Link-A-Dink

The ONE Campaign seeks to encourage Americans, one by one, to fight global AIDS and poverty. Go here to get involved.

Them Canadians really know how to sell books.

In Coushatta, Louisiana, a school bus driver named Delores Davis--a white woman, for clarification--ordered nine African American students to--sit at the back of the bus.

Scalia, Thomas, Alito and Souter hired only male clerks this term.

"Only a decade ago, as governor of Virginia, Sen. George 'macaca' Allen personally initiated an association with hate group Council of Conservative Citizens, the successor organization to the segregationist White Citizens Council and among the largest white supremacist groups."



The Detroit Action Network For Reproductive Rights is planning to picket a local crisis-pregnancy center to raise awareness about the misinformation spread by these clinics.

For every third woman who dies from pregnancy related problems in Kenya, the death is because of an unsafe abortion. Yes, illegal abortions kill women. Wake up, you Fetus Fanatics. Via VOA News.

Colorado Congressman and gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez is getting in trouble for foaming at the mouth about black women and abortion without actually doing any research on the issue. On Colorado Public Radio on Monday morning (audio here), he said, "in some of our ethnic communities we're seeing very, very high percentages of babies, children, pregnancies end in abortion... I've seen numbers as high as 70 percent, maybe even more, in the African-American community that I think is just appalling." Had he actually done his homework, he would have found that According to the CDC, the abortion ratio for black women is 495 per 1,000 live births, or 33%.

Some parents seeking to vaccinate their daughters with Merck's human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil have experienced difficulty in obtaining it or getting it covered by health insurance, the AP/Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. Imagine that, an insurance company not covering medicines or vaccinations. Just ask all the women whose insurance doesn't cover birth control.

Washington state Gov. Christine Gregoire (D) has proposed a compromise that would allow pharmacists to refuse to fill prescription and nonprescription emergency contraceptives only if the drugs can be provided by another pharmacist in the same pharmacy, the AP/Seattle Times reports. The proposed rule also says that pharmacists cannot "obstruct a patient in obtaining a lawfully prescribed drug or device" and that they must make an alternative available in a timely fashion if they "cannot dispense" a prescription. Boo to you, Governor Bag-o-Douche.

Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline (R), who is running for re-election in November, on Friday said he not was trying to further a political agenda but to protect children when he sought access to the medical records of 90 women and girls who in 2003 underwent late-term abortions at two clinics, the Dodge City Daily Globe reports. Funny, did he supbena all the medical records of teen mothers at hospitals? Nope. So, he's trying to protect who? Oh right, his rabid lunatic fringe.

Plan B. Now What?

NARAL Pro-Choice America president Nancy Keenan has a piece up at TomPaine, What Comes After Plan B?

Keenan reminds us that while the recent FDA decision to make emergency contraception available over-the-counter is a win for women, no points should go to President Bush.

Instead, the decision should remind Americans that his MISadministration was responsible for holding the application hostage for more than three years. During this time, the Bush administration put politics ahead of sound science, denying, without merit, American women’s access to a safe, effective form of contraception.

Get Out Her Vote!!!

2006 is an election year. With our nation at war, the right to abortion and birth control in jeopardy, global warming increasing, and attacks on affirmative action, it is time for young feminists across the country to register and vote on November 7!

In 2002, the last non-presidential election, less than 20% of 18-24 years olds voted, but more than 60% of senior citizens made it to the polls. This is why social security dwarfs issues young people care about like women’s rights, reproductive choice, affirmative action, civil liberties, global peace, and the environment. This is our future; we must play a part in how it is determined.

The Get Out HER Vote Campaign (GOHV) is a student voter education and registration initiative aimed at significantly increasing registration and voting by young women. GOHV legally targets young women and students of color because they are traditionally underrepresented.

GOHV is a non-partisan campaign in accordance with the laws and regulations governing 501c3 organizations. This means your FMLA cannot support an individual candidate or party – Democratic, Green, Republican, Independent, etc. In addition, your FMLA must afford everyone the opportunity to register to vote regardless of their party affiliation. Feminists have a variety of political affiliations and can be associated with any political party. While partisan groups are focusing on candidates you will focusing on the importance of voting and what is at stake for young people, especially young women and people of color!

Here’s your chance to get involved!

The Feminist Majority Foundation has compiled materials and website www.feministcampus.org/vote to help you launch a successful Get Out HER Vote (GOHV) campaign on your campus. With these materials, the FMLA/affiliate is empowered to get out the feminist vote. Remember – your campus organizers are available and more than willing to help, so feel free to get in touch and make sure to visit www.feministcampus.org/vote for the latest materials and updates.

Vote as if our lives depend on it… They do!!

A Doctor's Cross

A small, growing tumor is spreading across the United States.

This disease is a number of practices around the country that tailor the care they provide to the religious beliefs of their doctors, shunning birth-control and morning-after pills, IUDs and other contraceptive devices, sterilizations, and abortions, as well as in vitro fertilization.

Proponents say the practices allow doctors to avoid conflicts with patients who want services the practitioners find objectionable, as well as providing care that conforms with many patients' own values.

Critics, however, worry that the practices are segregating medicine along religious lines and may be providing inadequate care by failing to fully inform patients about their options. The critics are especially alarmed about the consequences in poor or rural areas with few alternatives.

The phenomenon is another manifestation of the tensions arising between religion and medicine with the rise of religious expression in the United States and medical advances that create moral dilemmas for some.

To read the full article, click here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14576677/

That's Not Morality, That's Sexism

NOW President Kim Gandy makes this claim as she writes in her column "Every time a doctor refuses to prescribe emergency contraception , and every time a pharmacist refuses to distribute it, and every time a member of Congress condones those refusals, women are denied the respect and dignity they deserve."

How true. If these so-called morality mongers truly believed this to be an issue of pre-marital, sinful sex that they are opposed to, then do they deny boys condoms? Do they ask for a marriage certificate for proof they are married? Do they require old men to prove their wives to be of child-bearing age since they believe that sex is for procreation only? And what if their wife is infertile? Do they have to prove fertility? If they practiced what they preached, infertile couples shouldn't be having sex. They should bolt shields over the genitals of infertile and aged couples.

But that's not what this is about. It is about controlling women, their choices and their reproduction. Read Below the Belt: That's Not Morality, That's Sexism.

MO Legislature Says Marriage Is The Only Way To Live

An unmarried couple in Black Jack, MO filed suit against their hometown last Thursday over an ordinance requiring that co-habituating groups of three or more be related by "blood, marriage, or adoption".

Read article here: Couple Sues Missouri Town Over Cohabitation Ordinance.

Way to impose morals yet again on fornicating un-wed couples and those sodomozing heathens.

Screw right off.

The Defenders: Check It Out

The Defenders - A History of the Birth Control Movement in Wisconsin, a film that frames the seventy year history of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin around the broader historical context of the birth control movement throughout time. They are facing the greatest political challenges to reproductive health care since 1973, yet people are unaware of what is happening. And their history is slipping away from them because many of the women and men who had the vision for this remarkable organization and movement are gone. You will learn what it took to gain the right to birth control and safe legal abortion, and what it will take to hold on to these basic human rights.

View the Movie Trailer here.

Or, if you are in Wisconsin, check this film out:
In Madison, Sept. 13th, 7:00 p.m. Orpheum Theatre – 216 State St.
In Milwaukee, Sept. 14th, 7:00 p.m. Oriental Theatre – 2230 N. Farwell Ave.

Kaiser Updates

Heartbeat International and Care Net, both of which oppose abortion rights, have launched initiatives to increase the number of crisis pregnancy centers, which "seek to dissuade women with unplanned pregnancies from having abortions," in inner cities nationwide to help minority women, the AP/Washington Times reports. According to the AP/Times, data show that about 90% of women who undergo abortions live in urban areas and that the majority of those women are poor. In addition, Latinas are 2.5 times as likely as white women to undergo the procedure, and black women are nearly four times as likely as white women to have an abortion, according to data from the Guttmacher Institute. Some critics said it is hypocritical for people to support the initiatives but do not support other policies that have the potential to assist minority women and their families, the AP/Times reports.

