A broad group of advocacy organizations from the progressive and women’s health communities has joined together to form the Coalition to Pass Health Care Reform and Stop Stupak!  The coalition’s goal is to ensure that health care reform is passed and does not restrict women’s ability to purchase private health insurance that provides comprehensive reproductive health care, including abortion.  

The coalition announced today that it will hold a DC Lobby Day on Wednesday, December 2nd, as part of its National Week of Action, Monday November 30 through Sunday, December 6, to ensure that the anti-choice Stupak amendment is not included in the final health care reform legislation.

A press release from the coalition states:

The Stupak amendment, passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on November 7, would, if enacted, effectively prohibit millions of women from using their own money to purchase private health insurance that provides comprehensive reproductive health care benefits. The result would be nothing less than an unacceptable ban on abortion coverage.  If this bill is enacted, millions of American women will effectively be prohibited from purchasing private insurance that covers abortion through the new “exchange” or marketplace to be established under health care reform.  The Stupak amendment is a radical proposal that upends current law on abortion coverage in the United States. It goes far beyond the Hyde amendment, which has unfairly prohibited the use of federal funds for abortion in most cases for more than 30 years.  The Stupak amendment goes beyond Hyde because it would restrict abortion coverage by private health insurance plans in an unprecedented and dangerous manner.

The National Week of Action and the DC Lobby Day on December 2 will mobilize advocates from all over the country to communicate clearly to members of Congress that women need health reform that covers all of their health needs, including comprehensive reproductive health care.  T

"The coalition," says a joint press statement, "is building on the wave of pro-choice activism sparked by the passage of the amendment more than two weeks ago."

Since passage, some members of the House who voted for the Stupak ban have expressed their doubts about this amendment.  Notably, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid did not include the Stupak language in the health care reform bill he introduced on November 19, and President Obama has indicated that the amendment goes too far.

Members of the coalition include:

Alliance for Justice
American Association of University Women (AAUW)
American Medical Student Association (AMSA)
Association of Reproductive Health Professionals (ARHP)
Black Women for Reproductive Justice (BWRJ)
Black Women’s Health Imperative
Catholics for Choice
Center for Community Change
Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE)
Center for Reproductive Rights
Choice USA
Coalition of Labor Union Women
EMILY’s List
Feminist Majority Foundation
Latina Sexual and Reproductive Justice Coalition (LSRJC)
MoveOn.org Political Action
NARAL Pro-Choice America
NARAL Pro-Choice New York
National Abortion Federation (NAF)
National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum (NAPAWF)
National Association of Social Workers (NASW)
National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW)
National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association (NFPRHA)
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund
National Institute for Reproductive Health
National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health (NLIRH)
National Network of Abortion Funds (NNAF)
National Organization for Women (NOW)
National Partnership for Women and Families
National Women’s Health Network (NWHN)
National Women’s Law Center (NWLC)
New Prospect Family and Worship Center, Washington, DC
No Limits
People for the American Way (PFAW)
Personal PAC
Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health (PRCH)
Planned Parenthood <http://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/>
Raising Women's Voices (RWJ)
Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC)
Religious Institute
Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS)
SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
YWCA

Stupak dismisses GWU study on effects of amendment

In keeping with the commitment of the Republican party and the far right to ignore any evidence, science, analysis or data inconsistent with their ideological worldview, Congressman Bart Stupak (D-MI) has said he simply does not believe the findings of the George Washington University analysis of the industry-wide effects of the Stupak-Pitts Amendment on coverage for abortion care.  RH Reality Check covered this study and another one by the Kaiser Family Foundation last week.

Stupak told Talking Points Memo that he takes issue with the GW analysis, which found that his anti-abortion amendment to House health care legislation would have "industry-wide effects" and ultimately cause insurance companies to stop covering abortions altogether.

The report was written by chair of the Department of Health Policy Sara Rosenbaum, research professors Lara Cartwright-Smith and Ross Margulies, professor Susan Wood, and lead researcher D. Richard Mauery. 

Republican activists seeking "purity test" for GOP candidates

Conservative Republican Party activists want to withhold money from GOP candidates who stray too far from party orthodoxy, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Ten Republican National Committee members are distributing a plan to impose a purity test – calling for money to be withheld from anyone who disagrees with conservative principles on more than two of 10 core issues.

