Republicans, Abortion, Women's Rights, and the challenges facing them.

[FayeforCure]

Maybe an eye opener fo uptowngirl?

Planned Parenthood's Pricey Pills
For young women, access to low-cost birth control is more important than ever. So why's it so hard -- and expensive -- to get it from Planned Parenthood?
February 27, 2006

Conservatives paint Planned Parenthood as an abortion mill and birth-control factory, an institution that doles out emergency contraception to teenage girls like Halloween candy.

But a few years ago, I realized birth control wasn't quite as easy to get as I (or the religious right) thought. The first clue: a few teenagers I regularly interviewed for stories told me that they had stopped taking the Pill. Even if they had a doctor they trusted, they didn't want to use their parents' insurance -- too easy for mom and dad to find out -- and they didn't have the cash to pay out-of-pocket.

What about Planned Parenthood, I asked? "It's not an option," one of them -- we'll call her Hannah -- told me last year, when she was 17 and a senior in high school. "They charge $100 a session and $40 per pack of birth control. Teenagers can't afford it unless they're under 15."

Hannah tried to find less expensive services elsewhere, but without much luck. She's resorted to using condoms, less effective than the gynecologist-recommended two forms of birth control (particularly important for those abstinence-only students who aren't allowed to get the roll-a-rubber-on-a-banana demo in school) and, of course, requiring the cooperation of not-always-willing teenage boys.

Planned Parenthood Federation of America serves one in four American women during their lifetime. It's widely considered the most convenient and reliable provider of low-cost birth control. It's been that way since 1970, when Title X, the family-planning program of the Public Service Health Act, was passed. (George Bush Sr. was one of its primary sponsors.)

Whereas PPFA had once been small and funded entirely through private donations, Title X "was seed money to start family planning services all over the country," says Gloria Feldt, who stepped down as the organization's president last year. The result, she adds, "cannot be underestimated."

For the first time, women could decide when they wanted to have children and orchestrate the rest of their lives accordingly. So when did it become "not an option" for vulnerable young women?

According to Planned Parenthood representatives, Hannah should have gotten her pills for free. But that's something she didn't understand (and I can vouch that she's pretty sophisticated). It's unlikely the clinic meant to refuse her services because she couldn't afford them: Title X requires that a health center not turn away anyone under the federal poverty line. And it's Planned Parenthood's mission, according to Jodie Curtis, assistant director for government relations for PPFA, not to turn away anyone at all. When it comes to those not covered by Title X, she says, "it is up to Planned Parenthood to figure out how to help those people subsidize the cost if they can't pay. Some states have programs to help with this, and many Planned Parenthoods fundraise to help patients cover the cost of services." Plus, PPFA is allowed to assess teens on their own income level, not their parents'.

Yet Hannah's story is symptomatic of a growing trend. Jennifer, 24, also tried to get the Pill through PPFA in New York. "They were very unhelpful," she recalls. "I didn't have insurance, and they just couldn't comprehend why I didn't. They kept making hints about how they assumed I could afford it and thus it was my negligence. But I really couldn't afford it."

For some girls, the cost of the Pill has become so prohibitive that they're tempted to switch to more affordable methods. At PPNYC, a pill pack is free for insured patients; for those without insurance, it can cost up to $20 on a sliding scale. On the other hand, Depo-Provera is included in Planned Parenthood's visit fee; there's no additional cost. "That's alarming to me, as I think it offers an inappropriate incentive," says Judy Norsigian, the executive director of Our Bodies Ourselves, the women's-health advocacy organization. "Just because a method is free doesn't mean it's necessarily the right one."

More here:

http://www.alternet.org/story/32759/

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!

But seriously, this issue over birth control is one thing, but I'm having a really hard time believing that there are so many people in commited relationships that they're only problem is not being able to afford the pill or a iud or a patch or some other form of BC that doesn't protect from any disease at all.

Reality check - we should be teaching our kids that getting accidentally pregnant is the #2 reason for protection during sex.  #1 on the list should be protection against disease.  You can have an abortion if that's the route you want to take, but the HIV is forever, and last I checked, the pill doesn't really help on that front.

