I spent part of my weekend reading about the resurgence of the feminist movement, much of it in response to the War on Women.  Debating, legislating and restricting our rights have finally woken us up, along with much of the American public and the media.

Sitting down at my computer Monday morning to see the news about a bombing of a Planned Parenthood Clinic in Wisconsin reminded me how vicious this can be.  I have always appreciated how peaceful the pro-choice movement is.  And every time something like Sunday night’s attack in Milwaukee happens I am reminded how some in the anti-choice movement will repeatedly choose violence to make their point.

My personal opinion is that we are fighting enough wars abroad; we should strive for peace at home.  This has reminded me that cannot always be possible.  Resorting to domestic terrorism to make your point is unacceptable.  After months of talking about attacks on women’s rights and reproductive health, my hope is this will turn the tide, and show everyone how far around the bend the debate has gone.

This of course came after two other big pieces of news in the War on Women.  Late on Friday the Georgia House approved the Senate-sponsored “Women as Livestock” legislation, banning abortion after 20 weeks.  There are no exceptions to this for rape or incest, and Republican Governor Nathan Deal is expected to sign it into law.

Arizona may have failed to pass a law requiring your boss’ approval for you to get contraception, but Missouri has managed to pick it up and run with in.  In addition to allowing employers to make what should be very personal decisions about benefits and what medications are taken, another bill is making its way through the legislature with the intent of expanding the conscience clause.  This would shield health care employees from participating in any medical procedure that would conflict with their conscience.

As a movement we’ve been using the term “war” for so long, I wonder if we’ve forgotten what was is really like, and how similar it could look.  The attacks this weekend circulated discussion among friends, hopes that some of them were April Fool’s jokes.  No joking – this war has become very real, and much more dangerous, as the events of April 1st showed us.

The story all along has been about the interest and safety of individual women.  Now is not a time for political posturing, though it will surely come with the aftermath.  Now is a time for real discussion, real debate and real change to happen.

*Photo Credit: WeNews via Creative Commons License

It’s been a crazy ride for the Pro-Choice movement over the last few months.  There have really been two different battles going parallel to each other when it all really comes down to the same question: Can we trust women to make the right choice for their own bodies?  While we’re at it, can we get more women involved in the discussion?

That Pesky Little Pill

The end of 2011 saw an incredible battle to see birth control as a preventive service – which makes it completely free under the Affordable Care Act.  While the religious right makes grand statements about “they” don’t want it, use it, and certainly don’t want to include it in insurance offerings to employees at religious organizations and universities, the bottom line is more than 99% of women between the ages of 14-44 who are sexually active use some form of contraception!  While religious leaders may not like it, their followers are more than likely using it.

Why is this important?

The Obama administration announced Friday that most church affiliated organizations will be required to offer employees coverage of birth control in insurance plans.  They will be granted additional time to comply with the requirements.  I cannot imagine the relief of some employees who have gone years without this kind of option, to know it will happen.  That is as long as their employers are not part of those trying to continue lawsuits and fight the regulations, which will only draw out the deadline for compliance.

For those fighting this here is why:  According to the Washington Post, “From the beginning, the rule exempted employers such as churches whose primary purpose is to inculcate religious beliefs and that mainly employ and serve individuals who share those beliefs.”  I can only assume their beliefs take one of two forms: they believe everyone they employ and worship with truly holds those same values and abstains from use of contraception; or they believe they have every right to insist on such behavior in the most personal of spaces from their employees and congregants. The average woman in America wants two children, which means an average of THIRTY years using contraceptives.

Those people I felt such relief for – it won’t come just yet.  The battle will continue through this year.  And while the pill have been a brief part of the Republican primaries, it is very likely it will become a larger piece of the choice battle in the general election.

Something to be Ashamed Of?

At a recent event with Merle Hoffman I heard her say, “if the personal is the political, then abortion is the ultimate political issue.”  How true that is, especially for the past year!

If I tell you one out of three women have an abortion there are two ways you can take it: 1. That is a lot of dead babies (actual response to a Fem2.0 tweet) or 2. That is a lot of women in need.  Political battles at the state and federal level and talk in the Presidential race has been centered around the repeal of Roe V. Wade (except amendments to the constitution can just be wiped away by a president), or limiting access to abortions.  What the statistic above really tells us, is that women have the need for abortions, and it’s more people – male and female, who have been through this process, either themselves or with a loved one that anyone ever thinks.

Whether a woman’s reason is health or economic related, because she was raped, or a million other reasons does not discount her need to do it.  Pregnancy is incredibly personal and intimate, and an unwanted pregnancy can feel like a violation of a woman’s body, as K. Salis so eloquently put it last week on Fem2.0.

