Oncology

Blogs Comment On Birth Control Affordability, Abortion Waiting Periods, Patient Rights, Other Topics

The following summarizes women"s health-related blog entries.~ "One in Ten Women Worries About Her Ability To Keep Paying for Contraception," Cristina Page, Birth Control Watch: A Gallup poll released at a conference of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists showed the "alarming news" that women "say that using birth control is extremely important to them but, increasingly, they can"t afford it." The poll reveals that 6% of women using hormonal birth control said they stopped using it because they could not afford it, and 10% said they are worried that they might become unable to afford contraception. On average, women reported that reliable contraception is a "9" on a scale of importance, with the maximum being 10. In addition, those who said they have been greatly affected by the recession were more than twice as likely as others to report deciding to limit the size of their families -- 29% compared with 13%. Page writes, "While family planning in tough economic times is no doubt a reasonable path," the survey shows another "alarming finding: women are sacrificing their health when their pocketbooks are pinched." She writes that the "Obama administration could not have had better timing" in releasing its report on women and health care, which details, among other things, how women in their reproductive years pay higher insurance premiums than men. Page says the White House report and the Gallup poll show that the "cost disparity has a cascading effect" on women and that the "necessities they are forced to give up include contraception." According to Page, "Lucky for us, the Obama administration is approaching the health care crisis with the understanding that women and men might not have equal access to the care they need" and seeks to "view women"s health and rights as critical pieces of our nation"s recovery plan." She concludes, "Beginning to feel better already" (Page, Birth Control Watch, 5/14).~ ""Timeouts" For Grown Women," Lynn Harris, Salon"s Broadsheet: Currently, 24 states have laws requiring women to receive counseling and wait -- usually for 24 hours -- before undergoing an abortion, which basically "amounts to giving grown women a timeout," Harris writes. She cites a recent Guttmacher Institute analysis, which finds that abortion counseling and waiting periods have "next to no effect at all," except to "likely increase both the personal and the financial costs of obtaining an abortion, thereby preventing some women from accessing abortion services," according to the Guttmacher report. Harris continues that earlier research "unsurprisingly" confirms that women "have usually decided to go through with the procedure before they call to make their appointment." Therefore, "mandated, scripted in-person "counseling" is, at best, an exercise mainly in shame and burdensome logistics," Harris writes. She notes that these "restrictions are sold to lawmakers and voters wrapped in the sheep"s clothing of "informed consent."" However, such laws "are intended primarily to block abortion access," according to Lawrence Finer, co-author of the Guttmacher report. Harris concludes that "the most epic fail[ure] here of all" is "the amount of time and res and energy spent to establish, administer -- and circumvent -- these spurious, fatuous laws," which could "otherwise be spent, call me crazy, taking care of living, breathing women and children" (Harris, Salon"s Broadsheet, 5/13).~ "Patients" Rights Suddenly "Sacred" to Scared GOP," Lois Uttley, RH Reality Check: GOP strategist Frank Luntz has become the "newest defender of reproductive rights" by advising congressional Republicans "on how to defeat health reform this year by scaring voters about a "Washington takeover of health care,"" Uttley writes. Luntz, in a leaked GOP strategy memo on challenging the Democrats public health insurance plan option, is trying to "reinvent a group of politicians who have spent the last eight years standing for maximum government interference in Americans" personal health care decisions." She adds, "Republicans were all for sticking their noses into agonizing family health care decisions that should remain private. These interfering politicians haven"t minded overruling doctors and scientists either." She notes that the memo called for protecting "the sacred doctor-patient relationship and allowing people to choose the personal care that suits their individual needs." Uttley asks, "Where have we heard that before? Was it something a reproductive health advocate once said about letting women and their doctors decide?" She continues that Luntz"s suggested talking point of "delayed care is denied care," is one that "women are already experiencing ...while trying to get reproductive health services when there are no providers in rural areas, or when the services aren"t covered by Medicaid." Uttley continues that "women"s health advocates would be well advised to remember Luntz"s messages when the inevitable battle comes up this year over whether to re-enact the Hyde Amendment, which denies Medicaid funding for low-income women needing abortions" (Uttley, RH Reality Check, 5/15).