So you girls can keep bickering over what is free, what is not, whether the gov't should pay for it or whether it's up to ourselves, but I'm looking out for mine.  That will be plastic, please.

[uptowngirl]

I remember in high school my best friend's DAD sitting us down after watching some HBO special and discussing HIV with us. He drew a picture with stick figures "you sleep with this one boy who has slept with these two girls who has slept with these two boys...." it scared the hell out of both of us- Condoms were, and still are the ONLY answer, besides abstinance.

[uptowngirl]

Stephen,

Sitting the chicken, or hen as it is said in LA is a southern term. I have never heard it the same term used elsewhere. I know this was rampant practice in your grandmothers age and it breaks my heart.

In the here and now, we have support groups, outlets, and options for women in these situations. In fact there is one exactly half a block from one of my houses. Even with the existing support, it is not enough. The real issue is getting women to take that step. That is the hardest part, and we still fail miserably at this.  Even if birth control in the form of pills, IUD, patch were available in your Grandmother's time, it would not have resolved the issue of the physical and mental abuse and in fact could have contributed to even further abuse since she was not getting pregnant. I think your grandmother's case is less about birth control and abortion, and more about being stuck in an abusive relationship, with no support or help getting out.

I will say, this thread has covered a multitude of women's issues and has had some very intelligent and interesting postings. I am happy to see so many (men and women) taking an interest in women's issues!

[uptowngirl]

Stephen,

Sitting the chicken, or hen as it is said in LA is a southern term. I have never heard it the same term used elsewhere. I know this was rampant practice in your grandmothers age and it breaks my heart.

In the here and now, we have support groups, outlets, and options for women in these situations. In fact there is one exactly half a block from one of my houses. Even with the existing support, it is not enough. The real issue is getting women to take that step. That is the hardest part, and we still fail miserably at this.  Even if birth control in the form of pills, IUD, patch were available in your Grandmother's time, it would not have resolved the issue of the physical and mental abuse and in fact could have contributed to even further abuse since she was not getting pregnant. I think your grandmother's case is less about birth control and abortion, and more about being stuck in an abusive relationship, with no support or help getting out.

I will say, this thread has covered a multitude of women's issues and has had some very intelligent and interesting postings. I am happy to see so many (men and women) taking an interest in women's issues!

The term is southern, but the practice has been universal for many centuries.

Don't you think it took all of the programs, support, contraception, women's support groups and funding that we have expended over the past 40 years to get to the point that we are at now?

Don't you think it took astronomical divorce rates to correct the relationship between the sexes and make the male domination and abusive bullshit a thing of the past?

Didn't the possibility of ending a pregnancy without her husband being able to stop her cure the practice of 'sitting that chicken'?

without doubt, and we need more support for women in abusive relationships.

But no, I do not believe in free or subsidized abortions, while I do believe in pro-choice  and I do not want abortions to be illegal (within the first trimester) I draw the line there, I think you should pay for your own abortion, as pro-choice includes who you sleep with, marry, whether you use birth control, etc. Also I posted some pretty sad statistic regarding the number of women having MORE than one abortion. I do believe in free birth control for those that cannot afford it, or have reason to be frightened to ask their loved ones (parents or husband) and as I have shown it is available.

I get the feeling this is going back to my point earlier, moderates are attacked by both sides of the coin. The far left will say I am not supportive enough and weak, the far right will say I am too supportive and weak....

OR, maybe I am not sure what you are trying to get me to acknowledge Stephen? Abortions are legal, there is free and subsidized birth control available, and as far as abusive relationships like your Grandmother's, birth control and/or abortion may have saved her body from the multiple births but I think it most likely would of caused even more physical abuse from her husband. To me that is a totally different issue. I would be happy to discuss support for women in abusive relationships, but it is a tricky topic as most women in these relationships know it is wrong, know they deserve better, know they should leave but they also believe they love their tormentor and rarely press charges or leave.

