Here's this week's reproductive rights news brought to you by the women of Our Word (and at least one of the guys!). If you see something you find relevant please email it to me, bayprairie at gmail dot com

William Saletan, The Judas Goat of pro-choice critique

William Saletan, the self-styled "liberal Republican," who hails these days from the elitist community of Chevy Chase, Maryland and who's the chief national correspondent and 'Human Nature' columnist at Slate.com is in the news again. This week, his topic is Plan B. But before we get into that, let's review his other great contributions to journalism.

::::more below the fold::::also posted at Our Word::::

When he isn't collecting "Believe It Or Not" style sniglets, such as he did this week with, Doctors removed two fetuses from a-month-old girl or A two-headed toddler died just before her second birthday, he's blessing us with sparkly journalistic-rhinestones such as these: The difference between gay marriage and polygamy, Stop giving healthy people Social Security, South Dakota's invitation to snuff your embryo,The temptation of remote-controlled killing, and Teachers who have sex with boys.

If he would stick with piddling mundanities such as these in his monkeyshine attempts to entertain and enlighten Boobus americanus I'd be finding no fault with him. But William Saletan's self-proclaimed moral authority is sometimes dangerous. He sees himself as an expert on American women's reproductive rights and speaks as if he's an authority on the subject. What's worse, many others view him that way too.

I put together this weekly blog post on the issues that concern me and my friends. I read about these issues in the news and I share those news stories in this piece. I do no original writing nor do I share any original thoughts. It goes without saying that I'm no expert on anything. At the same time, the undermining of a woman's right to choose does greatly concern me. And I feel compassion for women who have hard choices to make, often with no good options available to them and I seek to understand. I feel that Saletan in his writings only seeks to undermine women's freedoms. I'm not alone in these feelings. Others feel the same way also. What's fortunate for us is that many of them, unlike Mr Saletan, are experts. In the past I have shared some very good rebuttals of Saletan such as these.

This one was from the Reproductive Rights, Week in Review, Jan. 22-28.

Katha Pollitt has a post at the Nation on Pro-choice Puritans

:::snip:::

...On the New York Times op-ed page, William Saletan argues that pro-choicers should concede that "abortion is bad, and the ideal number of abortions is zero," and calls for "an explicit pro-choice war on the abortion rate." Sounding a "clear anti-abortion message," pro-choicers should promote a basket of "solutions" to unintended pregnancy...

I also put up a stand-alone piece in which Joyce Arthur wrote him an open letter in rebuttal here:

Joyce Arthur to William Saletan

I'm pleased to share with you today another great piece that I just found out about earlier this week. Its also from a really great site, The Well-Timed Period. This is a site you should bookmark, if you haven't already. The fact that I missed this post from early this past month proves I haven't been on top of making my regular rounds. As Marisa said in the email she sent to alert us to this piece, the poster "eviscerates" Saletan.

Can William Saletan Get A Clue?

Via Professor Lemieux I read The Road From Roe, Can technology break the abortion stalemate? by William Saletan. I shouldn't have bothered. But since I have, here are my comments.

The article deals with second-trimester (2nd) abortions, with a focus on late 2nd trimester procedures. Mr. Saletan finds these abortions particularly icky, therefore he argues for a gradual, voluntary exodus from at least half the time frame protected by Roe.

Before I go on, let me point out that nowhere in the article does Mr. Saletan offer even a shred of evidence for his repeated assertion that the public's increasing squeamishness (no evidence this trend even exists) about 2nd trimester abortions is fueling the looming political battle over abortion/Roe. For all we know this battle is driven by a crass power grab by politicians lusting for ever more intrusive interference in our private lives, or maybe even a push by the ruling class towards a theocracy.

Actually, the fact that the number of abortions performed after the 1st trimester, particularly during the late 2nd trimester, has been relatively constant for over three decades argues against Mr. Saletan's assertion. More on this in a bit.

Unlike me, the woman who writes at this blog is an expert and she rebuts Saletan using facts. Go give it a read.

Currently Saletan's off on another tangent this week, Emergency Contraception.

The Birds and the Plan B's

If you thought it was hard figuring out your views on abortion and birth control, get ready to wrap your mind around something in between.

It seems that Saletan's biggest worry about women's healthcare in these United States is figuring out which part of it he's against. Figuring out what his "views" are. It's a good thing we have such men looking out for us isn't it? I'm sure he has our best interest at heart. Much better, I'm sure, than I am capable of.

At any rate I'll include no more writing of his in this piece out of concern for your health, and besides, I have to run go flush a few fertilized embryos down the loo. If I could tell Mr Saletan something though, I think I'd feel obliged to say the same things to him that Jon Stewart said so very well to Tucker Carlson and Paul Begala.

STEWART: So I wanted to come here today and say...
(crosstalk)
STEWART: Here's just what I wanted to tell you guys.
CARLSON: Yes.

