Updated July 3, 2008
The Bush administration will—for the seventh straight year—withhold funds authorized by Congress for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), according to PLANetWIRE. The administration will withhold the $39.7 million authorized, bringing the total withheld over the years to $235 million. The UNFPA provides family planning in 154 countries and is supported by 181 member nations of the United Nations. PLANetWIRE reports that several State Department and other blue-ribbon investigate teams have found that the UNFPA pilot program demonstrating voluntary family planning has been effective in 80 countries, including China.
AAUW supports the right of every woman to safe, accessible, affordable, and comprehensive family planning and reproductive health services. AAUW trusts that every woman has the ability to make her own informed choices regarding her reproductive life within the dictates of her own moral and religious beliefs, and believes that these deeply personal decisions should be made without governmental interference. Please read our position paper on reproductive rights.
- from AAUW's Washington Update for June 28, 2008.
Another piece of legislation that has passed the Assembly and is awaiting action in the Senate is GENDA (S3753/A6584), which would ban discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression. In 2004, when the Senate passed a ban on discrimination on sexual orientation, Senate Democrats attempted to add this protection to the legislation, but were defeated. We have an opportunity to address this injustice this session.
The Assembly has also passed the Health Teens Act (S1342/A2856) which would require age appropriate sexuality education throughout New York State. Senate action on this bill would ensure that young people in New York would have the knowledge to make informed, healthy choices about their behavior, and would encourage conversations about sexuality issues in families. Research shows this bill would decrease unwanted pregnancy and the shockingly high rate of sexually transmitted diseases among young people in our state.
As we approach the final days of the legislative session too many important bills are being ignored. One of the most crucial bills is the Reproductive Health and Privacy Protection Act, which would guarantee the right of future generations of New York women to make safe and private reproductive health decisions.
To no surprise, the bill (S5829) has come under fire from right wing anti-choice groups. The opposition is trying to shape this debate through misinformation and scare tactics. But the fact is that this bill will ensure the protections guaranteed through Roe v. Wade and provide women with the security they need in making their health care decisions.
In 1970 New York proved to be our country's trail blazing state for women's health issues by amending its penal code to decriminalize abortions. Three years later Roe v. Wade cemented a woman's right to make private medical decisions. However, New York's law was never updated to recognize abortion as a part of public health law and it remains under the jurisdiction of criminal law. This historic dilemma, coupled with the recent Supreme Court limitations on abortion, leaves the door open for some in New York to attempt to prosecute doctors who perform abortions as well as the women who have them.
Allowing antiquated laws to remain on the books which allow for the policing of abortion as a criminal matter only serves to jeopardize the health and safety of the women of New York State. We cannot permit the possibility of forcing women back to a time of dangerous and deadly alternatives to safe medical options.
By making abortion procedures part of our public health law, this bill will also ensure the highest and safest standards for women making an important life decision. New York will be able to regulate the procedure as part of standardized women's health care without imposing arbitrary regulations. Duly licensed health care providers, in consultation with patients, will be allowed to make informed decisions based on what is right for the woman's health instead of in fear of criminal prosecution. Health care providers will also have to comply with all laws that govern scope of practice, which dictates that they only perform procedures for which they are trained, qualified, and licensed to do.
A woman's right to choose is a private matter of heath and safety. As the federal government and other states continue to undermine Roe v. Wade, New York State must continue its historic leadership in women's health by passing the Reproductive Health and Privacy Protection Act to guarantee a safe future for our mothers, sisters, and daughters.
From NYS Senator Liz Krueger, New York State Senate, 26th District
According to the National Partnership’s Daily Women’s Health Policy Report, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a new study Wednesday examining risky behavior in teens. The report found that the 10-year decline in the percentage of teenagers having sex leveled off between 2001 and 2007. Further, increases in condom use among sexually active teens leveled off in 2003. According to the biennial Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which was most recently conducted in 2007, youths are engaging in riskier sexual behavior since 2005. Further, black teens were four times more likely than white teens, and twice as likely as Hispanic teens, to have sex before age 13. CDC officials quoted in an article in the Washington Post on the recently released data insisted that the leveling off is nothing to panic about but may indicate a decreasing effectiveness of health officials. The article goes on to reinforce that one possible contributing factor to the lack of increase in condom use may be abstinence-only sex education, which fails to provide information about contraceptive use and effectiveness.
AAUW supports comprehensive sexuality education programs that include information about both abstinence and contraception. Such programs are critical in helping to combat teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. To learn more about AAUW’s position on abstinence-only education, please read the position paper.