[Garden guy]

Since most of the opponents of abortion are of religious nature and they don't like the state paying for abortions...well..then if the state government doesn't have to pay for abortions then maybe the same rule should go for churches and the complete tax break that they receive...isn't that break the same? I"m just saying that if you want to use your religion and it's doctrine to stop the payment then maybe we should stop letting churches start paying their share to. Isn't that subsidizing churches?

[buckethead]

Since most of the opponents of abortion are of religious nature and they don't like the state paying for abortions...well..then if the state government doesn't have to pay for abortions then maybe the same rule should go for churches and the complete tax break that they receive...isn't that break the same? I"m just saying that if you want to use your religion and it's doctrine to stop the payment then maybe we should stop letting churches start paying their share to. Isn't that subsidizing churches?

Uhhh. Taxing or not taxing churches is certainly reasonable fodder for debate, but irrelevant here.

"Is she is or is she aint" a human within the womb? That is the question.

[FayeforCure]

Stephen,

Sitting the chicken, or hen as it is said in LA is a southern term. I have never heard it the same term used elsewhere. I know this was rampant practice in your grandmothers age and it breaks my heart.

In the here and now, we have support groups, outlets, and options for women in these situations. In fact there is one exactly half a block from one of my houses. Even with the existing support, it is not enough. The real issue is getting women to take that step. That is the hardest part, and we still fail miserably at this.  Even if birth control in the form of pills, IUD, patch were available in your Grandmother's time, it would not have resolved the issue of the physical and mental abuse and in fact could have contributed to even further abuse since she was not getting pregnant. I think your grandmother's case is less about birth control and abortion, and more about being stuck in an abusive relationship, with no support or help getting out.

I will say, this thread has covered a multitude of women's issues and has had some very intelligent and interesting postings. I am happy to see so many (men and women) taking an interest in women's issues!

The term is southern, but the practice has been universal for many centuries.

Don't you think it took all of the programs, support, contraception, womens support groups and funding that we have expended over the past 40 years to get to the point that we are at now?

Don't you think it took astronomical divorce rates to correct the relationship between the sexes and make the male domination and abusive bullshit a thing of the past?

Didnt the possibility of ending a pregnancy without her husband being able to stop her cure the practice of 'sitting that chicken'?

Well it was and still is common practice for men to control their women with sex and pregnancy: the other term that comes to mind is to keep your woman "barefoot and pregnant"

It is such a sad spectacle to see women who proclaim themselves to be pro-choice, blame the women themselves, making out the the women of today have so many option available to them, if they just weren't so stupid not to be "aware" of them. That primary option of course being abstinence.

Yeah, it's the stupid women all-right, but not the ones these so-called pro-choice women are talking about.

It's the ignorant self-righteous, unsupportive women who blame everything on the women. Just like your grandmother should have just submitted to the abuse, because it probably would have gotten worse if she would have been able to prevent pregnancy by getting the pill.
 
It's the ignorant self-righteous so-called pro-choice women who are doing NOTHING to prevent the GOP attack on women. They are doing NOTHING about the GOP elimination of Title X. They are doing NOTHING about making it easier for teens to get birth control to empower them to prevent pregnancy.

All they do is preach at other women and criticise them, and then have the gall to call themselves pro-choice.

What are they doing to back that up? How are they being supportive to the women who are wanting to exercise their choice?!

Ah, here I come with one of those real life examples that are just so inconvenient, like Stephen's courageously shared personal and well-written chronicle:

My mother had 5 children, in 6 years. Her body was ravaged, just like Stephen's grandmother. My dad wasn't an abuser, he was simply Catholic, and they were trying to use the rythm method to space out the births of their children lol.  Fortunately for her 1965 rolled around.............it was the last year she had a baby, because she had a supportive husband who "allowed" her to get the pill

But the Fake pro-choice women, would prefer that it gets harder and harder to get any form of birth control because the REAL choice should be abstinence  

It's that whole I'm better than thou attitude among women. All the other women are sluts. Please look back in this thread at the young Republican woman who wrote about her own attitude towards other women driving her anti-choice bullying.

And we wonder why this country was able to elect a black man ( blacks make up 12% of the population) before we were able to elect a woman ( women make up 51% of the population) for President.

