Roundup: Where Will the Next Generation of Abortion Providers Come From?

Who Will the Next Generation of Abortion Providers Be?

Many staff members of women's health clinics that provide abortions developed a passion for their vocation during the pre-Roe era, seeing women go through unsafe, illegal abortions.  Now, clinics struggle to find staff to replace the those retiring, reports Michael Winerip on the New York Times. Winerip writes, "As [the current] generation approaches retirement — women whose commitment to abortion was forged in the pre-Roe v. Wade days — will younger women take their places at the clinics?"

“We worry about that a lot,” said Sally Burgess, executive director of the Hope clinic, who is also chairwoman of the National Abortion Federation, the main professional support group for abortion providers. “Younger women have always had access to abortion care, they don’t fully appreciate the battle that was fought to have it available to them. And more important, I don’t think they know how precarious the option is at this point, even with Obama’s election.”

Describing the sacrifices required to work at an abortion clinic, Winerip writes,

“People running these clinics,” Ms. Arick said, “have brains wired for social work and social justice even though they’re in the medical business.” Studies show the typical woman having an abortion is a poor, single parent in her 20s. Many don’t have insurance, or the insurance won’t cover abortion. Ms. Burgess said half who come to her clinic need financial help, and she employs a staff member to search for charitable grants.

Family Research Council Snubs Sen. Brownback

CBN reports that "the Family Research Council is taking a “temporarily leave of absence” from the socially conservative 'Values Action Team' meetings on Capitol Hill because of Senator Sam Brownback’s support of pro-choice HHS Secretary-Designate Kathleen Sebelius. FRC says they may rejoin the meetings AFTER the Sebelius nomination is finished."

Three Dems Vote Against UNFPA Funding

On the Washington Monthly, Steve Benen calls the three Democrats who voted for the Wicker amendment to strip funding for UNFPA out of the omnibus "heartless."  "The three remaining moderates in the Senate caucus -- Collins, Snowe, and Specter -- voted with the Democratic majority. But three Democrats -- Evan Bayh (Ind.), Ben Nelson (Neb.), and Bob Casey (Pa.) -- voted with the Republican minority."

Dr. Sanjay Gupta Takes His Name Off Surgeon General List

Dr. Sanjay Gupta has taken himself out of the running for the Surgeon General decision, Our Bodies, Our Blog reports.  Rachel Walden blogged about her reservations on Gupta back in January here.

Hospital Merger Threatens Reproductive Health Care

An Albany Times-Union op-ed looks at the implications of a possible merger between two secular hospitals and one religious hospital in Rensselaer County, New York.  The op-ed examines the effects on abortion and other reproductive health services for patients, and also on the impact on the hospitals' employees: "Last, but certainly not least for the 12,000 employees involved, is the question as to employee health insurance benefits. Following the Catholic directives would mean no coverage for such services as birth control and sterilization. That can equate to considerable expense for employees trying to avoid an unplanned pregnancy."

Public Opinion Opposes, Washington Supports, Ab-Only

In Newsweek, Anna Quindlen decries the gulf between public opinion (overwhelmingly in favor of comprehensive sex ed) and the state of Washington politics (which just allocated another round of funding for abstinence-only).

"Positive Tone" at White House Health Care Summit, But No Specifics

For US News and World Report, Deborah Kotz talked to National Women's Law Center co-president Marcia Greenberger about the "incredibly positive tone" at the White House Health Care Summit.  Kotz notes that one of the reasons there was such a genial tone was a lack of specificity about coverage requirements for private plans or a public plan:

"Prevention, including contraception, was raised as important and vital for saving money at the end of the day, even if they cost more money at first," says Greenberger. But she says no one specifically discussed whether insurance companies should be required to cover contraception on a par with every other prescribed drug.

and

What about abortion? I had a hard time fathoming how that didn't come up in all the chatter. Obama is in favor of including the coverage of abortions as part of a comprehensive healthcare plan, to the dismay of those who oppose any government funding for abortions. "We didn't really talk about that," says Greenberger. "There were very few conversations about what should be covered."

Abortion Bills in West Virginia Don't Get Traction
Dozens of abortion bills have been introduced in the West Virginia state legislature in the past four years, but none have passed, reports the Herald Dispatch.  "Lawmakers, occupied with staving off the deficits that have dragged down nearly every other state and with roughly $1.8 billion in federal stimulus dollars, seem to have misplaced their once dependable desire to advance the goals of abortion foes."

Of WV FREE, a state pro-choice group, the Herald Dispatch writes,

But WV FREE has seen success not only in the failure of bills it condemns as divisive and ineffective, Chapman said, but also in convincing lawmakers that a better strategy to reduce abortion is to reduce unintended pregnancies.