demonize these women and make them into unsympathetic characters who view second-trimester abortion as a trivial decision,” Dr. Greene says. “I have never met a woman who didn’t agonize over this decision.”
In some cases, women seeking later abortions have irregular periods that prevented them from realizing they were pregnant; some become too ill or injured to safely carry to term; others would have aborted earlier but had to delay until they could save money for their care and the travel necessary to get it. But many times, say reproductive-rights activists, women have abortions at this late stage because tests have shown that the baby is not viable outside of the womb or will have debilitating, often fatal, health problems. “These are tragic occurrences,” says Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, an advocacy group in Washington, D.C. “These are usually very wanted pregnancies.”

When there is no good choice - Pregnancy- msnbc.com

The New Anti-Choice Democrats: Can We Work With Them?

2008-06-08T18:13:00.001-07:00

Dana Goldstein thinks that "blue-dog" democrats (like Don Cazayoux of Louisiana and Travis Childers of Mississippi) might help move politics in the right direction in some states--but we must be cautious.

Of course, pro-choicers want to do much more than just keep existing reproductive rights from being rolled back; we want to expand upon those rights and make them more uniform throughout the country. We want women in cities, suburbs and rural places to enjoy the full range of reproductive health education, information, care, and yes, access to abortion, regardless of their ability to pay, their age, or any other facet of their identity. Can anti-choice Democrats be allies in those goals? [...]
On later-term abortions, parental notification, and federal funding for abortion, pro-choicers may need to part ways with the Cazayouxs and Childerses of the world. We should do so respectfully and without alienating them or their supporters. Just by being Democrats from the South, these politicians are giving reproductive rights a major lift. By rebuilding progressivism in that region, they ensure that more Democrats -- some of them pro-choice -- will receive a fair hearing when they run for office. Stay tuned, for example, to Josh Segall, a 29-year old pro-choice Dem running for Congress in a traditionally Republican Alabama district. Candidates like Segall have the potential to de-stigmatize pro-choice politics in the South. But for that to happen, "Democrat" can't be a scary word. Guys like Cazayoux and Childers help make that transition happen.

The New Anti-Choice Democrats: Can We Work With Them? | Reproductive Health | RHRealityCheck.org

Lift Ev'ry Voice: Progressive Clergy Shout to Be Heard

2008-06-03T06:04:00.001-07:00

Laura Riscol writes about how the religious right misframes the issues.

Since 2004, when righteous culture warriors took credit for President Bush's second term and for sweeping a Republican Congress back into power, talking heads have painted moral rot as a liberal problem and the "family values" GOP as God's cleanup crew. Embracing religion - understood to be inherently conservative - was to be America's saving grace.
But by framing sexual health and justice debates as battles between purity and perversion, or virtue and vice, traditional media misses the progressive religious voices that speak out for ethics, morality and faith with respect for the dignity and decisions of all families, all individuals. "Mainstream press treats conservatives as the only authoritative religious voice," says Rev. Deborah Haffner, director of Religious Institute on Sexual Morality, Justice, and Healing. "If they bring someone in from the religious right, they feel they've got religion covered."

Lift Ev'ry Voice: Progressive Clergy Shout to Be Heard | Reproductive Health | RHRealityCheck.org