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HHS Moves to Define Contraception as Abortion

The New York Times reported that the Bush administration is proposing new rules that would discourage doctors and health-care clinics from providing birth control to women who need it. In a spectacular act of complicity with the religious right, the Department of Health and Human Services Monday released a proposal that allows any federal grant recipient to obstruct a woman's access to contraception. If the Bush administration has its way, any health care provider that receives federal funding and would like to prevent a woman from accessing a prescription birth control method has federal protection to do so. This regulation would create a "refuse to care" clause that undermines long fought and hard won state laws protecting women's access to contraception. Laws requiring hospitals provide pregnancy prevention to rape victims could be automatically invalidated. Pharmacies nationwide may instantly be granted permission to refuse to fill women's prescriptions for birth control. Health centers could be forced to hire anti-contraception activists who can refuse to provide contraception to their patients, even if contraception services is the main focus of the facility. The regulations would overrule laws in 27 states requiring health insurers to cover contraceptives. Keep in mind the unwillingness of HMOs to cover contraception resulted in these state laws compelling them to in the first place. The new HHS regulations erase these state laws. Health insurance plans would be free to eliminate contraceptive coverage re-imposing on women 68 percent more in out of pocket health care expenses than men pay.

The Bush administration has been committed to restricting American's access to pregnancy prevention since his first days in office. In 2001, Bush attempted to eliminate contraceptive coverage for federal employees and soldiers. Since then he, at the request of the anti-contraception movement, has obstructed the approval process of proposals for wider access to contraception under consideration by the FDA; appointed self-described anti-contraception leaders to oversee the nation's federal contraception program for the poor; eliminated funding for international family planning programs; appointed anti-condom activists to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS; promoted proven to fail programs that withhold information about birth control from sexually active teens; sunk unprecedented sums of public funding into these no-sex-until-marriage programs even after witnessing, as Governor of Texas, that the approach resulted in his state landing the highest teen birth rates nationwide.

 

Colorado Voters Will Be Asked When 'Personhood' Begins

The Washington Post reports Colorado will include a ballot proposal to define a fertilized human egg as a person this November. The ballot, The Human Life Amendment (also known as the personhood amendment) would define a "person" in the state constitution as "any human being from the moment of fertilization" and would be the first time that the question of when life begins will go before voters anywhere in the nation.

If passed, the law would give fertilized eggs the same legal rights and protections to which people are entitled.

 

Anti-contraception pharmacist appeals decision to Wisconsin State Supreme Court

The Wisconsin Journal Sentinel today reports that Neil Noesen, a Wisconsin pharmacist who refused to fill a woman's prescription for birth control or release her prescription to be filled at another pharmacy, has requested the state Supreme Court of Wisconsin to hear his challenge of an appeals court decision. The Court of Appeals had upheld the state's Board of Pharmacy discipline of him for malpractice as a result of the refusal.

 

Teens Blamed for Not Knowing the Things They're Not Taught

The Unplanned Family Research Council today criticized Trojan Brand Condoms for its advertisement encouraging teen condom use for the prevention of STDs. The ad focused on recent CDC news that 1 in 4 teenagers has acquired an STD. The anti-contraception group claims that teens shouldn't be encouraged to use condoms because of the chance they'll use it improperly. What rich irony: instilling ignorance about proper condom use is a hallmark of the abstinence-programs the group promotes. 

 

Wisconsin Right to Life Vows to Challenge EC for Rape Victims Law 

Falsely claiming emergency contraception can cause abortion, Wisconsin Right to Life has vowed to challenge a law signed by Governor Jim Doyle yesterday, March 13, ensuring rape victims are offered emergency contraception at emergency rooms throughout the state. The Capitol Times reported the long struggle it took to get the bill passed in large part because of the opposition mounted by anti-choice groups. The Capitol Times reports, "Flanked by two survivors of sexual assault, one with tears welling in her eyes, Gov. Jim Doyle signed a long awaited bill Thursday that requires hospitals to provide emergency contraception to rape victims."This is one bill I've been working to get on my desk for a long, long time," Doyle said." The opposition to the common sense law were quick to respond, "We are not lying down," anti-choice lobbyist Matt Sande said. "It ought to be challenged and we're working on it."