The prevalence of herpes in the U.S. is declining, according to a study published in the Aug. 23 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association, Reuters reports. Herpes is treatable but incurable, according to the Washington Times. "Overall, this is good news," Xu said, adding "There is a decrease occurring in all youth, males and females, and in all racial groups".

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel on Monday profiled the Hope Crisis Pregnancy Centers in Florida. The centers' "efforts curtail the number of abortions," but critics say that women are deceived and are not well served when the crisis centers disregard or discourage the option of abortion, withhold certain information and use names similar to abortion providers, according to the Sun-Sentinel. The centers, many of which are affiliated with religious groups, "make no apologies about their work and deny using scare tactics," according to the Sun-Sentinel. About 100 crisis pregnancy centers in Florida, including the Hope centers, received state funding under the $2 million Pregnancy Support Program launched in 2005 by Gov. Jeb Bush (R). The program provides funding to help women make "life-affirming" choices, Terrye Bradley of the state Department of Health, said. The centers are expected to receive an additional $2 million in funding in the state's 2006-2007 fiscal year.

New Orleans' birthrate increased by 39% from May 2005 to May 2006, nine months after Hurricane Katrina, USA Today reports. Some residents have said that after Katrina they had "more immediate worries than contraception," USA Today reports. In addition, some residents could not find their physician and were unable to refill birth control prescriptions.

A three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday in Denver denied an injunction to be issued on a 2005 Oklahoma parental notification law that requires physicians to notify in writing a parent or guardian of any minor seeking an abortion at least 48 hours before performing the procedure, the AP/KTEN reports. The law (HB 1686) -- which took effect in May 2005 after Gov. Brad Henry (D) signed it -- also requires health care providers to inform women of the medical risks of abortion at least 24 hours in advance of the procedure and give women certain information regarding the anatomical and physiological characteristics of a fetus at different stages of gestation. The Center for Reproductive Rights sought to block enforcement of the law on behalf of Nova Health Systems, the parent company of the Tulsa, Okla.-based clinic, Reproductive Services, in May 2005 after the bill was signed.

The first legal abortion in Colombia recently was performed following the legalization of the procedure in certain cases earlier this year, BBC News reports. The country's highest court, the Constitutional Court, in May voted to effectively legalize abortion in cases of rape, incest, to save the life of the woman or when the fetus is expected to die after birth because of severe fetal abnormalities. Under the ruling, abortion in all other cases still will carry a sentence of up to three years in prison for the woman undergoing an abortion and for the physician performing the procedure. According to BBC News, the abortion was performed on an 11-year-old girl who was allegedly raped by her stepfather. The Catholic Church has "condemned" the procedure, and protestors gathered outside the hospital where the abortion was performed, according to BBC News.

Pic Of The Day

Support The ALPHA Act!

It's commonsense that people should have access to their doctor-prescribed medication.

The anti-choice movement doesn't think so. They believe pharmacists should have the right to refuse to fill birth control prescriptions on "personal, moral or religious grounds." As a result, pharmacists around the country are refusing to fill their customer's birth control prescriptions and states such as Washington and Mississippi are supporting them.

In Madison Wisconsin, pharmacist Neil Noesen refused to fill a woman's birth-control prescription. He also failed to transfer it to another pharmacist or return it to her. By the time she was finally able to get her prescription filled (at the SAME pharmacy by a different pharmacist), she had already missed a pill because of the delay.

For victims of rape, women seeking emergency contraception, and the 80% of American women who use prescription birth control, this is a huge problem. Where can women go, if not to their pharmacy, for contraceptive options?

Don't give conservative states the chance to legally compromise your access to birth control. Sign the petition calling on Congress to support the Access to Legal Pharmaceuticals Act to ensure that every woman in every state can get her prescription for birth control filled, whether or not an individual pharmacist has an objection.

According to the American Pharmacists Association, all practicing pharmacists must pledge to "assume ultimate responsibility for assuring that his/her patient has been able to obtain, and is appropriately using, any drugs and related products." Don't let pharmacists abandon their promise.

Quick Link-A-Dink

Quote of the day: From U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris:
"If you're not electing Christians, then in essence you are going to legislate sin." Like fraudulently counting ballots?

The child-raping, polygamist "Prophet" of lies and hate, Warren Jeffs, has been arrested.

The LA Unified School District will make the HPV vaccine available to girls as early as this fall.

Nepal, where homosexuality is illegal, had its first gay wedding.

Michigan companies must now have insurance plans that cover birth control.

Concerned Women for America argues that, because the FDA finally acknowledged that science shows Plan B is safe for over-the-counter sale, the agency has "overstepped its authority." And here is more conservatives' reactions to the approval of EC OTC status.

The Purity Ball industry appears to be expanding.

Vermont teens will be able to get emergency contraception over-the-counter despite the FDA’s decision to only provide the drug to adults.

A study found that women that are in committed monogamous relationships are still being infected by HIV/AIDs. via AllAfrica.com. Thanks Bush and your hostage ideology!

Imagine my surprise (sarcasm) when polls show Katie Couric to be the most divisive of the major network evening news anchors. Has a man ever been described as divisive?

The Washington Post has a piece up on the renewed focus on South Dakota’s proposed abortion ban.

ABC news also reported that Steve Forbes, the editor-in-chief of Forbes, issued an apology about the anti-career woman article like this. (Note: The retort is in response to the original article). Michael Noer, lover of women and the author of Forbes' "Don't Marry Career Women", has also written The Economics of Prostitution.

Ortho-McNeil has announced that it's rolling back the $18 price hike for birth control pills. This is great news, considering the price increase impacted 4,500 family planning clinics nationally.

Robin Morgan has a piece in The Guardian, Their Bodies as Weapons. Via: Women's Media Center.

According to a controversial new study, male students learn more from male teachers and female students learn more from female teachers.

A Kaiser Report says bills to allow pharmacists to refuse to fill prescriptions were introduced in nearly half of the state legislatures this year. But not a single state has passed the legislation.

A New York judge has ruled that the state's human rights law's prohibition on discrimination on the basis of gender also prohibits discrimination against trans people.

Lynn Harris in Glamour writes: Infertile in a baby-crazed world.

A lesbian candidate won the Democratic primary for an Alabama state senate seat. If Patricia Todd wins the election, she'll be the first openly gay elected official in Alabama's history.

Post-war psychological trauma affects men and women equally. No shit.

Erotic dancers entertain Marines in Iraq. Cause we gotta keep them boys happy or they'll stop all them killins!

Senator George Allen (R-VA) publicly apologized to S.R. Sidarth, the 20-year old Democratic campaign staffer for his recent racial slurs: "Blah, blah...I got busted and now I must cover my ass. Vote for me".

On the cusp of the revelation that at least 80 military recruiters have been disciplined for sexual misconduct, a new survey of students at The Citadel shows almost 20 percent of female cadets reported having been sexually assaulted at the military college.

The FDA Approves EC, But Only For Adults

Must report about EC. At 9:20 this morning, the FDA's approved Emergency Contraception over-the-counter status for women 18 and over.

Women's advocates are greatful to finally have access, yet are severely dissapointed that the FDA once again bowed to pressure from the Bush MISadminstration, as well as fundamental interest groups. NO scientific evidence exists that EC is dangerous for minors. It didn't exist 3 years ago when the FDA's own expert panel recommended EC for women 16 and older. Yet today, it is only available for adults. Is there new evidence proving otherwise? New research? No, there is only the insulting fact that women must get carded for birth control. How truly gender-specific discrimination. The rationale behind not approving EC for minors is that it might encourage promiscuity in them whores. Cause boys always get carded for boxes of condoms, right?

Here are some articles about the approval: FDA OKs 'morning-after' pill without a prescription.

FDA Approves Nonprescription Sales of Plan B for Women Over Age 18 - Kaisernetwork.org.

