Repro Health Hub

The first legislation in the nation that requires crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) to disclose the limitations of their services is now the law of the land in Baltimore. From our partner and Urban Initiative grantee, NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland:

“We thank Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake for championing an issue so important to women’s health. This law will ensure truth in advertising, protecting consumers. Unfortunately, CPCs in Baltimore are not always up front about their services and frequently give women misinformation. For example, centers in Baltimore told women that abortion causes an increased risk of breast cancer and that condoms did not prevent STDs,” stated Blasdell.

NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland investigated three centers in Baltimore, all of which gave misinformation about abortion or birth control and none of which would provide a referral, even for birth control. “This law will empower women by giving them full information up front about what to expect from a limited service pregnancy center. This provision does not ask a facility to provide any services they find objectionable, but only asks them to tell the truth about the nature of their services. We applaud Mayor Dixon for signing this important bill,” continued Blasdell.

NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland is now working to get a similar bill passed in Montgomery County, MD.

By Maya Dusenbery

Across the country over the last week, activists and advocates for reproductive justice have come out against the anti-choice Stupak amendment in the House health care reform bill. The following editorial boards have spoken out as well.

• The Philadelphia Inquirer: EDITORIAL: Bitter Pill to Swallow
• Detroit Free Press: EDITORIAL: Stupak’s Anti-Abortion Amendment Tramples Women and the Law
• Pittsburgh Post Gazette: EDITORIAL: Not-so-choice: The House Health Reform Unduly Restricts Abortion
• Akron Beacon Journal (OH): EDITORIAL: A Step Back
• Palm Beach Post (FL): EDITORIAL: House Health Bill
• The Star-Ledger (NJ): EDITORIAL: The Abortion Roadblock to Health Care Reform
• The Baltimore Sun: EDITORIAL: The Anti-Choice
• Oregon Daily Emerald: EDITORIAL: Defending Reproductive Rights
• The Oregonian: EDITORIAL: An unacceptable cutback in access to abortion
• The Roanoke Times: EDITORIAL: Flawed health reform: A House anti-abortion measure is despicable, but Congress must keep its eye on universal coverage.
• The Star Tribune (MN): EDITORIAL: Measure Meddles in Women’s Care

NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland—one of our Urban Initiative grant recipients—has been tirelessly advocating to pass a bill that that would require Baltimore’s crisis pregnancy centers to post disclaimers saying they don’t provide birth control or abortion referrals or face fines.

In a statement, NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland applauded this landmark legislation:

Our research shows that CPCs often use false and misleading information to dissuade women from considering their full range of reproductive health options, including birth control and abortion. This legislation simply requires CPCs to post a sign informing potential clients that they do not refer or provide for birth control or abortion - a statement that CPCs do not deny.

On Monday, the bill passed the second reading in the Baltimore City Council by a vote of 12 to 3. It now moves on to a third and final vote. If passed, it would be the first law in the nation of its kind.

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

As we are approaching the college graduate season, we want to congratulate all 2009 graduates. Because of the current economic downturn, college students graduating this spring are already faced with the daunting task of finding work in a strained job market. They also get to worry about losing their insurance coverage, points out Kaiser Health News. Many students are covered under their parents’ employer sponsored plans, which usually run out once students have graduated. Strikingly, young people ages 19 to 29 are the largest and fastest growing demographic without health insurance coverage, according to the Commonwealth Fund. Young adults on public health plans are particularly vulnerable since most programs only cover dependants until high school graduation or the age of 19, whichever comes first.

The National Institute for Reproductive Health offers a resource guide for uninsured and underinsured men and women seeking reproductive health services in New York City. This guide gives thorough information about where to find various low-cost reproductive health services in the city, and is especially helpful for people who do not have experience navigating the public health care system. For recent graduates, this guide can serve as a tool to finding necessary health care before they find coverage of their own or health care reform is passed.