Denying Your Prescription is Their Religious Freedom

In response to intensifying attacks on contraception, the Wisconsin legislature has introduced Senate Bill (SB) 232, the "Birth Control Protection Act." This legislation will require all licensed Wisconsin pharmacists to fill prescriptions for birth control. It also seeks to clarify, for the confused, that FDA-approved contraceptive methods cannot be considered "abortion" despite the wishful thinking and campaigns suggesting such by the anti-contraception movement. Pro-Life Wisconsin strongly opposes the birth control protection bill and is gearing up for battle. Peggy Hamill, state director of Pro-Life Wisconsin, explained, "What this bill is really about is forcing pro-life pharmacists to cast aside any moral or medical qualms about birth control and do the bidding of the birth control industry."

Emergency Care Clinic Turns Away Rape Victims

Ave Maria Urgent Care Clinic in Naples, Florida has a policy of turning rape victims away who want to prevent pregnancy stemming from the attack. The clinic is run by Emergency Physicians of Naples, and CEO Kirk Hintz has come up with justification claiming the decision was not made for religious reasons. Hintz told the Naples News "It's kind of like asking a dentist to do open heart surgery. It's beyond the scope of what we do."

February 15, 2008: WWJD? Catholic school tells single, pregnant teacher "You're Fired!"

A Wabasha, Minnesota Catholic school teacher has been fired for being single and pregnant. KTTC TV of Minnesota reports, "She says after being asked by administration to write a letter to the school explaining what she had done, she was then asked by the principal and the school's priest to resign. The pregnanct teacher explained, 'She (the principal) said it would be best if you did not come back. Because otherwise, if you did not resign, it would get worse,'" Funny and all those pedophile priests only got transferred.

February 11, 2008: South Dakota Legislators Work to Ban Legal Abortion and Make Contraception Hard to Get

On Feb 8th, South Dakota legislators defeated the The Birth Control Protection Act. The bill ensured South Dakotans have the freedom to obtain and use safe and effective methods of contraception without government interference. Without the law, pharmacists can claim (with no scientific backing) that birth control is abortion and refuse to fill women's prescriptions.

February 7, 2008: Right-wing Virginia lawmakers prevent sexually active teens from obtaining information about contraception

Anti-contraception lawmakers in Virginia killed a bill that would have required Virginia's teachers to teach students about the use of contraceptives approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

February 1, 2008: Abstinence Clearinghouse Opposes Cancer-preventing Vaccine

Nearly three out of four Americans between the ages of 15 and 49 have been infected with genital HPV at some point in their lives. HPV is responsible practically all cervical cancer cases. In 2006, the FDA approved Merck's Gardasil, which is 100% effective at immunizing against the two HPV strains that cause 70% of all cervical cancers. Gardasil was hailed as "the biggest vaccine ever." One of the scientists who created the vaccine explained, "We believe this has the potential to eradicate the great majority of cervical cancers worldwide" she continued, "Preliminary findings show the vaccine may prevent all diseases associated with HPV, such as abnormal pap smears, anal cancer, vaginal cancer, vulvular cancer, esophageal cnacer and even mouth and oral cancers." This scope of life-saving possibilities naturally inspired the so-called "pro-life" movement to oppose it ("pro-lifers" believe sex must retain any and all preventable life-altering or life-threatening consequences). Right wing groups claimed the HPV vaccine would encourage people to become sexually promiscuous. Now leading the charge against the HPV vaccine is the Abstinence Clearinghouse which is calling for parents to not innoculate their children against these cancers. Add this action to the growing list of life-endangering campaigns abstinence proponents are pushing on children and their parents.

February 1, 2008 : "Pro-life" Leader Calls for Catholic Doctors who Prescribe Contraception to Be Denied Communion

The President of Human Life International, FR. Thomas Euteneuer, has called for Catholic clergy to deny communion to physicians who prescribe contraception. Here is his announcement and explanation.

November 26, 2007: Doctors playing judges?

This segment from CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees, exposes an increasing trend among religious pharmacists refusing to fill birth control prescriptions on moral grounds. CNN correspondent Randi Kaye explores a rising debate about medicine vs. morality. Click here to tell CNN how you feel!

November 9, 2007: Rep. Mike Pence introduces bill to de-fund pregnancy prevention efforts

Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), after a failed attempt to de-fund international family planning efforts, has turned his attention to making contraception more difficult to access in the United States. Yesterday, Pence introduced a bill to eliminate federal funding to the nation's largest contraception provider, Planned Parenthood. Pence's bill comes packaged as an attack on abortion, its titled Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act, but the goal is to prevent Planned Parenthood from receiving Title X funding for the contraceptive services it offers. Planned Parenthood often is the only source of family planning for a large proportion of the women it serves.

