Stand Up For Women's Health

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

New York:

·         The NY Times writes a great editorial opposing the injunction against the CPC ruling: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/25/opinion/25mon3.html?ref=opinion

·         And the first (legal) same sex marriages in NY took place this weekend! http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-07-25/new-york-celebrates-first-same-sex-marriage/2808676

·         Which means NY saw a record number of marriage licenses requested: http://www.thirdage.com/news/hundreds-of-gay-marriages-in-new-york-break-records_07-25-2011

·         There’s a great photo gallery here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/24/gay-marriage-begins-in-ne_n_908120.html

·         Apparently it was so touching even “stern faced police officers” started crying: http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/gay-marriage-an-officer-is-swept-up-in-the-moment/

States:

·         A Nebraska doctor who performs later in term abortions is profiled in the Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/neb-doctor-who-performs-abortions-in-md-talks-about-security-concerns-future-of-clinic/2011/07/21/gIQAaJMSXI_story.html?hpid=z3

·         Ohio passed a “late-term” abortion ban: http://www.hudsonhubtimes.com/news/article/5066552

·         And the Governor signed it: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/20/us-abortion-ohio-idUSTRE76J5XJ20110720

·         Overall, States have enacted a record number of abortion laws: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iolNVolcZ-Plcx4SrKWLeHDYJhVg?docId=cfe67dcc35cb4b5ba86989cd796261a3

·         Though these restrictions are not polling well amongst the general public: http://www.gallup.com/poll/148631/Common-State-Abortion-Restrictions-Spark-Mixed-Reviews.aspx

IOM Birth Control Recommendation:

·         Dr. Vanessa Cullins of PPFA had an op ed in the NY Times on why it’s important that birth control be affordable for women: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/19/opinion/19cullins.html?_r=1&hp

·         Which preceded the Institute of Medicine report recommending health insurance plans offer birth control to women without co-pays: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/07/19/138483937/birth-control-without-copays-could-become-mandatory

·         The recommendation is the result of prescription birth control being considered a preventive service: http://www.nationaljournal.com/healthcare/institute-of-medicine-report-recommends-free-women-s-health-services-20110719

·         And would only be applicable for those with health insurance: http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/07/19/birth.control.iom/

·         If the recommendation is adopted by HHS: http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/womens-health/articles/2011/07/19/us-panel-recommends-free-coverage-of-birth-control

·         They NY Times ran an editorial praising the decision: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/21/opinion/21thu3.html?_r=2

·         Though the anti-choice contingent is gearing up to fight the recommendation: http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2011/07/19/antichoicers-gear-fight-over-preventive-care-women-0

·         Latina Lista points out how much Latinas have to gain from the recommendation: http://www.latinalista.net/mediacasts/2011/07/birth_control_and_latinas.html

·         And My Brown Baby reminds us that the recommendation isn’t just for birth control, but also for prenatal and new mother care: http://mybrownbaby.com/2011/07/free-contraception-and-prenatal-care-another-victory-for-womens-reproductive-health/

·         And BET reminds us it also covers Domestic Violence counseling and STD counseling and screening: http://www.bet.com/news/health/2011/07/22/medical-panel-recommends-free-birth-control-domestic-violence-counseling-and-more.html.html

National

·         NPR had a huge feature on abortion in the African American community: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/07/18/138471835/behind-closed-doors-abortion-in-the-african-american-community

·         More on why the HPV vaccine is good for boys as well as girls: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/19/health/19garda.html

·         Planned Parenthood and the National Women’s Law Center ran a blog carnival on birth control (worth reading) http://www.nwlc.org/our-blog/%E2%80%9Cweve-got-you-covered%E2%80%9D-birth-control-blog-carnival-%E2%80%93-posts

·         We’re even close to a male birth control pill: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/health/research/24contraception.html?_r=1&hp

·         Mother Jones publishes a story about one woman’s “late-term” abortion: http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/07/late-term-abortion-29-weeks-dana-weinstein