The HHS Abortion Rule Must Be Stopped!

One month ago, I wrote a post about how the Bush administration was considering a new Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) rule which would restrict access to contraception and abortion. The rule would prevent any institution which receives government funding from "discriminating" against a person for refusing to participate in abortion or abortion-related procedures or counseling.

Last week, the Bush administration officially proposed this dangerous new regulation.

Though the new version of the rule has removed the language that redefines "abortion" to include many types of hormonal contraception, it has now left the definition of abortion open to the interpretation of individual providers. As I have previously covered, some people believe that contraception is a form of abortion, even though it cannot in any way end an established pregnancy. Even though this definition of abortion is false, the right to refuse services on these grounds would fall under a person's right to "religious beliefs or moral convictions" -- and so, birth control is still at risk.

There is a 30 day comment period where the public can comment on the regulation before it is passed. You can help to fight the rule by making your voice heard and submitting a comment to the Department of Health and Human Services by September 25. The more comments submitted, the better.

The country is currently facing a situation where more and more families are uninsured and on a tight budget. In a time when many are struggling, this rule would restrict women's access to health care, particularly for those who are low-income and/or already have limited access. Despite HHS Secretary Leavitt's insistence that women can simply "go to another provider," not all people have the ability and resources to do so. In fact, women in this situation may not even know that they're not receiving full or accurate information from their health care provider -- the one source they should be able to trust most!

Make sure to send in your comment to HHS today. Planned Parenthood Federation of America and all Planned Parenthood affiliates are working hard to prevent this rule from going into effect. You help the effort by sending an emergency donation to Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

APA Finds Abortion Causes No Higher Risk of Mental Health Problems

The American Psychiatric Association announced last week that having an abortion poses no greater risk of mental health problems.

A panel appointed by the group representing psychologists found no credible evidence that having one elective abortion of an unwanted pregnancy causes mental health problems for adult women.

"The best scientific evidence published indicates that among adult women who have an unplanned pregnancy, the relative risk of mental health problems is no greater if they have a single elective first-trimester abortion or deliver that pregnancy," said Brenda Major, a psychologist specializing in stress at the University of California Santa Barbara, who chaired the task force.

"The evidence regarding the relative mental health risks associated with multiple abortions is more uncertain," she said.

The psychologists analyzed hundreds of studies that have been done on the contentious question, including those that have purported to show serious mental health effects of abortion.

Their report, being presented at a meeting of the American Psychological Association in Boston, counters arguments made by anti-abortion groups.

They said women who had mental health problems before becoming pregnant, women who worried about stigma or secrecy or those who had low self-esteem were more likely to develop mental health problems after an abortion.

"Across studies, prior mental health emerged as the strongest predictor of post-abortion mental health. Many of these same factors also predict negative psychological reactions to other types of stressful life events, including childbirth," they wrote in the report, published on the Internet here.

For the last few years, anti-choice organizations have pushed the phony idea of a mental illness called "post-abortion syndrome." This is part of an anti-choice strategy to recenter their position as being out of a concern for women -- though they never really explain how making decisions for women is particularly helpful to them. Pro-choice organizations, on the other hand, have known for some time that abortion does not cause mental illness, and f0r some women can even be a positive experience that breeds personal growth or a sense of control over their lives.

Of course, every woman is different. Some women can and do experience negative emotions after an abortion, including sadness, confliction or mourning. This is not, however, the same as a mental health problem -- rather, it is a normal reaction to the stress of a major life decision. Further, the very small number of women who do develop mental health problems after an abortion are believed by the APA to have already been at risk for mental health problems prior to the abortion, and were likely to develop the same issues after a different type of stressful event.

Unsurprisingly, if you look around anti-choice sites you will see claims of bias in the APA study. However, the truth is that the APA is the main association of psychiatrists in the U.S. and in fact the most influential and widely respected psychiatric organization in the world. This study is only telling us things we already knew, but it's always nice to see the truth getting out there to the general population.

Anti-Choice Kansas DA Loses Reelection Bid

Phill Kline, a district attorney from Johnson County in Kansas, has lost the primary that would have allowed him to run for reelection on the Republican ticket.

