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Pregnancy

Blogs Comment On Italian Antiabortion Proposal, Prosecution Of Pregnant Drug Users, Other
Topics (Medical News Today)

The following summarizes selected women's health-related blog entries.

~ "Paying Pregnant Women Not To Have Abortions," Tiffany O'Callaghan, Time's "Wellness": The
governor of the Italian province of Lombardy has introduced a policy under which "pregnant women
facing severe economic hardship would receive a payment" of $5,500 to not obtain an abortion,
O'Callaghan writes, citing a recent BBC report. Women who seek abortions because of financial concerns
would be eligible for the payments. The governor said he would allot $6.1 million for the program, which
would provide about $300 monthly to eligible women for 18 months. While the governor's plan is being
lauded by antiabortion-rights advocates and the Italian Bishops' Conference, critics of the plan call it
"propaganda" and note that there is ample funding for only 1,200 women. Critics also say that although
the policy "may offer immediate help to pregnant women facing financial struggles, it ultimately offers a
short-term solution to what is a long-term, life-altering decision," O'Callaghan writes (O'Callaghan,
"Wellness," Time, 6/2).

~ "Anti-Choicers Target Blacks in Georgia," Titania Kumeh, Mother Jones' "Mojo": On May 28,
"[e]mblazoned with slogans like 'Black & Unwanted' and 'Black Children are an Endangered Species,' a
second wave of antiabortion billboards aimed at black women hit the Georgia cities of Macon, Savannah
and Augusta," Mother Jones editorial intern Kumeh writes. She continues, "Unfortunately, the billboards'
cosponsors seem to have little regard for proactive solutions to abortion, like preventing unwanted
pregnancies." She adds, "Basically, the Radiance Foundation and the billboards' other cosponsor -- the
mostly white Georgia Right to Life -- don't want women to have abortions, regardless of skin color."
Kumeh continues, "Undoubtedly, the groups will endure, but their billboards may not," noting that
"SisterSong, a Georgia reproductive health collective for women of color, successfully fought to remove
the first batch of billboards in February and will no doubt work to get the new set taken down as well"
(Kumeh, "Mojo," Mother Jones, 6/2).

~ "Sarah Palin's Grab for Feminism," Rebecca Traister, Salon's "Broadsheet": Although Sarah Palin's
recent "grab at feminist language has left-leaning women tearing their hair out," Traister write that she has
"been plagued by a gnawing concern" that "[a]s useful as these efforts at definition and delineation are, ...
they are just the beginning of what may be a battle more tricky and dangerous than many of us, who too
often underestimate Palin and her cohort, imagine." The "problem starts with ... drawing defining lines
around the women's movement," which "is nearly impossible" because "[f]eminism is not -- despite the
best efforts of opponents to paint it as such -- a selective club," according to Traister. She continues, "This
is true for a number of sound reasons: Any movement that aims to represent millions of women needs to
be able to bridge ideological, political, religious and ethical difference -- not to mention multiple races,
religions, sexualities, and physical abilities." However, "as feminist critics have pointed out, feminism is
not just about enjoying rights, it's about supporting policies that make them possible -- whether those are
universal health care (or, gasp, universal day care!), better labor policies regarding family leave and flex
time, a higher minimum wage and unfettered reproductive rights that all allow for full and equal
participation in the democracy," Traister states. She adds, "If there is any hope of winning this particular
war, we will need ... the Democratic Party, of late far too hushed about its claim to feminist history or any
commitment to its future, to explain forcefully to [its] political and ideological opponents that feminism
means an expansion of liberties for women, not a reduction, and that while Republicans are more than
welcome to be feminists on feminist terms, those of us who have lived it love and respect it enough that
we are going to continue to own it, thank you very much." She concludes that it "will be up to who throws
the sharpest elbows, argues most nimbly, who is proudest to stand up and declare -- loudly -- the rightness
of the side we're on, to demonstrate that women's progress is a moral and political imperative, and to crow
that we have as fierce a stake in feminism's history and in its future as any Mama Grizzly" (Traister,
"Broadsheet," Salon, 6/1).

