YAY! Affordable Birth Control is Back!

FINALLY! Affordable birth control is back! On March 10, 2009 congress passed an omnibus appropriations bill that included the Affordable Birth Control Act. (An omnibus bill packages together many bills into one). This is a huge victory for low-income and college woman across the United States, who saw the cost of birth control skyrocket in 2006 when an “error” in the Deficit Reduction act was passed.

It is also a victory for Planned Parenthood who lead a grassroots campaign to mobilize hundreds of young people to contact their members of Congress in support of affordable birth control. Millions stepped up to write letters, make phone calls, send emails and visit their representatives to make the case for affordable birth control.

The victory is especially helpful to college women. While we have all seen an increase in general living expenses, college women have also had to deal with a rise in the cost of tuition and books over the past two years. This made having to pay 10 times more for birth control a greater burden on them.

And, it’s good news for taxpayers as well. This legislation was a no-cost fix to a two year-old mistake that restricted access to family planning — and pregnancy prevention. The savings becomes even greater when you consider that every dollar spent on prevention, saves $6 on social services over a years time.

This bill restores affordable birth control, and that’s good for all women in their reproductive years! According to the Guttmacher Institute, women of childbearing age spend 68% more in out-of-pocket health care costs than men, in part because of the cost of birth control supplies and services.

Planned Parenthood is thankful to Congress for standing up for women’s health. Please, take a minute now to thank your representatives for passing this legislation.

Restore Affordable Birth Control

Good news! Back in March 2007 we told you about an "error" in the 2006 Deficit Reduction Act that inadvertently caused birth control prices to increase ten-fold for low income women and college students. Many of you took up the call to action and pressured congress to fix the error.

Well, it's taken over a year, but we are please to report that a bi-partisan bill, The Prevention Through Affordable Access Act, has been introduced in congress. This is a no-cost fix that will restore affordable birth control pricing to college health centers and health care providers that serve low income women (like Planned Parenthood).

Take a moment now to email, call or write your congressional leaders asking them to support this bill. Preventing unintended pregnancy is the only real way to reduce the need for abortion.

You can read more about the bill at Planned Parenthood. You can also sign-up to take action from their website.

Affordable Health Care is Available NOW

President-elect Barack Obama has asked Planned Parenthood Federation of American to provide his office with information on our priorities for health care reform. We are gathering input from people like you right now, and will share your stories at the end of the month. One thing that is very clear to us, is that the need for Planned Parenthood has never been greater than it is right now.

Millions of people rely on Planned Parenthood for access to high-quality affordable care right NOW. But as the unemployment rate continues to rise and the 46 million uninsured American’s are join by thousands more each day, we want to remind people that we are here for you — and your family and friends — with high-quality personal care at an affordable (many times FREE) cost.

Planned Parenthood of South Central Michigan has been providing reproductive and sexual health care in Kalamazoo since 1966 and in Battle Creek since 1991. In the last year, we expanded our services even further when we opened health centers in Coldwater, Hillsdale, Sturgis and Three Rivers.

Health care at Planned Parenthood is MUCH more than birth control! Do you need an annual exam? When you come in for your annual check-up, we screen for low blood iron, high blood pressure, breast cancer, cervical cancer, testicular cancer and infections. We also participate in the Breast and Cervical Cancer Control Program that provides free mammograms and cervical cancer screening and treatment for women age 40-64.

So, don’t wait! Make an appointment for you — or someone you love — today! We can usually see you the same day, or next day. And, if you can’t wait for an appointment, we have convenient walk-in hours at all our health centers! So, start the New Year off right by taking care of yourself. Planned Parenthood is here to help!

Bush's Parting Gift to Political Religious Extremists

In our last post we told you about a "rule" that might outlaw birth control by redefining it as abortion. We also explained that this rule contained language that would allow medical professionals to refuse treatment that goes against their religious beliefs.

Well, guess what? The rule was passed yesterday. The language equating birth control to abortion was removed, but the "refusal clause" is now LAW. Tell the Obama Administration to make repealing this law their first priority. This sets a dangerous precedent not just for birth control and abortion — but for ANY medical procedure.

