Repro Health Hub

With John McCain’s selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin for the VP spot, followed by the Republican National Convention, it’s been a tough week for choice.

Time for some humor. Last night The Daily Show’s Samantha Bee went inside the RNC to ask about attendees about where they stand on Sarah Palin and on choice:

By Tara Sweeney

Yesterday the Census released their new findings on the state of health care coverage and poverty in America. The new data shows that the number of uninsured Americans decreased from 47.0 million in 2006 to 45.7 million in 2007.

During the same time period the number of individuals covered by employer-sponsored health insurance decreased. As David Johnson, chief of the Census Bureau’s Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division, explained at a press conference yesterday, “the main reason for the fall in the uninsured rates” is increased enrollment in government health programs. This illustrates the important role that public health insurance programs such as Medicaid play in helping Americans obtain needed health care. The new data also illustrates the positive impact of state health reform efforts. Massachusetts, which recently mandated health coverage for almost all residents, had the lowest number of uninsured, with only 7.9% of the population uninsured in 2006-07, compared with Texas, the state with the highest uninsured rate at 24.8% of the population.

Despite the decrease in the number of uninsured, it’s important to remember an incredibly high number of people in this country — over 45 million — still do not have access to needed health care! As Families USA explains, the current number of uninsured individuals (45.7 million) “exceeds the combined population of 24 states plus the District of Columbia.”

Millions of women across the country lack access to basic health care, including needed reproductive health services. Approximately 14% of women were uninsured in 2007. Women of color were particularly at risk of being uninsured with rates of 17.9% of Black women, 28.9% of Hispanic women, and 15.7% of Asian-American women, compared with 9.6% of White women.

It’s not just adults that don’t have access to health care. The new data shows that, despite a decrease, over 8 million children remain uninsured. These numbers are way too high for a country that spends more on health care than any other industrialized nation.

In addition, it’s important to remember that this data was collected before the economic downturn overtook the country late last year. As the number of individuals living in poverty, losing their jobs, and facing unaffordable mortgages continues to increase, the number of uninsured Americans will continue to grow.

This new data is another large reminder of why we all must get involved to work towards creating comprehensive health care reform in this country. We must ensure that every person in this country has access to needed health care, including comprehensive reproductive health services, when they need it.

By Myra Batchelder

National Institute for Reproductive Health’s own VP of Communications Mary Alice Carr appeared on The O’Reilly Factor on Friday, courageously taking on Laura Ingraham over the new HHS Regulations:




Mary Alice, responding with level-headed accuracy to Ingraham’s vitriolic barking, was wise to point out that the new regulations contain a needless reaffirmation of existent law, since the conscience clause opt-out is actually widely used by doctors. Mary Alice also emphasized that if women are not receiving the care they need from their doctors, they at least have a basic right to accurate referrals and information, so that their conscience is no less important than their doctors’.

Ingraham clearly sees no need for greater access to abortion care and information, since she disagrees that there’s even a scientific basis for abortion care (note Mary Alice’s “are you freaking kidding me?!?” response). Ingraham also thinks that “it’s pretty easy to find an abortion provider.” Perhaps we should e-mail her a copy of the Guttmacher study that found that 87% of counties in America do not have an abortion provider and that the number of providers actually fell by 24% from 1992 to 2005.

Ingraham closed the segment out by taking the conversation to that inevitable anti-choice terminus of equating abortion with “killing a baby.” And there we have it from America’s finest Fair and Balanced news network…

By Tara Sweeney

This Monday, the California Supreme Court unanimously ruled against two doctors who refused to artificially inseminate Guadalupe Benitez, a lesbian woman. The doctors insist that they refused treatment on the basis that Benitez was not married and performing the procedure would go against their religious beliefs and infringe upon their First Amendment rights. However, Benitez states that her doctor gave her fertility medication, then voiced that she would not perform insemination because Benitez was a lesbian and should not have children. The problem worsened when another physician at the medical group informed her that she made the staff uncomfortable and referred her to another doctor.

Benitez first sued in 2001 citing state law that prohibits businesses from discriminating against patrons. She won her case in 2004, but the ruling was overturned in appeals the following year under the pretense that the doctor’s religious rights had been violated. The court’s decision on Monday affirmed that the anti-discrimination law extended to doctors and that equal access to medical care was the first priority. While doctors can decide what services they will offer, they cannot deny those services to gay and lesbian patients. Also, a result of this case, the law was amended in 2006 to prohibit discrimination based on marital status, which was the doctor’s only defense.

By Kristen Ramos

On Thursday, HHS proposed a new set of regulations addressing conscience clause opt-outs for health care professionals. These regulations reiterate that providers are able to refuse to provide abortion care to women, regardless of circumstances.

An earlier set of regulations proposed by the Bush administration tried to classify contraception as abortion, meaning health care professionals would have been able to deny women birth control too. Thanks to protests from the pro-choice community, the redefinition of abortion didn’t make it into the newest round of draft regulations.

Nonetheless, NARAL Pro-Choice America, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, and Senators Hillary Clinton and Patty Murray have all issued statements criticizing the regulations, citing that they are alarmingly vague and invite concern that current abortion regulations will be stretched to apply to contraception as well as abortion.

HHS is accepting comments on these regulations for the next 30 days — you can have your say by e-mailing consciencecomment@hhs.gov.

By Tara Sweeney

The Democratic party unrolled a new abortion plank last week. Where the old plank simply emphasized women’s privacy and the endurance of Roe v. Wade, the new plank added phrasing about family planning, stating,

The Democratic Party also strongly supports access to affordable family planning services and comprehensive age-appropriate sex education which empower people to make informed choices and live healthy lives. We also recognize that such health care and education help reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and thereby also reduce the need for abortions. The Democratic Party also strongly supports a woman’s decision to have a child by ensuring access to and availability of programs for pre and post natal health care, parenting skills, income support, and caring adoption programs.

The new position also cuts out the assertion that “Abortion should be safe, legal, and rare.”

Both commentators and pro-choice advocates are hailing the new platform, as it reinforces the vision that while Roe v. Wade will always be the bedrock of reproductive rights, we also need access to expanded services and options, like health care equality to sex ed. As President of NARAL Pro-Choice New York and the National Institute for Reproductive Health Kelli Conlin told the LA Times yesterday, “It’s high time that Americans start looking at the reproductive health movement as much broader than just abortion focused…This really underscores that nicely.”

By Tara Sweeney