STEWART: Stop.

(laughter)

STEWART: Stop, stop, stop, stop hurting America.

BEGALA: OK. Now
(crosstalk)
STEWART: And come work for us, because we, as the people...
CARLSON: How do you pay?
STEWART: The people? -- not well.
(laughter)
BEGALA: Better than CNN, I'm sure.

STEWART: But you can sleep at night.

(laughter)

STEWART: See, the thing is, we need your help. Right now, you're helping the politicians and the corporations. And we're left out there to mow our lawns.

BEGALA: By beating up on them? You just said we're too rough on them when they make mistakes.

STEWART: No, no, no, you're not too rough on them.

You're part of their strategies.

You are partisan, what do you call it?, hacks.

You're a hack Mr Saletan. Stop hurting us with your compassionless words. And stop empowering those who wish to erase the freedoms we've fought for and won.

____________

An article ran in the New York Times, April 1st, concerning the deaths of 6 American women (plus one in Canada) who had recently had a medical abortion using RU-486.

Some Doctors Voice Worry Over Abortion Pills' Safety

Abortion rights advocates once hoped that RU-486 would prove at least as safe as surgical abortions and largely end the abortion wars by making access widely available and very private.

:::snip:::

"None of these women should be dying; it's shocking," said Dr. Peter Bours, an abortion provider in Portland, Ore., who is rethinking whether to offer pill-based, or medical, abortions.

Dr. Warren Hern, a provider in Denver, said the latest reports demonstrated that abortions by RU-486, or Mifeprex, were far riskier than surgical ones. "I think surgery should be the procedure of choice," Dr. Hern said. Pills, he said, "are a lousy way to perform an abortion."

:::snip:::

The drug has been used in more than 560,000 abortions in this country, so the reported risk of death is a bit more than one in 100,000. Some deaths may have gone unreported, meaning the real risk may be even higher.

By contrast, the reported risk of death associated with surgical abortion is one in a million, according to studies — one-tenth as high.

:::snip:::

The causes of the two most recent deaths are unknown, but all five previous fatalities resulted from infections with an unusually virulent bacterium called Clostridium sordellii.

F.D.A. officials said that there was neither a definitive link between the infections and RU-486 nor any concrete evidence that the drug increased the risk of infection beyond that found in women who underwent surgical abortions, suffered natural miscarriages or gave birth.

If you've been following this issue you're probably aware that RU-486 (a.k.a.Mifeprex) is used in combination with another drug, misoprostol, with the use of both inducing a miscarriage. The F.D.A. approved regimen (there is only one) was not followed by any of the women who've died, they used another regimen. Several different regimens are being used, with different dosages, different methods of drug ingestion and even, in some regimens, a different drug than RU-486. There's a list of the regimens at The Well-Timed Period if you're curious.

Medical Abortion Regimens: Take Two...Or More And Call Me In The Morning

Regimens similar to those used by the women who've died are used in France and Sweden, with their overall numbers of patients being greater than here in the United States. No fatalities have been reported from there that we're aware of.

____________

Here's news from South Dakota concerning the intentions to create a woman's health clinic that provides abortion services.

Abortion clinic planning proceeds

An unintended effect of South Dakota’s new law banning most abortions might be the creation of the first abortion clinic in western South Dakota in 20 years.

The clinic would be on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

“It’s about choice,� Oglala Sioux Tribe President Cecelia Fire Thunder told a small group of reporters Friday at tribal headquarters in Pine Ridge Village.

Fire Thunder suggested a reservation abortion clinic more than a week ago, saying tribal sovereignty would make it exempt from South Dakota’s new law banning all abortions except to save the life of the mother.

:::snip:::

The clinic could serve women in the entire region, Indian and non-Indian. “The reality is, this is not an Indian issue,� she said. “It’s an all- color issue.�

Fire Thunder said she had received more than 600 e-mails offering encouragement and even donations for a clinic. The messages came from throughout the nation and the world, from as far away as Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain.

:::snip:::

The legality of a reservation abortion clinic that contradicts a state law is not clear-cut. University of South Dakota law professor Frank Pommersheim, an expert in Indian law, calls the idea “potentially workable,� but questions about issues such as licensing could complicate the plan.

A national Planned Parenthood group called the “Post-Roe Task Force� also has studied whether reservation abortion clinics might be exempt from state law. “It’s very exciting that someone like Cecelia Fire Thunder would step forward and make a proposal,� task force member Sarah Stoesz said Friday. “I’m very interested in sitting down and talking with her.�

Indian Country, The Nations Leading American Indian News Source chimed in on this subject with an editorial.