From NYS Senator Liz Krueger, New York State Senate, 26th District
On Tuesday, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals sided with workers’ rights when they face termination over the personal right to choose, according to The Legal Intelligencer. In a 3-0 decision, the court overturned the ruling of the District Court in favor of “Jane Doe” in Doe v. CARS Protection Plus Inc., allowing her to pursue her legal complaints for wrongful termination under Title VII, as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. Doe’s petition claims that her boss terminated her as a result of her choice to obtain an abortion, noting that her boss commented, “She (Doe) didn’t take responsibility.” In writing for the court, Senior Judge Richard L. Nygaard found that based on the plain language of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, legislative history, and EEOC guidelines, discrimination against women who exercise their rights to have an abortion is illegal. Nygaard wrote in the decision that the term “related medical condition,” as specified by the Act, includes abortion.
AAUW believes that all women should have the right to choose and that those rights should not be encroached in the workplace. For more on AAUW’s position, please read our position paper on reproductive rights.
- from AAUW's Washington Update for June 6, 2008.
According to the Feminist Majority Foundation, the controversial Assistant Deputy Secretary for Population Affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services resigned this week. As reported in the October 19, 2007 edition of Washington Update, President Bush appointed Susan Orr to oversee the department’s $283 million reproductive-health program which funds birth control, pregnancy tests, counseling, and screenings for sexually transmitted diseases, as well as a $30 million abstinence-only education program. Before joining HHS, Orr held a senior position at the Family Research Council, which opposes family planning, and was quoted in a 2000 article opposing requiring health insurance plans to cover contraceptives. As Orr was appointed “acting” secretary, she was not subject to the Senate confirmation process. Many women’s rights and reproductive health advocates opposed her appointment, and AAUW urged members to sign a Planned Parenthood petition opposing Orr's appointment.
AAUW supports the right of every woman to safe, accessible, affordable, and comprehensive family planning and reproductive health services and trusts that every woman has the ability to make her own informed choices regarding her reproductive life within the dictates of her own moral and religious beliefs. Further, AAUW believes that these deeply personal decisions should be made without governmental interference.
- from AAUW's Washington Update for May 23, 2008.
The rate of sexually transmitted infections in teenage girls is almost 25 percent, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The federal government has supported abstinence-only education for over 25 years, funding them to the tune of more than $1.5 billion since 1996, according to SIECUS. Recently some states have received applause from organizations that support comprehensive sex education for their refusal to accept the abstinence only funds available under Title V. There is currently no federal funding stream for comprehensive sex education.
ACTION: AAUW advocates for comprehensive sex education emphasizing abstinence as well as including medically accurate and age appropriate information about prevention of sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy. If you haven’t yet done so, use AAUW’s Two-Minute Activist online to urge your representative to get REAL about sex education by cosponsoring and supporting the Responsible Education About Life Act (H.R. 1653). This bill would authorize federal funds for states to offer comprehensive and medically accurate sex education in their schools. The REAL Act is a comprehensive approach to sex education–education that promotes abstinence but includes information about contraception. For more information, read AAUW’s position paper on abstinence-only education.
- from AAUW's Washington Update for May 2, 2008.
According the Center for Disease Control’s National Center for Health Statistics, teen pregnancy, abortion, and overall birth rates have decreased from 1990 to 2004. Teen pregnancy has dropped 38 percent while abortion has dropped 50 percent, and the overall birthrate has dropped 33 percent. The NCHS pointed out that the teen pregnancy rates in 2004 were at a “historic low”.
In 1990, 90 percent of pregnancies were planned; in 2003, 86 percent were planned. The study found these rates to be differing among white, black, and Hispanic women. Seventy-three percent of black women, 86 percent of Hispanic women, and 89 percent of white women in 2003 claimed that their pregnancies were planned. Suggestions for reasoning behind these discrepancies include differences in the usage and success rate of contraceptive devices among the three races and ethnicities.
The study’s leader, Stephanie Ventura, pointed out that 45 percent of planned pregnancies are by unmarried women, not necessarily teenagers. She suggests that women are less likely to have an abortion than they were in 1990 because it is more common to be an unmarried mother. She also noted that teen pregnancies have dropped, most likely because of the greater popularity of contraceptive usage.
- from AAUW's Washington Update for April 18, 2008.
New research from the University of Washington found that students who receive comprehensive sex education are half as likely to become teen parents as teens who received abstinence-only sex education or no sex education. According to the Seattle Times, this was the first time researchers have used a national sampling of teenagers to compare the effectiveness different approaches to teaching sex education. The study also found that the teens who had comprehensive sex education were no more likely to be sexually active than their counterparts who received abstinence-only sex education, despite the fact that the federal government has spent more than $1.5 billion since 1996 on the Title V Abstinence Education Program. As reported in the March 7 edition of Washington Update and discussed on AAUW’s blog, Iowa recently became the 17th state to opt out of federal funding for abstinence-only education.
