Stand Up For Women's Health

Here are a few of the stories we’ve been paying attention to:

Local News:

• After public uproar from women’s groups, Albany has mandated that health insurers do not deny women their choice of contraceptives: http://www.ny1.com/content/news_beats/political_news/157110/in-reversal—albany-now-supports-women-s-choice-of-birth-control?ap=1&MP4

• PPNYC President, Joan Malin penned a Letter to the Editor in the NYT on the consequences of when Catholic and Secular hospitals merge: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/07/opinion/when-catholic-and-secular-hospitals-merge.html?_r=1

National News:

• An opinion piece in WNYC asks whether using humor to win the public’s attention back from the right-wing’s divisive and sensational distractions is an effective method: http://www.wnyc.org/blogs/its-free-blog/2012/mar/05/opinion-laughter-legislation-and-war-women/

• Mother Jones puts together a humorous flow chart to determine the pressing question of the week: “Are you a slut?” http://motherjones.com/mojo/2012/03/flow-chart-are-you-slut

• Jezebel introduces the anti-abortion group that’s behind all the recent ultrasound laws: http://jezebel.com/5891386/meet-the-group-behind-all-those-crappy-ultrasound-laws

• And BuzzFeed charts the uses of the word “Slut” during all mainstream media mentions within the past month: http://www.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeedpolitics/chart-the-great-slut-spike-of-2012

• Mother Jones breaks down seven other states that have advanced mandatory transvaginal ultrasound bills in the last year: http://motherjones.com/mojo/2012/03/transvaginal-ultrasounds-coming-soon-state-near-you

• Salon discusses the pro-choice reawakening: http://www.salon.com/2012/03/06/the_pro_choice_reawakening/

• The Nation highlights Cecile Richards’s effective leadership strategy during the Komen defunding controversy: http://www.thenation.com/article/166670/genius-cecile-richards

• Eesha Pandit of Feministing discusses why differentiating private vs. federal funding of contraceptive coverage does more harm than good: http://feministing.com/2012/03/07/sandra-fluke-and-the-birth-control-divide/

• The Gender Across Borders blog hosted an event inviting bloggers to write for International Women’s Day: http://www.genderacrossborders.com/blogforiwd/

• Mother Jones lists all the states that have proposed insane sex laws in response to overwhelming anti-abortion bills: http://motherjones.com/mojo/2012/03/birth-control-viagra-vasectomy-laws

• An analysis from the Brookings Institution finds that birth control saves taxpayer money: http://www.wnyc.org/npr_articles/2012/mar/06/how-birth-control-saves-taxpayers-money/

• A major study of nearly 10,000 women that’s under way in St.  Louis provides a clue about what might happen when the birth control policy takes effect: http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/national_world&id=8574901

State News:

• The Arizona Senate passed a bill this week that gives doctors a free pass to not inform pregnant women of prenatal problems because such information could lead to an abortion: http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/03/07/arizona-senate-passes-bill-allowing-doctors-to-not-inform-women-of-prenatal-issues-to-prevent-abortions/

• Poll reveals voters want to keep Planned Parenthood in Texas Women’s Health Program: http://www.texastribune.org/texas-health-resources/abortion-texas/poll-voters-want-keep-planned-parenthood-whp/

• And the NYT delves deeper into how the recent cuts to Texas’s Medicaid Women’s Health Program affect women individually: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/08/us/texas-womens-clinics-retreat-as-finances-are-cut.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

• The Daily Beast explores the attacks on reproductive rights and how Planned Parenthood is fighting back in Texas: http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/03/04/planned-parenthood-under-attack-fighting-back-in-texas.html

• The Utah Senate passed an abstinence only sex education bill which also prohibits talk of homosexuality in the classroom: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/07/utah-passes-bill-allowing_n_1326777.html

• Virginia Governor, Bob McDonnell, signed into law controversial ultrasound bill: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57392796-503544/virginia-gov-bob-mcdonnell-signs-virginia-ultrasound-bill/