Blogs Comment On ACLU Brief On Forced Hospitalization Of Pregnant Women, NRLC And Ryan-DeLauro Bill, FRC Ad

Main Category: Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Also Included In: Abortion;  Sexual Health / STDs;  Seniors / Aging
Article Date: 05 Aug 2009 - 4:00 PDT

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

~ "ACLU Files Brief Opposing Forced Hospitalization of Pregnant Women," Jodi Jacobson, RH Reality Check: On Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Florida "filed a friend-of-the-court brief opposing the state's decision to force a pregnant woman to remain hospitalized against her will," Jacobson writes. According to Jacobson, Diana Kasdan, a staff attorney with ACLU's Reproductive Freedom Project, said, "Women do not give up their right to determine the course of their own medical care when they become pregnant. Faced with similar cases, courts throughout the country have made clear that pregnant women have a right to make decisions about their own health, including refusing medical care." The brief filed by ACLU also said that Florida's decision will "invit[e] state requests for court intervention in nearly all aspects of pregnant women's behavior and medical judgments." Women "will be discouraged from coming to a hospital for pregnancy care if they know that any disagreement may lead to forced medical treatment," the brief continues, noting that "[s]uch a result does not advance maternal and fetal health by any measure and is not constitutionally permissible" (Jacobson, RH Reality Check, 8/3).

~ "Rubber-Baby Money Lumpers," William Saletan, Slate's "Human Nature": National Right to Life Committee Legislative Director Douglas Johnson has "restated ... many times" that the group has a neutral position on contraception, Saletan writes, adding that he is "inclined to believe him, because I take people's stated motivations seriously." However, Johnson "doesn't take such motivations seriously" and "relentlessly characterizes his opponents as 'pro-abortion,' even though they don't like abortion" and refer to themselves as "pro-choice" or "pro-abortion rights," Saletan continues. Johnson's "latest targets" are Reps. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) and Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), who sponsored the Preventing Unintended Pregnancies, Reducing the Need for Abortion and Supporting Parents Act. The measure includes funding for contraception and sex education, as well as incentives and support for adoption and women who carry their pregnancies to term. However, Johnson "dismisses the Ryan-DeLauro bill and its themes of abortion reduction and common ground as 'phony,' a 'smokescreen,' and a 'prop' in a 'political charade,'" he continues. Johnson "insists on an objective standard: Do you support legislation that funds abortion or people who defend them? If so, you're pro-abortion," Saletan writes, adding, "By this standard, NRLC is against contraception" (Saletan, "Human Nature," Slate, 8/3).

~ "Surgery for Seniors vs. Abortions?" Viveca Novak, FactCheck.org: An advertisement by the Family Research Council "merg[es] the fears of seniors worried about their health care with those of antiabortion advocates" by featuring an older man concerned with a federal health plan under which the government "'won't pay for my surgery, but we're forced to pay for abortions,'" Novak writes. However, "[n]one of the health care overhaul measures that have made it through" congressional committees "say that abortion will be covered," and "one of them explicitly says that no public funds will be used to finance the procedure," Novak writes, noting that "none of the bills call explicitly for cuts in Medicare coverage, much less rationing, under a public plan." In the blog entry, Novak examines each bill considered by Congress and how it is perceived by both sides of the abortion debate. She notes that the bills generally "leave the specifics of what medical services would be covered" to be decided by an advisory panel that would make recommendations to the HHS secretary (Novak, FactCheck.org, 7/31).

Antiabortion-Rights Blog

~ "Joshua DuBois Exclusive Interview: Talking Abortion Reduction," David Brody, The Brody File: In an interview with DuBois, head of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, Brody writes that he "ask[ed] him about the progress of the [Obama administration's] abortion reduction initiative," in which DuBois has "played a central role." According to Brody, DuBois said that President Obama "has been extraordinarily clear" about what goals he would like the initiative to achieve. DuBois said that Obama "thinks there's a lot of area in the middle that we can potentially find some agreement on," including increasing adoptions and maternal health care. Brody writes that he will "be doing an in-depth personal profile piece" on DuBois that will be on The 700 Club later in August (Brody, The Brody File, 8/3).

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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