Fire Thunder's choice worthy of respect

While the challenge is refreshing, the road to constructing a clinic on Pine Ridge has many twists and turns. True enough that many sympathetic folks with resources stand ready to help. This is evidenced in the blogosphere, while letters to the editor on the subject are lively. With luck and pluck, Fire Thunder has opened a path to leadership on a serious societal issue and perhaps created a good opportunity to resource a family planning and health option for her reservation. But particularly in an already very public and controversial case, Fire Thunder signals that the issue is not simply about her tribe's right to build the facility. The preferred route is to beat the restrictive legislation on the state level.

Early in the controversy, Fire Thunder signed up with 15 co-leaders in the new ''South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families.'' The group, which includes many South Dakota notables, has launched a statewide campaign to overturn the new law. A referendum to vote on the question is likely to be on the ballot in November.

In making a stand for women's reproductive rights, Fire Thunder stepped up to a position from which she can improve the lives of the women of her nation and also weigh in on a major America issue. Steadfastness, reasonable arguments and the human touch will be much required to navigate these contentious waters.

The editorial at Indian Country also mentions a very well-respected American Indian activist/feminist, Charon Asetoyer. if you aren't familiar with her and have a few spare moments here's a link to a piece she wrote with Lynn Paltrow.

South Dakota's New Murderers

____________

Here's a national story on Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPCs)

Maloney Announces Bill to Stop Deceptive Crisis Pregnancy Centers

Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) announced today a new bill aimed at false advertising by so-called crisis pregnancy centers. The bill, "Stop Deceptive Advertising for Women’s Services" Act, targets anti-choice centers that use deceptive advertising offering help to pregnant women or free pregnancy tests to lure women in, especially young and low-income women. Rather than offering a full range of reproductive health services, workers at these "clinics" use scare tactics and misinformation to convince women not to consider the option of abortion.

:::snip:::

Congresswoman Maloney is confident that her bill will pass. "Although those who are anti-choice disagree with my position on a number of issues, I’m fairly certain they will agree that women do not deserve to be lied to," she said. "I anticipate my colleagues across the political spectrum will step-up to stop the fraud being perpetrated against the women of America."

Representative Maloney has also won the approval, and the assistance, of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Maloney Wins Support of ACLU For Regulation of Abortion Ads

Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a Democrat who represents parts of Manhattan and Queens, introduced legislation yesterday aimed at cracking down on so-called crisis pregnancy centers, which are operated by anti-abortion groups and encourage pregnant women to consider other options.

"It seems to me they're purposely trying to confuse people," Ms. Maloney told The New York Sun. "If you're a pro-life group, put out a banner that says, 'pro-life counseling.'"

Ms. Maloney said the counseling centers draw women in by using names and signs that are intended to cause confusion with Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers. "The centers do not provide abortion services. They only offer anti-choice coercion," she said. "Women I've talked to are just unbelievably shaken by it. One said they closed the door and wouldn't let her get out."

Ms. Maloney's bill would require the Federal Trade Commission to adopt rules to prohibit any person from advertising "with the intent to deceptively create the impression that such person is a provider of abortion services if such person does not provide abortion services." The legislation defines "abortion services" to include drugs and surgery to terminate a pregnancy, as well as referrals for such services.

Ms. Maloney said the bill was crafted to avoid infringing on free speech. "We're very careful and worked with the ACLU so that the ACLU has endorsed it," she said.

This bill will be more controversial than the cites i've used implies. There are free speech issues involved here, in addition to the problems of deceptive advertising by many CPCs. I do know there have been successful actions against CPCs falsely representing themselves. One is example, According to a NARAL report available here :::warning PDF link::: is that the Texas Attorney General’s Office filed charges against CPCs in 1985 for deliberately deceiving consumers. That suit stopped CPCs from advertising themselves as abortion clinics in the telephone book. "Regardless of where one stands on the legality or morality of abortion," Assistant Attorney General Stephen Gardner said, "the practices at issue here are about whether there is a right to lie to another human being."

____________

And in news from Mississippi we learn that grandstanding legislators in the House and the Senate failed to pass an extreme anti-abortion bill on March 27th. This would usually be considered good news but I'm forced to report that the failure is due to the fact neither group could agree on the best combination of methods to use to erase women's reproductive rights and simply ran out of time.

Or did they?

Here's the AP story.

Mississippi abortion bill dies this session

A bill to ban most abortions in Mississippi died tonight after House and Senate negotiators failed to reach a compromise before a deadline.

The lawmakers were trying to reach common ground on a House-passed bill that would ban abortions in the state except when a woman's life is at risk or she is the victim of rape or incest.

:::snip:::

House Public Health Committee Chairman Steve Holland, D-Plantersville, presented the Senate negotiators with the latest House proposal about 10 minutes before the deadline.

:::snip:::

The Senate conferees refused to sign the bill, and the House conferees refused to sign the Senate proposal.