Read the statement from Planned Parenthood Federation of America on this outrageous rule below:

For Immediate Release: Dec. 19, 2008

PLANNED PARENTHOOD CRITICIZES HHS MIDNIGHT REGULATION
JEOPARDIZING WOMEN’S HEALTH

Washington, DC — The Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) sharply criticized a last-minute regulation by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that poses a serious threat to patients’ rights to receive complete and accurate health care information and services.

“This midnight regulation, issued in the last days of the Bush administration, undermines this country’s fragile health care system as well as patients’ access to health care information and services,” said PPFA President Cecile Richards. “We look forward to working with President-elect Obama and leaders in Congress to repeal this disastrous rule and expand patients’ access to full health care information and services — not limit it.”

Under the new rule, doctors, physicians, and health care workers of all kinds can deny patients vital health care information and services, without the patient even knowing. This rule will restrict health care access at nearly 600,000 health care facilities. With more than 45 million Americans currently uninsured, this is no time to make access to health care even more difficult. In addition, this rule could potentially create total chaos in an already stressed health care system, particularly for low-income women and families whose options are already limited.

“We are shocked that the Bush administration chose to finalize its midnight regulation and to take this parting shot at women’s health and ignore patients’ rights to receive the critical health care services and information they deserve,” said Richards. “From day one, this administration has made ideology and politics a priority over patients’ rights and needs, and this regulation is no different.”

Roughly 200,000 U.S. citizens, federal and state elected officials, medical organizations, and health care advocacy and religious organizations submitted comments opposing the misguided rule. The regulation broadens the scope of existing laws and reaches beyond congressional intent by focusing solely on providers, with absolutely no protections to ensure patients receive critical health care information and services.

In addition to the comments of 90,000 Planned Parenthood supporters, opposition was also voiced through official comments to HHS by these elected officials at the federal and state levels:

• a bipartisan coalition of more than 100 members of Congress

• a bipartisan group of governors, including Governors John Baldacci (D-ME), Chet Culver (D-IA), Jim Doyle (D-WI), Christine Gregoire (D-WA), David Paterson (D-NY), M. Jodi Rell (R-CT), Edward Rendell (D-PA), and Ted Strickland (D-OH)

• a bipartisan group of 13 attorneys general from Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, and Vermont; Attorneys general from California, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Minnesota, submitted individual comments.

• State legislators from a number of states wrote in opposition to the regulation, including state legislators from Oregon, Texas, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.

In addition, The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Legal Counsel and the Commissioners submitted letters of opposition to this rule, saying it overlaps with existing law, that it is potentially confusing to the regulated community, and that it will impose a burden on covered employers, particularly small employers.

Nongovernmental organizations also made their opposition known:

• More than 80 organizations joined Planned Parenthood in signing onto an opposition letter, including the American Nurses Association, the American Medical Student Association, the American Social Health Association, the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals, and several prominent HIV/AIDS, international health, and gay rights organizations.

• Prominent health care provider associations and health advocacy organizations weighed in with their opposition, including the American Medical Association, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the National Association of Community Health Centers, the American Public Health Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs.

In May 2008, the White House issued a directive to administrative agencies to submit all proposed regulations by June 1, 2008, except in “extraordinary circumstances.” The purpose of the deadline was to ensure that agencies did not engage in ill-conceived rulemaking prior to a change of administration. Yet HHS submitted its proposed rule in late August 2008 and put it on the fast track with a shortened 30-day public comment period. Now this last-minute regulation will take effect just two days before the next administration takes office.

Click HERE for more resources on opposition to HHS midnight rule, including the letters listed above.

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Planned Parenthood Federation of America is the nation's leading sexual and reproductive health care advocate and provider. We believe that everyone has the right to choose when or whether to have a child, and that every child should be wanted and loved. Planned Parenthood affiliates operate more than 880 health centers nationwide, providing medical services and sexuality education for millions of women, men, and teenagers each year. We also work with allies worldwide to ensure that all women and men have the right and the means to meet their sexual and reproductive health care needs.

What will you do without birth control?

Your birth control method may not be available to you under a new “rule” for the Department of Health and Human Services (HSS), (a rule — that congress and the courts cannot stop) which the Bush Administration is working to ratify. A rule that would broaden the definition of abortion to include most birth control methods and could render them illegal — or impossible to obtain — especially for women under the age of 18.