Statement from NOW President Kim Gandy: FDA Decision is a Victory for Millions of Adult Women, But Leaves Young Women Vulnerable.

And Debra Ness, President of the National Partnership for Women & Familes had this to say:
"We are delighted that, at last, more American women will get access to a safe and effective method of reducing unintended pregnancies. But denying over-the-counter access to Plan B to women under age 18, when the research shows that it is safe for women of all ages, is arbitrary and baseless. It should not stand.
We should be working together to reduce teenage pregnancy in this country, not withholding a safe method of contraception from women and girls who need it.
The FDA still has a credibility problem. It owes the nation an explanation as to why it ignored a 23-to-4 vote for approval by its own panel of scientific and medical experts for so long, and why it is imposing an age restriction not supported by scientific research now.
Americans deserve an agency that will reject politically motivated delays and decisions, like these."

Update: President Bush during a news conference on Monday said that he supports prescription-only access of Barr Laboratories' emergency contraceptive Plan B for minors and that he supports acting FDA commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach's decision to consider approving nonprescription sales to women ages 18 and older, United Press International reports. Bush said he believes Plan B "ought to require a prescription for minors." He added, "And I support Andy's decision" (White House transcript, 8/21).

Notice To My Readers

As you may have noticed, I have not blogged consistently in a few days. Those who know me are aware that I am in the throes of moving, working my last days at my internship and trying to figure out my life. But everyone's got problems, right?

Internship is becoming more and more hectic. We are trying to get everything in order for the big 25th Annual 5K Run-Walk for Sickle Cell Awareness. If you didn't already know, September is Sickle Cell Awareness Month. Please check out this website to learn about this debilitating disease and what you can do to help those affected by it: Sickle Cell Disease Association of America. Here are some Links & Resources. And click here to find out How You Can Help.

So...I am inviting you all to enjoy some past archives as I barter with people on craigslist, box donations, handle last minute business matters, clean house and pack my life.
Thanks to all of you for reading my blog.

Weekend Link-A-Dink

Carnival of Feminists is up at: Being Amber Rhea.

Erase Racism Carnival at: Rachel's Tavern.

Anti-choice Feminists for Life purchased Susan B. Anthony's home for $164,000.

The UN Special Envoy on AIDS says the Bush administration is undermining global efforts to fight the epidemic. Imagine that.

Another suspect has been arrested on Tuesday for at least ten of the 400+ women in Ciudad Juarez who have been brutally raped and murdered since 1993.

Insensitive headline of the day: Breast implants linked to suicide, not cancer.

The Teen Endangerment Act may be unconstitutional.

In Canton, Ohio, a school board decided to expand sex education to allow for discussion on contraception after realizing that 13 percent of one high school's female students were pregnant.

The Alliance Defense Fund, a right-wing "public interest group," has devised this handy flow-chart of the homosexual agenda.

The Abstinence Clearinghouse is selling a Purity Ball Planner. Cause nothing beats the incestuous promise of virginity to your Daddy.

Pedophile James Woods has dumped his 20-year-old girlfriend. Seems she showed up to a funeral in a mini-skirt and the stress from her inappropriate behavior sent him to the emergency room. Boo-hoo, you perv.

Republicans are losing their hold on the "security mom" vote.

The Federal Pension Protection Act was signed by George W. Bush yesterday, in which two provisions will extend financial protections to same-sex couples.

The latest from Ellen Goodman: Reproductive Rights Victory -- in the Bush Era?!

The Kinsey Institute gallery is featuring a Sex in Cinema exhibit.

Women in Ghana are turning female condoms into fashion accessories.

A mousepad with a picture of a topless woman is being placed in internet cafes all throughout Hong Kong by a breast cancer organization.

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach's article tell us how grossly unsexy breastfeeding is and how it can destroy your marriage. Um, ok.

A new survey released by the U.N. says that violence against Afghan women is widespread and “hugely underreported.”

Capitol Hill interns are dressing sexy to get ahead...or give head; see Monica Lewinsky for instructions.

Missouri AG To Appeal Abortion Transport Ruling

Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon (D) on Wednesday said he will appeal a federal court ruling that requires the state to provide transportation to clinics for pregnant inmates who wish to have abortions, the AP/Kansas City Star reports. U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple in July ruled that the state must provide transportation for inmates seeking abortions. The Missouri Department of Corrections in July 2005 adopted a policy barring the use of tax dollars to transport prisoners to undergo abortions. Attorneys for a state prison inmate filed a lawsuit in October 2005 asking a federal court to order the corrections department to transport the woman to a clinic for an abortion. Whipple agreed to the request. Attorneys for the Missouri Office of the Attorney General unsuccessfully appealed the ruling to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court. The woman was about 17 weeks' pregnant and had been seeking an abortion for about seven weeks before she received one. The American Civil Liberties Union filed for a federal ruling to make the Jane Roe decision applicable to all pregnant women in the state, which Whipple agreed to. Nixon filed a notice of appeal to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis, the AP/Star reports. The appeal will cite a 1986 state law that restricts the state from assisting an abortion when the life of a woman is not jeopardized, according to Nixon spokesperson John Fougere.

The Reich Opposes FDA Confirmation

Suddenly, the Fetus Fenatics have a probelm with Andrew von Bag-O-Douche.

Groups that oppose abortion rights are calling on President Bush to withdraw the nomination of acting FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach to permanently head the agency because FDA might approve Barr Laboratories' application for nonprescription sales of its emergency contraceptive Plan B for women ages 18 and older, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports.

Funny how quickly they turn. Never was there a problem with Bu$h's nomination, not even a peep...until now...until this worm decided a DAY BEFORE his confirmation hearings to reconsider EC receiving OTC status. Whatev.

Wow. I never thought I'd say this, but it appears as if we agree on something. Just not for the same reasons. I oppose him because he's a lying worm. Because his sudden change of heart is transparent. Because he is a pawn of the Christian Taliban who incidentally turned on him like a rabid dog.

Another Reich Divisive Issue Expected To Be An Election Issue

Legislation that would allow federal prosecutors to file charges against individuals who transport minors across state lines to obtain an abortion "could become one of the big issues" in the November elections, WBUR's "Here & Now" reports. The Senate last month voted 65-34 to approve a bill (S 403) that would allow federal prosecutors to file charges against individuals who transport minors across state lines to avoid state parental notification or consent laws. The House in April 2005 voted to approve a similar bill (HR 748), but the legislation has some differences from the Senate version. Last month, Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) prevented an effort by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) to appoint members to a House-Senate conference committee to resolve differences in the bills. The delay has raised concerns about the prospects of the legislation, although House and Senate Republican leaders have said that Congress will approve a final bill before the November elections.

EC News

The New York Civil Liberties Union on Tuesday filed complaints with the New York State Department of Education's Office of Professions alleging that CVS and Rite Aid pharmacists refused to dispense refills of prescriptions for emergency contraception the AP/Long Island Newsday reports. The complaints were filed on behalf of three health care providers from Planned Parenthood Mohawk-Hudson who had prescribed refillable EC prescriptions. According to one of the complaints, a pharmacist at a CVS in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., in November 2005 said he would fill a woman's EC prescription but would not provide refills. In addition, the pharmacist allegedly altered the valid prescription so that it listed no refills. PPMH practitioner Claudina Ashelman-Owen spoke with the pharmacist's supervisor, who said women who had the EC prescriptions were "irresponsible," according to the complaint. The supervisor allegedly defended the pharmacist's right to deny a refill, saying EC refills were a "bad idea," according to the complaint. A separate complaint alleges that a pharmacy manager at a Ride Aid pharmacy in Gloversville, N.Y., questioned a woman's prescription because it listed refills. The pharmacy manager disagreed with the prescription, saying EC should not be "treated as birth control," the complaint says. Elisabeth Benjamin, director of NYCLU's Reproductive Rights Project, said the complaints are different from conventional EC complaints because pharmacists objected to filling a refill but agreed to provide the initial prescription. Benjamin said, "These refusals seem to just be based solely on moralistic assumptions of women's sexuality."

