Two Anti-Abortion Bills Pass Utah House
Two anti-abortion bills recently passed the Utah House of
Representatives, one a measure requiring women seeking abortion to be
notified about the supposed possibility for fetal pain and the other to
classify illegal abortions as second-degree felony homicides, reports the Deseret News. Says the News, "Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield, apparently convinced fellow lawmakers that
his measure wouldn’t outlaw abortion but only bring the abortion of a fetus
after 20 weeks in line with criminal code."  On the fetal pain measure

Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck, D-Salt Lake, said the real absurdity of the
bill is it not only continues the state’s shameful level of concern for the
health of women, it takes an anguishing and tragic decision and makes it
worse. She added that it encourages doctors following a medical protocol
that has not been proven, "and forces physicians to make this up as they
go."

 

Pittsburgh School Administrator Consider Comprehensive Sex Ed

The Pittsburgh School Board will vote on Feb. 24 on whether the local school system should require a comprehensive sexuality education curriculum over the current abstinence-only program.  "The administrators also cited alarming national statistics about
sexual disease rates and said various studies have shown that
comprehensive sex education programs can help to delay the onset of
sexual intercourse," says the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

How comprehensive? 

 

Even with a curriculum change, officials said, the district would
continue to stress abstinence as the only sure way to avoid unplanned
pregnancy and sexual diseases. No contraceptives would be distributed;
nor would contraceptive use be demonstrated.

Arguing for Abortion Rights as Human Rights Internationally

Women seeking abortion in countries where it is illegal are making
their cases to international legal bodies, and getting support for
abortion rights as a human right, reports Michelle Goldberg in Slate.  Reports Goldberg,

In the last four years…women and their
lawyers have brought abortion actions before the U.N. Human Rights
Committee and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which
investigates human rights violations in the Western hemisphere. Several
times, women who’ve been denied abortions have won both compensation
and an acknowledgment that their rights were violated.

Goldberg also examines the international backlash to the spreading of abortion rights.

Rep. Diana DeGette Decries "Politicization of Sex"
On the Huffington Post, Rep. Diana DeGette says it’s "outrageous"
that after 8 years of the Bush administration, one of the first
political fights of 2009 is over family planning services.

Right-wing Republicans continually use sex as a weapon when they don’t
have an effective argument to stand on as they did over the stimulus
fight. They attack common-sense policies that not only save taxpayers
money, but also promote public health. Republicans have now
successfully targeted HIV prevention funding in
the Senate version of the recovery bill. The vast majority of Americans
believe that reproductive health programs — from comprehensive sex
education to science-based HIV/AIDS prevention programs — deserve
public funding. So why are these programs so controversial in Congress?

 

She adds, "Unfortunately, some politicians are still incapable of thinking
rationally about sex and reproduction."

Anti-Choice Groups Focus on Prevention First

Catholic News Agency reports
that anti-choice groups are cautioning their members not to ignore the
Prevention First Act in favor of focusing on the Freedom of Choice Act
(remember when Judie Brown called Prevention First FOCA’s "evil
twin"?). CNA claims that "The PFA provides more taxpayer funding for contraception and abortion
and contains coercive elements which could deny federal funding to some
pro-life hospitals…PFA would mandate that health insurance programs that cover prescriptions must cover abortifacient contraceptives."

Namibia Welcomes Obama’s Repeal of the Global Gag Rule

Namibian working to promote women’s health and family planning welcome Obama’s repeal of the global gag rule, writes AllAfrica.com.

"The ban on federal funding to any organisation that even mentions
abortion or abortion counselling has always represented a ridiculous
limit on the kind of information that needs to be distributed to women
and their families, and thus seriously undermined efforts to promote
safe and efficacious family-planning programmes," said Norman Tjombe,
Director of the Legal Assistance Centre.

Other News to Note

Feb 4: AP (Santa Fe) 2009 Legislature: House panel axes old criminal abortion law
http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Local%20News/2009-Legislature-House-panel-axes-old-criminal-abortion-law

Feb 4: Sun Chronicle: Birth control debates roil anew
http://www.thesunchronicle.com/articles/2009/02/04/opinion/4355937.txt

Feb 4: Daily Press: Anti-abortion bill will make situation worse
http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-local_tamara_0204feb04,0,3755002.column

Feb 3: The Peninsula: Clerics to be sent abroad to clear air on family planning
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=Pakistan+%26+Sub-Continent&month=February2009&file=World_News2009020383915.xml

Feb 3: Opposing Views: OPINION: Obama’s Reproductive Health Cuts from
Stimulus are Misguided
http://www.opposingviews.com/articles/opinion-obama-s-reproductive-health-cuts-from-stimulus-are-misguided

Feb 3: Perfluorinated Chemicals Linked to Reduced FertilityRoutine
exposure to perfluorinated chemicals associated with increased time to
pregnancy, infertility
http://www.modernmedicine.com/modernmedicine/Modern+Medicine+Now/Perfluorinated-Chemicals-Linked-to-Reduced-Fertili/ArticleNewsFeed/Article/detail/579095?contextCategoryId=40130

Feb 3: CNN: Octuplet mom seeks TV fame? Did Octuplets’ mother do it
for the fame and fortune? CNN’s Randi Kaye reports.
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/health/2009/02/03/kaye.octuplet.mom.cnn

Feb 3: CNN: The ethics of octuplets, American Morning talks with a
medical ethicist about the birth of octuplets.
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/health/2009/02/03/kaye.octuplet.mom.cnn

Feb 3: Life News: President Obama Removes Pro-Life Gregg From Senate, Newman Unknown
http://www.lifenews.com/state3808.html

Feb 3: CNN Parents choose baby’s gender, CNN’s Dan Simon reports more
and more couples are now using in-vitro fertilization to select their
baby’s gender.
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/health/2009/02/03/kaye.octuplet.mom.cnn

Feb 3: Chicago Tribune: Bill: Abortion doctors to have hospital privileges
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-in-xgr-abortion-doct,0,6308909.story

Feb 3: WIS News 10: Abortion waiting period bill takes a step forward
http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=9782604