Roundup: Today is World Population Day

Today is World Population Day ... If you haven't yet you should check out our series on Population and Climate Change in which professionals from Population Action International take on the important issues surrounding population growth and our environment.  The UN is taking the opportunity to remind the world of the importance of women's rights and family planning to creating a more just and sustainable world. The World Bank is trumpeting the importance of access to contraception.

Obama Makes Strong Statments of Support for Choice ... Sen. Barack Obama appeared at a campaign event in in New York today with Sen. Hillary Clinton focusing on economic security for lower and middle class Americans.  At the event Obama took the opportunity to reassure voters that he is strongly pro-choice and that this election will be an important one for women on many fronts:

And let’s be clear, the Supreme Court’s ruling on equal pay is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what’s at stake in this election. Usually, when we talk about the Court, it’s in the context of reproductive rights and Roe v. Wade. And make no mistake about it, that’s a critical issue in this election. Senator McCain has made it abundantly clear that he wants to appoint justices like Roberts and Alito -- and that he hopes to see Roe overturned. Well, I stand by my votes against confirming Justices Roberts and Alito. And I’ve made it equally clear that I will never back down in defending a woman’s right to choose.

But the Supreme Court also affects women’s lives in so many other ways – from decisions on equal pay, to workplace discrimination, to Title IX, to domestic violence, to civil rights and workers’ rights. And the question we face in this election is whether we’ll have judges who demonstrate sound judgment and empathy, who understand how law operates in our daily lives, who are committed to upholding the values at the core of our Constitution – or judges who put ideology before justice, with our fundamental rights as the first casualty.

John McCain's 1980 Divorce Examined ... The LA Times is running an article that takes a closer look at John McCain's divorce from Carol McCain and quick re-marriage to Cindy McCain in 1980.  It's a story that will drive the far right "family values" guys nuts:

Although McCain suggested in his autobiography that months passed between his divorce and remarriage, the divorce was granted April 2, 1980, and he wed Hensley in a private ceremony five weeks later. McCain obtained an Arizona marriage license on March 6, 1980, while still legally married to his first wife.

The article details how the 42 year-old McCain's seemingly abrupt decision to divorce Carol and marry then 24 year-old Cindy Hensley disappointed and upset a lot of McCain's friends, including Ronald and Nancy Reagan: 

Until McCain filed for divorce, the Reagans and their inner circle assumed he was happily married, and they were stunned to learn otherwise, according to several close aides.

"Everybody was upset with him," recalled Nancy Reynolds, a top aide to the former president who introduced him to McCain. 

...

"They [the Reagans] weren't happy with him," Fitzwater said. Carol McCain "was this little, frail person. . . . She was brokenhearted."

By that time, Nancy Reagan had come to Carol McCain's aid, hiring her as a press assistant in the 1980 presidential campaign.

When the Reagans moved to Washington, she was named director of the White House Visitors Office.

"Nancy Reagan was crazy about her," Reynolds said. "But everybody was crazy about Carol McCain. . . . And the Meeses were very generous and helpful and comforting to her."

John McCain has long since taken full responsibilty for his decisions in 1980 saying "My marriage's collapse was attributable to my own selfishness and immaturity. The blame was entirely mine."  

Women in Countries Where Abortion is Illegal are Buying Emergency Contraception on the Web ... The Belfast Telegraph is reporting that a website, WomenOnWeb.org, sells mifepristone and misoprostol to women in countries where the drugs are banned.  While some women are grateful to have some kind of access to the drugs, misuse was a concern: 

A British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology review of 400 Women on Web customers, published today, found nearly 11% needed a surgical procedure after taking the medication.

It found bout 8% did not end up using the medication they had ordered. Almost 11% went on to need a surgical procedure, either because the drugs had not completed the abortion or because of excessive bleeding.

Almost 200 women answered questions about it — 58% said they were just grateful to have been able to have had an abortion in this way, while 31% had felt stressed but found the experience acceptable.