Blogs Comment On New HHS Rule Proposal; Language Used By Obama On Abortion; Remembering Rep. Tubbs Jones

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Abortion;  IT / Internet / E-mail;  Sexual Health / STDs
Article Date: 25 Aug 2008 - 6:00 PDT

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The following is a summary of selected women's health-related blog entries.

~ "Turning Backs on Patients: HHS Fails To Deliver on Contraception/Conscience Proposal," Emily Douglas, RH Reality Check: The removal of an "explicit redefinition of contraception as abortion" from proposed regulations by HHS might "creat[e] a much larger problem" by inviting health care providers to make their own determinations on "when pregnancy begins, what an abortion is, what contraception does and give" those providers' "beliefs legal cover," Douglas writes in a blog entry. "Targeting 'provider conscience' can be a shell game for attacking access to contraception and abortion if contraception and abortion are what providers' consciences are telling them not to provide," Douglas writes. Although the proposed regulations might "no longer imply" that they are "seeking to address" state laws that require hospitals or pharmacies to provide contraception and emergency contraception, that "doesn't mean the regulations as written wouldn't undermine those laws anyway," Douglas writes (Douglas, "RH Reality Check," 8/21).

~ "From 'Nuanced' to Principled: The Lessons of Pastor Rick, and Why and How Obama and the Democrats Should Make Abortion a Voting Issue," Drew Westen, Huffington Post: In the presidential election, the "million dollar question is how to talk about an issue," such as abortion rights, "that requires nuance in a way that is succinct, principled and captures our gut-level sensibilities," Westen, a professor of psychology and psychiatry at Emory University, writes in a blog entry. Westen adds, "If Democrats continue to parry Republican war cries of 'baby killer' with emotionally bland or euphemistic phrases like 'reproductive health' or continue to couch the debate in terms of life vs. choice, offering ambivalent voters a Hobson's choice, they do indeed have something to worry about." According to Westen, the "language of 'choice' is not, in fact, the most compelling way to engage most Americans on abortion. It doesn't resonate with most voters in the center, and it activates negative stereotypes about feminism and promiscuity." Westen writes that Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) would be better off speaking to voters about his position on abortion rights in a way that "fits his values and style," adding that "the answer doesn't lie in 'dumbing down'" messages on abortion but rather in "ratcheting up" the "emotional intelligence" of voters (Westen, "Huffington Post," 8/19).

~ "Barack Obama's Saddleback Misspeak and Drew Westen's Lessons on Abortion Talk," Amie Newman, RH Reality Check: Newman in a response to Westen's column writes that for the "most part," Westen's piece is "good and emphasizes some excellent points about Obama's -- and any politician's -- discussion of these issues." However, Westen uses "anti-choice terminology" -- such as equating previability second-trimester abortions with so-called "partial-birth" abortions by using the term "late-term abortions," as well as bringing up the "myth that anyone believes that abortion 'should be' an option late in pregnancy" except in cases to protect the life and health of the pregnant woman, according to Newman. The use of such language "in order to reach common ground voters ... will not help our issues gain traction long term," Newman writes (Newman, "RH Reality Check," 8/19).

~ "Al Gore, Call Your Office," National Right to Life Committee's "News and Views": An NRLC blog post says that a Wall Street Journal analysis by Steven Waldman on Obama's approach to the abortion debate gives a "pie-in-the-sky assessment" and that "'pro-life progressives' surrendered on every front" when negotiating a new Democratic Party platform with abortion rights advocates. The NRLC blog says that Waldman and others have a "right" to want to elect Obama as president but that there are "problems" with them "pretending to speak for the pro-life community and giving a pass to the most extreme pro-abortion candidate ever to be nominated for president" ("News and Views," National Right to Life Committee, 8/20).

~ "Remembrances: Stephanie Tubbs Jones, 1949-2008," Our Bodies Ourselves: "With the death of Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones" (R-Ohio) earlier this week, the "first black woman to represent Ohio in Congress, we've lost an incredible advocate for women's reproductive rights and health care for all," an Our Bodies Ourselves blog entry says. The blog post links to text and video of Tubbs Jones reading the poem "And the Women Gathered" by Gloria Wade Gayles and links to tributes to Tubbs Jones ("Our Bodies Ourselves," 8/21).

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