Blogs Comment On Sebelius Nomination, College Birth Control Pricing Fix, Provider 'Conscience' Rule, Other Topics

The following summarizes selected women's health-related blog entries.

~ "Kathleen Sebelius Explains Being a Pro-Choice Pro-Lifer," Dan Gilgoff, U.S. News and World Report's God & Country: Antiabortion-rights advocates have "come out in force against" HHS Secretary-designate Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D), Gilgoff writes. However, Sebelius, who is a Roman Catholic, "has talked publicly about being a pro-choice pro-lifer," including her 2006 address at the Kansans for Faithful Citizenship conference, which Gilgoff excerpts in his blog. According to the blog, Sebelius said, "My Catholic faith teaches me that all life is sacred, and personally I believe abortion is wrong." She added, "I disagree with the suggestion that criminalizing women and their doctors is an effective means of achieving the goal of reducing the number of abortions in our nation ... By working in support of the common good we can better protect human life and the dignity of all people." Sebelius called for increased efforts to prevent unintended pregnancies and support for women who choose to carry those pregnancies to term. "Health care, child care, job opportunities, affordable housing -- they are all the building blocks of a culture of life and we can use them to build a future where abortion is extremely rare," Sebelius said (Gilgoff, U.S. News and World Report's God & Country, 3/2).

~ "Low-Income, College Women To See Birth Control Pricing Relief," Nonie Wainwright, RH Reality Check: The "'affordable birth control fix,'" a "little noticed provision" in the 2009 omnibus appropriations bill (H.R. 1105), "will have a huge impact on college women," Wainwright, a University of Nevada-Reno student, writes. She adds that the provision aims to "restor[e] access to affordable birth control for" millions of college students and low-income women. According to Wainwright, the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 tightened eligibility "for nominally priced drugs," and "inadvertently cut off every single college and university health center and other safety-net providers from obtaining birth control at a low cost and passing on those savings to their patients." She continues that some women are now paying up to 10 times more each month for birth control, adding, "Birth control is not just about preventing pregnancy; it serves many purposes in women's lives." She writes that she was "not alone" when the price of her birth control in 2006 "more than tripled, going from $15 a month to $50." She continues, "It is estimated that this provision has adversely affected three million college students and hundreds of thousands of low-income women who take oral contraception. The decision to use birth control allows women to plan for their education, career and family on their own terms." Wainwright describes meeting with Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to talk about the issue, adding that Reid "understood the issue immediately and saw the common sense in making prevention services like birth control affordable, especially to college women who don't have a lot of money." She notes that the "U.S. has the highest rate of teen pregnancy among the most developed countries of the world," concluding that "[i]f our nation is serious about reducing the unacceptably high rate of unintended pregnancies, Congress needs to fix an unintended loophole, which is keeping affordable contraception out of reach of millions of American women" (Wainwright, RH Reality Check, 3/3).














~ "Catholic Extremists Swiftboat Sebelius," Cristina Page, Birth Control Watch: Sebelius is the "most recent Catholic to earn the epithet" of being an "alleged Catholic," and her nomination "has drawn fire from right wing Catholic groups," Page writes. "According to these extremists, to be a 'real' Catholic one must agree with the U.S. bishops, and through them, the Vatican, on every issue, but especially abortion," Page writes, adding that Sebelius "is pro-choice, as are the majority of U.S. Catholics." However, "bishops who don't live in the real world where people juggle complicated lives are free to be moral scolds," she continues. The "sad irony is that the bishops end up in cahoots with pro-life extremists who shun even those fighting to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies," Page writes. "With campaigns like the one against Sebelius, the Catholic right wing is succeeding at making the church less and less relevant to the majority of the faithful," Page continues, concluding, "But then perhaps the church realizes the deep danger to the religious right posed by the rise of Catholic moderates like Sebelius" (Page, Birth Control Watch, 3/3).