Filling in this bare-bones piece is this interesting account:

Abortion 'Ban' DOA

After weeks of sending abortion-rights supporters into a furious tizzy, a bill to ban the procedure in Mississippi flittered away into impotence as it passed its March 27 deadline for legislation in the regular session Monday. The bill, which might have banned all abortions except in cases of rape or incest, or to protect the life of the mother, fell to death with a frustrated shake of the head and a few dark, smoldering looks toward Rep. Steve Holland, the Plantersville Democrat who angered Democrats and Republicans alike by introducing the bill.

The abortion ban originally came hurling out of the House weeks ago when Holland found a Senate Bill on his Public Health Committee desk that he called “another Republican scheme to peck pro-choice to death.� That earlier version of the Senate bill, authored by Sen. Alan Nunnelee, R-Tupelo, sought to force any patient seeking an abortion to see a sonogram of the developing infant and to hear the fetus’ heartbeat.

Holland said he took personal offense at the bill, which joins a host of other state restrictions such as a mandatory waiting time, parental notification and informed-consent laws seeking to make abortion as difficult as possible without risking court intervention by banning it outright.

“I looked at this thing and just said to hell with it. It’s time for this issue to be voted on,� Holland said earlier this month. Holland struck the sonogram and heartbeat language from the bill and replaced it with a bill outlawing abortion outright—angering abortion-rights supporters who say that Holland was playing political games instead of leading a serious debate on an issue vital to the rights of Mississippians.

:::snip:::

In the hour leading up to the bill deadline, Holland—accompanied by Rep. Bobby Moak, D-Bogue Chitto, and a reporter and an intern from the Jackson Free Press—went to dinner at C.S.’ Deli. There he fed on fried chicken and pork chops, telling stories about his career as an undertaker, and killing time he might have spent in conference negotiating and arguing with Republicans over the bill’s language.

By the time Holland paid his check and returned to the Capitol and leisurely presented his most recent version of the bill to Senate conferees, House and Senate health committee members had only 12 minutes left to reach a consensus on the conference report before sending it out to the House and Senate for approval. Minutes after conferees started reading through the report, Holland said, “You’ve got five minutes to sign your signatures.�

:::snip:::

Nunnelee, shaken and furious, said the meeting was not begun in good faith.

“I sat in here for an hour and a half. After he set the appointment, he walks in 12 minutes before the deadline with a very complex piece of legislation. It’s only two sections, but they are two very important sections,� Nunnelee said.

:::snip:::

A terse back and forth ensued between House and the Senate committee members.

“I’ve still got questions,� Nunnelee said.

“Well you’ve got five minutes to ask them,� Holland replied.

:::snip:::

Republicans in Mississippi have repeatedly used support of abortion rights as a weapon against Democratic opponents, especially in competition for conservative voters.

Holland said he sought to disarm pro-life Republicans in upcoming elections by throwing them an abortion ban bill that they would be forced to duck.

And later on the 28th we have reports of a new development. a sort of deadline extension, or a redo, as they like to call it.

Mississippi Abortion Ban Has Nine Lives

Today, the Mississippi State House of Representatives passed a resolution extending the conference deadline for various pieces of legislation--including the abortion ban.

Still, the bill will need Rep. Holland's cooperation to pass conference even with an extended deadline, and all indications are that he isn't planning to offer it. As Jackson Free Press editor-in-chief Donna Ladd, who spoke to Holland about the recent turn of events, reported:

Holland says he "is through with it," and does not plan to confer. In fact, he said, "I plan to sit back on my big a** and let it die."

Mississippi pro-choicers are keeping their fingers crossed that Rep. Holland's love for Southern cuisine is stronger than his love for the state's powerful anti-abortion lobby.

And in a final update to this story we have this report.

Mississippi: Abortion Ban Off the Table Until at Least January 2007

The 2005-2006 session of the Mississippi legislature met for the last time today, and failed to agree on revised language for a proposed abortion ban. What this means, in a nutshell, is that the Mississippi abortion bill has been defeated. Legislators who want to take another crack at banning abortion won't get the opportunity until the 2006-2007 legislative session begins next January.

I guess Mr Holland acted as promised and put all that grit he seems to have down on that fat ass of his and let that bill die. Gotta love that Fried Chicken.

____________

Here's a story I missed from the week before concerning the presidential run of Massachusetts soon-to-be former governor. In the story you'll find Milt egregiously sucking up to the fundie, woman-hating faction of the Republican party. The reason? Votes, of course. I'm sure he really doesn't care much about the issue, that's just window dressing. It's appeasing the fundie wing and keeping them happy up until the day they vote, that's the game afoot. As an aside it's rather pleasant watching the potential nominees sucking up to the fundie faction. I really enjoyed John McCain turning a 180 that would make a snowboarder proud in his recent decision that Jerry Falwell isn't such a bad guy at all. You know, thats not what he said a few years ago. You know when I think of that I"m reminded of what another conservative Arizona Senator said years ago, in 1994. Barry Goldwater said "Every good Christian should line up and kick Jerry Falwell's ass."

