Repro Health Hub

After more than a decade of legal battles, a federal appeals court in Illinois has ruled to uphold a previously unenforced state parental notification law. Effective August 4th, young women under 18 will be required to notify a parent or guardian 48 hours before getting an abortion.

While the law does not require that teens receive consent from a parent, even notification can create unnecessary and dangerous barriers to accessing reproductive health services for young women. Parental notification laws assume that teens can safely involve their family in the decision to terminate a pregnancy—which is sadly not always the case. Also, most teens already involve their parents in their decision to terminate a pregnancy. For the small minority who do not involve parents in this decision, it is usually for good reason, like in cases of abuse or incest. And, like other abortion restrictions—such as mandatory counseling and waiting periods—parental notification restrictions tend to result in more second-trimester abortions.

Soo Ji Min, Executive Director of the Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health, a grantee of the National Institute’s Urban Initiative, issued a strong statement condemning the ruling:

The American Medical Associate reports that some young women will go to extreme and unhealthy lengths to keep pregnancies secret, including running away, obtaining illegal abortions, or self-inducing abortions. Over half of young women who do not involve a parent in their decision to seek an abortion cite fear of abuse or eviction. Requiring parental notification or consent can expose young women to these risks.

Parental notification laws like this one are just another restriction designed to prevent women from accessing their legal right to an abortion—and end up doing more harm than good.

By Maya Dusenbery

Preventing pregnancy through emergency contraception just got a bit easier. Today, the FDA approved Plan B® One-Step, a one-dose emergency contraception pill. Thanks to a court ruling a few months ago, the drug will be available over-the-counter to women age 17 and older, although women younger than 17 will still require a prescription. The pill will hit pharmacy shelves within the next month.

In a release, National Institute President Kelli Conlin applauded the decision: “This is a great day for women’s reproductive health. With Plan B® One-Step, women can now take steps to prevent unintended pregnancy with just one pill in one dose.”

Conlin added that “it is critical that women have fast, easy access to this back up method of birth control.” Over-the-counter access for all women and greater public knowledge about EC would help ensure that every woman can take advantage of this convenient back-up birth control method when the unexpected happens.

By Maya Dusenbery

Yesterday we blogged about a special report on Crisis Pregnancy Centers from RH Reality Check and the Feminist Majority. Today you can hear advocates from the Feminist Majority Foundation, CPC-Watch, the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the U.S. (SIECUS), and Advocates for Youth discuss the harmful tactics and consequences of these fake clinics on a media conference call. Check it out here!

By Maya Dusenbery

Under the Bush Administration more than $1 billion in federal funds was poured into abstinence-only-until marriage programs. A large portion of these funds have gone towards so-called crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs). In a fascinating special report, RH Reality Check, the Feminist Majority Foundation, and Stuart Productions document the deceitful tactics of these fake clinics.

Under the guise of comprehensive women’s health clinics and often with taxpayer dollars, CPCs use shame and misinformation to proselytize against abortion and contraception. After attracting young women—often college students and low-income women—to their facilities with the promise of free pregnancy tests and “accurate information about your pregnancy options,” CPCs use scare tactics, misleading information, and outright lies about the consequences of abortion to dissuade women from seeking one. As the video below shows, the blatant deception is often shocking.

While President Obama has called for an end to federal funding of ineffective abstinence-only programs and a return to scientifically accurate sex education, it is now up to Congress to act. In the next couple weeks the House Appropriations Labor Health and Human Services (HHS) Committee is conducting hearings on its FY 2010 spending bill.

Now is the time to tell House Appropriations Committee Chair Rep. David Obey we cannot continue funding failed abstinence-only education programs and fake CPCs that are harming young women and men. Follow the link above to take action now or call Representative Obey’s office directly at 202-225-3365.

To read the whole special report at RH Reality Check, go here.

By Maya Dusenbery

The mantra “think local” took center-stage yet again today—this time, for reproductive rights advocates in the D.C. area. The House Appropriations Committee just voted to lift an anti-choice measure which has prevented the District of Columbia from using its locally raised funds to provide abortion for low-income women for almost every year since 1988. The Appropriations Committee vote was an important first step in defeating the ban which has limited care for D.C. women for almost two decades.

Next week, the bill will face the full House of Representatives for a vote and anti-choice advocates are expected to put up a fight. The measure will also be taken up by the Senate next week. Washington, D.C. is currently the only area where Congress has ultimate control over the locality’s spending and operations.

By Beth Budnick