Reproductive Rights Prof Blog

Women's Equality Summit Is Next Week

The Women's Equality Summit & National Congressional Action Day will be held on March 26 & 27 in Washington, D.C.  Here is the description:

The National Council of Women's Organizations and the Younger Women's Task force are proud to announce the Women's Equality Summit and Congressional Action Day, March 26th and 27th, 2007.

Women were the leaders for change in the 2006 elections, voting for ethical government, fair wages, reproductive rights and a new direction on the Iraq war.  Women's voices are being heard.  Now it's time to move our agenda forward!

Hundreds of women leaders and their allies will gather in the nation's capital for two days of briefings, training sessions and face-to-face meetings with Members of Congress and national women leaders. The Summit is a project of the National Council of Women's Organizations (NCWO), the largest coalition of women's groups in the country, and the Younger Women's Task Force (YWTF), the grassroots movement that engages women in their 20's and 30's to act on the issues that matter most to them.

Read more at the conference website.

Rethinking Viability after Casey v. Planned Parenthood

Randy Beck has posted The Essential Holding of Casey: Rethinking Viability on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

In Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court ruled that the right to abortion continues until a fetus is viable, meaning it can survive outside the mother's womb. The joint opinion in Casey v. Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. reaffirmed the viability standard in dicta. In neither opinion, however, did the Court offer an adequate rationale for the viability rule, an unusually permissive line when compared with abortion laws in other countries.

Reaching the point of viability can be said to result in a form of autonomy for the fetus, though one that is purely theoretical, since the fetus remains in the mother's womb. But the Court has never explained why autonomy matters in this context. Legal independence can coexist with physical dependence; indeed, in some circumstances, it is the very absence of autonomy that calls for the protection of the law. And even if we believed fetal autonomy relevant, the Court has not explained why this particular form of autonomy (rather than, for instance, genetic autonomy or the capacity for autonomous movement) carries decisive weight for constitutional purposes.

As Justice White noted long ago, the attributes leading to a finding of viability are legally and morally irrelevant to the strength of the state interest in protecting fetal life. Particularly telling is the medical evidence showing that viability varies with the race and gender of the fetus. The Court's introduction of racial and gender disparities into constitutional law underscores the absence of a principled rationale for the viability standard. The viability rule should be abandoned both because it lacks an adequate justification and because it interferes with the pursuit of legitimate state interests supporting regulation of late-term abortion procedures.

Federal REAL Act Would Establish First Federal Sex Ed Program

Via NARAL Pro-Choice America:

Its hard to believe, but there is no federal sex-education program. Yet, for the past 10 years, anti-choice activists have spent more than $1 billion of your tax dollars on unproven, dangerous abstinence-only programs that censor teachers from discussing contraception.

The Responsible Education About Life (REAL) Act would establish the first federal sex-education program.  The legislation has been led by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Rep. Chris Shays (R-CT). Compared to President Bushs abstinence-only programs that censor, mislead, and misinform, responsible sex education teaches young people about abstinence and contraception, and is proven to reduce unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases among teens. 

Read more.

Miss. Gov. Barbour Signs Abortion Ban Into Law

From the AP/SunHerald (South Mississippi):

A bill designed to eventually outlaw and criminalize abortion in Mississippi was signed into law by Gov. Haley Barbour Thursday.

The measure will ban nearly all abortions in the state if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide. If Roe v. Wade is overturned and the state bill becomes law, anyone performing an illegal abortion in Mississippi would face one to 10 years in prison.

The bill also tightens consent laws for minors and requires abortion provider to perform sonogram and give the pregnant woman an opportunity to listen to a fetal heartbeat. It is just one of several abortion laws being considered across the country.

See related posts: Near-ban on abortion advances in Mississippi Legislature; Mississippi Abortion Ban Now Goes to Governor.

Museum of Abortion and Contraception Opens in Vienna

Via the Deutsche Welle:

A unique kind museum opened in Vienna this week. Everything inside revolves around contraception and abortions, and the museum attempts to go beyond any other collection in any other nation.

The initiator of this museum is Christian Fiala, a doctor who has directed a clinic for abortions and family planning in Vienna for the past 10 years. Fiala is seen as a missionary for womens health and is the chairman of the International Association of Abortion and Contraception Specialists. Displayed in two rooms are items Fiala has collected over the decades.

The first room is devoted to contraception, and it displays the wide variety of items used over the centuries to prevent pregnancies. The first birth-control pill is displayed next to ancient condoms made of pig bladders. In the doorway to the second room, pregnancy tests, which were developed in the 1960s, are hanging.