By Monika Grzeniewski

In an effort find “common ground” on policies to prevent teen pregnancies and reduce the need for abortion, the White House has begun a series of discussions among a diverse group of abortion-rights supporters and opponents. According to the Wall Street Journal, the initial meetings, which began a month ago and are being led by domestic policy advisor Melody Barnes, have revealed areas of potential compromise as well as stark disagreements.

From the start, the polarizing question of whether abortion should be legal was taken off the table. Instead, the discussion has centered on issues surrounding sex education, responsible use of contraception, maternal and child health, pregnancy discrimination, and adoption. The Wall Street Journal reports:

Participants say that suggestions included: improving education about use of contraception; better access to emergency contraception (which can be used after sex); improving education about sex, relationships and the “sacredness of sex”; stamping out employment discrimination against pregnant women; improving family-leave policies; and encouraging adoption.

However, the WSJ notes that even without the hot-button topic of abortion, there are some major divergences in priorities and approach between the two sides: “Participants said that abortion opponents tended to focus on efforts to help pregnant women keep their babies, while the abortion-rights camp focused on preventing unwanted pregnancy.”

Consequently, many abortion-rights opponents support more funding for “pregnancy crisis centers,” which discourage women from having abortions by posing as women’s health clinics and giving out inaccurate information. Clearly not something the abortion-rights community is going to get behind anytime soon.

And while abortion-rights advocates want more support for contraception, some opponents are “unenthusiastic” about that. In fact, as Judy Berman points out in a good analysis on Salon, that’s a bit of an understatement. Many anti-choice activists are downright antagonistic towards efforts to increase access to birth control and emergency contraception.

Furthermore, given the overlap between the anti-choice movement and the abstinence-only camp, odds are good that some additional conflicts over sex education will crop up eventually.

Any earnest effort to reduce the need for abortion must include comprehensive sex education and better access to contraception. So long as a large segment of the anti-choice movement also happens to be opposed to these very things, the search for common ground could be more difficult than the White House anticipated.

By Maya Dusenbery

Last month, on the eve of the Back Up Your Birth Control Day of Action, we were thrilled to learn that a federal court in New York had ordered the FDA to allow 17-year-olds to obtain emergency contraception (EC) without a prescription. In its ruling, the court declared that the Bush-era FDA’s original decision to limit over-the-counter access to women 18 and older was driven by politics, not science.

Now, the FDA has moved to comply. Although the change won’t happen until the manufacturer of Plan B submits and receives approval for a labeling change, this is a step in the right direction.

The court also ordered the FDA to consider lifting all age restrictions on over-the-counter access. Hopefully, the agency will take this charge as seriously as it took the first one. If science is to reclaim its rightful place at the FDA, all women, regardless of age, should be granted timely access to EC.

By Maya Dusenbery

The American Public Health Association is celebrating the importance of public health this April 6th – April 12th. This year’s theme is Building the Foundation for a Healthy America. As we move forward in improving our health care system, it is important to recognize the large role public health plays in improving the quality of health care Americans receive.

Join us in building support and raising awareness on how vital public health is to our nation’s health! Here are some ways you can help:

• Check out this exciting video campaign and help us get over 100,000 views. Let’s make this the healthiest nation in one generation!
• Send a letter to your elected officials about the ways that different settings impact your health.
• Educate yourself about our nation’s health and the role public health plays in improving health outcomes.

In the meantime, while we continue the fight for a national healthcare system at the National Institute for Reproductive Health, we are working on the local level to ensure uninsured men and women have access to reproductive health care services. We recently put together a resource guide that includes information on free or low-cost reproductive health care services in New York City. Help us spread the word on the resource guide and fight the epidemic of being uninsured!

By Monika Grzeniewski

As we gear up for the Back Up Your Birth Control Day of Action tomorrow, March 25th, we can take a little break to celebrate a great legal victory for emergency contraception (EC).

On Monday a federal court in New York ordered the F.D.A. to make EC available without a prescription to women aged 17 and older within 30 days and to consider eliminating all age restrictions on over-the-counter access.