Among the required stances: oppose President Barack Obama’s health care and cap-and-trade proposals as well as his stimulus plan; reject government funding for abortion; vote “no” on legislation to help unions organize; and support keeping the Defense of Marriage Act.

“The problem is that conservatives have lost trust in the Republican Party that we will govern as conservatives,” said James Bopp Jr., an Indiana lawyer and one of 168 RNC members who will debate the idea during the party’s winter meeting in January. “And I think that loss of trust is warranted to a certain extent because of the fact that we in the final several years of the Bush administration were supporting increased government, earmarks and, ultimately, bailouts.”

Bopp and other conservatives have tried in the past to convince RNC Chairman Michael Steele to label Obama a “socialist.” The new resolution brings back the ‘s’ word, arguing that, “Republican solidarity in opposition to Obama’s socialist agenda is necessary to preserve the security of our country, our economic and political freedoms, and our way of life.”

The resolution underscores a simmering tension within the party about how to remake the GOP and regain power in Washington, coming as conservative candidates such as Florida U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio, are challenging establishment Republicans viewed as too accommodating to the left.

Other News:

November 23, 2009

Adoption Study Says Identity Questions Last a Lifetime; Urges Open Birth Records ABC News

Promote adoption Northwest Herald

Adopting A New Attitude Huffington Post

NJ lawmakers may consider legislation that would unseal birth records in adoptions The Star-Ledger

Family planning critical in HIV-ridden Uganda: U of A study Edmonton Journal

Medicaid Coverage of Family Planning Services Kaiser Family Foundation

Bishops reaffirm Natural Family Planning CathNews

Health care will reform birth control choices too Kansas.com

5 Reasons Why Women Should Consider An IUD YourTango

Congressman rejects SPHHS study on abortion amendment The George Washington University Hatchet

Abortion and the capital punishment Examiner.com

GOP slams key Democrats Boston Globe

Senate Bill More Closely Preserves Abortion Status Quo Center For American Progress

A Wake-Up Call for America's Catholics FOXNews

Round Two: The Coming Battle Over Abortion Funding The Nation.

Steele: 'No hypocrisy' on abortion Politico

Abortion-Expanding Senate Health Care Bill Passes Procedural Vote Lifesite

Phill Kline's former chief of staff hit with legal ethics complaint Kansas City Star

Irene Vilar's Impossible Motherhood ... Feminists for Choice

Health Care Debate Revives Abortion Campaigners New York Times

Abortion slaying suspect may use necessity defense The Associated Press

Abortion debate underlies US, state controversies McCook Daily Gazette

Should Bishops Ask Officials to Skip Communion Over Abortion? U.S. News & World Report

Abortion decision painful, personal Knoxville News Sentinel

Tensions Flare Between Religious Leaders and Lawmakers Over Abortion FOXNews

Comprehensive sex ed needed Kansas City Star

Catholics for Choice: Another Courageous Kennedy Shows True Leadership PR Newswire

Pro-life movement regrouping after stem cell defeat Lincoln Journal Star

Religious leaders signed a pledge Friday announcing that they won’t abide by laws that support gay marriage or abortion. Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput and Focus on the Family’s Founder James Dobson and President Jim Daly joined 125 other conservative religious leaders from Colorado in signing the so-called Manhattan Declaration. The declaration comes amid the contentious national health care debate that has featured Catholic Bishops prominently and in the wake of hate crimes legislation passed earlier this fall that drew staunch opposition from evangelical leaders, who argued it might prevent them from preaching against gays. The signatories of the Declaration (pdf) vow to ignore any laws that contradict their worldview.

[L]et it be known that we will not comply with any edict that compels us or the institutions we lead to participate in or facilitate abortions, embryo-destructive research, assisted suicide, euthanasia, or any other act that violates the principle of the profound, inherent, and equal dignity of every member of the human family.

Further, let it be known that we will not bend to any rule forcing us to bless immoral sexual partnerships, treat them as marriages or the equivalent, or refrain from proclaiming the truth, as we know it, about morality, marriage, and the family.

Further, let it be known that we will not be intimidated into silence or acquiescence or the violation of our consciences by any power on earth, be it cultural or political, regardless of the consequences to ourselves.

The list of Colorado signatories also included Fr. Joseph D Fessio, founder and editor of Ignatius Press; Rev. Michael J Sheridan, Bishop of the Archdiocese of Colorado Springs; and John Stonestreet, executive director of Summit Ministries at Manitou Springs.