~ "Does Dobson's Departure From Focus on the Family Signal Change?" Amie Newman, RH Reality Check: James Dobson, founder of the "ultra-conservative, religious right organization" Focus on the Family, is "stepping down after 30 years as chair of the organization," Newman writes in a blog entry. According to Newman, on the issue of sexuality, Focus on the Family's guiding principles state, "Sexuality is a glorious gift from God to be offered back to Him either in marriage for procreation, union and mutual delight or in celibacy for undivided devotion to Christ." Newman asks, "But if sexuality in marriage can be solely for the purpose of 'mutual delight,' where does contraception come into play?" Newman writes that Focus on the Family is "anti-contraception, in opposition to comprehensive sexual health education that educates and informs on family planning and birth control, as they are anti-abortion access." She asks, "Just how is anyone supposed to revel in mutual sexual delight even if married, as apparently God has deemed glorious?" According to Newman, Dobson's "desire to affect public policy led him to establish a political action arm that is able to lobby for legislation that he considers an assault on 'the sanctity of human life and the institution of marriage.'" She continues that he has criticized President Obama's reversal of the "global gag rule," also known as the "Mexico City" policy; Obama's expressed support for the Freedom of Choice Act; and Obama's intentions to expand family planning services. Newman concludes by quoting Kathryn Kolbert, president of People for the American Way, who says, "Regardless of where Dobson appears on the organizational chart, he and Focus will continue their assault on Americans' liberties" (Newman, RH Reality Check, 2/27).

~ "Boehner and McCotter Pledge a 'Culture of Life,'" Jodi Jacobson, RH Reality Check: House Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.), chair of the House Republican Policy Committee, on Feb. 17 sent a letter to Justin Frances Rigali, chair of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, in which the two representatives pledged to "proclaim the gift of life, to serve life and promote a culture of life," Jacobson writes in a blog entry. She continues that the letter "echoes the Republican party's long-standing opposition to a woman's right to choose abortion, the party's support for expanded 'conscience clauses' and limits on federal research involving human embryos." In addition, "by invoking a 'culture of life,' this letter goes further in raising questions about whether two principal leaders of the party actually are signaling their opposition to any form of contraception that falls outside the definition of the teachings of the Catholic Church," Jacobson writes. She continues that the church "not only rejects the internationally accepted medical definition of pregnancy as beginning after a fertilized egg successfully implants in the uterine lining, but greatly expands the definition of abortion to include any action interfering with a fertilized egg." By this definition, "supporting a 'culture of life' as defined by the church implies opposition to all forms of contraception including birth control pills, intra-uterine devices, injections and emergency contraception," she writes. She continues that the Republican Party "has never officially declared opposition to birth control per se;" however, "there is no question that many within the party have done their utmost over the years to limit access to contraception here and abroad." Jacobson writes that Boehner and McCotter's letter "provides further evidence that the real issue is not, and never has been 'abortion,' because contraceptives are the very means through which women and men throughout the world can freely and responsibly plan their families, and the means through which women everywhere are able to avoid the unintended pregnancies that can lead to an abortion in the first place." She continues, "We therefore need to be highly vigilant any time the term 'abortion' is invoked." According to Jacobson, "The constant re-definition of 'pregnancy and abortion' by the religious right is just one more in the legion of efforts to erode reproductive rights and the right of women to choose whether and when to become pregnant and whether to bring a pregnancy to term." She concludes, "It's about ideology. One set of ideologies. And in a pluralistic society, the government has no role in promoting one set of religious beliefs over all others" (Jacobson, RH Reality Check, 3/2).

Antiabortion-Rights Blog

~ "Obama Administration To Rescind Bush Rule on 'Conscience' for Doctors and Health Care Providers," National Right to Life Committee blog: The HHS provider "conscience" rule, which the Obama administration is working to rescind, "was designed to raise awareness in the medical community and general public, as well as increase compliance with federal laws protecting doctors and health care providers from discrimination in federally funded health care programs," according to the antiabortion-rights group National Right to Life Committee's blog. It continues, "Health care providers are increasingly being pressured to violate their moral convictions with regards to abortion." The regulations come from "underlying federal conscience protection laws," including the "Church Amendments" of 1973, the Public Health Service Act amendment of 1996 and the Hyde amendment, the blog says. The blog entry adds that "[a]lthough rescinding this federal regulation does not repeal the underlying federal laws," abortion-rights advocates "have targeted" the Hyde amendment "for repeal." The blog includes a response to the proposal to repeal the Hyde amendment from David Stevens, CEO of the Christian Medical Association. Stevens said, "The Obama administration claims, without offering a shred of statistical evidence, that the regulation has 'created confusion' and will somehow hinder access to health care." He continues, "The real threat to health care access is driving out every health care professional who conscientiously practices medicine according to life-affirming ethical standards," citing an "informal survey" of CMA members that found that more than 40% "report being pressured to violate ethical standards" (National Right to Life Committee blog, 2/27).


Reprinted with kind permission from nationalpartnership. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.


© 2009 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.




Buy Levonorgestrel Without Prescription