Female Veterans May Suffer From PTSD, Too
Thanks to Feministing for pointing us to Courtney E. Martin's latest column at The American Prospect, which addresses PTSD among female veterans who are sexual assault survivors.  They may not be combat veterans, but they deserve coverage for PTSD regardless, Courtney argues:

It makes a certain amount of sense that the Veterans Affairs Office is compelled to differentiate combat from non-combat veterans. Those who have been exposed to improvised explosive devices (IEDs), the stress of direct negotiation, and the trials of patrol on a daily basis certainly have a higher rate of PTSD and other disabilities following their tour than those who have not. But it's not a zero-sum game. When the sexual assault rates among female veterans are so astronomically high -- at least 30, and as high as 70 percent, according to Helen Benedict, author of the new book The Lonely Soldier -- the "combat" classification becomes a moot point. Keep in mind that sexual assault is a hugely underreported crime; even the Pentagon admits that only 10 to 20 percent of cases are probably being reported.

Sebelius Received More Funds than Reported from Tiller
HHS Secretary nominee Kathleen Sebelius received more in campaign donations from Dr. George Tiller than she reported to the Senate Finance Committee, the AP reports.

In a response to questions from the Senate Finance Committee made public last week, Sebelius wrote that she received $12,450 between 1994-2001 from Dr. George Tiller, one of the nation's few late-term abortion providers.

But in addition to those campaign donations, records reviewed by The Associated Press show that Tiller gave at least $23,000 more from 2000-2002 to a political action committee Sebelius established while insurance commissioner to raise money for fellow Democrats.

Nonetheless, "The Finance Committee was expected to vote this month on forwarding Sebelius' nomination to the full Senate. There was no immediate indication from committee Republicans that her omission on the Tiller contributions would upset that timing."

A bill requiring doctors to inform women seeking abortions that they will "terminate the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being" amounts to state-mandated ideology, says Peter Brownlie of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri in the Lawrence Journal-World.  State Senators have also criticized the bill: "n dire situations, such as when a woman decides to have an abortion because of anencephaly, in which the fetus hasn't developed a brain, the woman is suffering enough mental anguish without being informed that she is terminating a life, [State Senator Marci] Francisco said."  The legislature has approved the bill; it's not clear whether Gov. Kathleen Sebelius will sign or veto.

One of the activities I do with my middle school students is have them role-play saying "No" to sexual advances and requests for a date.  I do this not because I think they are in the thick of needing to say no to would-be-suitors and would-be-sexual partners, but because they will eventually be in the thick of it.

The need to say no is an issue that, for whatever reason, has been coming up a lot both in my personal life and in my professional life.  It is something of an art, really, being kind and yet crystal clear.