Andy Birkey at the Colorado Independent’s sister site in Minnesota reports that the Human Rights Campaign immediately responded to the Declaration, pointing out that gay-rights groups have gone to great pains to make laws that protect both gay, bisexual and transgender people, as well as people of faith.

“This declaration simply perpetuates the fallacy that equality and religious liberty are incompatible and that every step toward fairness for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community is another burden on religious people. In reality, non-discrimination laws are working all over this country, where religious freedom is existing side-by-side with equal opportunity,” Harry Knox, director of the Human Rights Campaign’s Religion and Faith Program, said in a statement. “Advocates of LGBT equality have taken great pains in their legislative efforts to ensure that the rights of religious organizations and people under the First Amendment are protected. It is deeply cynical for the authors of this document to paint themselves as victims because they cannot have a free hand to discriminate, including with taxpayer dollars.”

An annual report on sexually transmitted diseases released today by the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that in 2008 adolescent girls 15–19 years of age had the largest recorded number of chlamydia and gonorrhea cases (409,531) when compared to any other age group.

Women ages 20-24 were the next most affected group.

More than 1.5 million cases of chlamydia and gonorrhea were reported in 2008.

The report – Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance, 2008, which tracks reported cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis in the United States – also showed that African-Americans continue to be more disproportionately affected by STDs than any other racial or ethnic group.

Read the full report here.  See also this article by Amanda Marcotte and this one by Dr. Will Wong.

"While adolescent males have a similar prevalence of STDs," states the report, "biological differences place females at greater risk for STDs than males."

Additionally, the health consequences are more severe among females than males for chlamydia and gonorrhea – the two most commonly reported infectious diseases in the United States. These diseases may have no symptoms and often go undetected. CDC estimates that half of new gonorrhea cases and more than half of new chlamydia cases remain undiagnosed and unreported.

Left untreated, it is estimated that 10-20 percent of chlamydia or gonorrhea infections in women can result in pelvic inflammatory disease, which can lead to long-term complications, such as chronic pelvic pain, ectopic pregnancy (a potentially life-threatening form of pregnancy where implantation of the fertilized egg occurs outside the uterus) and infertility. 

Untreated STDs are estimated to cause at least 24,000 women to become infertile each year in the United States.

“When you take into account the severe health consequences of STDs and the millions of Americans infected every year, it is clear that much more work needs to be done to prevent unintended long-term health issues,” said Kevin Fenton, M.D., director of CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention. “We know adolescent girls and minorities are most impacted by STDs. So it is up to us as a nation, to reach out to them and ensure we are providing the necessary prevention, testing and treatment services. Taking these critical steps now could help reduce the number of couples who may not be able have children in the future because of a previously undiagnosed, yet treatable, STD.”

In the United States overall, about 1.2 million cases of chlamydia were reported in 2008; almost 337,000 cases of gonorrhea were reported in the same year.

STDs are taking a disproportionate toll on racial minorities, especially among young African-American women.

Racial minorities continue to face severe disparities in all reportable STDs, but African-Americans are the group most impacted. Gonorrhea rates among African-Americans are higher than any other racial or ethnic group and 20 times higher than that of whites. Blacks represent 12 percent of the U.S. population, but accounted for about 71 percent of reported gonorrhea cases and almost half of all chlamydia and syphilis cases (48 percent and 49 percent, respectively) in 2008.

Among women, black women 15 to 19 years of age had the highest rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea (10,513 per 100,000 and 2,934 per 100,000, respectively), followed by black women ages 20 to 24 (9,373 per 100,000 and 2,770 per 100,000, respectively).

“We cannot ignore the glaring racial disparities in rates of STDs, particularly when we consider the hard truth that gonorrhea rates among African-Americans are 20 times those of whites,” said John M. Douglas, Jr., M.D., director of CDC’s Division of STD Prevention. “Research has shown that socioeconomic barriers to quality health care and higher overall prevalence of STDs within minority communities contribute to this pervasive threat. It is imperative that we improve access to effective STD prevention and treatment services in local communities for those who need them most.”

Syphillis is on the rise

Syphilis, once on the verge of elimination, began re-emerging as a threat in 2001, according to CDC.

