I purposefully did not watch CNN’s Tea Party/Republican debate on Tuesday night because I knew I’d spend the whole time screaming at the TV. It was the right choice. (Like moi, you can read the transcript here.) Texas Governor Rick Perry wasted no time saying he made a “mistake” by requiring adolescent girls in Texas to be vaccinated against strains of HPV that cause cervical cancer. And then Rep. Michele Bachmann chimed in to … well, lie on national television by smearing Plan B, which is the morning-after pill, as the “morning-after abortion pill.” You know, implying that it is the abortion pill, i.e. kills babies:
Tag Archives: abortion pill
Idaho Woman Challenges Anti-Abortion “Fetal Pain” Law
Earlier this year, a woman named Jennie Linn McCormack, 33, from Idaho, was charged with using abortion pills she bought over the Internet to terminate her pregnancy. When she realized she could not afford to travel to Salt Lake City, Utah for a surgical abortion at a clinic, McCormack purchased pills online from a health care provider. She ended her pregnancy on December 24, 2010, when she was between 20 and 21 weeks of pregnancy; police found a fetus in a box in her home. In doing so, this unemployed mother of three broke a 1972 Idaho law which stipulates that a woman cannot terminate her own pregnancy. The case was dismissed due to lack of evidence. (Had she been found guilty, she could have faced up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.) But McCormack is up for a challenge: she is now suing in federal court, claiming the state’s restrictions on abortion violate the Constitution. Keep reading »
Today’s Lady News: Planned Parenthood Ends Abortion At 3 Arizona Clinics
- Planned Parenthood will no longer provide medical abortions (i.e. the abortion pill) at clinics in Prescott Valley, Flagstaff, and Yuma due to new state laws that restrict the practice. Anti-abortion advocates wanted clinics that do medical abortions, which involves swallowing a pill, to have the same clinic set-up and equipment as the clinics that perform abortion as surgery. Arizona women will now only be allowed to get medical abortions at the Phoenix and Tucson clinics, which are the only two clinics to do surgical abortions as well. [NPR]
- Rape victims will not be charged for their rape kits (DNA evidence collected to help police) under legislation signed yesterday by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. [Change.org]
- Would America be better off right now if Hillary Clinton had been elected president? Rebecca Traitster at The New York Times Magazine wonders. < [New York Times Magazine]/li>
Health Care Reform Might Require Coverage Of Birth Control
For the past three years, I have not taken any birth control pills and instead solely relied on condoms for contraception. These past few years, I have been a full-time freelancer without health insurance and I have prioritized paying for my anti-depressant prescription — anywhere from $100 to $120 bucks a month, depending on the pharmacy — over BC.
But if the Obama administration gets its way after a thorough review from health experts, the costs of contraceptives and other family planning services will be covered by insurers under health care reform. Contraceptives would be considered “preventative services” because they prevent unwanted pregnancies and a host of other health issues that come along with the stork’s surprises. Wouldn’t that be the jam?
Don’t get too excited yet, though: some “family” organizations are already whining that pregnancy is “not a disease” and birth control should not be considered a preventative service. Keep reading »
“I’m Live-Tweeting My Abortion”
“I’m doing this to de-mystify abortion,” she says. “I’m doing this so other women know, ‘Hey, it’s not nearly as terrifying as I had myself worked up thinking it was.’ It’s just not that bad.”
These are the words of Angie Jackson, a blogger and mother of a 4-year-old son. Her IUD birth control failed; she is four weeks pregnant and writing about her abortion on YouTube, her personal blog, and on Twitter under the hashtag #livetweetingabortion. Keep reading »
What’s Ellaone? And How Can It Keep Me From Getting Pregnant?
We’ve all heard about emergency contraception — also called “the morning after pill” — which is most effective when a woman takes it up to 72 hours (five) after unprotected sex to prevent an unwanted pregnancy. Chances are, you or someone you know has taken EC after the condom broke, a sexual assault, or some other emergency. Recently, medical experts have been talking about Ellaone, a morning after pill available in the UK, which also very effective up to five days after unprotected sex. In one study, Ellaone prevented two-thirds of pregnancies within three days of unprotected sex and 50 percent of pregnancies within five days.
Ellaone currently isn’t available in the United States, but it could be eventually. Problem is, though, anti-abortion activists both here and in the UK are railing against Ellaone, calling it an “abortion pill.” Keep reading »
Wife Gives Husband’s Mistress Abortion Pill
They say there’s nothing like a woman scorned, but Brooklynite Kisha Jones’ revenge was criminal and sadistic. When Jones learned her husband Anthony Jones had impregnated Monique Hunter, she allegedly took matters into her own hands to terminate the seven-month pregnancy. Jones reportedly used a stolen prescription pad to prescribe Cytotec, a drug used to terminate pregnancies. She then allegedly used a spoof-calling website (like SpoofCard or PhoneGangster) to pose as someone calling from Hunter’s doctor’s office. Jones told Hunter that the medication would prevent the baby from developing Down syndrome. Hunter took the drug and went into premature labor. The baby, named Anthony Jones Jr., survived, but this devious plot wasn’t the end of Jones’ revenge. Keep reading »
Women On Waves’ Abortion Boat May Be Permanently Docked
The Women on Waves boat, a vessel which sailed to international waters outside countries where abortion is illegal and terminated pregnancies, may be docking for good.
A little backstory: Founded in 1999, WoW is a Netherlands-based charity with a boat that docked 12 miles off the coast (which constitutes “international water”) of places like Ireland, Portugal, and Spain, where women must rely on illegal abortions to end their pregnancies. WoW provided contraceptives, pregnancy testing, information about STDs, and prescribed the abortion pill (RU-486) to women who came on board. (WoW never actually performed surgical abortions on the boat, although it has had permission since 2008 to use a converted vessel to terminate pregnancies up to 12 weeks.) Keep reading »
