Blogs Comment On Addition Of HPV Vaccine To Immigration Rules; Forced Intercourse; Ab-Only Ed; HHS Rule; Palin

Main Category: Cervical Cancer / HPV Vaccine
Also Included In: Public Health;  Sexual Health / STDs;  Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 17 Sep 2008 - 11:00 PDT

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

~ "Immigration authorities Add Gardasil to List of Required Vaccines," Feministing: The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on Monday announced it has added the human papillomavirus vaccine to a revised list of vaccines required for applicants looking to become legal residents, a Feministing blog entry says. According to the blog, the "main problem" with adding Merck's HPV vaccine Gardasil to the list is that it "adds another significant financial barrier for immigrant women, since the vaccine is seriously expensive and there is little funding for it." Some people have said that the move "isn't actually a Merck ploy to get more people to get the vaccine," but rather a "Bush administration immigration barrier," the blog says, adding, "Like we need another one of those. Ironic, considering that conservatives were a big part of the campaign to block [HPV] vaccine mandates last year, for mostly anti-sex reasons. I guess they don't care about these things when it comes to immigrant women" ("Feministing," 9/15).

~ "Nearly One in Five Young Women Have Experienced Forced Intercourse," Feministing: The blog entry discusses a new report by Child Trends on forced sexual intercourse and a new Family Violence Prevention Fund campaign aimed at curbing the practice. The Child Trends report finds that that about 18% of women ages 18 to 24 report having experienced forced sexual intercourse at least once in their lives. FVPF's new campaign, called the kNOw More initiative, "examines the reproductive health consequences of sexual coercion and violence," according to the blog. "The fact that women are more likely to be assaulted when they're young is not new information," the blog says, adding, "But the people at FVPF are using these numbers to talk about an issue that isn't often discussed: reproductive coercion." The blog concludes that "this is too important an issue to overlook" ("Feministing," 9/10).

~ "ACS Releases Issue Brief on Sex Stereotypes in Abstinence-Only Education Programs," Reproductive Rights Prof Blog: The blog entry reports that the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy has released an issue brief, titled "Lesson One: Your Gender Is Your Destiny -- The Constitutionality of Teaching Sex Stereotypes in Abstinence-Only Programs," that examines abstinence-only programs' reliance on and perpetuation of gender stereotypes. The blog entry includes the report's summary ("Reproductive Rights Prof Blog," 9/12).

~ "Public Comments On Patient's Rights vs. Provider Conscience," Amie Newman, RH Reality Check: HHS' proposal to create regulations allowing health care providers that receive federal grants to "opt out" of care they reject to based on moral or religious grounds "would have a very real, extremely severe impact on women's lives," Newman writes in a RH Reality Check blog entry. The regulation, which currently is in a period of public comment, "offers absolutely no protection for women who seek very real and needed reproductive and sexual health care," Newman writes, adding that HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt has been unable to "sufficiently explain to Americans why the proposed regulation offers no balance between the rights of women to access necessary health care services from providers and the rights of providers not to perform a procedure or prescribe medication they oppose" (Newman, RH Reality Check, 9/12).

~ "Sarah Palin's Retrograde Gender Politics," Courtney Martin, American Prospect: Although Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee, is "a little feisty" and "throws plenty of punches," the emphasis on her role as a mother and the minimization of her own story by Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain's (Ariz.) campaign "should irritate women voters," especially those who supported Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) for president," Martin writes in a blog entry. Palin "consistently downplays her own ambition and intelligence," Martin writes, adding, "Palin may have been plucked from obscurity to appeal to women who are aching for a maverick in mom's clothing, but don't be fooled. Palin is not on the ticket to bring gender balance to the White House; her primary role is to reinforce the almighty power of traditional masculinity" (Martin, American Prospect, 9/15).

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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