Nancy Northup, President of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which filed the suit against the F.D.A, called the decision a tremendous victory:

Emergency contraception is proven safe and effective and today, we have succeeded in expanding access to 17-year-olds and are one step closer to making it fully available to all women, including young women for whom the barriers – and the benefits – are so great.

The judge in the case offered a harsh indictment of the Bush-era F.D.A.’s foot-dragging and political misconduct back in 2006 when it first considered making EC available over-the-counter. The New York Times reports:

Citing depositions, Judge Korman wrote that agency officials had improperly communicated with White House officials about Plan B. And, he said, F.D.A. employees sought to influence decisions by appointing people with anti-abortion views to an independent panel of experts reviewing Plan B for the agency.

The agency also departed from its normal procedures, the judge wrote, by ignoring favorable conclusions about the drug by an advisory panel as well its own scientists and officials who found that the drug could be safely used by women at least as young as 17.

Such “political considerations, delays and implausible justifications” showed that the F.D.A. had acted without good faith or reasoned decision making, Judge Korman wrote.

The ruling not only vindicates the many reproductive health advocates who cried foul at the time, but provides hope for the future. President Obama’s pick to head the F.D.A., former New York City health commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg, has been praised by advocates, including the National Institute’s President Kelli Conlin. Let’s hope that under her leadership the F.D.A. will no longer place ideology over science and grant all women, regardless of age, timely access to EC.

But, while allowing over-the-counter access to EC for young women is an important step in eliminating the barriers to its use, there is more to be done. Public awareness remains low and myths run rampant. Many women and men still do not know EC exists, let alone how to obtain it.

So, don’t forget to join us tomorrow for the BUYBC Day of Action to help spread the word. Write a letter to the editor. Blog about EC. Donate your Facebook or Twitter status to the cause. Find out what’s going on in your own community or college campus. And if you’re in New York City, come out and hit the subways with the NARAL Pro-Choice New York team.

By Maya Dusenbery

Today we celebrate the National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers. This is a day of appreciation and of remembrance, as it marks the 16th anniversary of the brutal murder of abortion provider Dr. David Gunn in Pensacola, Florida.

As Katha Pollitt of The Nation reminds us, abortion providers deserve our appreciation because they not only courageously countenance anti-choice protest and threats on a daily basis, but currently face a slew of anti-choice obstacles in states across the country.

And abortion providers’ worries don’t end there. An article in The New York Times on Sunday reports that as an older generation of abortion providers retires, many advocates worry that there won’t be enough young doctors willing to accept lower pay, endure daily picketing, and brave the threat of violence in order to provide abortion services. As Kelli Conlin, President of the National Institute for Reproductive Health and NARAL Pro-Choice New York, told the Times:

While it’s not a problem finding younger doctors and support staff to work in clinics in large urban areas like New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago, it is an issue in more conservative places, like upstate New York; smaller Midwestern cities; Southern states, including Texas; and rural areas.

The Times article says that younger doctors, having never lived through a pre-Roe v. Wade era, may lack the “fire in their belly” that motivates the older generation. However, access to training in abortion procedures also limits doctors’ ability to provide abortion care. As Pollitt notes, “med school policies mean only a small proportion of medical students are even learning how to perform this relatively simple procedure.”

Thankfully, in New York City things are pretty good on that front. In 1998, recognizing the diminishing number of new doctors offering abortion services and the dire lack of abortion training in most New York City residency programs, the National Institute (then the NARAL Pro-Choice New York Foundation) launched the Resident Training Initiative to establish, improve and expand access to abortion procedures in residency programs. The National Initiative found a committed ally in Mayor Bloomberg, and, in 2002, New York City became the first U.S. city to require abortion techniques as a standard part of training for Ob/Gyn residents at public hospitals.

Instituting such policies in other localities across the country would go a long way toward improving access to quality abortion care, proving that abortion care is a necessary part of women’s overall health care, and making working conditions better for providers everywhere.

By Maya Dusenbery