In other EC realted news, physicians working in hospitals or clinics without religious affiliations are more likely than physicians working in religious-affiliated facilities to prescribe emergency contraception according to research published in the American Journal of Public Health, Reuters Health reports. The researchers created nine scenarios -- including whether participants would prescribe EC to a woman seeking a pregnancy test who is not pregnant and not using contraception; if they would prescribe EC over the phone; and whether they refill EC prescriptions. According to researchers, in seven of the nine situations, health workers in nonreligious-affiliated facilities more readily prescribed EC than those working in religious-affiliated facilities. The findings also show that 10.4% of providers in religious-affiliated institutions said that during a routine exam they "all or some of the time" would prescribe EC to women who were not using a continuous method of birth control, compared with 41.7% of those in nonreligious-affiliated practices. About one in four providers at religious-affiliated institutions said they encouraged women to fill EC prescriptions, compared with nearly half of health care providers in nonreligious-affiliated facilities, according to the findings. "The real take-home message is this medication needs to be over the counter because physicians are not doing a good job of getting it out there," Prine, one of the researchers said. According to Prine and her colleagues, "This survey demonstrates that religious affiliation clearly creates a deterrent to prescribing emergency contraception in a wide range of clinical scenarios. For women as consumers, they need to be wary of the affiliation of the offices where they get their medical care".

Iranian Woman's Stoning Sentence Commuted

To everyone who took action on behalf of Ashraf Kolhari, the mother of four sentenced to death by stoning in Iran. Good news! The Iranian Ayatollah has announced that Ms. Kolhari’s sentence has been commuted. Please read the featured news story:

http://feminist.org/news/newsbyte/uswirestory.asp?id=9829

Until Iran makes illegal the cruel practice of stoning, women’s lives are still at risk. Ms. Kolhari’s attorney has asked that you please write again to Ayatollah ‘Ali Khamenei and United Nations Human Rights High Commissioner Louise Arbour to ensure that Ms. Kolhari remains safe and that Iran abandons death by stoning.

Free Birth Control For Western Washington

Free Birth Control For A Year!!

All Planned Parenthood of Western Washington clinics are participating in the Take Charge program with free Family Planning Services for women and men. For the location closest to you, click here or call 1-800-230-PLAN.

If you're not ready to be pregnant, you may qualify for free birth control services.To qualify, you must:

Have income at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty level.
For example: $18,624 for a single person and $37,704 a year for a family of four.
Be a U.S. citizen or have a green card.
Be a resident of Washington State.

FREE services include: Annual exam and counseling
Birth control pills, Depo-Provera, IUD, condoms, foam, contraceptive patch, vaginal ring, diaphragm, cervical cap
Emergency contraception
Vasectomy or tubal ligation (sterlization)

If you qualify, you pay nothing for birth control methods and family planning services covered under the Take Charge program for each year that you qualify. Each visit must be for family planning services. Fees may apply for visits that are not for family planning.

To get the phone number and location of your local health center, please visit Planned Parenthood of Western Washington.

Bill Gates Says Women Hold The Key

At the AIDS Conference inToronto, Bill Gates said that women's efforts are the key to stopping the AIDS pandemic.

While I applaud his intent because I listened to his speech and know where he was going with it, this statement can be misconstrude. As in, WHY is this solely women's responsibility? Why is this OUR battle to fight and why is this resting on OUR shoulders??? It also implies that failure is to yet again be placed on women. Sing me a new song. Although this is not what he meant, unfortunately that may be the perception.

ILL Governor To Make EC Over The Counter

Gov. Rod Blagojevich announced last weekthat he’ll make EC available over-the-counter even if the FDA doesn’t.“Plan B is a safe and tested form of emergency contraception, and women deserve access to it,” he said in a press release.

His opponent in the upcoming election, Republican Judy Baar Topinka, says she supports the sale of EC without a prescription--but only to women of a certain age. Same old record.

Gov. Blagojevich has already shown support for EC by requiring pharmacists in his state to fill women’s prescriptions--even if their “conscience” doesn’t want them to.

A Number the Reich Doesn't Want You To Know About

How are Americans feeling about a woman's right to choose in this critical election season?

Well, NARAL just completed a national poll of registered likely voters. What were the results? Exciting numbers that again reiterate that King George, The Christian Taliban and their Robots are out of touch with mainstream America.

Here are some of the key findings from our polling effort:

*Roughly three quarters of likely voters (77%) agree that the government and politicians should stay out of a woman's personal and private decision whether or not to have an abortion.

*Two-thirds of voters disapprove of the laws passed in South Dakota and Louisiana that would ban abortion in nearly all circumstances, even for victims of rape and incest or women whose health is at risk.

*65% of voters feel less favorable toward candidates who support allowing pharmacists to refuse to fill birth-control prescriptions.

*61% of voters feel more negative toward a candidate who opposes making emergency contraception available in emergency rooms for rape and incest victims.

*61% of voters disapprove when they hear Congress has voted 145 times in the last 10 years to restrict reproductive-health services, including abortion and birth control.

Americans are unified over the issues of freedom, privacy, and personal decision-making. NARAL Pro-Choice America found - yet again - that an overwhelming majority of registered likely voters oppose divisive attacks on a woman's right to choose and support real solutions to prevent unintended pregnancies and reduce the need for abortion. The poll confirms that Americans want Congress to support efforts to empower women to prevent unintended pregnancy without undermining access to safe, legal abortion.

NARAL is going to use all the detailed data they've collected to help pro-choice candidates develop strategies to talk about their pro-choice values with voters across America.

For the full report, click here.

The Reality Of The Wire Hanger State's Abortion Ban

As many of you might have seen, the recent poll conducted by KELO TV showing that South Dakotans are opposed to this rigid and restrictive abortion ban.

Supporters of this ban are convinced that they could win if they just confuse the voters. For example, they recently put misleading information out about emergency contraception -- and said the abortion ban will be okay for rape and incest victims. They ought to be ashamed of themselves. What if your mother, sister or daughter was the victim of rape? You'd want her to receive the best medical treatment she deserves. But Referred Law 6 prevents victims of rape or incest from making personal, responsible decisions with their doctors and families.

Many victims of rape and incest, including young women, are too ashamed or afraid to come forward in time to prevent the pregnancy. The availability of emergency contraception is a big problem. A woman must use emergency contraception within 72 hours in order to prevent a pregnancy. Since it is only available by a doctor's prescription and many pharmacies in South Dakota don't carry it, this is not an option for most rape and incest victims.

The hard reality is that Referred Law 6 provides no option for victims of rape and incest. It's one of the many reasons we are urging all South Dakotans to vote NO on Referred Law 6 in November. The law also provides no health exception. So when a pregnant woman faces a debilitating health condition, her doctors and nurses won't be able to help -- they won't even be able to share treatment options they believe to be in her best interests.

Those who pushed this ban don't want to talk about that though. They want to confuse the voters by making false claims. There are less than 100 days left before the election. The South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families needs to make sure all South Dakotans know the truth about the damaging affects of Referred Law 6. If you can, please help. Your contribution to the South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families is very important -- and every dollar counts.

Evolution In The Times

The New York Times features a piece written by DefCon advisory board member and noted physicist Lawrence Krauss, highlighting the recent defeat of the religious right in Kansas – and more importantly the scientific illiteracy of those who continue to push creationism in the classroom. Read the article, "How to Make Sure Children Are Scientifically Illiterate" here.

In July several pro-intelligent design members of the state’s board of education lost primary elections to pro-science challengers – tipping the once anti-science board back in favor of evolution.

Krauss, a professor at Case Western Reserve University, is a leading voice in the movement to defend evolution and the science education of children across the country.

"This is a victory for public education and sends a message nationwide about the public’s ability to see through efforts by groups... to misrepresent science in the schools." Read the article. Click here.

A Challenge

USA Today on Monday provided a summary of viewpoints held by various religious groups on abortion rights.