This leads into the abortion room. Up until about 1900, abortions were so dangerous that it was safer for women to carry the child to term and then kill it after it was born. Visitors can even listen to recordings of abortion providers discussing how up until 30 years ago it was still a life-threatening procedure.

Flags courtesy of ITA's Flags of All Countries used with permission.

Planned Parenthood Gives Away Free Emergency Contraception -- Shame on Them!

File this under "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished."  The Albany Times-Union reports in Giveaway day for birth control -- Planned Parenthood's free offer of Plan B pills has takers, critics:

Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood spent Tuesday giving away free emergency contraception to adults to mark the sixth annual Back Up Your Birth Control Day.

"It is an incredibly valuable resource for women to prevent pregnancy and better plan their childbearing," Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood President Patricia A. McGeown said. "There are any number of reasons why you might need it, from sexual violence to a breakdown of a regular method."

A ruling by the federal Food and Drug Administration last summer approved nonprescription sales of the drug -- sometimes called the "morning after" pill -- to adults. Girls younger than 18 must still get a prescription under the law.

The clinics in Albany, Latham, Troy and Hudson gave one free emergency contraception package to anyone 18 and older who requested it and showed identification, McGeown said.

The Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood had 300 packets on hand (which it normally sells for $25 -- drugstores charge up to $40) to give away and planned to give out rain checks if demand exceeded the supply.  So: free, safe emergency contraception for women to have on hand to help prevent unintended pregnancies, given only to adults as required by the FDA (in all its politically motivated wisdom).  By now you may be wondering what these "critics" had to say.

Not everyone was happy about Planned Parenthood's distribution.

When you give away contraception pills "you are promoting sexual activity," said Eivion Williams, executive director of Alpha Pregnancy Care Center, a Christian organization that counsels pregnant women through unintended pregnancies. "You are telling people it is OK to do that as long as you use protection."

This time the evil is not abortion.  Nor teenage sex.  Nor sex outside marriage.  It's just ... sex.  Got that?

N.H. House Affirms Repeal of Parental Notice Law

From AP/Boston Herald, "N.H. affirms parental notice repeal vote":

The House refused Wednesday to reconsider its vote to repeal a parental notification law that has been on the books for four years but never enforced.

The 217-141 vote affirmed one two weeks ago to get rid of the 2003 law, which has been bogged down in legal fights.
Repeal now goes to the Senate, which is expected to pass it. Gov. John Lynch has said he will sign the bill.
New Hampshire would be the first state to repeal a law requiring parental notification for teenagers to get abortions.

See related posts: New Hampshire Governor Endorses Bill to Repeal Parental Notice Law; New Hampshire House Votes to Repeal Parental Notification Law.

South Carolina Bill Requiring Fetal Ultrasound Advances in House

From The State (South Carolina), S.C. House: View fetal image prior to abortion:

Women seeking abortions would have to see a fetal ultrasound before the procedure under a bill given key approval in the S.C. House Wednesday.

After three hours of passionate debate, the House voted 91-23 to require women to sign a statement swearing they had seen an ultrasound image of their fetus before getting an abortion.

A half-dozen other states offer ultrasound images to abortion patients, legislative staffers said. But those states do not require abortion patients view them.

Supporters of the measure hope that image will spur more women to forgo abortion. Opponents called the bill “emotional blackmail.”

Third and final approval of the bill in the House could come as early as today, sending the bill to the Senate. There, the proposal faces stiffer opposition; individual senators hold great power to delay or derail legislation.

See also: SC Considers Requiring Women Seeking Abortions to View Ultrasound of Fetus

"Stumping John McCain"

Tyler LePard writes on the RH Reality Check Blog:

Last Friday, reporters managed to stump 2008 presidential hopeful John McCain. What tough topic caused the senator to pause awkwardly and stumble for an answer? Iraq? No ... Poverty? Try again ... Healthcare? Getting closer ... Contraception? Bingo! Specifically, whether contraceptives help stop the spread of HIV and should they be publicly funded.

Read the full post.  The exchange truly was stunning.  You can read the transcript at the NY Times blog, The Caucus.

Recent and Upcoming Law Students for Choice Events

Law Students for Choice at CUNY Law School hosted a panel presentation yesterday.  The topic was "Reproductive Rights: Past Victories, Future Challenges," and the speakers were reproductive rights activist Bill Baird; Marcia Pappas, President of the NY State Chapter of NOW; and Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas, Director of Policy and Advocacy at the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health.

