Pro-Choice Friday News Rundown

• President Obama, ever the pacifist, is kowtowing to the demands of Catholic bishops who care more about their dogma than the health and livelihoods of women. (MSNBC)
• Planned Parenthood is OK with the president making the concession though — whatever it takes to ensure women have access to birth control, we’re on board! (ABC News)
• Speaking of birth control, you can credit the drop in teen pregnancy and abortions to it. (WebMD)
• The Arizona Legislature (with the help of the Center for Arizona Policy) is coming out with guns blazing against choice this year. Again. (Tucson Citizen)
• Arizona Republic columnist E.J. Montini notes the hypocrisy of our legislature’s seemingly immense care and concern for fetuses while lacking the same for actual born children. (AZ Central)
• Planned Parenthood: Prioritizing the health and safety of black women. (HuffPo)
• Rather than, say, creating jobs and passing legislation that will resuscitate the current economy, Congress seems to be solely focused on taking down reproductive rights and Planned Parenthood. (The Hill)
• Just what we don’t need — the Old Boys’ Club dictating “wisdom” on contraceptive coverage. (RH Reality Check)
• Students at a Pennsylvania college can now access emergency contraception via a vending machine! (CNN)

Pro-Choice Friday News Rundown

• Women with children have more abortions than anyone else, and by an increasingly wide margin. So why is the topic taboo? (Slate Double X)
• If you couldn’t tell from recent events, in America, women’s lives are expendable. (The Hill)
• GOP presidential candidate, Rick Santorum, is a staunch opponent of birth control and asserts that contraception is a “license to do things.” “Things” that have absolutely nothing to do with him and are none of his damn business, but that’s of no consequence to him you see. In any case, this idiotic statement confirms that Ricky doesn’t want you women having a license to “do things” in the privacy of your own bedrooms that won’t lead to serious consequences like pregnancy! Why should you have that kind of freedom? Where do you think you are, America??? (RH Reality Check)
• In other, “Rick Santorum likes to speak out of his rectum” news, the birth control adversary recently argued that Republicans should work to lessen single motherhood in order to score political points against their Democratic rivals. You see, single mothers who run households, in Ricky’s opinion, have “a desire for government,” and thus, often vote Democrat. So let’s see if we have this straight: This dunce wants to lessen single motherhood and eliminate birth control because it gives women a “license to do things”? Mmmkay then. How exactly would you lessen single motherhood if you took away birth control? Don’t these goals wildly contradict one another? This guy is in no danger of being recruited by MENSA anytime soon, is he? (Feministing)
• Planned Parenthood’s stellar leader Cecile Richards opines on how parents are falling short with the “sex talk.” (Time)
• Can Herman Cain Be Pro-Life but Pro-Choice? Sorry Mr. Pizza Godfather, but no. (Slate Double X)
• What is Mitt Romney’s real stance on women’s health? Due to his incessant flip-flopping, your guess is as good as ours. (Planned Parenthood)
• Ten questions for anti-choice candidates who want to make abortion illegal. The first being, how much hard time should a woman do for terminating a pregnancy? I’d like to see if we could get an answer to that humdinger at the next GOP debate. (Ms. Magazine)
• Medical science FTW: A vaginal gel developed to reduce a woman’s risk of infection with the AIDS virus also cuts the risk of contracting genital herpes! (NYT)

Who Stands for Planned Parenthood?

The past couple years have been rough for Planned Parenthood. As Congress ushered in Health Care Reform, we have seen definite losses to women’s health care rights. In 2010, the leadership in the House of Representatives shifted to Republican and Republicans increased in number in the Senate. The very conservative Tea Party became a large voice in this new Republican Party and are outspoken opponent’s of women’s health rights.

Nationally, 89 new laws were enacted in 2010 that affect reproductive health care rights. Of these, 39 of them in 15 different states pertain to abortion. Fourteen states introduced measures to restrict insurance coverage of abortion.

In 2011, 162 new provisions were introduced and 49% of those restricted access to abortion. Five states restricted funding to family planning providers.

Arizona passed five new laws further restricting abortion that effectively required Planned Parenthood to cease abortion services at seven of its health centers. Women living in rural areas will be the most adversely affected by these new restrictions. 

A Tribute to an Amazing Leader, Patti Caldwell

Planned Parenthood Arizona recently bid farewell to one of our most tireless leaders, Patti Caldwell, who served as the Executive Director of Planned Parenthood of Southern Arizona from 2000 – 2007. Patti left PPAZ this past Spring to become the Executive Director of New Beginnings for Women and Children. We honored Patti at this year’s Roe v. Wade Luncheon for her twenty-three years of service.

I took time to speak with Patti about her tenure at Planned Parenthood Arizona. And, I also asked others to speak about Patti’s contributions to the pro-choice movement. The responses were very inspiring.

When did you start working for Planned Parenthood, and what was your motivation for working here?
I started working for Planned Parenthood in August 1987. As a social worker, I was always interested in social justice issues and community involvement. After providing direct counseling and case management services for a number of years, I was ready to focus on a more “macro” level. I had always respected and appreciated the mission of Planned Parenthood. I had the opportunity serve on a community coalition about reducing teen pregnancy with the PP CEO, Ginger Yrun. She impressed me with her brilliance and thoughtfulness, and I thought, “I’d love to work with this woman.” I started as the Director of Education and Training, since attitudes and behaviors are so key to the choices people make. I had the opportunity to serve in many roles, as well as work with amazing people from all over the country. The work was always exciting and interesting, and I learned every day.