Abortion does not need to be a divisive issue. Nor does it have to be a divisive tool used repeatedly by the Christian Taliban. "America's religious communities show deep divisions and hardening positions on abortion," and "each side wants to present itself as the one true religious viewpoint on abortion," Tom Ehrich -- an Episcopal pastor, author, teacher and writer in Durham, N.C. -- writes in a USA Today opinion piece. But "there is no single religious position on abortion," with "mainline" churches wanting to maintain access to the procedure, "conservative" churches wanting to make it illegal, and a "sizable minority" on each side that opposes their churches' position on abortion rights, he adds. "As happens when a political or cultural issue becomes a religious cause couched in absolutist language and claims of divine sanction, compromise seems unthinkable," but "perhaps it's time for the common-sense middle to assert itself against both extremes -- in abortion and in the next hot-button issue," Ehrich concludes.

Right on mister. Non-evangelical churches need to take a stand. Quit standing there with your tail between your legs, you bumbling idiots. The majority of this country believes women should have access to safe, legal abortions. The result of no access to safe abortions?: 70,000 women die annually from unsafe abortions. Do we want that in this country? Although The Reich would like to have a fetal-utopia here in the US, they are severely out of touch with the American people. Care about women, eh? What are they doing to help those women so desperate to not be mothers that they would endanger their own lives? They do nothing--they sit and think of ways to strip women of choice. They secretly have meetings with the FDA to discourage them from approving emergency contraception over-the-counter status. They use language in bills such as "baby" and "life beings at conception"--a religious belief, not a medical one. ALL medical research tells us that pregnancy does NOT happen at conception, but rather at implantation. Why? Because a vast majority of embryos are expelled before implantation, hence---bypassing pregnancy.

Mainstream churches need to stand up to the recess bully and let them know that they can not be intimidated or threatened. Why is the minority of this country controlling everything? Because they are the most vocal. They are yelling the loudest. Well, yell back bitches! The "common-sense middle" needs to start acting like they actually have common-sense and stop letting crazy people do all the talking. Mega-churches have hijacked this country and are straight out of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Except they are breeding more members for their Church of the Poison Mind.

The Death Of Equality

Women are second class citizens. In other countries, they are viewed with such disregard that they are aborted based solely on their sex. This is a tremendous problem, as in certain countries the ratio of girls and boys is widening at such speed that eventually the country will face enormous problems. The problem of women being viewed as inferioir and less worthy to society is resulting in forced abortions in China because of the one-child policy act. This allows couples in rural parts to have a second child if their first born is a girl. Meaning, "let's hope the next is a boy" because they can work in the fields and produce more for this family. If its a girl, they either abort, are forced to abort by government officials, or abandon the baby on the side of the road. These girls end up in orphanages where rich Americans adopt them for being just so darned cute. Some of these places treat the girls like slaves, forcing them to perform labor fit for adults. They neglect medical treatment. They isolate barely-alive girls into "dying rooms".
In parts of India, sex-selective abortions are occurring for the same reasons. Girls and women are viewed as disposable itmes, not worthy of being contributing members of society. The AP/Christian Post reports that an Indian couple has been arrested for allegedly aborting female fetuses, a practice that is illegal in India (India in 1994 approved the Prenatal Determination Act, which bans the use of technologies such as ultrasounds and sonograms for the purpose of sex-selective abortion. The law also bans advertisements for prenatal sex determination, as well as the practice of preconception sex selection law). About 35 decomposed fetuses on Wednesday were recovered from a well near a hospital in Punjab, India, where female fetuses often are aborted. An official on the case stated: The man, Pritam Singh, "under the guise of running a maternity clinic, ... carried out illegal abortions and killed female fetuses" and "dumped the fetuses in a well behind the clinic". Singh Mohi said, "A nurse has made a statement saying she has been working at the hospital for one-and-a-half months, and during this period 12 or 13 female fetuses have been destroyed."

Disposable. Useless. Unless and until this world demands equality in ALL forms--women will continue to suffer and die.

The U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women is being used by "socialist feminists" to impose a liberal agenda around the world, Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America, said Wednesday at the monthly luncheon of the Conservative Women's Network, which was co-sponsored by the Heritage Foundation and the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute, the Washington Times reports. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee in July 2002 approved the treaty despite objections from the Bush administration and some conservatives' concerns that the treaty could advance abortion rights.

The international treaty -- which is intended to remove barriers to gender equality in health care, employment, housing, politics and other areas -- has been ratified by 170 other countries. Farhan Haq, a spokesperson in the New York office of the U.N. Secretary-General, on Thursday said CEDAW is a "legal instrument that is upheld by a large number of member states at the United Nations" and "endorsed by governments running across the political and religious spectrum." He added, "The issue of women's rights is a part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to which all nations adhere".

Boy King, Concerned Women for America and their zealot following do not care about women. What are they doing to absolve the majority of HIV cases in Africa--that being women? They are forcing moral ideology onto these countries and holding life-saving medicines and money hostage by demanding these countries follow their rules, i.e abstinence-only. No mention of abortion. Cause we all know that nothing is worse than abortion. Not even people dying horrible deaths in filth-lined streets that they share with the local vermon. Millions dying horrible deaths. MILLIONS.They would rather women die than allow them to decide for themselves how they want to live their lives.
What are they doing about the maternal death rate for women in Somalia? 1 in 6 women die during childbirth. What are they doing, these so-called "advocates of women"? They are doing nothing. They are buying politicians. They are infiltrating and poisoning our medical communities, such as the CDC. The are infecting our scientific communities, such as the FDA.They are hiding behind their lies and hypocrisy as they fool people into believing they care, when in reality all they care about is saving the unborn. They do not care for the living. We see this as they sign death warrants, as they slash funding for low-income women to receive medical services including birth control, leave millions of American uninsured and sick and restricting our nation's youth from learning age-approparite sex education to prepare them for the real world by enforcing morality-filled ideology onto them.
Yes, thanks for caring for women. Thanks for nothing you nest of vipers.

Judge Upholds Governor's Line-Veto

A Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court panel on Thursday ruled 5-0 in favor of Gov. Ed Rendell's (D) use of a line-item veto to remove language from a budget bill that would have blocked federal funds for women's health services, the AP/Centre Daily Times reports. The language, which was approved last year by the state Legislature, would have prevented the state Department of Public Welfare from spending any more than $8.8 million on family planning services. It also would have subjected any federal family planning funding to the same restrictions as state family planning funds as required under a 1996 state law that says such money "shall not be used to promote, perform or refer for abortions, or engage in abortion counseling." The court dismissed the case -- which was filed in September 2005 by State House Speaker John Perzel (R) and State Senate President Pro Tempore Robert Jubelirer (R) -- and upheld Rendell's right to use a line-item veto. "The governor's powers of disapproval are no less extensive than, and are entirely coexistent with, the General Assembly's power to enact legislation in the first place," President Judge James Gardner Colins wrote, adding, "In other words, if the General Assembly can put it in, the governor can take it out." The decision says that if the state Legislature disagrees with the veto, it should attempt to override it.

So...Republicans who are a bunch of cry babys don't understand how politics work? The Governnor has the power to veto, you bags-o-douches. GOP Governors do it all the time, I don't hear you hissing about that. Your leader, King George has even done it. Oh right...you only cry when you don't get your way or its something you disagree with.What's good for the goose...

Sick I Am

Haven't felt good in a few days, will resume regular habits soon. In the interim, please check out some old blogs. Or the links below for some new news.

Here is a quick link: Ellen Goodman has a great column about the news that the FDA is set to approve over-the-counter sale of emergency contraception. While it may seem like a victory, it truly isn't. Young women, who most likely need EC the most, will not have easy access and will still face the obstacles they face today. This sends the tired and overplayed message that motherhood is the punishment for having sex.

Or this: South African Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi says that women have a duty to be subject to--and carry out--virginity tests in the name of curbing the HIV/AIDS pandemic. So essentially, if a woman has sex they are disease-ridden whores responsible for the demise of the earth. Nice touch. Supposedly, these "virginity tests" are designed to squash the "virgin cure"--whereby it is widely believed in parts of Africa that a man positive with HIV can have sex with a virgin and be cured of the disease. Virginity tests aren’t about dispelling myths of a “virgin cure,” they’re about the (false) idea that women’s virginity will prevent HIV/AIDS. And the men? Apparently they don’t have any "duties" when it comes to disease prevention.