Other changes in HSS policy include making “refusal clauses” legal policy. These “clauses” allow pharmacists and other medical persons to refuse to fill your prescription for medications that go against their religious beliefs — like regular birth control and emergency contraception (for you and rape victims). You could be denied an abortion if you go to a medical center where someone works who doesn’t believe in them and refuses to perform them or refer to you another clinic.

Planned Parenthood and other federally funded health centers could not refuse to hire these religious extremist because of their beliefs. How would you like to try to get medically accurate information from the nurse that protests against birth control outside our Kalamazoo health center? Under this new rule, that could happen. Misinformation and anti-abortion tactics will become intertwined with medical facts.

Do these possibilities scare you? They should, because they are dangerously close to becoming the reality in women’s health care in this country.

Do something! Write a letter to the editor to help inform others about what you’ve learned. Write to the president demanding that he keep theology out of medicine. Write, call, speak out to everyone about this outrageous attempt to put women back in the kitchen barefoot and pregnant!

For more details, check out some of the articles that have been written about this issue. Then, Stand up! Speak Out! And vote!

The Oregonian: Wyden urges feds to reconsider contraception policy

The Seattle Times: An anti-abortion ploy

Chicago Sun-Times: Stealth attack on women's rights exposed

The New York Times: Redefining Abortion

Act Now to Save Affordable Birth Control

We’re Almost There! Act Now to Save Affordable Birth Control

Thanks to all your hard work over the past couple of months, we got Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to sign on to our bill and last week the Senate voted to Restore Affordable Birth Control! Now, its up to the House to make this a reality for the millions of college students and low income women it impacts. We expect ABC to come to a vote in the House next week, so take 5 minutes today to save birth control!

Help us bring this home! ABC is still as easy as 1, 2, 3 :)
1. Email Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi yourself today. CLICK HERE

2. After you've sent your email, take 2 minutes and ask your friends to do the same. Again, we expect ABC to come to a vote in the House next week so time is of the essence.

3. Repost the link in a note on facebook and/or a bulletin on myspace asking your friends to email her as well. Raise awareness about the urgency of this issue. Talk to everyone you know and encourage them to take action now!

Without Abortion Providers, There is NO Choice!

When was the last time you really thought about what an abortion provider endures on a daily basis to give you freedom of choice? Are you aware that the number of providers has been shrinking since 1982 (down by 37%)? The fact is that even though abortion is legal, if there are no providers, it doesn’t matter.

March 10, 2008 marks the 12th anniversary of National Abortion Providers Appreciation Day, and sadly, the 15th anniversary of the murder of Dr. David Gunn, a brave abortion provider that was assassinated outside his clinic in Pensacola, FL on March 10, 1993. Dr. Gunn was only 47 years old, and was shot in the back by a religious anti-abortion extremist as he got out of his car. He was the first provider to be murdered.

The anniversary of his death is observed by many organizations nationwide as a day to remember and honor Dr. Gunn and the brave people that provide women with choices when facing an unplanned pregnancy. These doctors risk harassment, violence and even death to provide safe, legal abortions for women. Their numbers are dwindling — many provide services for women in multiple cities and even cross state lines to ensure access to abortion.

This lack of access is the most disturbing fact about abortion today. Eighty-seven percent of the counties in the United States have no abortion provider. And, even though their numbers have declined significantly over the last 20 years, abortion remains one of the most common surgeries in the U.S. This leaves women seeking those services little choice. Many must travel long distances — even to other states — to obtain an abortion.

One of the most significant reasons for our provider “crisis” has been a change in the availability of training. Changes to federal law made it possible for medical schools to “opt out” of this critical training for OB/GYN students. The AMA did respond, but the battle has been up hill. To learn more about this trend, check out this article from JAMA.

Despite these trends in lack of services, there is hope. Medical Students for Choice was formed in 1993 in response to the shortage. They hold the key to increasing the number of providers with a membership of 7,000 strong and growing.

So on this National Abortion Providers Appreciation Day, take time to say THANK YOU! to these brave people that risk so much to provide women with choice — freedom — autonomy. Thank you abortion providers for ALL you do!