~ "The War on Drugs Coming to a Womb Near You," Lynn Paltrow, RH Reality Check: Cases
involving pregnant women who are "arrested and charged with child abuse ... because they continued a
pregnancy to term in spite of a drug problem" can have "huge legal implications for all pregnant women --
potentially setting devastating precedent that could establish special, separate legal rights for the fetus and
the basis for punishing all pregnant women, including those who suffer miscarriages," according to
Paltrow, executive director of the National Advocates for Pregnant Women. "Because prosecutions don't
actually protect children, and because the only way a woman who has a drug problem can be sure to avoid
arrest is to have an abortion, no state legislature in the country has actually passed a law making it a crime
for a woman with a drug problem to continue her pregnancy to term and give birth," Paltrow continues.
However, "activist judges on South Carolina's Supreme Court rewrote state law to permit the arrest of any
pregnant women who even 'risks' harm to her viable fetus," she writes, adding that South Carolina "ranks
No. 1 in the country for the arrest of pregnant women and last in the amount of state dollars spent on drug
treatment." Although people who support such arrests often "make assumptions" about pregnant women
who use drugs, advocates who work on behalf of the women "see something different," Paltrow says. "All
of these women are precious, and they all deserve to be treated with dignity, as human beings entitled to
treatment that works, and support that will enable them and their children to thrive," she adds (Paltrow,
RH Reality Check, 6/3).

~ "CDC Releases Guide to Contraception Use Safety," Our Bodies, Our Blog: A new report from the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is "intended to outline specific characteristics or medical
conditions that may interfere with safe contraception use," according to the blog. The document, which
was adapted from World Health Organization recommendations, also is "intended for use by health care
providers when counseling individuals about contraceptive choices," the blog states. The blog notes that
the report is "freely available to the public and includes some useful tables," such as tables of
contraceptive failure rates and the number of women who continue to use each method after one year.
However, the guide "is a little bit opaque to navigate and read, putting data for each method in its own
appendix and number-coding the recommendations," the blog continues. The blog includes links to the
sections on each type of contraception and notes that CDC "also provides appendices summarizing the
info for hormonal contraceptives/IUDS and limited data on possible interactions between hormonal
contraception and antiretroviral therapies" (Our Bodies, Our Blog, 6/3).

~ "Contraceptive Care is Health Care," Lisa Shuger, National Campaign To Prevent Teen and
Unplanned Pregnancy's "Pregnant Pause": A recent report from Ibis Reproductive Health "sheds some
needed light on health insurance coverage of contraception and young adults' decision-making about
contraceptive use and choice of methods," Shuger writes. The report examines Massachusetts' REaDY
Initiative -- funded by the National Campaign -- which "seeks to better understand the individual,
community, provider and structural factors that influence the contraceptive behaviors of young adults ages
18-26 and to create a model for addressing pregnancy prevention and planning for young adults in
Massachusetts," according to Shuger. The report "showed that many participants lacked knowledge about
the full range of contraceptive options, which affects young adults' access to and consistent use of
effective contraceptive methods," Shuger says, adding that "we are now learning even more about barriers
to and disparities in accessing contraception ... among specific groups within this age cohort." Although
the issue of contraception "was more controversial than it should have been" during the health reform
debate, the law (PL 111-148) does "include a number of provisions that will help prevent unplanned
pregnancy among young adults," Shuger continues. "However, enacting health reform at the state or
national level isn't enough," she writes, adding that "access to the full range of contraceptive care is
critical for young adults." It is "essential that the federal agencies responsible for developing health
reform regulations and guidelines ensure that there are no obstacles for young adults seeking access to
affordable, quality contraceptive care, both as a basic benefit and as a preventive service," she states.
Shuger concludes by writing that for many young adult women, "Contraceptive care is health care"
(Shuger, "Pregnant Pause," National Campaign To Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, 5/25)