Blogs Comment On Charges For Rape Kits In Wasilla, Sex Education, McCain's Abortion Position, Polls On Abortion

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Sexual Health / STDs;  Pediatrics / Children's Health;  Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 22 Sep 2008 - 10:00 PST

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

~ "New York Times/CBS Poll Shows Consistent Support for Legal Abortion Rights," Scott Swenson, RH Reality Check: A poll conducted Sept. 12-16 by the New York Times and CBS News shows that most Americans strongly support abortion rights, Swenson writes in a blog entry. According to the poll, few people will base their vote in the presidential election on social issues. Swenson writes that although far-right social conservatives seek to overturn Roe v. Wade and pass a constitutional ban on abortion, it "seems hard to imagine this could happen given the consistent high level of polling support by Americans, but it only takes a couple more Supreme Court justices who will then demonstrate right wing judicial activism by undoing 35 years of settled law represented by Roe" (Swenson, "RH Reality Check," 9/18).

~ "Is McCain Shifting on Abortion," Steven Waldman, ProLifeBlogs: Comments made by Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) concerning his support for human embryonic stem cell research and states' rights to make decisions on abortion issues "leave new questions" about McCain's positions, according to the blog entry. Although McCain has not done a "blatant flip-flop," his recent comments are somewhat at odds with the Republican Party's platform, which calls for a constitutional ban on abortion in all states and opposes embryonic stem cell research. According to the blog entry, McCain's comments "raise a different possibility: that by embracing a sharply antiabortion platform and running mate, he now feels free to move to the center on abortion to appeal to independents and pro-choice voters." However, if McCain "goes too far to the center, he'll end up reminding religious conservatives why they hated him in the first place," the entry says (Waldman, "ProLifeBlogs," 9/18).

~ "Yes, Sex Education in Kindergarten!" Debra Haffner, Huffington Post: Although the role of the federal government in sex education is "surely a topic worth discussing" -- since "almost nine in 10 Americans support schools teaching young people about their sexuality" and more than $1 billion in federal funding has been spent on "ineffective" abstinence-only programs in the last 10 years -- it is the "derisive comments about sexuality education in kindergarten that are dominating the debate" in the 2008 presidential campaign, Haffner, former president of the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States, writes in a blog entry. According to Haffner, sex education in the early primary years, which has been supported for decades by more than 150 public health, medical, religious and youth-serving organizations, "sets a foundation for later, more in-depth education. It provides lessons on family roles, taking good care of your body and the correct names of body parts. It helps children feel good about their bodies, their gender and their families. To protect them against sexual abuse, it teaches children 'no, go, tell' -- say no, get away, and tell an adult you trust what happened. It promotes parent/child communication around these issues." Haffner adds that the suggestion that such education teaches five- and six-year-olds about sexual behaviors or contraceptive methods is a "gross political statement," concluding that her "theological commitment to truth telling means" that she supports "sexuality education programs that are age appropriate, medically accurate and acknowledge parents as the primary educators of their children. I wish political campaigns would make the same commitment" (Haffner, Huffington Post, 9/17).

~ "Broad Range of Problems Associated With Abstinence-Only Education," John Santelli/Leslie Kantor, The Hill's Congress Blog: John Santelli and Leslie Kantor of Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health write that several studies published in a special issue of the journal Sexuality Research and Social Policy that they edited "conclude that abstinence-only-until-marriage sex education programs fail to change sexual behavior in teenagers, provide inaccurate information about condoms, and violate human rights principles. The articles make clear that abstinence-only programs are based on ideology and politics -- and go against the consensus of public health education." According to Santelli and Kantor, the most relevant article for federal and state lawmakers is a study that found that most abstinence-only programs that have received $1.5 billion in federal funding "do not help teens delay initiation of sex and that there is no scientific evidence to support their widespread use." Rather, comprehensive sex education programs were found to be an effective way to teach teens about sex and "should be replicated more widely," the blog entry says (Santelli/Kantor, The Hill's "Congress Blog," 9/18).

~ "Palin's Fetal Position," Mary Mapes, Huffington Post: "What an awful lot of voters really need to know" about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee, is that when Palin was mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, she "allowed the town's police department to charge rape survivors for medical exams," Mapes writes in a blog entry. According to Mapes, the "heart of this heated debate" is the issue of emergency contraception -- "who gets it, who pays for it and who gets to decide" -- because rape survivors typically are asked if they would like EC during an exam. "It is long past time to figure out who Sarah Palin really is," Mapes writes, adding,"[g]etting answers on how and why she allowed her hometown to adopt a policy towards crime victims that was so beyond the pale, so outside the bounds of human decency, so heartless is a good place to begin" (Mapes, Huffington Post, 9/15).

~ "Why Would Palin Refuse To Fund Rape Kits? Here's Your Answer," Daily Kos: According to the Daily Kos blog entry, Palin "has absolutely no problem with the state paying for evidence gathering," but the issue is that a rape kit is "more than evidence-gathering" because it also provides EC. The blog says that the line Palin "toed was basically this: no way, no how, no public funding at the municipal, state or federal level for rape kits that contain EC," adding that the "only possible reason behind" her "consistent refusal to fund rape investigation kits with taxpayer money is that they contain" EC, "which her religious fundamentalism views as tantamount to an abortion" ("Daily Kos," 9/17).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. 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.

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