In 2008, 13,500 cases of primary and secondary syphilis cases were reported, an almost 18 percent increase from 2007. The majority of these syphilis cases (63 percent) continues to be among men who have sex with men (MSM). Increased syphilis transmission among MSM is believed to be the primary driver of syphilis rate increases nationally. For MSM, syphilis infection is of particular concern because it can facilitate HIV transmission and lead to irreversible complications such as strokes, especially in those who are HIV-infected.

While occurring at substantially lower levels among women than men, syphilis rates have been increasing among women since 2004. In 2008, the syphilis rate among women increased 36 percent from the previous year (1.1 cases per 100,000 women in 2007 vs. 1.5 in 2008). By comparison, rates among men increased 15 percent from the previous year (6.6 cases per 100,000 men in 2007 vs. 7.6 in 2008). Untreated syphilis can be transmitted from pregnant women to infants and can result in stillbirths, infant deaths, or severe complications in children who survive.

Intensified efforts are needed to reduce the toll of STDs

To reduce the toll of STDs and protect the health of millions of Americans, expanded education and prevention efforts, including increased screening, are urgently needed. Chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis cases represent only a fraction of the true STD burden in the United States. CDC estimates that a total of almost 19 million new sexually transmitted infections occur each year, almost half of which are among 15- to 24-year-olds. In addition, CDC estimates that STDs cost the U.S. health care system as much as $15.9 billion annually.

Since treatment of STDs is essential to prevent long-term health consequences, early testing and diagnosis are crucial. STD screening remains one of the most effective yet underutilized tools to protect heath and prevent the further spread of these diseases. Recent data show that less than half of sexually active women under 26 are screened for chlamydia – the most commonly reported infectious disease. CDC recommends annual chlamydia screening for sexually active women younger than 26 years of age, and supports U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendations to screen high-risk, sexually active women for gonorrhea. CDC also recommends that all sexually active MSM be tested for syphilis, chlamydia, gonorrhea and HIV at least annually.

After vociferously denying a "necessity defense" could be mounted in the case of Scott Roeder, the man accused of shooting Kansas doctor George Tiller in May, the public defender representing Roeder is fighting prosecutors' efforts to ban the so-called necessity defense from his trial, reports the Wichita Eagle.

The Eagle reports:

Defense attorneys for Scott Roeder filed a motion arguing he has a right to present his defense. Roeder has publicly said his shooting of Tiller was justified to save "unborn children."

The defense motion made public Monday seemingly contradicts public statements by public defender Steve Osburn that such a necessity defense did not exist in Kansas law. Osburn declined to clarify the discrepancy, but suggested he may have used the media to confuse prosecutors as to his defense strategy.

Court documents argue the state request to ban a necessity defense is intrusive into the defendant's trial strategy.

Cleveland Plain Dealer columnist and Pulitzer Prize winning author Connie Shulz takes on the language issue in the debate around reproductive health in her column this past weekend.

"Language matters, so let's be clear: Women's reproductive health is not a 'social issue,' writes Shulz.

Deciding whether to carry the red purse or the black bag to dinner Saturday night? That's a social issue. Wondering why your child wasn't invited to her classmate's birthday party? That, too, is a social issue.

But, "attempting to limit women's access to legal and safe abortions? Not even remotely a social issue. So let's stop calling it that as we debate the Stupak-Pitts amendment, which is the latest effort in Congress to prohibit insurance coverage for abortion," she says.

The sooner we reject this dismissive casting of a woman's essential right, the sooner elected officials will understand it's not theirs for the tinkering.

She goes on to question the tax-exempt status of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops which continues to work to influence law and policy around women's health and rights from the perspective of ultra-conservative Catholic ideology, rather than public health.

"Politicians fond of limiting women's reproductive rights often say they personally oppose abortion," writes Shulz.  "They cite their religion, as if this carves out an exception in that whole separation-of-church-and-state thing so they can use their faith to restrict the rights of every woman in America."

In an interview with The Associated Press, Rep. Bart Stupak, a Michigan Democrat, made it clear that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops played a leading role in getting his amendment into the House bill.

"The Catholic Church used their power -- their clout, if you will -- to influence this issue. They had to. It's a basic teaching of the religion," Stupak said.

"My concern," writes Shulz, "echoes that of Rep. Lynne Woolsey, a California Democrat, who wrote on Politico.com: "The IRS is less restrictive about church involvement in efforts to influence legislation than it is about involvement in campaigns and elections," she wrote. "Given the political behavior of USCCB in this case, maybe it shouldn't be.""