October 24, 2007: Bush Appoints New Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Culture of Death

On October 17, The Washington Post reported that President Bush has appointed another anti-contraception operative, Dr. Susan Orr, to oversee the nation's contraception program for the poor, Title X. Orr replaces former Deputy Assistant Secretary Eric Keroack (aka: the "birth-control-is-demeaning-to-women" guy) who resigned in disgrace after action was taken against him by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' Office of Medicaid. Despite mounting evidence that Bush's abstinence-only, anti-birth control agenda is a failure of near-catastrophic proportions, the appointment of Dr. Orr continues the bizarre trend of handing off contraceptive services to anti-contraception leaders. The trend, no doubt, helps explain why abortion rates for poor women in the United States are increasing under the Bush administration.

Orr serves on the board for Teen Choice, an abstinence until marriage group that discourages contraceptive use. She has also worked as a senior director at the national anti-contraception group, the Family Research Council. In 2001, Orr reacted to President Bush's proposal to end contraceptive coverage for federal employees stating, "We're quite pleased because fertility is not a disease. It's not a medical necessity that you have it." In 2000, Orr weighed in on efforts to get health insurers to cover contraception. She told the Weekly Standard that a plan to get health insurers to pay for birth control is "not about choice. It's not about health care. It's about making everyone collaborators with the culture of death."

September 12, 2007: Poor Kids Require Parental Consent to Prevent Pregnancy says Wisconsin Right to Life

Ever since Wisconsin Right to Life formally announced opposition to contraception, it seems anti-contraception activities have dominated its agenda. Their newest attack is on poor kids. Wisconsin Right to Life is having its footsoldiers in the state Assembly hold up the entire state budget because the state medicaid program provides contraception to teenagers. The Northwestern reports "Pro-Life Wisconsin says some of the programs currently funded in Gov. Jim Doyle's and the state Senate's versions of the budget undermine parental authority, such as the Medicaid Family Planning Demonstration Project, which provides free, taxpayer funded birth control to underage teen girls without a parent's notification. Pro-Life Wisconsin proposed to raise the minimum eligibility for the program to age 18 or to eliminate expansion of the program, said Matt Sande, legislative affairs director for the organization."

September 10, 2007: Anti-contraception activists target rape victims

gundrum The Wisconsin state legislature has rewarded pro-life ideology, Rep. Mark Gundrum (R), with the plum job of Ethics committee chair. And yet, Gundrum appears to have an a relationship of convenience with ethics, one that is, sadly, subservient to ideology (rather than, say, facts). How else to explain his opposition to a bill that would provide rape victims information and access to pregnancy prevention? He's trying to kill the legislation in his committee. According to The Capital Times, Gundrum is relying (as these folks are won’t to do) on "abstractions." He's switched the debate from who can be helped by EC after a brutal sexual assault to the definition of an embryo and the moment at which life begins. (Such lofty questions are the usual way that pro-lifers deprive women of needed services. Think of it as: Leave daddy alone while he's thinking.) Gundrum's goal is to get healthcare providers to refuse to provide EC to rape victims. Ethics committees may usually focus on whose taking money in return for favors or whose making foot signals in men's rooms. We think ethics have a broader sweep: doing the right thing at the right time, and keeping your own prejudices out of other people's lives. In that sense, Gundrum's new position is bad news for all Wisconsin residents.

If Gundrum is who they've chosen to lead the ethics panel, shudder to think who's leading the terrorism taskforce.

September 6, 2007: They're Back to Fool

It's back to school season and the apparently pro-cancer Christian Right is back in force attempting to convince parents not to inoculate their daughters against the HPV virus that causes cervical cancer. The less risky sex becomes (by protection from disease or from pregnancy) the more desperate the anti-sex movement seems to get. The priority for them this year is to confuse parents about the HPV vaccine. The Abstinence Clearinghouse is now diligently raising concerns about the "safety" of the vaccination, as if that might be their true concern. They suggest that FDA scientists who approved the cancer-preventing drug have overlooked non-existent evidence proving the vaccination is harmful. On the organization's Web site they explain that "the drug only went through three and a half years of testing, leaving the medical community somewhat in the dark as to what serious adverse effects might result in the long term." Yet, three and half years is not an truncated testing period, it's a longer period of testing than is customary for many drugs. In fact, the FDA does not allow an abbreviated process for approving vaccines. The Family "Research" Council is doing its part with a "Back-to-School Resource Kit" which along with Ten Commandments book covers, a pamphlet on "Homosexuality in Your Child's School," and tips on how to "Raise and American," offers this helpful booklet: "What Every Parent Should Know About the HPV Vaccine." The booklet explains why the vaccination should not be mandatory even though every state but Mississippi has an opt-out provision for parents who object. Here's their tortured logic: "an opt-out policy would likely mislead parents to believe immunization … is necessary to protect their child's health while in the school setting. Parents could feel pressured into going with the majority and not opting out. In this sense, the opt-out policy would be coercive and violate the right of parents to be the pivotal decision maker regarding their children's health."

