Recent Articles
August 18th, 2008 • Contributed by Lon Newman
Family Planning Health Services (FPHS) put 20,000 emergency contraceptive pills (Plan B) in the hands of 10,000 women last year. Is preventing unwanted pregnancy as simple as that? Yes. No.
Last week the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics published a study showing that urban minority teen girls lacked knowledge about emergency contraception. Almost all of the sexually active adolescents had heard of emergency contraception, but were not knowledgeable about how it works or when to take it. Girls who were not sexually active had less information.
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No Comments • Posted in: Emergency Contraception
August 18th, 2008 • Contributed by Frances Irwin
A few years ago, Family Planning Health Services took a look at whether or not minors in Wisconsin had access to emergency contraception and/or information about how to get emergency contraception or how it works. Here’s the picture from family planning clinics, emergency rooms, and crisis pregnancy centers.
2006 Emergency Contaception Survey Report
No Comments • Posted in: Emergency Contraception
July 31st, 2008 • Contributed by Lon Newman
How would you feel if you called a federally-funded family planning clinic and the person who answered the phone refused to make an appointment for you until you prove that you’re married? How do you feel about asking for emergency contraception at a public health clinic and being told by the public health nurse that you have to go somewhere else because Plan B is the same as having an abortion? What if these employees were protected by federal regulations so they couldn’t be fired, transferred, or disciplined?
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No Comments • Posted in: Abortion, Policy, Action
July 31st, 2008 • Contributed by Dino Corvino
As you can see, in the post titled “Send a Thank You” 104 Members of Congress signed a letter directed to President Bush in regards to HHS Regulations that they objected to. We here at Below The Waist think it is significant that we post those original HHS documents, as well as the letters that resulted.
You can see the links to the documents here, in this post, and we would encourage you to download them, and read them.
You can also see the names of the 104 Members of Congress that openly opposed these regulations. Please feel free to contract them with your support.
HHS Regulation
Senate Letter
ACOG Letter
The House Letter
AMA Letter
No Comments • Posted in: Abortion, Policy, Action
July 31st, 2008 • Contributed by Frances Irwin
On July 23, 2008 members of the House and Senate sent letters to President Bush and Health and Human Services Secretary Leavitt protesting the proposed rule change that would define most types of birth control as abortion. Here you’ll find a list of all the Representatives and Senators who signed the letters. Please take a moment to say thanks by clicking on their name.
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3 Comments • Posted in: Policy, Emergency Contraception, Action, Birth Control
July 30th, 2008 • Contributed by Dino Corvino
Millions of Dollars to Failed Programs and Crisis Pregnancy Centers
New York, NY - Today, the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) released a special report on abstinence-only-until-marriage programs in Kentucky. The report, which compiles data on the major federal funding sources of abstinence-only-until-marriage programs as well as vital health statistics and outcomes in the state, paints a picture of a state that uses some of the worst, fear-based abstinence-only-until-marriage curricula and lags behind national averages on many important adolescent indicators related to teen pregnancy and STDs.
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No Comments • Posted in: Sex Ed, Policy, Abstinence, Action, Birth Control
July 23rd, 2008 • Contributed by Dino Corvino
[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.
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No Comments • Posted in: Policy, Emergency Contraception, Action
July 23rd, 2008 • Contributed by Dino Corvino
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.
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1 Comment • Posted in: Policy, Action
July 16th, 2008 • Contributed by Frances Irwin
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?
No Comments • Posted in: Policy, Birth Control
July 16th, 2008 • Contributed by Frances Irwin
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 Comments • Posted in: Sex Ed