Anyway, I digress. Here's our story.

Romney opts against proclamation honoring 1972 birth control case

BOSTON --Gov. Mitt Romney is declining to issue a proclamation recognizing a landmark 1972 Supreme Court decision legalizing birth control for unmarried people -- the first time in 10 years a Massachusetts governor has taken a pass on the proclamation.

:::snip:::

"It's a shame that Gov. Mitt Romney has missed this opportunity to show his support for increased access to birth control," said Melissa Kogut, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts.

Others accused Romney of trying to appeal to conservative Republican primary voters as he weighs a run for president in 2008.

"The constitutional right to privacy is settled law in this country," said Angus McQuilken, a spokesman for Planned Parenthood. "Every day that Mitt Romney gets closer to his presidential run, he is traveling further and further away from mainstream Americans."

I know one thing for sure. Mainstream america supports birth control.

OH! and Barry Goldwater also said, "A woman has a right to an abortion."

He also said, "I don't have any respect for the Religious Right." and "The religious factions will go on imposing their will on others,"

In your heart you know he's right.

Republicans should get back to their roots, don't you feel? Quotes courtesy of Liberals Like Christ.

____________

Here's another story with political overtones that I missed. This one's about shelving controversial issues before the 2006 elections in Connecticut. You see much of the time at the legislative level it isn't about doing what's right. It's about getting re-elected.

Plan B Bill Dies At Capitol

Avoiding the highly charged issues of religion and rape in an election year, a key legislative committee failed to vote Monday on a bill that would have forced Catholic hospitals to offer the Plan B contraceptive pill to rape victims.

Some advocates maintained hope that the bill could be resurrected in an amendment, but legislative veterans said the committee's lack of action by Monday's deadline essentially killed the bill for this year.

Sen. Christopher Murphy, co-chairman of the public health committee, said there was "a recognition that this is not going to get a vote" in the Senate and House this year unless there had been an agreement between the Catholic hospitals and those supporting the morning-after pill.

Murphy, a Democrat, is running against Republican U.S. Rep. Nancy Johnson in the 5th Congressional District, but Republicans said his support of the bill would make him unpopular with the Catholic Democrats in Waterbury he needs in order to defeat Johnson.

:::snip:::

The lack of a vote represented a victory for the Catholic hospitals, which had at least six lobbyists watching the debate Monday in the Legislative Office Building in Hartford. The proponents for the rape victims had a similar number of lobbyists who knew that time was running out as the 5 p.m. deadline approached.

But Laura Cordes, the policy director for the East Hartford-based Connecticut Sexual Assault Crisis Services Inc., said the issue was never about the Catholic hospitals. She said there are at least three other non-Catholic hospitals in Connecticut that do not routinely offer the Plan B pill to rape victims. She declined, however, to name those hospitals.

Barry Feldman, general counsel for St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford, said he does not believe that the legislators had dodged the issue.

"I think legislators are courageous, and if there was support for interfering with the Catholic hospitals' religious beliefs," there would have been a vote, Feldman said. "The votes just weren't there."

____________

Here's a wave-of-the-future story. Try and imagine a world where even the insurance companies can deny, or fail to pay, for incidents or accidents in situations that the corporation doesn't morally approve of.

House panel OKs `ethical opt out' insurance bills

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Insurance providers and HMOs would not be required to cover health care benefits or procedures that conflict with the organization's moral or religious beliefs under legislation endorsed Thursday by a state House panel.

The Republican-dominated House Insurance Committee voted 9-6 along party lines to forward the bills to the full House for its consideration. The legislation is sponsored by Rep. Scott Hummel, R-DeWitt.

Opponents of the legislation say it could weaken consumers' health care benefits, particularly women's access to birth control and other procedures related to reproduction.

The bills are supported by groups such as the Michigan Catholic Conference and Right to Life of Michigan. Supporters say insurance providers that don't believe in covering birth control or other health care benefits for religious or moral reasons should not be forced to do so.

"This is a forward-thinking piece of legislation," said Ed Rivet, a Right to Life lobbyist. "...If an insurer does not want to cover something — consistent with previously established values or mission statements — that should be protected."

:::snip:::

The state's Office of Financial and Insurance Services opposes the bill. The agency says it could lead to more lawsuits as insurers and consumers argue over what is covered and what isn't.

Its going to be a shock to all those anti-choice catholic father's in michigan when they find their insurance isn't going to pay for their daughter's out-of-wedlock birth because their insurance company believes pre-marital sex is a sin, or their son's driving under the influence accident because drinking is immoral, or that sexually transmitted disease they didn't intend to acquire at the lodge convention because faithfulness in marriage part of the insurance company's code.. But hey, look on the bright side. Those republicans in Michigan have managed to find a way to convert corporations to Christianity!

