Blogs Comment On Pregnant Women Support Act, NYT Opinion Piece, Other Topics

Main Category: Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 15 Jun 2009 - 5:00 PDT

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

~ "Source: White House Leaning Toward Pregnant Women Support Act," Dan Gilgoff, U.S. News & World Report's "God and Country": Congressional sponsors of the Pregnant Women Support Act are "growing more optimistic about prospects for White House support," Gilgoff writes. Antiabortion-rights groups like the Southern Baptist Convention and the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops support the bill, as does Democrats for Life. According to Gilgoff, although the Planned Parenthood Federation of America has not officially come out in opposition to the bill, PPFA opposes provisions that aim to convince women to forgo abortion. The group supports informing women of options without attempting to persuade them in any way, Gilgoff writes. He continues that the White House has not publicly commented on the bill and that aides to President Obama are still working to produce a "common ground" policy related to abortion and other reproductive health issues. However, Gilgoff says that he received an e-mail from a congressional source close to the bill who wrote that the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships "'reached out to our office at the staff level for information on [PWSA] to begin what would become a larger dialogue on the issue of abortion reduction.'" The e-mail added that there has been continued correspondence on the issue and that a meeting is scheduled in the coming weeks with White House and congressional staff. Gilgoff writes that the source also told him that the recent appointment of Alexia Kelley -- former president of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good -- to head the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships could be a sign of the White House's potential support for the bill, as CACG showed support for PWSA under Kelley. Gilgoff concludes, "It seems more likely that the White House could incorporate less controversial parts of the bill into its own plan around abortion; I doubt President Obama would back legislation that would trigger objections from abortion-rights groups" (Gilgoff, "God and Country," U.S. News & World Report, 6/10).

~ "God and Abstinence: State Funding for Religious Agendas," Kathryn Royals, RH Reality Check: None of the speakers at a Mississippi Department of Human Services' recent youth event -- called "Abstinence Works: Let's Talk About It" -- provided any information "on what to do if abstinence fails," Royals writes. Although the speakers at the event "didn't talk about abstinence," they "sure did chant, cheer, dance, pray and sing about it," she continues. She notes that the "constant and overzealous" Christianity references at the conference were "wrong" not only because they "ostracized anyone who didn't prescribe to a particular brand of Christianity," they were "wrong because ... [t]axpayer and state money funded the event." She adds that she "would like to know why scientifically valuable and lifesaving information is being censored and made unavailable, and to what end," noting that speakers at the event offered misogynistic comments and medically inaccurate information but no thoughts on the "proper use of condoms or birth control." Royals also notes that Mississippi ranks No. 1 in the U.S. for teen births and has spent more than $16 million in abstinence-only sex education programs. "I tried to put myself in the place of the kids who attended the pep rally -- I mean, summit," Royals writes, concluding, "I would have walked out ... that day humming a new tune or chanting a new cheer, but my level of sexual education would not have improved. In fact, it would have been dangerously stunted" (Royals, RH Reality Check, 6/10).

~ "Ross Douthat's Abortion Solution: Don't Let Women Have Abortions," Kathleen Reeves, RH Reality Check: New York Times columnist Ross Douthat argued in a Tuesday opinion piece that "that we should reconsider the conditions for legal abortion, and that stricter regulation of (restriction on) abortion, particularly after the first trimester, will lead to a more civil national debate," Reeves writes. According to Reeves, although Douthat "implies at the beginning of the op-ed that he identifies with abortion-rights supporters, his disdain for women who choose to have abortions is fairly apparent," and he "makes little room for experiences that aren't his own." Douthat also "invokes a misguided notion of democracy" by arguing for returning the issue of abortion to the "democratic process." Reeves writes, "I assume Douthat means either state legislation or popular vote (ballot initiatives, maybe?)." Although these processes work "much of the time," there are "certain things which 'the people' do not do a good job of legislating, and these are generally issues of privacy," Reeves writes. She adds that "[t]his is why we have the Supreme Court." Increasing restrictions on abortion would cause antiabortion-rights groups "to shift their focus, increasingly, towards outlawing abortion altogether," Reeves writes, adding, "They will not be satisfied with what they view as small concessions, and these concessions should not be used as a means to quell violence." Reeves concludes, "Violence will continue as long as violence is viewed as an acceptable tactic, and increasing restrictions on abortion -- perhaps driving women, increasingly, to illegal abortions -- has its own bloody toll" (Reeves, RH Reality Check, 6/9).

~ "Birth Control Can Be Natural, Tax-Deductible, Consensus-Building and Helpful in Launching Pop Bands," Cristina Page, Birth Control Watch: Page highlights "a bunch of interesting stories about contraception" that were recently published in various media outlets. First, she writes, "is the announcement of a new and completely natural birth control pill," Qlaira, which is made from a bioidentical hormone that could lead to fewer risks associated with the pill. In addition, Page writes that Blast Magazine "offered some perspective on news that trace amounts of birth control have shown up in suburban water supplies around the country." She also includes an excerpt from a Billboard magazine profile on the pop group the Veronicas and their sponsorship deal with the contraceptive Yaz. Page also includes another blogger's experience gathering signatures in support of the Prevention First Act (Page, Birth Control Watch, 6/10).

~ "Vaginal Probes," William Saletan, Slate's "Human Nature": In a New York Times opinion piece on Tuesday, columnist Ross Douthat "concedes that some abortions are worse than others," including that the procedure is "worse in the second trimester than in the first," Saletan writes. He adds that this is "an important concession." Saletan writes, "Abortion isn't all or nothing. To say that some abortions are worse than others is to concede a continuum of gray in which moral negotiation is possible." However, Douthat "seeks acknowledgement of another truth" in his concession, which is that the "gray continuum is made of tiny pixels that are, on closer inspection, black and white," Saletan writes. Douthat "wants to translate these pixels into law," including criminal law, Saletan continues. "I'm all for morality, custom, compromise and common sense. These elements of society have plenty to say about abortion, and they're saying it," Saletan says, concluding, "But criminal law? Do we really want to go that far?" (Saletan, "Human Nature," Slate, 6/10).

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