Kline made a name for himself as the Attorney General of Kansas by filing a large number of charges against late-term abortion provider Dr. Tiller with little to no evidence. Dr. Tiller is one of the few abortion providers in the country who provides second and third trimester abortions for women facing serious medical conditions or severe fetal deformities. Women travel from all over the U.S., during a very difficult time in their lives, to receive Dr. Tiller's care, but anti-choice activists have falsely held Dr. Tiller up as a stereotypical "evil abortion provider" and made it their mission to shut down his clinic. (Dr. Tiller was even shot in an anti-chioce assassination attempt in 1994.) Phill Kline therefore won anti-choice adoration by filing charges upon charges against Tiller, no matter how many times those charges were discredited. When Kline lost his position as Attorney General, he then won the job of District Attorney of Johnson County, a position which he used to file very flimsy criminal charges against a Planned Parenthood clinic.

Steve Howe, Kline's opponent in the primary race who also opposes abortion rights, campaigned on an argument that Kline had allowed politics rather than facts to dictate his actions. Voters apparently agreed. Despite $100,000 spent by anti-choice forces from across the U.S. in attempt to reelect Kline, the citizens of Johnson County ultimately made up their own minds and decided that they didn't want to be represented by an ideologically extreme person.

South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families

Shannon from the South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families will be guest-blogging for two weeks over at one of my other homes, Feministe. She'll be using the space to spread the word about the South Dakota abortion ban initiative, and what Planned Parenthood and the Campaign for Health Families is doing to help combat the attempt to outlaw abortion. I'm sure that she'll have a lot of interesting things to say, so head over and check her out!

Take Care Down There

Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette has started a new website called Take Care Down There, designed to promote positive attitudes towards sexual health. It's filled with educational and irreverent videos. I personally like this one a whole lot:



The other videos are funny and reference the fact that talking about sex can often be uncomfortable, but is still necessary. You can watch them all here. Due to the frank and unembarrassed nature of a lot of the videos, anti-choicers have already taken issue with the material and labeled it "revolting." In my book, that's how you know it's honest, quality stuff -- especially since the videos contain material less explicit than that on most cable networks. And in any case, if you want to teach about sex, you've got to talk about sex.

Nice work, Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette! Keep it up.

Ode to Birth Control

Several weeks ago, I wrote briefly about my own abortion, in an effort to encourage open discussion of the topic. This week, I’d like to focus on preventing pregnancy which is, of course, a major component of reducing the need for abortion. Especially in light of recent shenanigans on the part of Bush Co., I thought it important to discuss the wonders of modern birth control.

Once again, I don’t put my experience out there as representative of anyone but myself. However, I will say that the one time in my life I got pregnant was the one time in my life I wasn’t consistently using birth control. Ironically enough, it was that one unplanned pregnancy that sparked my belief in, and heart-felt devotion to, birth control. The fact that I have since become a devout user of birth control and have not experienced another unplanned pregnancy speaks volumes; to me, anyway.

As a believer in the right to pleasure (so long as the pursuit of pleasure doesn’t infringe on another’s right to safety and bodily autonomy) I am a strong advocate of sex for pleasure. It’s wonderful and amazing that two people can literally join each other and create a brand-new, third person. But there are so many other benefits and potential outcomes of sex that I’m incapable of looking at it from a “procreation only” stand point. And I don’t hesitate to assume that most people engage in sex for reasons other than procreation, more often than not. Actually, I don’t have to assume anything. Several studies have shown that procreation is pretty close to the bottom of the list of reasons why people have sex.

Enter birth control. What an amazing concept, what an amazing human endeavor modern birth control is! It allows heterosexuals to explore parts of themselves that might be inaccessible if every penetrative encounter was wrapped up in the fear of pregnancy. It can remove a large component of fear and anxiety from sexual encounters. It can give a sense of freedom and security. It has helped lower the maternal mortality rate by allowing women to time and space their pregnancies. Women are no longer at the mercy of their biology. Effective, easy to use birth control has enabled women to more effectively enter public spheres such as business, politics, sports and the like.

Birth control isn’t (or at least shouldn’t be) soley the concern of women. I believe that men have just as much right and responsibility to prevent pregnancy as women do. Obviously there are biological and societal factors that can make it less of a concern for men. But that doesn’t mean it should be a non-issue for them. I strongly encourage everyone to take a look at the website http://www.malecontraceptives.org/. This site has a lot of great information on methods of male birth control that are in development.

What this all boils down to are the basic facts that humans have a right to sex for pleasure, comfort, expressions of love or lust and just plain fun. Women deserve the right to manage their reproductive health in a way that allows them to participate in society to the fullest degree. Both women and men deserve the right to prevent pregnancies they’re not ready for. And effective, accessible birth control makes all of that possible!

Next week I’ll be posting a companion piece to this post – Giving Thanks for Joyful Quality Sex! I’ll expand on the idea of “the right to pleasure” and take a look at meaningful consent.