Blogs Comment On Anniversary Of Roe, Inauguration Of President Obama, Other Topics

The following summarizes recent women's health-related blog entries.

~ "Buh-Bye Bush, Hello Repro-Rights," Tracy Clark-Flory, Salon's Broadsheet: It is "fitting" that NARAL Pro-Choice America released its report on the status of women's reproductive rights "just as we bid good riddance" to former President George W. Bush, "whose eight years in office saw the passage of 317" antiabortion-rights measures, including the HHS provider "conscience" rule "limiting women's access to basic health care," Clark-Flory writes. She continues that it would be "hard to stomach" the NARAL report "if we weren't … inaugurating" President Obama, who supports abortion rights. According to Clark-Flory, the report has "some depressing findings," including that 4,200 antiabortion-rights measures were considered during Bush's administration and that 16 states passed 24 antiabortion-rights laws in 2008. However, "there is some good news," including findings that 23 states passed 39 measures supporting abortion rights in 2008, Clark-Flory writes. She adds that the new president, as well as 40 senators and 185 members of the House, also support abortion rights (Clark-Flory, Salon's Broadsheet, 1/16).

~ "Happy Sanctity of Human Life Day," Kate Harding, Salon's Broadsheet: "If you thought the only holiday this long weekend was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, you'll want to grab some extra chips and dip in case friends drop by to celebrate 'National Sanctity of Human Life Day,'" Harding writes. According to Harding, former President George W. Bush last week proclaimed Jan. 18 as "National Sanctity of Human Life Day." She adds that "just in case you were thinking, 'Well, it's not like 'sanctity of human life' is an intrinsically objectionable concept'" and "maybe there's even some chance" that the proclamation is not a "gift" to abortion-rights opponents, "Bush clarifies" the holiday by declaring that it "'recognizes that each person, including every person waiting to be born, has a special place and purpose in this world.'" Harding writes, "Not considered as worthy of mention as zygotes in a proclamation on the Sanctity of Human Life: civilian and military casualties of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, victims of Hurricane Katrina, victims of torture by the U.S. military, hundreds of dead Palestinians, or Americans executed under the death penalty, to name just a few" (Harding, Salon's Broadsheet, 1/16).














~ "Welcome President Obama: Fight for Reproductive Rights Continues," Kris Hamel, RH Reality Check: "[W]omen's right to reproductive freedom has been under vicious attack by right-wing racist, anti-woman and anti-choice forces" since the Roe decision; however, voters "reaffirmed their support for reproductive rights" by defeating antiabortion ballots in November and electing President Obama, who supports abortion rights, Hamel writes in a blog entry. Hamel adds, "Just as it took a mass struggle to win Roe v. Wade 36 years ago, access to full reproductive health care for all women will involve grassroots organizing to build a strong, broad-based coalition for women's reproductive rights." She concludes that "struggle will continue on an national and state-by-state basis in order to stop ongoing right-wing, anti-choice initiatives and begin establishing reproductive justice for all women" (Hamel, RH Reality Check, 1/20).

~ "Thank You, President Bush," Darla St. Martin, National Right to Life blog: St. Martin, co-executive director of National Right to Life, in a blog entry thanks former President George W. Bush for "eight years of outstanding pro-life services as president." St. Martin writes that Bush's policies led to "[m]ajor research breakthroughs in adult stem cell research, which requires no killing," adding that this achievement is "proving to be the most promising way of really finding cures." She continues by thanking Bush for speaking out against abortion at the signing of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, and the Born-Alive Infant Protection Act. She adds that Bush was "an example to everyone of how to fight abortion forcefully without condemning the people who advocate it or the women who have made the tragic error of having one." She says that polling data show a rise in the number of antiabortion advocates, especially among young people, which "could have a very significant impact on our future" (St. Martin, National Right to Life blog, 1/16).

~ "Moving on to Common Ground," Cristina Page, Birth Control Watch : The Connecticut Catholic Conference on Wednesday, the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, suggested the state "limit teenager's access to abortion by requiring parental notification" as a way to address the rising number of teenagers seeking the procedure in the state, Page writes in a blog entry, adding, "If lowering the abortion rate is what they're after, this is the wrong approach." Page writes that studies show abortion laws that restrict access to the procedure "often have little-to-no impact" on a state's abortion rate "but instead do something far worse: increase the number of late-term abortions." None of the "common sense approaches" to reducing the abortion rate -- such as preventing unplanned pregnancies, expanding adoption and increasing economic support for women who carry their pregnancies to term -- are part of the CCC's plan, Page writes. She adds that such approaches "would not only be tremendously successful but would also begin to heal the wound our country has suffered over this issue for far too long," concluding, "At the very least, it's worth an honest try" (Page, Birth Control Watch, 1/23).

~ "On This 2009 Anniversary of the Landmark Supreme Court Decision Roe v. Wade", Nancy Northup, Feminist Law Professors blog: President Obama must "take action and rescind" the Hyde Amendment, Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, writes in a blog entry. According to Northup, "since 1977 when Hyde was first enacted, low-income women have been deprived [of the right to an abortion] by anti-choice politicians intent on doing away with a woman's access to abortion altogether." The restrictions the amendment imposes "patently discriminate against women," as abortion is the "only medically necessary service not covered by Medicaid," Northup writes. She continues, "Since Medicaid is the primary provider of reproductive health care for low-income minority communities, Hyde also disproportionately affects women of color." Northup continues that Obama's "leadership provides a tremendous opportunity for the U.S. government to stop excluding women's specific health care needs from federal health programs based on political preferences," concluding that CRR "urges the new president to protect the dignity and health of all women by striking restrictions on public funding for medically necessary abortions" (Northup, Feminist Law Professors blog, 1/21).


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