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via Lauren McGaughy, New Orleans Times Picayune Gov. Bobby Jindal said oral contraceptives should be available over-the-counter in a Thursday evening op-ed for the Wall Street Journal. The self-described “unapologetic pro-life Republican” governor of Louisiana said this would lower health-care costs, prevent government intrusion into citizens’ lives and fight the influence of big pharmaceutical companies. … Continue reading
via USA Today U.S. abortions fell 5% during the Great Recession in the biggest one-year decrease in at least a decade, according to government figures released Wednesday. The reason for the decline wasn’t clear, but some experts said it may be due to better use of birth control during tough economic times. Their theory is … Continue reading
via Tara Culp-Ressler, ThinkProgress Planned Parenthood scored two legal victories this week, with rulings in both Arizona and Indiana preventing the healthcare provider from being defunded. A federal judge has blocked Arizona from implementing HB 2800, a measure that would have revoked Medicaid funding for family planning services at any health organization that also provides … Continue reading
via Gregory J. Krieg, ABC News Mitt Romney says he has no plans to push new anti-abortion laws if elected, a position that could put him at odds with parts of his core constituency and his own running mate, Paul Ryan. “There’s no legislation with regards to abortion that I’m familiar with that would become … Continue reading
via Bob Egelko, Politics Blog, The San Francisco Chronicle Mitt Romney’s selection of Paul Ryan as his running mate cements Romney’s own 180-degree turnabout on abortion. Ten years ago, as a candidate for governor, Romney promised to “protect the right of a woman to choose,” and pledged not to change “our pro-choice laws in Massachusetts.” … Continue reading
via Laura Bassett, The Huffington Post North Carolina’s Republican-controlled state legislature voted Monday night to override Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue’s veto of a state budget that strips money from Planned Parenthood. The same lawmakers overrode Perdue’s veto and moved to defund Planned Parenthood last year, but a judge blocked the provision, arguing that a state … Continue reading
[Editress’ Note: Read the Supreme Court’s full decision here.] via Robert Barnes and N.C. Aizenman, The Washington Post The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the individual health-insurance mandate that is at the heart of President Obama’s landmark health-care law, saying the mandate is permissible under Congress’s taxing authority. The potentially game-changing decision — a major … Continue reading
via Laura Bassett, The Huffington Post Franciscan University of Steubenville, a Catholic institution in Ohio, has decided to drop its entire student health insurance plan as of the fall semester 2012 because of the new federal rule requiring contraception coverage under most employee and student health policies. While a number of religious colleges have filed … Continue reading
via Zachary Bernstein, ThinkProgress The Missouri House passed a “conscience bill” yesterday to allow health care workers to deny health care to women. Under the law, medical professionals cannot be fired or discriminated against for refusing to provide contraception or perform abortions if it conflicted with their personal views, while employers do not have to … Continue reading
via Nicole Brodeur, The Seattle Times The Little Rascals had the “He-Man Woman Haters Club.” We’ve got The Catholic Church. Just a few weeks after the Vatican started looking into the activities of the umbrella group representing some 57,000 American nuns, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) showed it had smaller fish to fry: … Continue reading
via Jessica Pieklo, Care2 Causes Last week Missouri picked up where Arizona left off, tackling two abortion bills, including one that would allow employers to deny coverage for birth control pills unless employees provide proof the pills are used for a “medical need”. Missouri Republicans strongly believe that employers should be the ones left in … Continue reading
via Jessica Pieklo, Care2 Causes Arizona Republicans lost an effort to force women to explain to their employers why they need and use birth control so that their employer could chose whether or not to allow insurance coverage for that contraception. The final bill was defeated on a 17-13 vote but not without causing significant … Continue reading
via Jon Clinkenbeard, Techcitement If I were going to describe the perfect contraceptive, it would go something like this: no babies, no latex, no daily pill to remember, no hormones to interfere with mood or sex drive, no negative health effects whatsoever, and 100 percent effectiveness. The funny thing is, something like that currently exists. … Continue reading
via Laura Bassett, The Huffington Post While women still earn 77 cents for every dollar that men make in the United States, the gender wage gap has closed significantly over the past several decades. Now, for the first time ever, a new study has connected the narrowing of that pay gap to increased access to … Continue reading
via Laura Bassett, The Huffington Post As the only Republican Congressman at a rally for the Equal Rights Amendment on Thursday, Rep. Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.) gave women an unexpected piece of advice: Give your money to Democrats. “I think these are very precarious times for women, it seems. So many of your rights are under … Continue reading
[Editress’ Note: Today marks the 40th anniversary of the day Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment in 1972, which guarantees equal protection under the law regardless of sex, but today it is still not included in our Constitution. Today we are facing a War on Women. We must fight back. The ERA must be ratified … Continue reading
via Amanda Marcotte, Slate The most important thing to remember as Republicans pose as victims of Democrats igniting a culture war over women’s rights is this: Republicans are not required to take the bait. They were not required to try to pass legislation restricting women’s ability to use their own insurance to cover contraception. They … Continue reading
via Laura Bassett, The Huffington Post As a member of a heavily male- and GOP-dominated state Senate since 2008, Ohio legislator Nina Turner says she has cringed watching her colleagues pass bill after bill to regulate women’s reproductive health. Now, the Democrat has become the latest in a series of female state legislators to give … Continue reading
via Pam Belluck, The New York Times Leticia Parra, a mother of five scraping by on income from her husband’s sporadic construction jobs, relied on the Planned Parenthood clinic in San Carlos, an impoverished town in South Texas, for breast cancer screenings, free birth control pills and pap smears for cervical cancer. But the clinic … Continue reading
via Meghan Daum, Chicago Tribune Sandra Fluke, the Georgetown University law school student Rush Limbaugh called a “slut” and a “prostitute,” is intelligent, poised and coherent. That alone puts her miles ahead of her detractors. She’s been making the rounds this week on behalf of her argument that the insurance she pays for at Georgetown … Continue reading
via Faiz Shakir, ThinkProgress Moments ago, Netflix emailed a statement to the tech website Boing Boing indicating that the company will ensure that its ads never appear on Rush Limbaugh’s radio show again: Spotted your tweets and wanted to let you know that Netflix has not purchased and does not purchase advertising on the Rush … Continue reading
via Brian Stelter, The New York Times Emboldened by Rush Limbaugh’s public apology over the weekend to a law school student whom he had called a “slut” and a “prostitute,” critics of the radio talk show host are intensifying their online campaign against his advertisers. The apology, they said, was a signal that the campaign was … Continue reading
via Laura Bassett and Jennifer Bendery, The Huffington Post [Editress’ Note: If you are as disgusted with Rush Limbaugh’s comments as we are, boycott his sponsors and help send him a message!] Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh drew sharp criticism from Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and others on Wednesday when he called Sandra Fluke, a … Continue reading
via Rhoda A, Daily Kos [Editress’ Note: Yesterday we told you about Rush Limbaugh’s appalling comments about Sandra Fluke. Today, we ask that you boycott his show’s sponsors to help send a message. Us “sluts” need to stick together.] UPDATE 3: According to ThinkProgress, a total of THIRTY sponsors have pulled their advertising from the Rush Limbaugh Show! … Continue reading
via Jack Mirkinson, The Huffington Post Rush Limbaugh called the woman who was denied the right to speak at a controversial contraception hearing a “slut” on Wednesday. Sandra Fluke, a student at Georgetown Law School, was supposed to be the Democratic witness at a Congressional hearing about the Obama administration’s contraception policy. However, Darrell Issa, … Continue reading
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