We are 85th in the world for women in state and federal government. AND what's more.............we've lost ground in the past three decades after Geraldine Ferrarro was the Democratic nominee for Vice President!!

[FayeforCure]

Stephen, your sister is absolutely gorgeous!!!

I am so glad the cycle of abuse that your grandmother Mary experienced was broken.

Let us continue the fight to make lives better for all the women in America, by fighting the renewed GOP war against Women.

[FayeforCure]

dont demean the struggles of women over the centuries by reducing it to a partisan war cry.  

Sorry Stephen, it is not I who has made the struggles of women a partisan war cry!

It clearly is one of the main Republican planks of today's Republican Party. With 18 anti-women bills making it through our state's legislature and the whole-sale attack on women and children nationwide it is not difficult to see WHO is waging their war on women and children:

Miscarriage-as-Murder Bill Center of GOP War on Women

Instead of focusing on the health and lives and current well-being of Americans - especially the millions of Americans who seem to be living in an increasingly separate state, those who are uninsured or underinsured in terms of health coverage, those who are unemployed or underemployed, those who are living near, at or below the poverty line, women, people of color and children - Republicans are intent upon ripping away any shred of assistance owed to these citizens, as much as governmental safety net programs, paid for by our taxes, are owed to us all.

Franklin's horrifying bill ( to call all miscarriages prenatal murder) is not out of left field in the least, if you've been following the constant legislative pummeling on the "other" Americans. House GOP leaders proposed a budget which places the health and lives of the rest of us in danger. From cutting billions in aid to programs like Women, Infant, Children (WIC) which helps pay for milk, formula, food and diapers to defunding our nation's only federal program, Title X, which provides for critical preventative care like Pap tests, breast exams, STI checks, HIV tests and more, to cutting millions in foreign aid to PEPFAR, our global AIDS prevention program, which helps prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission among other things, we're watching a crisis of principles play out in front of our eyes.

Women's health advocates may be the warriors out in front of this battle but if we allow the GOP to do what they're doing, it may end up being a victory for all of us "other" Americans. Are they not digging their own graves at this point? Rep. Michele Bachmann is "taking a stance" against families being able to use their own pre-tax dollars to cover breastfeeding pumps, making quite the couragous stand against First Lady Michelle Obama's work to combat the obesity epidemic and the CDC's goals to increase breastfeeding rates for the health and lives of our mothers and babies.

Rep. Bobby Franklin may not be taken seriously by his colleagues but his proposal to criminalize miscarriage must be seen as relevant to the broader assault - not just on women and women's bodies. This is an assault on freedom and justice. It's an assault on all Americans who understand that there is a difference between making a personal decision not to do something with which you disagree and legislating inhumanity and injustice. The introduction of this bill must be viewed as the center of the current storm. When the GOP creates a climate of absolute antipathy for humankind, displayed in their assault particularly on women's health and lives, bills like this are born.

http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2011/02/23/prenatal-murder-bill-center-women

Today's Republican woman like Susan Collins is the exception, not the rule.

[FayeforCure]

Its larger than political affiliation Faye, and you know that.

We agree that the Republicans have some despicable radicals in office at the moment, and that many of them are being fed from evangelical cults who hate the entire modern world, but the struggle is larger than just Republican vs. Democrat.

I think now that there is some legal infrastructure underneath the feet of women's equality, its time to rethink the paradigm a bit----which has been happening anyways.

No doubt women have come a long way. And I agree with you that misogeny is larger than political affiliation.

However the issue of regulating of women's uteri is the exclusive focus of Republicans..........hence the title of this thread: "Republicans, Abortion, Women's Rights, and the challenges facing them."

I assume you were the one consolidating some of the various anti-abortion threads.

[FayeforCure]

No doubt women have come a long way. And I agree with you that misogeny is larger than political affiliation.

However the issue of regulating of women's uteri is the exclusive focus of Republicans..........hence the title of this thread: "Republicans, Abortion, Women's Rights, and the challenges facing them."

I assume you were the one consolidating some of the various anti-abortion threads.

And here is what's happening in the Florida legislature today............only 39 Dems defending women against 81 Republicans ( in the Florida House..........similar undemocratic imbalance exists in the 40 member Senate)!!

