With Liberty, Justice and Health Care for All

As the fourth of July fireworks started exploding in the Wednesday night sky, I had a true reason to celebrate; the upholding of The Affordable Health Care Act. This monumental victory for the health of women and families happened earlier last Thursday, June 28th, and set the stage in my heart and mind to have enjoyed a true independence day. Calling the Affordable Care Act "the greatest advance in women's health in a generation," Planned Parenthood said the law will provide access to birth control and cancer screenings without co-pays, guaranteed direct access to OB/GYN providers without referrals, and an end to discriminatory practices against women, such as charging women higher premiums and denying coverage for "pre-existing conditions." Now that’s what being an American means to me.

As a 21 year old female college student, there are two parts of the Affordable Health Care Act that I am especially grateful for: one being that starting in August, birth control will be treated like any other preventive prescription under the Affordable Care Act, and will be available without co-pays or deductibles, and secondly, I can now stay under my parents insurance until the age of 26 if need be.

Women, just like you and me, who come into our Planned Parenthood health centers often struggle to decide whether to pay for birth control or pay for textbooks, groceries, or gas for the car. The money women will save on birth control each year is equal to five weeks of groceries for a family of four, nine tanks of gas in a minivan, or one semester of college textbooks.

College graduation is slowly sneaking up on me, and while I hope it doesn’t take me more than six months to find a job, the reality of the situation is not necessarily on my side. Finding a job takes real work itself these days, and finding one that includes benefits, well, calling that a rare situation is an extreme understatement. I am no longer scared to graduate thanks to The Affordable Health Care Act.

But the upholding of The Affordable Health Care Act isn’t just about me. It is about all women across the nation, and how it will help them in their daily lives. This is so much bigger than ever imagined, and will literally change the face of Health Care as we know it. I encourage all of you to learn more about how The Affordable Health Care Act will positively affect you at: (http://www.whitehouse.gov/healthreform/healthcare-overview), and to share your unique story on how on August 1st, you will have the tools to start leading a healthier life.

-Elise
PPRSR Intern

Consider the Source

This is an essay written by Betty DeFazio which was recently submitted to the Post Standard in Syracuse, NY.

On October 11, 2010 Former President Bill Clinton told a Syracuse crowd they should “encourage friends…to think about the facts.” Although this is good to remember, it is equally important to consider the “source.”

For several weeks, an anti-choice group has been picketing in front of Planned Parenthood in Syracuse. That is really not new “news.” What is important, though, is the spread inaccurate information supported by supposed “facts” that are nothing more than distorted nonsense.

Myth #1: “Abortion Causes Breast Cancer” – The American Cancer Society, recognized as an authority on cancer, is unequivocal in their response to this myth. “Induced abortion is not linked to an increase in breast cancer risk.” Further, they clarify “"Early studies of the relationship between prior induced abortion and breast cancer risk were methodologically flawed. More rigorous recent studies demonstrate no causal relationship between induced abortion and a subsequent increase in breast cancer risk."

Myth #2: “Aborted embryos and fetuses are being used for stem-cell research.” This statement couldn’t be further from the truth! According to the National Institutes of Health, “…embryonic stem cells are derived from embryos that develop from eggs that have been fertilized in vitro —in an in vitro fertilization clinic—and then donated for research purposes with informed consent of the donors.” Just a few days ago, the first human study of stem cell research began with a patient who has a spinal cord injury. This research holds enormous hope for those who need treatment.

Myth #3: “Planned Parenthood targets African American women.” Sadly, the fact is African-American women are more likely to be uninsured or under-insured than white women and, as a result, they may lack resources to pay for needed care. For over 85 years, Planned Parenthood has been the provider women turn to. We will continue to trust every African-American woman who comes to Planned Parenthood to make an informed decision based on what she believes is best for her and her family.

Fact: Planned Parenthood works everyday with women from all walks of life to improve the quality of their health care and to help them protect their families through education, preventive care, birth control and life-saving screenings.

Next time you hear one of these myths, consider the facts – and the source.

Scott Roeder found guilty

“At this time, we hope that George can be remembered for his legacy of service to women (and) the help he provided for those who needed it and the love and happiness he provided us as a husband, father and grandfather.” – Statement on behalf of Jeanne Tiller, Dr. Tiller’s wife

This past Friday, a Kansas jury convicted Scott Roeder of first degree murder in the killing of Dr. George Tiller. I was happy to learn that it only took jurors 37 minutes to find Roeder guilty. He was also convicted of two counts of aggravated assault for pointing his gun at two church members. This verdict is important because it sends the message that a difference of beliefs is never a justifiable reason for murder. Cecile Richards, President of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, issued a statement affirming support for Roeder’s conviction. She said, “Doctors who perform abortions deserve and must receive the full protection of the law. To that end, we are gratified that Judge Warren Wilbert prohibited the argument that Scott Roeder’s deeply felt anti-abortion beliefs made him less culpable for Dr. Tiller’s murder, therefore not allowing the jury to consider the lesser charge of manslaughter.” Family Planning Advocates of NYS President,Tracey Brooks, said the “conviction reinforces the strongly held American value that violence is never the solution to our differences."