Newly released documents show that an army base in Missouri dismissed sixty soldiers last year alone on the basis of "don't ask, don't tell." Good thing there's not a war going on!

Apology NOT Accepted, You Woman-Hating Victim Blamer

Outrage is sweeping through the streets of London at the news of a judge's sentence for a man found half-naked on top of a pantsless woman. His violation was stopped only by her friend screaming. The would-be rapist was only given three days -- to write a letter of apology.

The judge proceeded to blame the victim.

"I don't suppose it occurred to any of these four people that there was anything dangerous in going back to the hotel room. There is no suggestion that he lured them back with any dishonourable intentions. All four were affected by alcohol. It is unfortunate that having had their food, the women did not go home."

More to follow after a sweet nappy-poo.
'Apologize, Mr. Rapist, and you can go'

Weekend Link-A-Dink

The American Family Association, Family Research Council, Concerned Women for America and Morality in Media are teaming up and calling themselves “The Campaign for Corporate Responsibility”. They are placing an ad in USA Today urging the Justice Department investigate the purveyors of pay-smut for “violating federal and state laws about distributing obscene material.” They have established CleanHotels.com, a listing service to alert travelers where there is no availability to order such pay-for-play content.
It's pretty easy you numchuck-nimwit. DON'T ORDER THE PORN!!!

Further news on "Technical Virgin" star Melanie Martinez: There was a sequel. "In it, an actress playing Ms. Martinez's mother gives her a purple dildo."

Over at Salon the letter writers are discussing men’s increasing demand for women to shave their naughty bits. Porn has infiltrated this society so much that men have reached borderline pedophelia with their ludicrous demands of pre-pubescent vulvas.

If you listen to songs with dirty lyrics you'll have sex earlier, a study finds. Parents beware: if your daughter is listening to R. Kelly, you know she's getting it on.

Check out The Joyful Heart Foundation, a website for survivors of sexual abuse. Founded by SVU star Mariska Hargitay. Nicely done.

A chemistry professor is working on a roofie detector women can carry in their purses. Please increase her grant!

Is it really necessary ya'll? Here is footage of National Underwear Day.

Phyllis Chesler's Women and Madness has been released in a revised and updated edition. Looks like women who don't act submissive are still thought of as "hysterical." Gee, really?

New Poll Says Women Favor Democrat

Harris Interactive Poll: "If elections for Congress were held today, 45% of Americans say they would vote for the Democratic candidate and 30% would vote for the Republican.

Women favor the Democratic candidate by a 50% to 28% margin."

However nice that is, 40 million women did not vote in 2000. 22 million were single. While 68% of married women voted in 2000, just 52% of unmarried women did. The conclusion: Single women often felt their voices weren't heard and didn't count. Had they voted, the world would today be different, as Al Gore would be President. Instead, so-called "security moms" reelected a man who they thought would secure the lives of their families.

The marriage gap--the difference in how single and married women vote-- was clear. Married women tend to mesh with their husband's political affiliation while single women tend to lean towards progressive issues that affect them, but do not vote.

In 2004, Bush won 47 percent of women (WTF?)(up from 43 percent in 2000). Imagine if single women had out-voted the Security Moms. This is mainly due to Kerry's insistence on aligning himself with Bush's platform of appealing to the American people about terra, terra, terra. While Bush was winning the security moms, formerly known as soccer moms, and any woman who was married, Kerry was losing more and more single women. The "marriage gap" was again affluent in the 04 elections. In fact, it was 38%. "I don't define it as a problem," he told the New York Times. A very cheery analysis by someone who certainly knows a Democratic victory is impossible without strong female support.

Women: You are the majority in this country. Your voices count. YOU COUNT. Your vote decides this country's fate. Want change? Make that change. Vote. Bring your friends to the polls. Do NOT sick back and let politicians decide what is best for you--only you know what is best for you. Married, single....VOTE. True democracy depends on the vote of its citizens. Without your vote, there is no true democracy occurring.

Comments to follow.

Tempest in Texas

Focus on the Family Lies Yet Again

As usual, the rabidly bible-thumping, anti-woman, anti-choice/contraception, homophobic, anti-science and reason, bigoted, pro-misogyny, fundamentally extreme-Christian-theocracy group Focus on the Family has purposefully misrepresented women's views on the issue of embryonic stem-cell research to promote their agenda.

In recent weeks, Focus on the Family has mailed brochures to more than 90,000 Missouri homes, arguing that stem cell research under the Missouri ballot initiative would exploit women by luring them into dangerous egg donations. The brochure, “Women’s voices against cloning,” quotes several women’s organizations to show “the risks that this measure Missouri ballot initiative poses to women’s health.”

Ahh, yes. We are so dumb and silly that we will blindly walk into clinics for dangerous operations. Don't let the Fetus Fanatics fool you--this is a simple case of twisting their supposed concern for women to achieve their goal of saving the Supreme Feti. They do not care about you, lady. You are alive. They care about Frozen Freddie, not the people who suffer debilitating dieaseas everyday of their lives.

Women’s organizations quoted in the brochure say that Focus on the Family has misrepresented their positions and that they actually oppose the organization’s aims to ban stem cell research.

Judy Norsigian, author of Our Bodies, Ourselves, said Focus on the Family was “obfuscating her language” to support its own political purposes.

Emily Galpern, from the Center for Genetics and Society says “One of our concerns is that conservative folks are co-opting feminist language to suit their cause".

ACLU and NAF File Friend-of-the-Court Brief

The American Civil Liberties Union and the National Abortion Federation (NAF) submitted a friend-of-the-court brief in the U.S. Supreme Court calling on the Court to protect women’s health when it hears argument next term in a challenge to the Federal Abortion Ban. Both groups urged the Supreme Court to affirm lower court decisions striking down the ban.

“The Federal Abortion Ban prohibits abortions as early as 13 weeks in pregnancy that doctors say are safe and among the best to protect women’s health,” said Vicki Saporta, NAF President and CEO. “We hope that the Supreme Court will recognize the danger this ban poses to women’s health and allow doctors to continue to make appropriate medical decisions.”

“Decisions involving pregnancy and medical care are among the most serious a woman will make in her life,” said Talcott Camp, Deputy Director of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project. “These are personal decisions for a woman, her family, and her doctor to make and such decisions should not be mandated by politicians.”

Congress passed the federal ban and President Bush signed it into law in 2003, despite the numerous court decisions striking down similar state bans, including a decision in 2000 by the Supreme Court in Stenberg v. Carhart. Courts have consistently struck down the bans for two reasons: their broad language prohibits abortions as early as 13 weeks in pregnancy, and they lack exceptions to protect women’s health. Medical groups, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, oppose the federal ban.

The Supreme Court is set to review two challenges to the Federal Abortion Ban - called the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act by its sponsors - during the 2006-2007 term: Gonzales v. Carhart, brought by the Center for Reproductive Rights on behalf of Dr. LeRoy Carhart and three other physicians and decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in July 2005, and Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood Federation of America, brought by Planned Parenthood Federation of America on behalf of its affiliates throughout the country and decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in October 2005. Both circuit courts held the ban unconstitutional.

FDA Expected To Approve EC OTC Status For 18+ Only

The FDA's expected approval of Barr Laboratories' emergency contraceptive Plan B for nonprescription sales to women ages 18 and older is a "victory with a big asterisk" because it is "hard to celebrate policies and politics that subject girls to bigger hurdles and solidify the message that motherhood is their punishment for sex," Boston Globe columnist Ellen Goodman writes in an opinion piece. According to Goodman, the arguments in favor of an age restriction on nonprescription sales of Plan B are "matters of unscientific belief" because the drug "does not change the night-before behavior, ... nor does it replace ordinary contraceptives." She writes that if Plan B advocates are ready to celebrate approval of the medication for nonprescription sales to women ages 18 and older, "it's because we have to take the deal that's on the table." Goodman adds, "We are about to get easier access to Plan B," but nonprescription access only will be a complete victory when the drug is available without a prescription to women of all ages.