The fast and furious attack on women’s health care continues. Today three bills hurting women and teens’ health will be heard in the Florida Senate Health Regulation Committee.

SB 1748, the Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (TRAP) legislation is a backdoor attempt to deny women access to a legal health procedure.  If passed, this bill will hurt women and drive abortion providers out of practice. Also on agenda, SB 1744 would force a woman to undergo an ultrasound prior to an abortion even when it is not medically appropriate or is against the professional judgment of her physician. Finally, SB 1770 attempts to make it harder for a teen to obtain a judicial bypass by lengthening the time a judge has to determine whether a minor is sufficiently mature by close to three weeks.

Take action and tell your legislators to vote no on these bills.

If that weren’t enough, the recent flap over the ban of the word “uterus” in the Florida House comes at a time when our legislators seem to be preoccupied with attacking women’s reproductive rights and health.  With 18 anti-choice bills pending, it’s ironic that legislators can’t say the word “uterus”, but they feel very comfortable legislating it!

Watch the video below to learn more.

The whole uterus saga would be funny, were it not for that fact that women’s health and rights are at stake.  All of the anti-choice bills seek to make it harder and harder for women to get abortions â€" with little or no regard for the circumstances, even when terminating a pregnancy might protect a woman’s health.

Planned Parenthood continues to urge the legislature to focus on jobs and the economy and to stop playing politics with women’s lives.

Oh yeah.......government should come between a woman and her doctor, after all women cannot be trusted with their own healthcare decisions.  

Isn't this unconstitutional?!?

[NotNow]

A very personal subject that I hope everyone realizes touches more than just women.  It takes two people to make a child.  And many more are affected.  I would just like to ask everyone to also remember the very young lives that are being ended.  I hope that StephenDare!'s idea of a substitute for abortion comes to pass.

[FayeforCure]

A very personal subject that I hope everyone realizes touches more than just women.  It takes two people to make a child.  And many more are affected.  I would just like to ask everyone to also remember the very young lives that are being ended.  I hope that StephenDare!'s idea of a substitute for abortion comes to pass.

NotNow, I agree that this is a heartwrenching subject.

I so wish we could at least agree on step #1: to help reduce the number of "unwanted" pregnancies..........and no, preaching abstinence clearly isn't working.

What is KNOWN to work is the availability of free birth control, but apparently providing that at tax payer expense ( or as charity donation by contraceptive manufacturers) is too high a price to pay to reduce the number of abortions in th US.

We'd rather use tax payer monies after the fact, to force the continuation of unwanted pregnancies. We'll use our taxpayer monies to punish the doctors, require ultra-sounds and pretend they are medically necessary (hence should be covered by Medicaid) etc.

We don't object to spending taxpayer money AFTER the fact, but remember: An Ounce of Prevention is worth a Pound of Cure

Legislating our morality at tax payers' expense is just not the way to go.

[Clem1029]

Fa

A very personal subject that I hope everyone realizes touches more than just women.  It takes two people to make a child.  And many more are affected.  I would just like to ask everyone to also remember the very young lives that are being ended.  I hope that StephenDare!'s idea of a substitute for abortion comes to pass.

NotNow, I agree that this is a heartwrenching subject.

I so wish we could at least agree on step #1: to help reduce the number of "unwanted" pregnancies..........and no, preaching abstinence clearly isn't working.

What is KNOWN to work is the availability of free birth control,

Two false statements for the price of one.

Abstinence is the ONLY method that works. Unfortunately, that takes changing the culture, which is too much work for people like you Faye. You'd rather take the easy way out.

Second, not only is birth control not the only option, the abortion rate has blatantly INCREASED since the introduction of widespread birth control. And it makes sense if you think about it - promoting birth control as the "best" solution pushes a worldview that promotes careless promiscuity, and if a baby happens, well, at least abortion is the plan b. The birth control mindset is a huge part of the problem, not the solution.

Seriously...just go read "Humanae Vitae." Hopefully you're heart will be softened to understand we're living through every single cultural prediction that was made 50 years ago.