Roeder’s trial began on January 22, which was also the 37th anniversary of Roe. V. Wade. Before the trial had even started, Roeder publicly admitted to shooting Dr. Tiller at his church on May 31st. During the trial, Scott Roeder also admitted he had planned to kill Dr. Tiller for many years and had even taken a gun to Tiller’s church before. Roeder argued that his reason for committing the murder was to “halt the death of babies”. This chilling “reason” made Judge Wilbert publicly admit the importance of keeping the issue of abortion, and even the word itself, out of the courtroom. From what was reported from the trial, it seemed that he did a great job at doing just that.

Judge Wilbert originally considered giving jurors the option of convicting Roeder of voluntary manslaughter, which is defined as "an unreasonable but honest belief that circumstances existed that justified deadly force" under Kansas statute. If convicted for voluntary manslaughter, Roeder would have only received a sentence of around five years, as opposed to a possible life sentence if convicted of first-degree murder. The possible use of this defense worried me that a conviction of voluntary manslaughter would have negatively opened the doors for many other killings of this nature. However, as hoped for, Judge Wilbert rejected this defense.

Although I am relieved that justice has been served in this trial, it is impossible to forget the loss of Dr. George Tiller. His bravery to continue working despite numerous attempts on his life and threats to his practice showed his dedication and commitment to helping women. Tiller is the fourth abortion doctor to be killed in the United States since 1993. While I applaud the jury for their fair and honest conviction, it is impossible to overlook the fact that the issue of protecting abortion providers is still far from being resolved.

Blog For Choice 2010

Happy 37th Anniversary of Roe V. Wade!
This year, the focus of Blog For Choice Day is simply "Trust Women" in honor of Dr. George Tiller. I have so much to say that I'm not even sure where to start.

After Dr. Tiller's murder, I spoke to my mom about late-term abortions. My mom conceded that she was somewhat confused about them. I recognize that the underlying assumption that people have about these procedures is that these women simply "waited too long" before deciding to have an abortion - women who suddenly had a change of heart, and ran down to Kansas to nip it in the bud, on a whim.

Doesn't sound very trusting of women, does it? That mentality assumes that women don't know anything - they don't know what they're doing, they don't understand the enormity of this decision, and they shouldn't be trusted to make these decisions for themselves. This is the same mentality that allows waiting laws to be put in place (Here's the link to a map of waiting periods around the nation) and the mentality that would consider mandating that women see a sonogram before obtaining an abortion. These laws are not very trusting of women, are they. At the very least, they assume that for women to make good choices, they need the intervention of the (overwhelmingly male) government.

I had a related conversation today with my cousin. She's a registered nurse in the maternity ward of a nearby hospital. We started the chat by admitting that our views probably clashed on choice - but it turned out that we were almost on the same page. We both agreed that if abortion wasn't legal, it wouldn't change the number of abortions - it would just make them less safe. And we both agreed that there are times that women need safe and legal abortions. But she sees women and teens come in for their 3rd or 4th abortion, and felt very strongly that it shouldn't be used as birth control. I argued that there are other forces at work that put women into those positions. At the end of our conversation, I timidly informed her that she was, in fact, pro-choice, according to my definition.

But it got me thinking - the reason my cousin considers herself pro-life is because she doesn't think all women make good decisions concerning it. I tried to say that there's no way anyone can know what any woman goes through because deciding to get an abortion, and there are probably very few women that take the issue lightly, and don't think much of it. And that assuming all women are airheads doesn't help any of these causes. That's what Trust Women is all about! If we trusted that all women knew what they were doing, and could be trusted to make decisions concerning their bodies and their personal physical and mental health, nobody would be pro-life. Right? Nobody would want to intervene in that personal, life-changing choice - because it wouldn't be questioned.

All these conversations remind me of this amazing site, which includes memoirs by women who went to Kansas for late-term abortions at Dr. Tiller's clinic. None of the decisions were taken lightly. Some of the women discovered that their child would have a horrible condition if they carried it to term, and the child's life would be confined to a few painful (expensive) months in a hospital room. I heard a story of a set of twins with a rare blood condition, and the mother had a selective abortion in order to give one baby the chance of survival. Some women were faced with their own health risks if they didn't abort. Some women were faced with financial hurdles - they couldn't raise the money in time to have an abortion in their state, or they couldn't take off work, or couldn't pay for the necessary transportation to get them to the clinic until late in the pregnancy. It seemed like most of the women in need of late-term abortion had already been slammed with the worst situations and circumstances, and the system had put them into these dire positions. It pains me to think that people would say that these women shouldn't be trusted to make these decisions - but that's exactly what's going on.

Trusting women is a big deal, and a big commitment, but it's more important to our cause than almost anything else. People think my generation doesn't understand the importance of Roe V. Wade because I never lived in a time without it, and I don't fully understand what it would mean not to be there - and that may be true, to an extent. But Dr. Tiller's death, and Kansas stories opened my eyes to the importance of Roe V. Wade, and all the other work that we need to do.