~ "Can We Advance Reproductive Justice in the Obama Era?," Loretta Ross, RH Reality Check: "[I]t"s important for reproductive justice activists to have a serious discussion -- immediately -- about public policies, reproductive justice and President Obama"s Administration," Ross writes. She adds that reproductive rights advocates must "work hard and quickly to create a public policy platform worthy of and capable of doing justice to the reproductive justice framework." The movement faces "determined opposition" from opponents of reproductive and human rights and "well-financed forces ... that will try to thwart any reproductive justice agenda," Ross says. She writes that the reproductive rights agenda should be centered on "three important and convergent conversations." First, advocates "need to discuss what we believe," and "seek agreement on our non-negotiables," Ross says. Secondly, advocates "need to discuss what we want" meaning "that we not only want access to public policy tables, but in fact, to change the fundamental nature of what"s served at those tables." She continues, "Too often, women are forced to compromise on our human rights, or told to wait for a more propitious time to ask for what we need and deserve." The third issue that advocates need to discuss is "how to get what we want," adding that "we have to be extremely strategic about bringing the grassroots folks we represent to the policy debates" (Ross, RH Reality Check, 5/14).~ "More Uncomfortable News for the Right: Decades of Work by Anti-Choicers Does Nothing to Decrease Abortions," Kelli Conlin, Huffington Post blogs: With their "ill-advised, ongoing and ineffective attempts to restrict women"s access to safe, legal health care," abortion-rights opponents seem like they are "actually trying to increase the number of second-trimester abortions," Conlin writes. She notes that the Guttmacher Institute analysis released Tuesday, titled "The Impact of State Mandatory Counseling and Waiting Period Laws on Abortion: A Literature Review," found that restrictions like waiting periods and mandatory counseling sessions showed no evidence of affecting the number of abortions, with the exception of one state. She notes that the one state that saw a decrease in abortions overall saw an increase in second-trimester abortions. Antiabortion-rights advocates have "therefore succeeded not in reducing abortion rates but in increasing the number of second-trimester abortions and in making life more difficult for women facing unwanted pregnancies," as "women aren"t changing their minds about abortion based on these barriers, they do find themselves jumping through more hoops to circumvent them," according to Conlin. She concludes that "[i]f anti-choice activists are really interested in reducing abortions, then they would be wise to take the statistics into account before pressing forward with further barriers to women"s access" (Conlin, Huffington Post blogs, 5/12).~ "Is Public Opinion Changing on Abortion?" Nate Silver, FiveThirtyEight.com: There is "probably not" any evidence that "public sentiments on abortion are changing," and "if there is change in public opinion, it is occurring very slowly," Silver writes. He continues, "In fact, the most remarkable thing about abortion is precisely how steady public opinion has been on it for many, many years." There is "some decent evidence that Gen Y"ers are less inclined to take the pro-choice position than Gen X"ers or Baby Boomers," Silver writes, adding that this is "in spite of the fact that young Americans are considerably more liberal than their peers" on social issues. He concludes, "There are evidently an increasing number of pro-life, pro-gay marriage Americans, particularly among Generation Y"ers, a position it would have been very unusual to encounter just a few years ago" (Silver, FiveThirtyEight.com, 5/14).~ "This Week in Religion and Politics," Sarah Posner, American Prospect"s "The FundamentaList: President Obama has "Catholic defenders on the issue" of reproductive rights, including theologian Thomas Reese of Georgetown University, who argues that Obama "favors reducing abortions," Posner writes. However, "they favor a different means of accomplishing that goal than the president does," and the "claim that Obama supports the same common ground they do blurs very real and important distinctions between Obama"s described approach and theirs," she continues. Posner writes that many Catholics who support Obama favor the Pregnant Women Support Act, which "includes supposed inducements to carry unintended pregnancies to term." The "problem ... is that the PWSA is not the administration"s preferred strategy nor is it even the "common ground" that center-right evangelicals prefer," she continues, adding that Obama supports the Prevention

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