Law Students for Choice and Law Women at the University of Cincinnati College of Law will host "The Supreme Court and Women's Rights: Gathering Storm Clouds" on Monday, 3/26.  The featured speaker is Gretchen Borchelt, Counsel for the Health and Reproductive Rights program at the National Women's Law Center.

If you would like your school's Law Students for Choice event publicized on this blog, please email me at borgmann@mail.law.cuny.edu.

Wash. Post: Girls' Fertility Chartbook Stirs Debate

Maia Szalavitz writes in yesterday's Washington Post:

Should teenage girls be taught to recognize the physical signs that indicate when they are most likely to become pregnant? Health educator Toni Weschler -- author of the 1995 bestseller "Taking Charge of Your Fertility" -- thinks so, rallied by hundreds of letters from women who read her book later in life and wished they had had such information earlier.

Consequently, Weschler has published a version for teens. Titled "Cycle Savvy: The Smart Teen's Guide to the Mysteries of Her Body" (HarperCollins), the more recent work has sparked controversy -- and not just among supporters of abstinence-only education. Some comprehensive sex education advocates are asking: Is this too much information, too soon?

In fact, Weschler -- who collaborates on her books with her brother, New Yorker writer Lawrence Weschler -- argued fiercely with him over just how much information to include.

Mexico's senate considers legalizing abortion across nation

Via AP/San Diego Union-Tribune:

Senators from Mexico's largest leftist party on Tuesday sent a bill proposing to legalize abortion across the entire country, a measure that is stridently opposed by the nation's conservative and Roman Catholic leaders.

Under the bill filed by the Democratic Revolution Party or PRD, the second largest force in Congress, women would be able to have an abortion within the first three months of pregnancy. The bill also proposes that government health clinics provide women with the abortions if they require them.

“We need to stop thousands of women from dying in unsafe operations,” said Sen. Carlos Navarette who heads the PRD in the upper house. “This is a right our laws should guarantee.”

Under current Mexican law, abortion is only permitted if the pregnancy endangers a woman's life or if the woman has been raped.

President Felipe Calderón, however, has stated his opposition to the legislation. Mexico City is also considering legislation that would liberalize abortion laws locally: see Mexico City Debates Abortion Measure.

Flags courtesy of ITA's Flags of All Countries used with permission.

Deana Pollard on Tort Law and Undesirable Sexual Conduct

Deana Pollard's article, Sex Torts, has been published in the Minnesota Law Review, at 91 Minn. L. Rev. 769 (2007).  It is also available on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

America has a serious sexual problem. Sexual disease transmission rates are the highest in the industrialized world, the annual health care costs approach 20 billion, and, more generally, many Americans have an attitude toward sex and sexual partners that is not bounded by civility or honesty. Although tort law fairly heavily regulated dishonorable sexual conduct in the early 20th century, through claims such as seduction, most sex tort claims now known as "heartbalm" torts were eviscerated during the 20th century, and sexual conduct today is almost completely deregulated. Currently, a tort claim may lie for sexual disease transmission, but the analysis employed is inefficient and unpredictable, and therefore lacks deterrent effect. Most courts have denied altogether tort claims grounded in sexual deceit or manipulation in the absence of physical injury.

Continue reading

Federal Court Nominee Wrote Failed Wyo. Abortion Ban

From the Casper Star-Tribune:

Rock Springs lawyer Richard Honaker, whose nomination for a U.S. District Court judgeship in Wyoming was announced Monday, was the author in 1991 of a bill in the state Legislature that would have imposed the nation's toughest restrictions on abortion.

The "Human Life Protection Act" was rejected by the House Judiciary Committee. Had it become law, it would have outlawed abortions except in cases where a mother's health was in jeopardy, or in cases of rape or incest. In the latter two instances, a woman seeking an abortion would have had to report the crime within five days after she was able to.

Honaker's nomination was announced Monday by Sens. Craig Thomas and Mike Enzi, both R-Wyo. If confirmed by the Senate, Honaker would fill the seat vacated by U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer of Cheyenne, who announced his intention to take senior status in September....

Continue reading

Today Is The 2007 Back Up Your Birth Control Day of Activism

From the Back Up Your Birth Control website:

Today, women have a second chance to prevent an unintended pregnancy.

Emergency Contraception – or EC for short – is a back-up method of birth control.  EC is also known as the morning after pill. EC is now available without a prescription to women 18 an older.  Women younger than 18 need a prescription from their doctor or other health care provider.

Emergency contraception ... has sometimes been called the “best-kept” secret in women’s health.

Widespread knowledge and use of this safe and effective back-up birth control method could prevent as many as half of the 3 million unintended pregnancies that occur each year in the U.S.