ACTION: AAUW believes individuals should have complete and accurate information about their reproductive health and family planning options. Only with complete reproductive health information can young people make informed and appropriate decisions. If you haven’t yet done so, use AAUW’s Two-Minute Activist online to urge your representative to get REAL about sex education by cosponsoring and supporting the Responsible Education About Life Act (H.R. 1653). This bill would authorize federal funds for states to offer comprehensive and medically accurate sex education in their schools. The REAL Act is a comprehensive approach to sex education–education that promotes abstinence but includes information about contraception. For more information, read AAUW’s position paper on abstinence-only education.
- from AAUW's Washington Update for March 28, 2008.
Last Tuesday, the CDC released new data estimating that one in four young women between the ages of 14 and 19 in the United States-over 3 million girls-is infected with at least one of the four most common sexually transmitted diseases. These STDs: human papillomavirus, chlamydia, herpes simplex virus and trichomoniasis, have severe health effects for women and girls ranging from infertility to cervical cancer. The widespread prevalence of such serious infections serves to emphasize the need for public health prevention strategies that benefit vulnerable teenage girls. Not only should access to screening and vaccination be widely available, girls must be educated on prevention strategies and have accurate information on contraception use.
The Prevention First Act (S.21/H.R. 819) includes a myriad of provisions that would expand access to contraception and preventative health care services that help reduce unplanned pregnancies, abortions, and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases while improving access to women's health care. It would also provide a federal funding stream for comprehensive sex education in schools. Currently, there are three separate federal programs that fund abstinence-only-until-marriage programs, but no federal funding exists specifically for comprehensive sex education. States can only receive funding if they agree to teach abstinence-only-until-marriage while excluding information about the health benefits of contraception to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. The Prevention First Act includes a comprehensive approach to sex education - age appropriate education that promotes abstinence but includes information about contraception.
The Prevention First Act also includes provisions to increase insurance coverage for contraceptive prescription drugs, devices, and outpatient services; provide medically accurate information about contraception in education programs; increase education about emergency contraception; and require hospitals that receive federal funds to provide emergency contraception to victims of sexual assault. In addition, it expands family planning services covered under Medicaid, which remains the largest source of subsidized family planning services. AAUW supports the right of every woman to safe, accessible, affordable, and comprehensive family planning and reproductive health services and believes that improved pregnancy prevention programs and access to complete reproduction health information and services enhance women's reproductive choices. We urge all senators to cosponsor this important bill to improve the reproductive health and safety of all women and girls.
Take Action! Urge your senators to cosponsor and support the Prevention First Act.
- from the AAUW Action Network for March 18, 2007
According to the Feminist Majority Foundation, legislators in Oregon on Monday established rules to ensure proper implementation of a 2007 law requiring hospitals to offer emergency contraception to victims of sexual assault. However, “religious employers” are exempt from the requirement and the fines associated with noncompliance if dispensing the medication would violate their religious beliefs. Eight other states, including California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, South Carolina, and Washington, have also passed legislation requiring hospitals to dispense EC to victims of sexual assault. ACTION: AAUW supports the right of every woman to obtain medically accurate information about and access to safe and comprehensive reproductive health services. AAUW believes that improved pregnancy prevention programs and access to complete reproductive health information and services enhance women's reproductive choices. If you haven’t yet done so, please use AAUW’s Two-Minute Activist online to urge your representative to cosponsor and support the Emergency Contraception Education Act (H.R. 3372) to improve the reproductive health and safety of all women and girls.
- from AAUW's Washington Update for March 14, 2008.
Iowa recently became the 17th state to opt out of federal funding for abstinence-only education, according to Reproductive Health Reality Check and Radio Iowa. Iowa Governor Chet Culver (D) made the decision to reject the roughly $319,000 the state currently receives from the federal government under Title V, which provides over $40 million a year for abstinence-only education. Rhonda Chittenden, executive director of FutureNet, a teen pregnancy prevention program in the state, said, “Iowa must end this poor fiscal and public health policy now. There is no reliable evidence to date that these abstinence-only programs impact the long-term behavioral outcomes at which they aim, such as the delay of sexual initiation and reduction of adolescent pregnancies and STI/HIV infections."
ACTION: AAUW believes individuals should have complete and accurate information about their reproductive health and family planning options. Only with complete reproductive health information can young people make informed and appropriate decisions. If you haven’t yet done so, use AAUW’s Two-Minute Activist online to urge your representative to get REAL about sex education by cosponsoring and supporting the Responsible Education About Life Act (H.R. 1653). This bill would authorize federal funds for states to offer comprehensive and medically accurate sex education in their schools. The REAL Act is a comprehensive approach to sex education–education that promotes abstinence but includes information about contraception. For more information, read AAUW’s position paper on abstinence-only education.
- from AAUW's Washington Update for March 7, 2008.