<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The saddest thing is most women don\u2019t know how much danger we could be in.<\/em>\u2013written by a 32-year old Planned Parenthood volunteer on her Facebook page<\/p>\n This gut-wrenching remark causes the hair on the back of my neck to rise because she is completely correct. Birth control and family planning are being attacked even though most people in the US view contraception as essential care.<\/p>\n According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, \u201cWomen are major consumers of health care services, negotiating not only their own complex health care but often managing care for their family members as well. Their reproductive health needs, as well as their greater rates of health problems and longer life spans compared with men, make women\u2019s relationships with the health care system complex. Women are also more likely to be low-income and often face the added challenge of balancing work with family health and caregiving responsibilities. For the one in five women who are uninsured, access to high quality, comprehensive care is even more difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n [img_assist|nid=363|title=|desc=|link=none|align=right|width=423|height=269]So, when did the \u201cwar on women\u201d start?<\/p>\n Some argue that restrictions began shortly after the US Supreme Court\u2019s Roe v. Wade decision in 1973. They point to the 1976 Hyde Amendment passage, which makes it illegal for federal funds to be used for abortion except in rare circumstances.<\/p>\n Yet, from my vantage point it has gotten far worse in the last two years. Even in April 2004, when we organized the \u201cMarch for Women\u2019s Lives\u201d during then President George W. Bush\u2019s administration, the attacks on Planned Parenthood and women\u2019s access to reproductive health care weren\u2019t at the fever pitch they seem to be at today. Don\u2019t get me wrong, things were bad then, too. However, things have ramped up even more.<\/p>\n The Guttmacher Institute\u2019s winter 2012 policy review reports more than half of US women of reproductive age (15-44) now live in states that are hostile to abortion.<\/p>\n In early 2011, the newly-elected Republicans in the US House of Representatives, in one of their first acts, tried to eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood, putting many low-income women at risk of losing their only health care. Despite their 2010 campaign promises to focus on jobs and the economy, the House immediately attacked social safety net programs like family planning.<\/p>\n Then, they moved to repeal the Affordable Care Act even though it represents the greatest single advance for women\u2019s access to health care in a generation. More access means healthier women and healthier families by:<\/p>\n \u2022Providing 20 million more women with preventive care without co-pays; And if the ongoing misinformation campaign about the federal program called \u201cTitle X,\u201d which strictly uses federal funds for family planning and not for abortion isn\u2019t enough, there is the explosion of \u201cballot initiatives\u201d across the country such as efforts to:<\/p>\n \u2022 Define \u201cpersonhood\u201d from the moment of conception; Those are just the attacks on a policy level. Not included are the attempts by Catholic Bishops to limit women\u2019s access to birth control, nor the efforts to pressure organizations that partner with Planned Parenthood to disaffiliate with us.<\/p>\n When I speak with supporters, they are thankful to be living in \u201cprogressive\u201d New York. Yet, like the volunteer noted, New Yorkers \u201c\u2026don\u2019t know how much danger we could be in<\/em>\u201d if we don\u2019t pass the Reproductive Health Act this year.<\/p>\n Some citizens are aware of the threat. A recent survey shows that more than half of New York voters are concerned about the possibility that the federal government could make abortion illegal. With New Yorkers concerned that a woman\u2019s health care decisions could be taken away, it is time for the state legislature to pass the Reproductive Health Act, which:<\/p>\n \u2022Guarantees a woman can make her own personal, private health decisions, especially when her health is endangered. Outside my office is a 2003 poster Planned Parenthood created for the 30th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. It shows a 1970s photograph of a woman holding an infant, and the caption reads, \u201cMy mom and me. She votes Republican. She is conservative, middle-class, patriotic housewife. And, if you take away our right to choose our future, she will march with me. The freedom gained in her lifetime won\u2019t be lost in mine.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n While there are continued attacks on Planned Parenthood nationally, the fight against women\u2019s access to reproductive health care has gone local with more than 1,000 state bills! Despite these challenges, Planned Parenthood health centers are continuing to serve millions of women, men and young people, and are working to create the healthiest generation ever.<\/p>\n Reproductive health issues and rights should not be a partisan issue. Women don\u2019t turn to politicians for advice about birth control, mammograms, cancer screenings or treatments. Politicians should not be involved in a woman\u2019s personal decisions about her pregnancy. All political leaders should support access to reproductive health care services regardless of their party affiliation.<\/p>\n Planned Parenthood works to end this assault on reproductive health by maintaining strong education and advocacy programs. You can get involved, by going to: www.pprsr.org<\/span><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The saddest thing is most women don\u2019t know how much danger we could be in.\u2013written by a 32-year old Planned Parenthood volunteer on her Facebook page This gut-wrenching remark causes the hair on the back of my neck to rise because she is completely correct. Birth control and family planning…<\/p>\n
\n\u2022Increasing access to contraception;
\n\u2022Expanding access for women (especially young women) who will be newly eligible for insurance coverage;
\n\u2022Ending discriminatory practices against women; and
\n\u2022Allowing young adults to stay on their parents\u2019 health plans until age 26.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022Shame women into changing their mind about abortion rather than supporting them to take care of their health and well-being;
\n\u2022Add barriers to access by implementing unnecessary and invasive procedures or delays.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022Treats the regulation of abortion as a public health and medical practice issue rather than as a potential crime.
\n\u2022Affirms New Yorkers\u2019 right to use (or refuse) contraception, regardless of what politicians in Congress decide.<\/p>\n