Yet many American women have still never heard of EC. Or they are confused about what it is. Or they don’t realize that it is actually available in the U.S. - and that they can keep it on hand, just in case.

To help remedy this, a coalition of organizations led by the Institute for Reproductive Health Access has joined together to launch an ongoing campaign to educate the public about EC.

Europe's Human Rights Court Orders Poland to Compensate Woman Denied an Abortion

Via AP/Int'l Herald Tribune, "Human rights court upholds abortion challenge; Poland must clarify guidelines":

Europe's human rights court on Tuesday upheld a challenge to Poland's restrictive abortion rules by a woman whose eyesight was severely damaged during childbirth after she was denied permission to have an abortion.  The European Court of Human Rights ruled that Poland has no effective legal framework for pregnant women to assert their right to abortion on medical grounds.

The court granted the 36-year-old Pole €25,000, or about US$33,250, in damages after doctors refused to grant her permission to terminate her pregnancy despite serious risk to her eyesight. It said doctors in Poland were often reluctant to authorize an abortion in the absence of transparent and clearly defined rules....

The ruling means Poland will have to introduce clearer guidelines on abortion law on medical grounds. As a member of the Council of Europe, Poland is obliged to abide by the court's judgments.

Alicja Tysiac, who suffers from severe myopia, became pregnant for the third time in 2000. Three ophthalmologists she consulted each concluded her eyesight would be damaged further if she carried the pregnancy to term. However, they refused to issue a certificate for the pregnancy to be terminated on medical grounds, despite Tysiac's requests, the court said.  With her myopia worsening, she consulted more doctors, but was not allowed to terminate her pregnancy, delivering her third baby by Caesarean in November 2000.

After the delivery, her eyesight deteriorated considerably as a result of what was diagnosed as a retinal hemorrhage, the court said. A panel of doctors concluded that her condition required treatment and daily assistance and declared her to be significantly disabled.

Abortion is prohibited in Poland, a staunchly Catholic country, except under certain conditions for medical purposes. It is a criminal offense punishable by up to three years in jail.... The ultraconservative League of Polish Families, a junior partner in the governing coalition, is campaigning for a constitutional amendment to ban abortion in all cases, including rape and incest.

More news reports on this story: Reuters, Poland ordered to compensate woman denied abortion; Bloomberg, Pole Granted Compensation by European Court After Abortion Ban.

Think Poland's approach is extreme?  Presidential candidates John McCain and Sam Brownback do not support health exceptions for abortion.  They too, apparently, would rather force a woman to go blind than to let her end her pregnancy.  Who knows where Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney currently stand on this one.  See related posts: John McCain on Abortion; Sam Brownback on Abortion; Michael Dorf on Giuliani's Abortion Views; Mitt Romney on Abortion; Ann Althouse on Giuliani's and Romney's Abortion Views.

HPV and Men

In Masculine Side of HPV, Shari Roan of the Los Angeles Times writes:

With human papillomavirus, girls and women have been getting all the attention.

Parents across the nation have rushed to have their daughters vaccinated against the virus. States are wrestling with whether to require that adolescents get the vaccine. And recent research found that many more girls and women are infected with human papillomavirus than was previously thought — more than one-quarter of females ages 14 to 59.

Now the attention is turning to boys and men.

As many as 60% of men ages 18 to 70 are infected with HPV, according to data not yet published, raising the question of whether the new vaccine will be effective in reducing diseases linked to the virus unless men, not just women, are immunized.

Several studies are underway to better understand the virus in males and whether the new HPV vaccine, Gardasil, also will work for them. As researchers already know and as the new data confirms, HPV is not just a women's issue.

See related post: Why Aren't Boys Vaccinated Against HPV?

FDA Will Fully Fund Office of Women's Health

Rick Weiss of the Washington Post writes, in Advocates Praise FDA's Choice to Fund Office of Women's Health:

Women's groups and members of Congress late Friday celebrated a decision by the Food and Drug Administration to fully fund the agency's Office of Women's Health.

Last month, agency insiders leaked information indicating that FDA Commissioner Andrew C. von Eschenbach had devised plans to reduce the office's fiscal 2007 budget by about 25 percent -- a cut that advocates said would have effectively suspended the office's activities for the rest of the year.

During the past week, activists and several members of Congress repeatedly pressed von Eschenbach about the pending move -- and until Friday the commissioner said he had not made up his mind. But late that day the agency released its long-awaited 2007 operating plan, which funds the office at the same $4 million level it has had for several years.