While the legality, how, when, where will all continue to be debated by men this year in great detail and at great length, it is important to remember this society has made abortion something to be ashamed of and something to hide.  Abortion is legal, and we need to stop treating it as though it were not.  Whether legal or not, women will seek it out, and we all need to ensure it remains a safe and legal procedure!

The anti-choice groups are amazing at putting us always on the defensive.  It’s time to turn this around.  2012 should be our chance to be proactive and speak out.  Let’s stop hiding sex, contraception and abortion and put it out on the table to discussion and education.
This post is part of the Blog for Choice Blog Carnival hosted by NARAL Pro-Choice America in commemoration of the 39th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade.

Photo Credit: SpentPenny via the Creative Commons License.

The War on Women has been fought over the past year or more in most of the country.  With Virginia’s off year elections comes the opportunity for the state to come out in front on issues.  So it should not have been a surprise when Gov. Bob McDonnell and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli began rolling out legislation and laws limiting women’s health care options and rolling back the clock on abortion access.

Since taking office in 2010 McDonnell has limited options of low-income women to access abortion when their health is at risk, overriding doctor’s recommendations.  It is now illegal for women in Virginia to purchase private insurance that includes abortion coverage.

A few months ago, McDonnell made headlines with moves to attack first trimester by reclassifying women’s health centers and abortion providers who perform four or more abortions a month, as hospitals.  This means meeting hospital code requirements, an expensive and unnecessary cost.  The TRAP Laws have forced many women’s health centers in Virginia to close their doors, with more likely to follow.

Dr. Howard Jones wrote to the Virginia Board of Health of his concerns about what these laws could mean.  While limiting access to abortions, this law does nothing to protect patient confidentiality, the methods to implement the law also do not seem to be related to improving patient outcomes.  As we have seen over and over again this year, attacks on women’s health and access to care are coming as political hardball instead of solving real issues, creating jobs, or improving the everyday lives of citizens around the country.  This situation is crystal clear in Virginia.

A rally was held in Richmond, VA on October 15^th to protest the Virginia Board of Health’s passage of the TRAP Laws.  Hundreds gathered by the Virginia Commonwealth University campus to encourage McDonnell and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to reconsider their stance.

Last week Gov. McDonnell was invited to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to speak at the 12^th Annual Legal Reform Summit.  The Virginia Coalition to Protect Women’s Health, formed earlier this year in response to McDonnell’s war on women’s health, and NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia organized a rally.  Along with students from George Mason University, the group approached McDonnell requesting a meeting to discuss the new abortion regulations in the state – and he agreed!

Organizations around Virginia have fought diligently against every regulation and law the state has put forth this year in an attack on women’s health and access to care.  Their work and this opportunity to discuss the regulations with McDonnell means so much to so many women in the state.

Video of the exchange with Gov. McDonnell

Photos from the rally on NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia’s Flickr page.

The Virginia Coalition to Protect Women’s Health is also encouraging Virginians to contact Governor McDonnell and ask him to reject new regulations on women’s health centers in Virginia.

In case you didn’t know: today is World Contraception Day!  In case you missed it, and it wouldn’t have been that hard to, there was a recall of several birth control pills recently.  Every woman I shared this with was not just shocked they didn’t know – but panicked that their pill was included.  The small, remaining stigma around birth control and the pill are still there.

Those of us who take a pill form of birth control know just how finicky it can be.  You have to take it at the same time of day; everything has to be in the package just so.  If one thing is slightly off the quality drops, and your chance of pregnancy goes up.  This is why I’ve often advocated to friends to use two forms of birth control.

Qualitest Pharmaceuticals, a Huntsville, Alabama company, voluntarily recalled several lots of birth control due to a packing error.  The company stated there was no immediate health risk, but were worried about unintended pregnancy while taking those packs of pills.  The issue: ”select blisters (found inside the pill box) were rotated 180 degrees within the card, reversing the weekly tablet orientation” , per the company.  There is no news on how this affects women taking the pills for the hormones.

Recalled pills include:

• Cyclafem 7/7/7
• Cyclafem 1/35
• Emoquette
• Gildess FE 1.5/30
• Gildess FE 1/20
• Orsythia
• Previfem
• Tri-Previfem

Pharmacists were to call any patients who had received a recalled pack.  More information including specific lot numbers and packs can be found here.

I found out about this late last week.  However, it appears the issue first came to light over a week ago.  I wondered why this is still slowly getting out, but when any other drug is recalled it seems to take over the media.  Is this just another example of how little we concern ourselves with women’s health issues?  Or is it because enough people don’t look at the birth control as a health care issue?  Must we remind the country of the ground breaking even that happened in the not too distant past?  In July Health and Human Services classified birth control as preventative within the Accountable Care Act (ACA), which means it will be available at no cost once the legislation is fully implemented.

Were you affected by the recall?  How did you learn of it?  Let us know!  In honor of it being World Contraception Day, do your research and learn about the options – and if your prescription was part of the recall!

