Repro Health Hub

As many of you may have already seen in the headlines, the “largest scientific database for reproductive health“, POPLINE, messed up- big time.

A couple months ago, the database managed by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health had received a complaint from the federal government. Apparently POPLINE, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), had been taking some heat because of two abortion advocacy related articles that were found on the site. Solution? Remove the term completely. Administrators decided late February to simply block the word ‘abortion’ from providing any search results. Of course, the change was quickly noticed by users of the site. Medical librarians at the University of California, San Francisco e-mailed administrators about it. Gail Sorrough, UCSF director of medical library services, said, “..the POPLINE administrator replied that, yes, they had decided to turn the term abortion into a ’stop word’” and librarians were told to use other terms in the search field, such as “unwanted pregnancy” or “fertility control, post-conception” instead.

Once news of the ban became known, Johns Hopkins quickly condemned the decision and had the restriction lifted immediately. Dean Michael J. Klag of the school for Public Health has launched an inquiry for the incident and said in a “statement”, “… [I] have directed that the POPLINE administrators restore “abortion” as a search term immediately. I will also launch an inquiry to determine why this change occurred. The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is dedicated to the advancement and dissemination of knowledge and not its restriction.”

POPLINE’S course of action was indeed a very odd decision and in no way excusable considering that abortion is a very legal medical procedure (did we mention that the project defines itself as ‘the world’s largest database on reproductive health and dedicated to reports on family planning and health issues’?). USAID insists that it had no hand in the decision to change search restrictions- when asked whether USAID requested to remove “abortion” as a search term, the Office of Population and Reproductive Health said, “No”.

It is no secret how the current Bush administration feels about and how quickly they will threaten to cut off funding for progressive projects that stray from their own ideology. It’s also well known how damaging this has become in “developing countries” , killing millions of women a year by limiting their resources. But now the policy has gone beyond just denying women’s health to complete censorship of the issue at home. POPLINE is a US-based organization, and therefore exempt from the Global Gag Rule. Even if USAID did not force POPLINE to ban search results, the project very clearly felt it necessary to protect itself by denying access of scientific and medical information to the issue because of the attention it received. It is not only inexcusable but a chilling reminder of how wide this “ineffective federal policy” reaches, both abroad and within our own country.

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Tomorrow marks the final day of the first annual National Week of Action for Reproductive Justice!

The week-long event was created by the Third Wave Foundation, a “feminist, activist foundation that works nationally to support young women and transgender youth ages 15 to 30.” In collaboration with members of the national coalition supported by the organization, the week was celebrated with various special events (workshops, lectures, trainings, you name it!) hosted by local grassroots organizations around the country. A big thank you to everyone who was involved in making the initiation of this empowering tradition a huge success!

Check out this inspiring video Third Wave produced for the occasion!

We’d like to recognize one of the groups involved in this fabulous week that has been working hard in the name of reproductive justice for over ten years! Sistersong is a collective of grassroots organizations that mobilize, educate, and create change for women of color. Through public policy change, advocacy, and education, Sistersong works to bring progressive change regarding reproductive and sexual health and rights, including ensuring accessible health care, accurate information, and available resources for women in all five of the ethnic populations they represent.

Reproductive Justice is described as the complete physical, mental, spiritual, political, social, environmental and economic well-being of women and girls, girls, based on the full achievement and protection of women’s human rights.

- Sistersong

So if you missed this past week’s events, be sure to check their homepage for many more opportunities to be involved and see what other reproductive justice happenings are going on near you!

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For those of you who haven’t seen already, PBS has been broadcasting some enlightening series about health and healthcare in the U.S and abroad. The first program is a four-part series that began last month called Unnatural Cause: Is Inequality Making Us Sick? and it investigates some of the racial and economic inequalities that significantly affect health. The documentary shows how social environment is a key factor in determining healthy lifestyle in the U.S just as much as diet and exercise and explores why this is.

From their website:

The single strongest predictor of our health is our position on the class ladder. Whether measured by income, schooling, or occupation, those at the top have the most power and resources and on average live longer and healthier lives. Those at the bottom are most disempowered and get sicker and die younger. The rest of us fall somewhere in between.

“Unnatural Causes” has a campaign running to help fight some of these issues through policy changes and other initiatives. If you’re interested in getting involved visit their Action Center website to find out how you can help!

Also, PBS’s television and online journal Frontline will be airing a special called Sick Around the World tonight, April 15, 2008 at 9 pm. The show examines the universal health care programs of other industrialized nations, including the often cited examples of the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, and Switzerland. The special also examines Taiwan’s technology-based health care system, in which every citizen’s medical background is maintained through an electronic “smart card.”

The PBS special highlights areas of universal health that are often times dubbed socialized medicine, such as equal access to care, health care mandates, and insurance company restrictions. Interesting to note is Germany’s principle of solidarity, as a German parliament member describes, “where the rich pay for the poor and where the ill are covered by the healthy.” The nations that are studied in Sick Around the World, all advanced capitalist democracies, prove that it is not a farfetched notion to have a quality health care system for all Americans. Talk about being the last to get the idea.

As the country looks towards implementing a universal health care system, it’s important for women’s health advocates to be informed and involved in the process. Watching these two shows is a great first step as we work to improve health care for all women!

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NARAL-Pro-Choice New York, in conjunction with the National Institute for Reproductive Health, just released the 2008 update of the Book of Choices.

The Book of Choices is an online resource which encompasses what being pro-choice truly means. Without bias, this guide presents a woman facing unintended pregnancy with all of the information she needs to make the decision for herself and her family. The guide provides information about which clinics and medical centers in New York State provide abortion care, and what payment methods are accepted, including information on financial assistance. In addition, the guide provides adoption, pregnancy, and parenting resources for women who decide to continue with their pregnancy.

Within the Book of Choices, there’s also a section on preventing pregnancy, which includes explanations of a wide range of contraceptives and birth control methods. The guide also includes information on where to obtain emergency contraception, including a list of free and low-cost providers in New York City.

The Book of Choices is a model that has been replicated in other states and could be utilized in a variety of locales. If you would like to create a Book of Choices for your area, please contact LIAP to learn more about the model. Go to the Book of Choices today at http://www.bookofchoices.org/.

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Over the past month, there has been a lot of talk about sex education in this country (or a lack thereof) and we learned the sad truth of why education is necessary. The most recent study from the University of Washington in Seattle that was released a week ago was the most telling of the current state of sex ed. The team of researchers based their finding in data pulled from a national survey of teenagers conducted back in 2002, and the results reaffirm everything we’ve suspected for years now.

The findings go as follows: That year, one in four teens received abstinence-only education, nine percent received no sex ed at all, and the other two thirds had access to comprehensive education that included information about birth control. The teens that had access to comprehensive sex ed were 60% less likely to become pregnant or impregnating someone else than someone receiving no education and 30% less likely than those with abstinence-only education. The leader of the study, Pamela Kohler, said in a statement, “There was no evidence to suggest that abstinence-only education decreased the likelihood of ever having sex or getting pregnant.”

This comes to absolutely no surprise to us- it only further emphasizes the need for accurate information to be accessible to teens. Fortunately, there are multiple efforts to tackle this issue from new fronts online, like Scarleteen, a fabulous website dedicated to young adult sex education.

The organization believes that sex education should have a role beyond the classroom and that sex ed is about more than just birth control and safe sex. With a holistic approach to informing youth about sex, sexuality, and relationships, Scarleteen offer its nearly 30,000 users a valuable resource to answer anonymous questions and provide a fun forum for wide ranging sex topics.

And for that, they are our Repro Hero of the Week. Bravo, Scarleteen!