So parents beware. This school season pro-cancer activists will re-engineer logic to try to convince you not to protect your daughter. Best to rely on the advice of her doctor instead.

July 31, 2007: Wisconsin Considers Closing Family Planning Clinics

Anti-abortion/anti-contraception operatives are hoping to shut down family planning centers throughout the state of Wisconsin this year. The Assembly version of the proposed state budget includes a provision barring state money from going to any entity that provides abortion counseling and/or services. 35 clinics would shut their doors and almost 35,000 low-income women and families in the state would lose access to contraception if opponents of family planning are successful.

Read the public's opinion here.

July 27, 2007: Generations for Life — The Next Wave of Anti-Contraception Activism

In the Q&A section of the Web site for Generations for Life this question is considered: Do you take a position on the issue of birth control? This answer follows: "Generations for Life opposes artificial birth control (contraception), not only because it destroys the inherent meaning of the sexual act as a sign of permanent, life-giving love, but because of the disastrous consequences it has wrought on our society."

Other areas of the Web site are devoted to anti-contraception ideology including Generations for Life's argument for why "Condoms Are Not the Answer" There's much more to look forward to as well. They promise there will be "More Coming Soon" on the following topics too:

Contraception Increases Risky Sexual Behavior
Contraceptives Often Fail To Work
Using Contraception Predisposes a Woman To Abort
Contraception Distorts the Cultural Sexual Environment

So stay tuned…

July 27, 2007: Contraception is Not the Answer Conference

Organized by the Pro-Life Action League in 2006, the first "Contraception in Not the Answer" conference convened leading anti-contraception activists and groups to hash out strategy to scale back contraceptive access and offer talking points on why contraception should be banned. Seminars included:

The Decline of Males: How Contraception Alters the Status and Identity of Men
The "Perfect Family" How Contraception Affects Marriage and the Home
Hormones 'R' Us: How Contraceptives Alter Human Relationships
Comprehensive Failure: The Harm Done by Pro-Contraception Sex Ed

More information on the conference, its conveners and speakers is here.

June 12, 2007: NJ Right to Life reclassifies contraception as abortion

New Jersey Right to Life has reclassified contraception as abortion in an effort to get pharmacists to refuse to fill women's prescriptions for birth control. Gannett News Bureau reports that the only opposition to the bill requiring pharmacists fill all prescriptions came from the state anti-choice chapter of National Right to Life. Gannett reports, "Marie Tasy, legislative affairs director of New Jersey Right to Life, called the measure a favorite of the family-planning lobby, "It discriminates against pharmacists. ... It says if you have religious beliefs, you need not apply." Tasy's organization considers the morning-after pill — actually, it is a two-pill process — a form of abortion, which they oppose." Of course, the morning after pill (aka emergency contraception) has the exact same mode of action as the birth control pill, the patch, the depo shot which NJ Right to Life also hopes to ban.

June 12, 2007: Gov. Tim Pawlenty Drops Comprehensive and Moderate Sex-Education Proposal

The Star Tribune reports Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, rumored to be preening himself for the number two spot on the 2008 republican ticket, threatened to veto a $14 billion dollar education bill unless democrats removed funding for sex- ed programs proven to reduce STDs and teen pregnancy. The Minnesota (Unplanned) Family Council lobbied the Governor to force removal of the funding because the program "mandates education about the use of protection and contraception."

June 4, 2007: Superintendent defies state despite STD epidemic

Even in the face of a breakout of gonorrhea and chlamydia, Castle Rock, Wash. schools Superintendent Rick Wilde is instructing science teachers not to use a state-designed lesson on condom use. The Daily News (WA) reports that health teachers have appealed to the school board, which has met several times on the issue. “Older students do not learn about condom use,” the paper notes. Wilde must hope that teenagers don’t find out about sex, either

June 3, 2007: Giving the Mom and Pop Store New Meaning

The Associated Press reports on the owners of one small business in Montana, who have gotten very involved in their customers’ lives; too involved. The owners of Snyder Drug in Great Falls have decided to stop filling orders of birth control claiming, with no scientific backing, the birth control pill causes an abortion. “We’re surprised by the firestorm [the new policy] created,” remarked owner Stuart Anderson, “We're just a small business making the types of decisions that business owners make every day," explained his partner Kurt Depner. With decisions like these, its projected that business may get much smaller!

 
         
 
 
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