You said it sister. There is NO scientific evidence ANYWHERE that is is dangerous to women under 18. Another divisive technique to restrict access to women that will have consequences. A girl who is 17 who needs EC needs it as much as an 18 year old. The politics of women's autonomy is venemous.

Billion Dollar Man

Democrat Jack Billion held a press conference to clarify his position on South Dakota's sweeping abortion ban.

Jack Billion called the ban a "rigid and unforgiving law" that leaves women and families no option.

He said South Dakota already has some of the nation's most restrictive abortion laws and the new measure's lack of exceptions for rape or incest "further victimizes the women of South Dakota."

Listen to the statement here.

Kaiser Updates

A Chinese official on Thursday denied that forced late-term abortions are common in the country and said that the country is against the practice, the AFP/Today Online reports. China's Vice Health Minister Jiang Zuojun at a news conference said, "Regarding the abortion of eight-month-old fetuses, this is definitely something the Chinese government is opposed to," adding, "We do not allow the abortion of elderly fetuses, such as eight-month fetuses. ... Even if there are such cases, they are isolated cases." The policy seeks to keep the country's population -- now 1.3 billion -- at around 1.7 billion by 2050. Ethnic minorities and farmers are the only groups legally exempt from the rule. Imprisoned Human Rights activist Chen recorded testimony from men and women in communities in and around China's Linyi province who have experienced forced abortions and sterilizations, as well as had family members captured and tortured after they tried to hide or run from authorities. He was attempting to bring a class-action lawsuit against the Chinese government for alleged human rights abuses associated with the enforcement. Chen in September 2005 was placed under house arrest for speaking with journalists, government officials and other advocates about the one-child policy. Chinese police formally arrested Chen in June for his attempts to challenge the policy. Jiang said, "We need to continue to pursue the national family planning policy," adding that it had prevented about 300 million births.

The Illinois Legislature's Joint Committee on Administrative Rules on Tuesday approved a rule that would require each of Illinois' 2,700 pharmacies to post a sign informing customers that pharmacists are required to dispense prescriptions for emergency contraception, the AP/Belleville News Democrat reports. Another rule, which was proposed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) and approved in August 2005 by the joint committee, requires pharmacies to dispense EC if they stock any FDA-approved contraceptive or risk losing their licenses. If any prescribed contraceptive is out of stock, pharmacies must provide an alternative, order the drug, make arrangements for another local pharmacy to fill the order or return the prescription to the customer. The rule allows pharmacies to opt not to sell any contraceptives. The signs that will be hung in accordance with the new rule will include information on the state's EC-related policies, as well as a toll-free phone number and a state Web site where people can file complaints and obtain more information on the state's policies, the Chicago Tribune reports. The Web site links to a letter addressed to "Illinois women" from Blagojevich, in which he promotes his efforts to increase access to contraceptives and his prescription drug coverage plan, I-SaveRx. "Women will now be armed with the information they need to make sure that pharmacies are respecting their right to get the medication their doctors prescribe for them," Blagojevich said in a statement.

Latino adolescents who are given a culturally specific HIV prevention and sex education course are less likely to have intercourse and more likely to use condoms than Latinos who do not receive the course, according to a study published in the August 2006 issue of the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, CQ HealthBeat reports. More than 85% of the participants in the study -- which was funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research -- were Puerto Rican, nearly 50% were not born in the mainland U.S., and more than 40% reported having sexual intercourse at least once (NIH release, 8/7).

The proportion of U.S. teenagers who are sexually experienced has decreased "significantly," while condom use has increased, according to a report published in the Aug. 11 edition of CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the Washington Times reports. Nancy Brener of CDC's Division of Adolescent and School Health and colleagues used data from eight national Youth Risk Behavior Surveys conducted by CDC. The report finds that the proportion of high school students who are sexually experienced decreased by 13% from 1991 to 2005. The researchers also found that the proportion of respondents who had four or more sexual partners had decreased by 24%. In addition, the report finds that among sexually active students, condom use during their most recent sexual act increased by 36% from 46.2% in 1991 to 62.8% in 2005. The researchers also found that the proportion of black teens who are sexually experienced decreased from 81.4% in 1991 to 60.8% in 2001 but has "leveled off" at 67.6% in 2005. "Efforts need to be intensified among black students, who are more likely than white and Hispanic students to report HIV-related sexual risk behaviors," according to a CDC release. The prevalence of sexual experience among Latino students did not significantly decrease between 1991 and 2005, the report finds. The report finds that in 1991, 53.1% of Latino teens reported ever having had sexual intercourse, compared with 51.0% in 2005. In 1991, 16.8% of Latino teens reported having had more than four sexual partners compared with 15.9 in 2005, according to the report.

The XVI International AIDS Conference program is available online.
Kaisernetwork.org will serve as official webcaster of the conference. Sign up now to receive free daily e-mail updates during the conference at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/aids2006.

The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled 4-3 that two Planned Parenthood affiliates are not required to repay $918,000 in state family planning grants that violated a state prohibition on funding for affiliates of abortion providers, the AP/Kansas City Star reports. The state Supreme Court in April heard arguments in an appeal of a lower court ruling that required the Planned Parenthood affiliates to repay the grants. In the case, Missouri resident Daniel Shipley said that $668,850 in family planning grants for fiscal years 2000 and 2003 given to Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri and Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region violated a state law that prohibits any state money from going to groups that provide abortion services. The law also bans state funding for any organization with shared resources or a name similar to that of an abortion provider. In 2004, the state Legislature voted to stop all funding of family planning grants.

Pic of the Day

The Reich and the HPV Vaccine

A truly brilliant article in the Seattle Times, Obsession with virginity is deadly public policy, is definitely worth reading. It describes The Reich's opposition to vaccinating girls against cervical cancer because girls are supposed to be virgins on their wedding night.

Here is the 411. There is a vaccine that is 100% effective against HPV strains 16 and 18, the strains responsible for the majority of cervical cancer cases. HPV is contracted sexually.

Yes, having sex increases the likelihood of contracting an STD. And yes, true abstinence is a sure bet against those horrible, ugly warts. Or that nasty reputation.

However, the reality is that some teenagers won't remain abstinent. Some kids don't have parents that are involved in their lives. Some girls are raped. Some kids aren't even Christians that are held to morality-based value systems. Eh, imagine that!

A recent study found that supposed "virginity-pledgers" engage in high risk sexual activityat higher rates than non-pledgers, such as oral and anal sex. The majority of these pledgers also do not use contraception during first intercourse, (thanks abstinence-only education!) increasing their chances of contracting a virus. They are less likely to know their STD status, hence the high possibility of spreading it to their partner and having serious health complications later in life. The study also found that over 88% of these "virginity" pledgers have sex before marriage. What a shock.

Instead of truly educating our youth with medically-accurate and age-appropriate sex classes, a recent congressional report found that over 80% of abstinence-only programs are providing inaccurate, misleading, false and religious ideology to our youth. No wonder they do not know how to use contraception, or even where to get it. Some states are now even trying to pass legislation to require minors (girls) parental permission to receive birth control at health departments. Way to be a part of the problem of the highest rate of unintended pregnancies in the industrial world.

The Reich is opposed to this vaccine that kills over 30,000 women a year because they fear it will promote sexual activity. Like they aren't already. What do you think they are doing in the basement while you are preaching your ignorance? The Fetus Fanatics at Focus on the Family originally fought the vaccine becoming available because they believe it to be a slut-serum. Right, cause when I got my tetanus shot I decided it would be fun to hurl myself on each and every rusty nail I could find. When I got a malaria shot, I did not find this to be a green light to drink water from malaria-infested waters. A vaccine does not equal promiscuity. Nor does it encourage it.