Why? The bottom line, why else?

____________

Two weeks ago we awarded Mike Foley of Nebraska our worst medical legislator in a lab coat© award for his efforts to amend funding for women’s health services in a bill. Well, actually he was trying to eliminate Planned Parenthood's funding and simply told his fellow legislators a slightly different story. His true intentions were revealed when a letter he wrote was accidently made public. If you recall that story he even went so far as to ask people to pray that the amendment would prevail. I guess god wasn't taking prayers that day as the following story reports that Foley's power-play has failed, mostly due to his angering his fellow legislators with his duplicity.

Foley anti-Planned Parenthood language removed from budget bill

Sen. Mike Foley lost his legislative fight to makes sure that Planned Parenthood gets less state money.

He lost at least in part because some senators were upset that he wasn’t more honest about his reasons for trying to change how state dollars are distributed.

Senators voted to remove the Foley language changing the traditional bid process during second-round debate on the main budget bill (LB1060) on Thursday. Senators also removed the additional $250,000 that would have gone to pay for health care services for low-income women next year.

Instead the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee will study the program that uses about $500,000 in state tax dollars each year to reimburse clinics for treating low-income women, giving pap smears and testing and treating sexually transmitted diseases.

:::snip:::

Three of the seven senators said they switched their votes, at least partly because Foley had misled senators about his real motives. Senators also said they didn’t want to spend more hours debating the issue, a guarantee if the Foley language wasn’t removed.

Hey, do you perhaps see the hand of god in all this? Maybe she was listening that day, and turned Mike Foley down.

____________

And in closing, this story from Texas.

Family planning funds go to agency promoting birth

Five million dollars in family planning funds has been awarded to an agency for crisis pregnancy counseling centers statewide that will advise women on their options during and after pregnancy.

But the counseling centers, at least one of which will probably open in San Antonio, will not provide family planning, medical care or contraception. This marks the first time that family planning funds will be used for such centers.

The Texas Pregnancy Care Network, a group comprised of three directors, was awarded the contract by the state Health and Human Services Commission after state Sen. Tommy Williams, R- The Woodlands, added a budget rider to the state's family planning funds directing that $5 million be used for "alternatives to abortion."

The move infuriated women's health care advocates, who point out that Texas leads the nation in the number of uninsured residents, and only 20 percent of women eligible for subsidized family planning care will get it.

I've said this before and I'll say it again. Access to family planning services is a basic human right. That right is documented in treaties that are concerned with protecting human rights which the United States has signed and ratified. Taking money away from poor women in Texas, spending it on what is essentially religious propaganda and then not replacing it is a human rights violation and should not be tolerated in this country. Yet we find in the new America of the 21st century that it's not only tolerated, its encouraged.

"If (Williams) wants to fund crisis pregnancy centers, that's fine," says Peggy Romberg, CEO of Women's Health and Family Planning Association, "but he needs to fund it some other way, not take away scarce family planning dollars. It just makes no economic sense."

:::snip:::

The Texas Pregnancy Care Network won't be paying any of that. According to the just-signed contract, the centers will offer information on pregnancy, health care, adoption, coping and life skills.

They will refer women to existing government and nonprofit programs and offer items such as food, clothing and baby needs like cribs, car seats and diapers.

They remain an unknown entity. The group was incorporated as a nonprofit in August 2005.

:::snip:::

The network will subcontract services from Real Alternatives, a Pennsylvania crisis pregnancy group.

Well they're not completely unknown, although as mentioned in the story, James Wolfskill of Bellville, the group's listed primary contact, declined to return repeated phone calls for an interview with the reporter who wrote the story above.

Back in January Moiv shared with us her knowledge of Crisis Pregnancy Centers and family planning de-funding in Texas with the following four posts: Why Tanya cried, De-Funding the 'Contraceptive Mentality', Texas Taxes Spreading the "Pro-Life" Gospel and Can Tax Tithes Sanctify the Odor of Mendacity? Neither of these pieces shares much information about the winning bidder, The Texas Pregnancy Care Network, mostly because so little is known. But these excellent pieces do give great insight into existing CPC activities, and organizations, and the ongoing issue of family planning de-funding occurring in Texas.

For more on the issue of Crisis Pregnancy Centers and a description of their operation lets go to tompaine.com for a very recent article by Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-choice America.

Peddling Deception

A young woman, 16 years old, is raped. Her concerned father, looking for medical care and counseling, brings her to a storefront “clinic.� They are shown what he later describes as “brutal footage� including pictures of dismembered fetuses. “They just emotionally raped her. . . They are advocates for the unborn, and to hell with the troubled person. They had an ax to grind, and just terrorized her,� he said.