See related post: W is for Women?

Should Sexuality Education Address Sexual Orientation?

In Sunday's Washington Post, Daniel de Vise writes in The Wide Spectrum Of Sex-Ed Courses:

In Seattle public schools, sexual orientation is taught in ninth-grade health class, a one-day session that uses vignettes about fictitious teens to illustrate same-sex and opposite-sex attraction. But the topic can arise as early as grade 5, in discussions on the many changes that accompany puberty.

In Salt Lake City, schools do not address sexual orientation, in health class or anywhere else.

By adding 90 minutes of instruction about sexual orientation to eighth- and 10th-grade health classes this year, including contested material on homophobia, transsexuality and the process of "coming out," Montgomery County  [Maryland] joins an increasingly polarized debate on how -- if at all -- sex-education classes should discuss sexuality.

"This is probably the last big issue around sexuality education," said Martha Kempner, spokeswoman for the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) in New York, a group that advocates comprehensive sex education. "And I think we are seeing that many of the controversies today revolve in some way around sexual orientation."

In most of the country, the trend in sex education is toward "abstinence only," which dictates that sex outside of marriage is wrong and potentially dangerous. Such programs tend to bypass homosexuality, except to characterize gay sex as a public health risk.

The Guidelines for Comprehensive Sexuality Education developed by SIECUS including topics related to sexual orientation.  See also the SIECUS factsheet Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Youth Issues.

Related posts: Teaching About Sexual Orientation; Less Comprehensive Sex Ed Taught in Schools, Study Finds; 95% of Americans Do It, But It's Psychologically Harmful?

John McCain on Abortion

The AP/Boston Herald reported yesterday:

Republican presidential hopeful John McCain did some grass-roots campaigning in a grand setting Sunday, attending a house party at a mansion built for one of his predecessors in the U.S. Senate....

A question about abortion provided an opportunity for McCain to separate himself from other Republicans seeking the nomination.

    ”I am a pro-life person. That’s been a solid 24-year record,” he said. ”I have not changed my position.”

    ”I have been an advocate for human rights -- having been deprived of them for a period in my life -- from Burma to Bosnia to China to Cuba, and I believe human rights also extend to that of the unborn,” said McCain, who endured years of torture and deprivation as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam.

Read McCain emphasizes anti-abortion stance at mansion party.  Here are some quotations that further illustrate Senator John McCain's (evolving?) views on abortion (via OnTheIssues.org):

On “Meet the Press,” McCain said he had “come to the conclusion that the exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother are legitimate exceptions” to an outright ban on abortions. “I don’t claim to be a theologian, but I have my moral beliefs.” If Roe v. Wade is overturned and abortion outlawed, McCain said he believes doctors who performed abortions would be prosecuted. “But I would not prosecute a woman” who obtained an abortion. Source: Boston Globe, p. A9 Jan 31, 2000

McCain was asked whether he would reinstate the Reagan era rule that prevents international family planning clinics that receive federal funds from discussing abortion. “I don’t believe they should advocate abortion with my tax dollars,” McCain said, adding that he opposed abortion except in cases of rape and incest. He was then asked how he would determine whether someone had in fact been raped. McCain responded, “I think that I would give the benefit of the doubt to the person who alleges that.” Source: New York Times, p. A17 Jan 25, 2000

McCain was asked how he could be anti-abortion and still vote to support fetal tissue research. He supports fetal-tissue research, McCain said, because it has helped make progress against Parkinson’s disease. McCain concluded that abortion rights and anti-abortion activists should cooperate on issues of foster care and adoption. He had made his decision on abortion, he said, “after a lot of study, consultation, and a lot of prayer.” He added, “I’d like to have less intensity on this issue.” Source: Boston Globe, p. A11 Jan 22, 2000

McCain said, “I’d love to see a point where Roe vs. Wade is irrelevant, and could be repealed because abortion is no longer necessary. But certainly in the short term, or even the long term, I would not support repeal of Roe vs. Wade, which would then force women in America to [undergo] illegal and dangerous operations.” A spokesman said that McCain “has a 17-year voting record of supporting efforts to overturn Roe vs. Wade. He does that currently, and will continue to do that as president.” Source: Ron Fournier, Associated Press Aug 24, 1999

McCain apparently has changed his mind about whether Roe should be overturned and has since asserted that it should be, although he denies flip-flopping on the issue.  See related post: McCain on Roe v. Wade; Romney on Embryonic Stem Cell Research.

For other posts on the 2008 presidential candidates, see 2008 Presidential Campaign in the Topical Archive of this blog.