The IRS' Tax Guide for Churches and Religious Organizations clearly states that tax-exempt organizations may not lobby.

The guide reads: "In general, no organization, including a church, may qualify for . . . [tax-exempt] status if a substantial part of its activities is attempting to influence legislation (commonly known as lobbying). An organization may engage in some lobbying, but too much lobbying activity risks loss of tax-exempt status."

If pressuring members of Congress and issuing public statements boasting about it don't qualify as "too much lobbying," then this columnist is merely dabbling in opinion writing and we should call it a hobby.

And why, she asks, do elected officials "need to feel personally comfortable with what a woman chooses to do with her body before they allow her to do it."

When has a medical procedure exclusive to men ever been held to a vote on a floor of the United States Congress?

Oh, wait, just remembered:

Never.

Even Some self-proclaimed progressives are reprimanding pro-choice women for insisting that the Stupak amendment must go.

They accuse us of digging in on "our issue" -- interesting how some insist they are pro-choice until it must actually mean something -- at the risk of derailing health care reform for millions of Americans.

We did not initiate the Stupak stunt. And when it comes to health care, it has always been women who bear the load. We are the primary caregivers for our children and our aging parents; we are most of the nation's nurses, medical assistants and home health care workers; and we have raised billions of dollars for breast cancer research alone.

And yet, here we are, immersed in yet another congressional debate over whether we should have affordable coverage for a medical condition that only women face.

Don't tell us women don't care about health care.

Read the full article here.

Last week, I wrote about a twitter petition that was started to let Washington DC's new Insurance Commissioner, Gennett Purcell, know that allowing private insurance companies to opt out of covering contraception under individual plans was unacceptable. 

The petition was in response to a first-hand account of one woman's experience of going to her physician to have her birth control prescription renewed, only to find that it was no longer covered under her private insurance plan.  The question became, was it because Washingon DC's Insurance Commissioner, Gennett Purcell, had recently revised the policy, making birth control "non-mandatory" for private insurers? Or was this always the case? In my original post, I wrote that it was a change "under Purcell's watch" that "has somehow flown under the radar." This statement does not appear to be true and it is a statement that I'd like to correct.  

Amanda Hess noted my post and blogged about it (and has since updated her post) over at Washington City Paper writing,

D.C. ladies on the pill: You may not know the name of Gennet Purcell, the woman that Mayor Adrian Fenty appointed to head up the D.C. Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking last August. You should. Purcell may be responsible for sending your birth control costs through the roof.

The Washington DC Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (DISB) took notice and responded to the twitter petition and the blog posts:

The Department has no authority to force insurance companies to provide contraceptive coverage.

DISB has researched its recent consumer complaint history and found no complaints about individual health insurance not covering contraception. It is surveying insurance companies writing individual health insurance in the District of Columbia and, while responses are still coming in, has found that there are individual plans available in DC that provide contraceptive coverage.

In a letter to one woman's complaint, Associate Commissioner Phiip Barlow wrote,

"Commissioner Purcell and the Department of Insurance, Securites and Banking have not taken any recent actions related to the coverage of contraceptives in individual insurance, nor did the Department take any actions prior to Commissioner Purcell's appointment. In fact, determining what benefits are mandatory in insurance is not at the discretion of the Commissioner, but rather mandatory coverages are those that are requiree by law. Contraceptives are not now, nor have they ever been a mandatory coverage in DC."

The woman who originally brought this issue to the attention of bloggers and activists responded to Barlow and DISB, 

"...What I personally, and the bloggers who have been talking about this issue, do object to is the fact that oral contraceptives are not being covered, mandatory or otherwise. As a female business owner, it is already challenging to have to take on the additional expense of a health insurance plan, as I am not part of a group plan. But by not having oral contraception covered is [sic] an additional expense that I should have not have to be burdened with simply because my insurance company has determined it doesn't need to offer this coverage, as it has not been mandated by the District of Columbia. It is only fair that all health insurance companies, whether they provide services to groups or to individuals, allow women the option of managing her own reproduction in a way that she and her doctor have deemed appropriate." 

"...If you know of anyone who may have had problems with contraceptive coverage in the District of Columbia, please feel free to call the Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (DISB) at (202) 727-8000 or visit our Web site at www.disb.dc.gov. Associate Commissioner Barlow, along with the rest of the agency’s staff, is willing to assist consumers with any financial-services-related complaints."