Unbeknownst to the man and his daughter, they had walked into a crisis pregnancy center—the anti-choice movement’s latest tactic in the campaign to take away women’s reproductive freedom. Around the country, the anti-choice movement has set up thousands of these centers. They’re all different, of course, and some might offer pregnant women sincere help, such as free baby clothes. But more often, we’ve discovered, their sole purpose is to lure women in with the promise of honest medical care and then badger or coerce them away from considering abortion.

These counterfeit pregnancy centers typically aren’t regulated by the government because they’re not really offering medical care—they’re just pretending to. They often list themselves in phone books under “family-planning information centers� or “abortion services.� When women call to inquire about their services, the centers often provide dishonest or evasive answers. Once women enter the CPC, they are exposed to anti-choice propaganda to dissuade them from exercising their right to choose. No information on birth control is provided.

Although their methods have drawn the rebuke of some courts and government officials, including New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, most of these centers function without oversight or accountability.

As mentioned in the article cited above Crisis Pregnancy Centers were begun in Hawaii in 1967 by a man named Bob Pearson. The Pearson Foundation, a national clearinghouse for information about "Crisis Pregnancy Centers," has been operating since 1979. Crisis Pregnancy centers are essentially fake abortion clinics, often opened in close proximity to legitimate abortion clinics, which prey on predominately young and/or low income women who come to the center for the advertised free pregnancy test. Subjecting young women to anti-abortion propaganda including videos, distorted pictures, and prayer, "Counselors" withhold pregnancy test results while trying to convince the client not to have an abortion. The founder of the Pearson Foundation, Bob Pearson,organized the first "Crisis Pregnancy Center" in Hawaii in 1967. Since that time, the Pearson Foundation, as well as the Christian Action Council, have opened more than 2,000 crisis pregnancy centers in the United States (Clowes Ch. 47). The stated mission of the Pearson Foundation is also against contraception, and supports only natural family planning (Pearson Foundation). The above info courtesy FeministCampus.org from their Feminist Issues: Study & Action Manual page in a downloadable PDF entitled Know the Opposition.

continuing with the Keenan piece for a bit.

To make matters worse, these operations have found a new source of funding from taxpayers, courtesy of the Bush administration. The Washington Post recently reported that crisis pregnancy centers have received $60 million from taxpayers since 2001.

:::snip:::

It’s bad enough that politicians are spending our tax dollars on fake "clinics" whose sole purpose is to mislead, coerce and intimidate women. It’s worse to find out that these dollars are being pulled from real, legitimate, basic health care.

Just this month, the state of Texas announced $5 million in grants for crisis pregnancy centers. A report :::warning PDF link::: from the NARAL Pro-Choice Texas Foundation documents the other desperate health needs that are going unmet, just so that politicians can pursue their anti-abortion agenda:

• Texas ranks 50th among states in the percentage of women without health insurance. Yet the state chose to fund crisis pregnancy centers rather than real medical care. Crisis pregnancy centers don’t even provide information about birth control options!
• Texas ranks 46th in the percentage of women who’ve had pap smears in the past three years. Pap smears help detect cervical cancer, but instead of helping more women get this vital test, the state cut funds for the service.
• Texas ranks fifth in teen pregnancies—but instead of investing in more sex-education programs, it’s sending money to crisis pregnancy centers.

Lets look inside the NARAL report at some of the information available on CPCs in Texas.

Here are some interesting tidbits.

• Under Texas’ 2003 "Women’s Right to Know Act," the State Department of Health Services provides women seeking abortions with a list of public and private agencies that provide pregnancy prevention counseling, medical referrals and that offer "alternatives to abortion." This list notably excludes agencies that provide abortions, abortion referrals or that are affiliated with organizations that provide these services. As a result, this "Right-to-Know" guide essentially is a list of CPCs.4 The guide also indicates that these CPCs or Pregnancy Care Centers are not licensed by the State of Texas.
• Many Texas CPCs have a religious, anti-choice mission. The Austin-based Heidi Group, for example, notes that "125 mothers came to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ" as a result of a visit to their CPC. The Corpus Christi Pregnancy Center (CCPC)’s overall mission is "to share God's gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ with women in crisis pregnancies. By ministering to the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of these women, the CCPC encourages them to consider God's purpose for their lives and that of their baby."
• The Corpus Christi Pregnancy Center, a CPC that receives state funding to provide abstinence-only education to Texas schoolchildren, promotes the view that condoms are unreliable in preventing the transmission of HIV and that having sex outside of marriage is physically and psychologically harmful. Their website’s "Resource Library" includes medically inaccurate materials that claim "abortion is the most serious problem a woman will ever incur," causing "post abortion syndrome" and physical problems like sterility.10 The Center’s mission is "to share God's gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ with women in crisis pregnancies."
• Hope Pregnancy Centers of Texas, one of 183 CPCs promoted by the Texas State Department of Health Services in its "Women’s Right to Know Resource Directory" alludes to the mythical "post abortion syndrome," incorrectly calling it a type of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder like that suffered by war veterans and victims of rape and torture.12 "Post abortion syndrome" is not recognized by the professional medical community; even President Reagan’s anti-choice Surgeon General C. Everett Koop found no evidence of psychological problems following an abortion.13 In fact, documented incidents of mental illness and hospitalization are greater after childbirth than after abortion.