What are some of your most memorable experiences working for Planned Parenthood?
Oh, there are so many. Here are just a few:

• Standing outside of the federal courthouse downtown as part of a 24-hour vigil prior to the initial hearing on a lawsuit to stop a parental consent for abortion law from going into effect (which we won, that time!). And, so many wonderful people driving by and calling out their support. And even more amazing, Marian Lupu seeing the coverage on the 10:00 p.m. news and getting in her car and driving downtown to give us refreshments! I was so touched by her actions!
  

PPAA Volunteers Visit Washington

PPAA volunteer with Rep. Raul Grijalva

This summer I had the awesome opportunity to travel to Washington, D.C., with Emily Herrell, PPAZ advocacy coordinator, and three other students for the annual Planned Parenthood Youth Conference. We spent three days in the city going to workshops, meeting other activists and listening to speakers like Cecile Richards and Jon Lewis.

The experience was especially valuable to me as the newly elected University of Arizona VOX chapter president. In one workshop I got to meet other VOX leaders and we bounced event ideas and strategies to increase membership off of each other. While there are some pro-choice groups on my campus, it’s rare for us as activists to be able to connect with other than Planned Parenthood student volunteers. I was relieved to find that most VOX leaders struggled with the same problems (i.e. membership) that we do at the UA.

Beware of Fake STD Cures

You think you may have herpes, genital warts, or HIV, but you don’t have a doctor or are too ashamed and worried to go to a health center or clinic.  So you research online and find impressive looking medical sites that offer “cures” for your condition. These claims sound too good to be true, and they are!

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have joined forces in the Fraudulent STD Products Initiative. The FDA is the government agency that evaluates drugs for safety and effectiveness. Together, these agencies are warning makers of these bogus products to change their claims or take these products off the market. The FDA states that none of these products has been shown to treat any disease and they may have untested ingredients that could cause harm. Dr. Debbie Birnkrant of the Food and Drug Administration warns that these products won’t work and may cause delays in someone getting treatment. Effective treatments for sexually transmitted diseases are only available by prescription through a health care provider.

STI Awareness: Chlamydia

The bacteria Chlamydia trachomatis

Did you know that chlamydia (pronounced “kluh-MID-ee-uh”) is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States? However, many people with chlamydia may not even know they have it: 25% of men and 30% of women will have no symptoms. Sexually active individuals and individuals with multiple sex partners are at the most risk.

Like other STIs, many people with chlamydia are asymptomatic, some symptoms in men include:

• Burning sensation during urination
• Discharge from penis or rectum
• Testicular tenderness
• Rectal discharge or pain

The symptoms in women include:

• Burning sensation during urination
• Painful sexual intercourse
• Rectal pain or discharge
• Symptoms of Pelvic Inflammatory Disease, salpingitis, liver inflammation, similar to hepatitis

A Look Into the Face of Planned Parenthood

Editor’s Note: Today’s post is from Leslie Levy, one of our fabulous Community Action Team volunteers.

When I was single, I spent the third decade of my life working for a traveling healthcare company. I would spend months at a time in different cities across the United States working as an Occupational Therapist. This was in the 1990s to be exact. I was always conscientious about Pap tests, and mammograms. And, as a traveler, I would often get caught out on assignment at a time when my annual physical exams were due.

What’s a woman to do in a case like this? Go to the local Planned Parenthood, of course. Go to their medical office where you can get wellness checks, along with meeting some fantastic people at the same time. I used Planned Parenthood for my annual wellness checks for 10 years. I was so grateful that there was a place where a young woman on her own could find healthcare.

A woman’s wellness checks are intimate and can often be embarrassing. You don’t want to talk about your reproductive choices, have your boobs fondled, and spread your legs for just any doctor you find in the yellow pages. And, as a woman, you can’t trust any doctor you find in the yellow pages. You need a doctor who is trained to give you all the information and care you are supposed to have.

Funding Cuts Will Hurt Women Like Me

During the recent debates in Congress over federal funding for family planning services, Senator Jon Kyl told a bold faced lie when he claimed that abortion was 90 percent of what Planned Parenthood does. Senator Kyl was called out by the media and Democratic members of the Senate, because most people know what Planned Parenthood actually “does”: Breast exams. Pap smears. Birth control.

An Inspiring Legacy of Giving

Hester Fassel (in orange) with Planned Parenthood volunteers

Planned Parenthood Arizona recently dedicated the lobby of their administrative headquarters in Tucson in honor of two of their longtime supporters, Dr. Hester and Raymond Fassel. I was lucky enough to meet up with Hester to ask her about her relationship with Planned Parenthood. And I have to say, Hester Fassel is one inspiring lady!

Mrs. Fassel was born in a suburb of Chicago, but she grew up in Northern Indiana. Hester became a Professor of Zoology at Iowa State University, and her husband Ray was a publisher at ISU Press. The two of them relocated to Tucson in 1987, after abandoning their initial plan to retire in Spain. They picked Tucson because it had a similar geography and climate to Spain, and the transition from Iowa to Arizona was fairly seamless.

The Fassels’ relationship with Planned Parenthood started when they lived in Iowa. Hester served on the Board of Directors for Planned Parenthood, but the Fassels were also donors. Hester explains that she got involved with Planned Parenthood because “I feel very strongly about their work. I believe that every child should be wanted.”