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Written by Deirdra Harris Glover
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Thursday, 04 October 2007 |
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I'd like to take a moment of your time to talk about deficit reduction, specifically the Federal Deficit Act of 2005. Admittedly, this could seem a strange topic to discuss on a site that tracks abortion rights and other issues dealing with women's health. So, Deirdra, how does the Federal Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 affect reproductive freedom? The provisions of the DRA have narrowed the scope of providers who would be eligible to continue to purchase deeply discounted drugs. The bill was intended to remove discounted drug pricing for hospitals that operate for a profit. College clinics were not specifically targeted, and so no one realized they would be affected until afterwards. As a result, brand name prescription prices for campus clinics rose from about the $3 to $10 range per month to the $30 to $50 range. Most clinics had stockpiles of contraceptives, which allowed them to delay price increases until more recently. However, since January 2007, birth control costs have skyrocketed at university and public health clinics. According to Planned Parenthood's research, some birth control pill packs have increased in price from $10 to $49 per month at Mississippi State University. Similar increases are soon expected at The University of Mississippi, as well as The University of Southern Mississippi. Nationally, clinics have had to cut staff, hours and services (such as prenatal care, educational programs and even cervical screenings) to try and keep contraceptives affordable for their patients. The problem is simple: Due to an unintentional error made by Congress, we are facing a national health crisis that affects three million undergraduates and over 850,000 low-income women. Raising a child is hardly cheap, but scores of women are losing their access to reliable birth control because of the DRA's provisions. When students and low-income families are forced to choose between groceries and contraception, everyone loses. Fortunately, the solution is also a simple matter: if Congress clarifies the language of the bill, the changes can be enacted immediately. Some senators have recognized the error and have been working to fix the problem, but the matter would benefit greatly from a huge surge of public support. Nearly four million women are counting on Congress, and you, to help make birth control affordable. Ask Thad Cochran to fix the birth control pricing problem caused by the Deficit Reduction Act. A small change will protect women's health, and put birth control back within women's reach. |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 05 October 2007 )
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Written by Deirdra Harris Glover
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Friday, 13 July 2007 |
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The fabric of American democracy rests on the fact that equality is a common principle. This principle is woven within the United States Constitution, yet efforts to disenfranchise women in this country continue to plague its credo with obstacles threatening their safe legal reproductive healthcare. Anti abortion laws sprouting within this country are causing a disparate impact, contributing to denying women control over their reproductive health. Strategies have never been as sinister as the ones executed by the current fundamentalist right-wing controlled political machine. Abstinence only education, barriers to contraceptives along with the Bush defined ‘partial birth’ abortion ban, and the recent U. S. Supreme Court decision continues to assault women’s rights and their existence. These new devices diminish women’s’ access, denies female Americans their right to reproductive healthcare, challenging the validity of our nations democratic principles by invalidating their citizenship.
Activism at the grassroots level around women’s equality has never been more pivotal. The National Organization for Women (NOW) realizes that the struggle for women’s equality rests upon the success of grassroots organizing. These strategies have proven to be the best outlets for achieving social change. NOW’s grassroots activism and organizing possess the ability to mobilize voters around an issue, increase its awareness and affect its outcomes by enlisting local community organizations and people with shared political and social concerns who agree to influence public policy to achieve particular goals. NOW’s legacy of executing successful actions around core issues like reproductive justice, serves as a catalyst creating valuable opportunities in communities for flourishing activists, motivates women and girls to explore their full potential, introducing fresh, innovating vision to keep the feminist movement alive for future generations when women are finally recognized as an essential member of this world.
Next week NOW will continue its grassroots tradition. NOW activists will assemble in Birmingham, AL for Alabama Reproductive Freedom Summer 2007 to protect choice against Operation Save America, (formally Operation Rescue), anti choice zealots consisting of self-righteous, right-winged fundamentalists, who use a nationwide network of churches to organize actions against abortion providers and harass women visiting the clinics. As an organization with a strong pro-choice foundation, The National Organization for Women stands firm on reproductive freedom. The need for safe legal abortion services for the women in the South is critical since they already face tremendous obstacles in obtaining comprehensive sex education, birth control and emergency contraceptives. Our commitment to preserving a woman’s right to choose is unwavering. We will continue sending a strong message to the anti choice establishment. We will not return to the days of deadly back-alley abortions. NOW Alabama Site Help NOW's efforts in Birmingham
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Written by Deirdra Harris Glover
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Friday, 13 July 2007 |
For nearly 77 years, Planned Parenthood of Alabama has helped people make lifelong responsible choices. From July 14 – 22, an extremist anti-abortion group, Operation Save America, will be in Birmingham in an attempt to disrupt our community with shocking imagery and misleading rhetoric. Planned Parenthood of Alabama knows that the public wants real solutions to the problem of unintended pregnancy, and for 77 years, Planned Parenthood of Alabama has been here providing the education, information and services people need to prevent unintended pregnancy and reduce the need for abortion.
The actions of this extremist anti-choice group do not distract us from our primary concern, which is always the health and safety of our clients. Planned Parenthood is committed to helping women prevent unintended pregnancies by providing medically-accurate sex education and low-cost contraceptives to women in Alabama.
Planned Parenthood follows a strict non-engagement policy with protestors. It is our hope to keep the level of disruption surrounding our health center to a minimum, and as such, we will not be engaging in counter-protests at our health care facility.
We are encouraging our supporters and activists to focus on work that will be important beyond just the next few weeks, like our prevention legislation, due to be introduced in the 2008 Alabama legislative session. Supporters can help with these efforts by visiting our website www.ppalabama.org and signing our Alabama Prevention Petition, joining our Planned Parenthood Action Network, or making a donation to Planned Parenthood of Alabama.
We thank the many supporters who have expressed their outrage at the efforts of the anti-abortion extremists. We remind our supporters that OSA’s annual event will be over soon and we can focus our efforts on the things that are truly important like reducing unintended pregnancies and the need for abortion in Alabama. We also thank the supporters that have visited our website to make donations or sign up for our Pledge-A-Picket program to help reduce harassment at our health centers.
For nearly 77 years, Planned Parenthood has worked to make sure people have the information and means to decide freely and responsibly whether and when to have children – we still have plenty of work to do. We hope that you will join us in working to protect reproductive health.
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