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POLITICS OF BIRTH CONTROL
 

Birth control is basic health care — yet anti-choice politicians continue to play politics with women's health, and for many women, access to reliable methods of family planning eroding.  These attacks include family planning funding cuts, inequities in insurance coverage for contraception, and restrictions on access to emergency contraception (EC) in hospitals and pharmacies. 

Click below to read recent news stories about attacks (and victories!) regarding access to reproductive health care and information.

FEATURED REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH STORIES

HOPE, FAITH, AND CHASTITY - ABSTINENCE-ONLY VS. COMPREHENSIVE SEX EDUCATION
04/28/08

Texas Monthly Magazine recently published an in-depth article exploring abstinence-only curricula, it’s ineffectiveness, and whether it’s time Texas made a change in what we teach our teens in order to combat the staggering rates of teen pregnancy and STI rates in the state.

UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES: AN OPINION EDITORIAL
02/03/08

The Dallas Morning News Editorial Board recently published a great opinion editorial to highlight the problem of rising birth control costs.

COST OF BIRTH CONTROL PILLS SKYROCKETS AT COLLEGES
01/28/08

The drastic problem of rising birth control costs on college campuses is examined in this current article from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

TEXAS RANKS NO.1 IN TEEN BIRTHS
11/16/07

Texas teens now lead the nation in number of first and second births, according to recent research conducted by the nonprofit group Child Trends.

NEW REPORT FINDS RESTRICTING ABORTION ACCESS DOES NOT REDUCE RATE
11/05/07

A new study examining worldwide abortion rates discovered developing countries that outlaw abortion have equal abortion rates as developed countries.


CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?

Access Denied in Texas

  • The Texas Legislature approved an amendment to the state Appropriations Bill that would take $5 million in funds from family planning programs and give it to anti-choice crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs). CPCs provide misinformation to women in order to discourage them from having abortions. They are not licensed or supervised by any state agency and most often they have no licensed medical personnel on staff.

Access Denied Nationally

  • On February 10, the Justice Department refused to let Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) speak at a public hearing on treatment protocol for sexual assault victims.

  • A doctor who does not give prescriptions for birth control pills but does prescribe prayer for menstrual cramps has been named to a reproductive health care advisory panel for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Access Denied Around the World
  • International organizations that are eligible for U.S. funding for family planning must promise not to provide or refer for abortions, not to advocate for less restrictions on abortions, and not to educate women about abortion in their clinics—even in countries where abortion services are legal and the organizations use their own money to provide these services. This is known as the global gag rule.

  • Nicaragua has recently approved a sweeping new law banning all abortions in the country with no exceptions, even if the pregnant woman's life was endangered by carrying the pregnancy to term.  For the 400 Nicaraguan women each year who suffer ectopic pregnancies, this new law would be a death sentence.

OUTRAGED? WANT TO MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD?

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  1. Join the Action Network
  2. Send an e-mail to an elected official
  3. Send a letter to the editor
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