And conservatives love to get mad to complain about their tax dollars going to "waste". Give them total control of the government though, state and federal, and examine the improvement. Short answer? IT'S WORSE! This is a complete waste of money. Nothing but a fundie slush fund for conservative "entrepreneurs". Laughable.

• In an unprecedented political maneuver by anti-choice leaders in the Texas Legislature in 2005, the state for the first time is directly funding crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs). It is doing so with funds previously allocated to preventative medical services. In FY 2005-2006, $5 million dollars that would have previously gone to preventative health screening and contraceptive services is being shifted to unlicensed and unregulated CPCs. As a result, an estimated 16,668 low-income women will lose access to preventative health care and family planning services.
• Other states that fund CPCs do so through revenue from "Choose Life" license plate sales. The extra fee for these specialty plates either is earmarked directly for CPCs or is restricted to specifically exclude organizations that counsel women on all their reproductive health options, including abortion. As of August 2005, 11 states had "Choose Life" license plates, with seven of these state laws structured to directly fund CPCs or anti-choice organizations. Courts have struck down these funding programs in three states on constitutional grounds.
• Pennsylvania spends the same amount of state funds on its "Project Women in Need" (WIN) as it does on family planning services (more than $4 million dollars in 2002). WIN, which funds CPCs, provides pregnant women with "chastity education" and information about food pantries and temporary shelter. It does not provide any preventative or prenatal medical care.
• President George W. Bush cited CPCs as ideal candidates for funding from his White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. "This whole faith-based initiative really ties into a larger cultural issue that we’re working on," President Bush said, "because when you’re talking about welcoming people of faith to help people who are disadvantaged and are unable to defend themselves, the logical step is also those babies."
• More recent efforts seek federal funding to equip CPCs with sonogram machines. Congressman Cliff Stearns (R-FL) and Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY) introduced companion bills in 2005 to provide $3 million to help CPCs toward this end.34 Upon introduction of that same bill in 2003, Congressman Stearns repeatedly said ultrasounds can help "health clinics" detect birth defects.35 However, this bill was purposefully written in such a way so as to specifically exclude legitimate medical clinics from eligibility for this funding.36 After failing in the 108th Congress, this legislation is pending in the 109th Congress.
• CPCs believe that early ultrasound images are an effective way to dissuade women from having abortions. They are aggressively pursuing government and private funding for this equipment. Physicians generally perform ultrasounds after the 15th week of pregnancy in order to evaluate a fetus’ development and check for health problems and defects. CPCs generally perform sonograms well before 15 weeks to give a woman a "picture" of her fetus early on.

Note that these ultrasounds are not therapeutic ultrasounds run and analyzed by medical professionals. These are nothing more than vanity/coercive ultrasounds. They might as well be selling them at a kiosk in the mall, except of course, that type ultrasound is illegal in Texas. These are fundie magical-thinking "bullet" ultrasounds they love to use to coerce young impressionable women who are at a difficult stage in their life. Of course, it goes without saying, they really care nothing for the woman. it's all about the "innocent life" and the cult of the fetus.

In closing lets look at some legal requirements that medical clinics must meet.

Comprehensive Women’s Health Clinics: Must have a licensed physician on staff.

No such requirement exists for Crisis Pregnancy Centers

Comprehensive Women’s Health Clinics: Are subject to inspection by the Texas Department of State Health Services.

No such requirement exists for Crisis Pregnancy Centers

Comprehensive Women’s Health Clinics: Must meet health and safety standards for hygiene, employee qualification and supervision, and quality of care.

No such requirement exists for Crisis Pregnancy Centers

Comprehensive Women’s Health Clinics: Cannot reveal a patient’s identity without her consent. Violations are subject to injunctions and fines.

No such requirement exists for Crisis Pregnancy Centers

Comprehensive Women’s Health Clinics: Must get written permission before releasing health information for marketing purposes.

No such requirement exists for Crisis Pregnancy Centers

No such requirement exists. That's the story of the CPC. No requirements means no oversight. And now public dollars are being used to fund them. Scandal in the making when the tide turns, bad for christianity too, since they'll be painted as being responsible. Where was the oversight and the responsibility?

In god's hands, is where.

Unfortunately that hasn't really worked in the past, and it won't work now either.

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