The Christian Taliban's willingness to expose their daughters to a fatal disease because they fear promiscuity is disgusting. They would rather their daughters die then be the whores they are for having sex. Imagine an 11 year old girl being raped by a neighbor and contracting HPV because her parents refused to vaccinate her because of THEIR beliefs. Because of their sex-obsessed extremism, their daughter could die. Thanks Mom and Dad. Thanks for killing me because you think virginity is the only thing I can offer that is valuable. Not my opinions or my strength or my dreams or my potential to this world. No, none of that matters, just my untainted vagina.

Give Her An Orgasm And All Is Forgiven

Nirpal Dhaliwal describes in the Daily Mail about "How feminism destroyed real men."

Seems all a woman needs to stay in line and stay happy is a hard cock.

"The female orgasm is the natural mechanism by which men assert dominion over women: a man who appreciates this can negotiate whatever difficulties arise in his relationships with them.

Last Christmas, my wife threw me out after discovering I'd been cheating on her. On the night we got back together, I made strong, passionate love to her. Unfaithful as I'd been, I was not going to let her have me over a barrel for the rest of our marriage. I needed to keep a sense of self and not allow her to mire me in guilt and a desperate quest of forgiveness.

I needed to let her know what she would be missing if we broke up for ever. I gave her a manful bravura performance that night, and at the height of her passion, I asked her: 'Who's the boss?'"

*puke*
Let me tell you something asshat. Giving a woman an orgasm does not equate dominion over her, otherwise I'd still be stuck with my loser high school boyfriend.

This guy seems to believe that giving a woman a serious pounding will somehow make her forget he was poking someone else. His wife will forgive him if he justs screws her fierce, cause women can't think when they have orgasms. All memory is lost. Rationale is out the window. We become robots to the orgasm.

While this idiot believes he is a super-god in the sack, his wife, however, believes otherwise. Read this column from his wife, Liz Jones, that was published a year ago before she discovered he is a lame cheater.

"I am watching telly and he turns over without a word. I get his back in bed. I had more sex when I was dating, which, considering my track record, must be grounds for divorce. The last time we did it was on Christmas Eve."

Connecticut Down

Lamont In, Lieberman Out.

Good news so early in the morning makes me all warm and fuzzy.

Silence Speaks Louder Than Words

South Dakota's "pro-life" governor Mike Rounds will show everyone exactly how pro-life he really is on August 28th. On August 28th, Rounds will kill Elijah Page by signing his death warrant.

Yet, only sounds of crickets are heard from the "right to life" crusade:
Mike Rounds--SD Governor
Brock Greenfield---president of SD right to life
Roger Hunt---key legislator in the abortion ban
Leslee Unruh---the state poster child for abstinence

Not a word. Silence.

So..what about all this "sanctity" and how precious each life is and all life is valuable?

The Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act

This new bill states that at 20 weeks an unborn child can experience pain and that the abortion methods most commonly used in the second trimester of pregnancy "cause substantial pain to an 'unborn child.'" Yet, almost all empirical science proves otherwise. But hey, the fetus fanatics have interest groups to appease. There is no credible research proving pain at such an early stage, in fact, the research has been consistent to be around 26-28.

The bill also has disturbing language that I must address. It defines a woman as "a female human being who is capable of becoming pregnant"--so post-menopausal and infertile females aren't real women? And what of transgendereds? Although one could not become naturally pregnant or maybe even at all...it is again defining women as mere vessels for the supreme fetus.

The statute also informs us that the "unborn child may experience substantial pain even if the woman herself has received local analgesic or general anesthesia." The idea that drugs administered in labor might not reach the fetus will bewilder pregnant women who have been scolded for decades that everything from cocaine to a glass of wine go immediately, directly and dangerously to the fetus. And since we are supposed to be treating our bodies as pre-pregnant robots, having a cat affects the fetus...yet anesthetics don't? This will astonish doctors too, as all their research must be wrong. Doctors, eh. Who needs em? They don't know anything. However, bought politicians who have never been to medical school do, didn't you know?

It states that "there is a valid Federal Government interest in reducing the number of events in which great pain is inflicted on sentient creatures," yet only covers "unborn children." So what of the millions of BORN children who suffer excruciating disabilities and diseases? Again, the Republican ideology of caring only for the fetus on not the child is apparent here. Blindingly. What about the child who has cancer and has a single parent with no insurance..where are you Senator? What about the child that has sickle cell anemia and suffers dibilitating strokes? Who is caring for them?

Like the Unborn Victims of Violence Act and the Partial Birth Abortion Ban--it does not, on its face pose a direct challenge to the right to choose abortion. What it does is chip away at truth. It restricts access to safe, legal abortion. It lies.

Most Women Unaware Of Proper Screenings

Even with funding cuts, as seen with Michigan, the majority of U.S. women are unaware of the recommended screening practices for cervical and breast cancer, according to recent data from the Health Information National Trends Survey, CQ HealthBeat reports. The 2005 survey finds that 57% of female participants reported being unaware of the need to screen for breast cancer with mammograms beginning at age 40. Three-quarters of female participants responded that their health care provider had recommended receiving a mammogram, and 74% said that they had received a mammogram within the recommended time frame. In addition, a majority of women who participated in the survey responded that they were not aware of the need to screen for cervical cancer with a Pap test every three years as opposed to receiving an annual Pap test. Eighty-seven percent of female participants who received pap tests responded that they had undergone the procedure as part of an annual examination, and 61% of women in the survey said that they did not know what the human papillomavirus is. HPV infection with strains 16 and 18 together cause about 70% of cervical cancer cases.

Need A Pap? See You In October.

Michigan has run out of state and federal funding under CDC's National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, which offers screening services to low-income women without insurance, and the program next year is expected to serve fewer women because of funding cuts, the Detroit Free Press reports. The program provides Pap tests and other screenings for qualified women ages 18 to 64 and mammograms for qualified women ages 40 to 64. To qualify, the women must be uninsured and have annual incomes lower than 250% of the federal poverty level.

Under the Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act, enacted in 2000, states can request an expansion of their Medicaid programs to include uninsured women younger than age 65 diagnosed with breast or cervical cancer. Women who qualify receive medical coverage throughout their cancer treatment, with the federal government covering up to 85% of the cost of treatment. In 2005, 404,736 women received mammograms, and 357,519 received Pap tests nationwide through the program, which is intended to provide services for about 13% of the 3.3 million women who qualify for it, according to Lisa Mariani, acting CDC branch chief for program services.

Under the current funding structure, the Michigan Department of Community Health has lowered its estimate for the number of women it will serve through the program from 25,000 this year to 22,310 next year. Eleven Michigan counties currently are telling thousands of women they will have to wait until October to receive services because of a lack of funding, according to the Free Press. Michigan this year received $9 million in federal funding and provided $1 million in state funding for the program. A bill (S 1687), co-sponsored by Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), currently pending in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee would reauthorize the program and increase by $50 million its funding to $250 million annually beginning in 2007. According to the Free Press, the funding increase would allow 147,000 more U.S. women to receive services under the program.

Do You Know Where Your Birth Certificate Is?

If you answered "no", then you are in the majority. Most of us don't know, or if we do it may not even be the original.

But if you happen to be a woman on Medicaid, answering "no" now means that you may not be able to get birth control, have your yearly ob/gyn visit, or be screened for breast cancer.

Thanks to King George and rules being imposed by his MISadministration, millions of Americans could face significant delays or lose health coverage altogether because they simply do not have access to their birth certificate.

The Medicaid program plays a vital role in preventing unintended pregnancies and ensuring women have access to the care they need. Medicaid provides health insurance coverage for one in 10 women of reproductive age and pays for more than one-third of all births in the United States.

Center for Medicaod Sservices should exempt individuals who receive services under a Medicaid family planning demonstration project from the documentation requirements. Through these programs, millions of individuals who do not meet the requirements for standard Medicaid receive family planning services to help them prevent unintended pregnancies.

Act now. Let them know that all women — regardless of income — should have easy access to health care by clicking here.