*Photo credit: By Flickr User forwardstl

The abortion battle that has taken over much of the country this year, has found itself on the doorstep of Washington DC recently.  Germantown, Maryland has become a battleground as Summer of Mercy 2.0 and Summer Celebration of Choice come to the same clinic.

On July 24th the Washington Post featured a story on Dr. LeRoy Carhart, who started practicing in Maryland in December.  Carhart started his practice in Nebraska, where Dr. George Tiller mentored him.  Carhart is one of the few doctors in the country to openly admit he performs late term abortions.  He also wants to expand his services, which has brought anti-choicers out in full force against him in their Summer of Mercy 2.0.

Summer Celebration of Choice needs your help!  The weeklong celebration is almost over but volunteers are needed this weekend.  The anti-choicer crowd has been out numbered all week, but expecting a huge crowd on Sunday, August 7th.  Take action and join the Summer Celebration of Choice on Sunday in Germantown!

Get all the information here and join the cause on Sunday!

Read what’s been happening with Summer Celebration of Choice.

Updates From Around the Country

Ohio Bans Abortions After 20 Weeks

Fetus Testifies before Ohio Legislature on Heartbeat Bill

Father-Daughter Physician Team File Lawsuit to Stop Kansas Abortion Clinic Restrictions

San Francisco Takes on Crisis Pregnancy Centers

Maryland Clinic in the news:

MotherJones

Washington Post

Iowa Independent

Once upon a time women were dying from too many pregnancies.  Women suffered injury, disease, and had dangerous illegal abortions.  Once  upon a time there was no birth control pill.  There were ways women had to avoid getting pregnant in any given instance.  None of it was long term, none of it allowed them to take control of their bodies and reproductive health, none of it allowed them to choose how many children and when.

Margaret Sanger saw women suffering from too many pregnancies, desperate to not have one child, go through one more birth.  And so began her fight to legalize birth control and create the Pill.  She and her sister opened the first birth control clinic in 1916 in Brooklyn, New York, and were quickly arrested in violation of the Comstock Law .  It was illegal to buy, sell or mail anything obscene – and birth control in any form was obscene.

The Pill came to be in 1960.  The most commonly used form of birth control, and likely most trusted, was almost impossible to find at first, unless, of course, you were middle class and married.  Isn’t that always the way?  Poor women, unmarried women, and those wishing for anonymity were virtually out of luck when it came to obtaining a prescription.

Thirty states had laws restricting the sale of, or advertising related to the Pill.  The laws were so strict in Connecticut anyone thought to be assisting someone obtain the pill could be arrested.  Connecticut Planned Parenthood League found a solution: offering transportation to women to Rhode Island and New York to get prescriptions.

We have come a long in our history of fighting birth control.  The pill was blamed for the sexual revolution, for premarital sex, the jump in cohabitation, and many other aspects of the 1960s and 1970s that many found to be unsavory and immoral.  But the times they were a changing.  They have continued to change, and while some will fight the latest potential advance – it is time to see birth control as a right for all women.

Women would not have flooded the workforce, colleges, law, medical and business schools in such numbers had this little pill not existed.  We have the lives we have today because of it, and it has allowed us to choose if and when we have children.

It is still the poorest women who cannot afford birth control from month to month.  Each month the pill is not taken the more likely those women are to get pregnant.  Any woman who wishes to have control over her life, her career, her body should be able to get the right birth control for her, easily and be able to keep up with it.  Cost should not be an issue when it is in the interest of women’s health.

The Institute of Medicine recommended this week that insurance provide birth control at no cost to the patient.  We have come a long way, and it is time to see birth control as the preventive medicine it is.

I have long remembered the wise words of a co-worker from my first job (also without health insurance).  She told me if I ever found myself working without health insurance, I was to go to Planned Parenthood.  I could check ups, exams, birth control all right there. So I found the Planned Parenthood closest to me, had my annual exam, got a prescription for birth control, and pick it up on my way out.  I think my cost the appointment and prescription was about $90.  A hefty fee for me at the time, but it seemed so worth it.  And each month I happily handed over my $18 for birth control pills.

After several months I found a better job, that again did not offer health insurance.  I had enough to buy my own catastrophic health insurance.  A woman at Planned Parenthood helped me figure out what would be covered and how much it would cost me.  She also let me know I made so little money I was better off getting my prescription from them still.

As long as lived in the area, I continued to go to Planned Parenthood – I never found a private PCP, and couldn’t have afforded it if I wanted to.  Anything I needed I could get at Planned Parenthood.

Years later, in a regular job with much better pay, I regularly give to Planned Parenthood, because I know there are still people who need their services.  And it may not always be the who you think it is or for what you think.  I’m grateful they were there for me then, and as long as I am able I will stand with them and donate to them.