Mapiex Aero about Depression – Signs, Symptoms, Causes and Help

Healthcare Prof:

5 (1 votes)

The California Medical Association issued the following statement about the tragic shooting of Dr. George Tiller of Kansas:

“The killing of Dr. George Tiller is outrageous and appalling, and California physicians join many across the country in sending their condolences and best wishes to Dr. Tiller’s family, colleagues and patients.

“Our nation has a long, respectful tradition of establishing public policy through an active democracy and its responsive institutions. To kill, harm or harass any health professional engaged in the legal practice of medicine runs counter to everything our country stands for.

“The California Medical Association applauds Kansas authorities for acting quickly and decisively to apprehend the killer and seek justice for this awful crime.”

The California Medical Association represents more than 35,000 physicians in all modes of practice and specialties. CMA is dedicated to the health of all patients in California.

Source
California Medical Association

Healthcare Prof:

President Obama has named Alexia Kelley — Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good co-founder and former executive director — to the position of director of Faith-Based and Community Partnerships at HHS, Salon’s “War Room” reports. According to Salon‘s the “War Room,” CACG primarily has worked to find ways to reduce the demand for abortion procedures rather than advocate for laws to restrict access. However, CACG’s Web site reads, “Catholics in Alliance believes in the sanctity of all human life — from conception until natural death” (Madden, “War Room,” Salon, 6/4).

Catholics for Choice President Jon O’Brien writes in The Hill‘s “Congress Blog” that the appointment is “a defeat for reason and logic” and “calls into question whether President Obama’s administration is serious about reducing the need for abortion.” According to O’Brien, Kelley “is on record with her support for restrictions on access to abortion,” although CACG has sought to “avoid the question of legalization at every turn.” O’Brien continues that the group also used “flawed economic data to support anti-poverty measures as a means to reduce the number of abortions,” and “opposed evidence-based prevention methods such as contraception and comprehensive sexuality education” (O’Brien, “Congress Blog,” The Hill, 6/4).

Officials at the White House and HHS did not return calls for comment. CACG spokesperson Jennifer Goff said, “Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good is working toward reaching common ground in order to make real progress on the moral and political challenges our country faces instead of resorting to spurious attacks launched by those who are more concerned with inflaming the culture wars than effecting positive change” (“War Room,” Salon, 6/4).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women’s Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women’s Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

© 2009 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.

5 (1 votes)

Healthcare Prof:

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

~ “Dr. Tiller — A Gynecological Superhero,” Frances Irwin, Below the Waist: Kansas abortion provider George Tiller, who was shot to death on Sunday, was “a superhero” who “never failed to serve his patients regardless of the level of property damage, physical injury and intimidation he was subjected to as a result of his service,” Irwin, who works for a Wisconsin-based family planning agency, writes. Irwin notes that, for nearly a year, the clinic she works at has been targeted by “pro-life” demonstrators. At various points they’ve carried signs reading, “Family planners promote child promiscuity,” “Stop ALL Abortion,” “Birth Control Leads to Abortion,” and that new signs mention her by name. In the wake of Tiller’s death, Irwin writes that she “realize[s] that I could be intentionally injured by someone who opposes my work.” She concludes, “To some extent allowing myself to worry about this feels like cowardice because Dr. Tiller was a superhero. And that’s a lot to aspire to” (Irwin, Below the Waist, 6/4).

~ “Let’s Make an Abortion Deal,” William Saletan, Slate‘s “Human Nature”: Some participants in the White House meetings to discuss abortion in the U.S. “aren’t trying hard enough” to find “common ground” and are “refusing the simplest concessions,” Saletan writes. Saletan offers four recommendations to advocates on both side of the debate, including removing the distinction between reducing the number of abortions versus reducing the need for abortions. He writes, “No ordinary person sees a difference” between the two,”[s]o let’s focus on reduction through voluntary means and stop quibbling over how it’s described.” His other recommendations include antiabortion-rights advocates conceding to increased access to contraception and both sides giving up “extremism.” Saletan’s final recommendation is that abortion-rights opponents allow federal funding for reproductive health groups that offer abortion information or services. He writes that a ban on direct funding for abortions is “fine, ” but the “indirect funding Obama restored is hardly radical,” adding, “You might even discover that the most efficient way to prevent abortions in the long term is to fund the family planning organizations you keep trying to defund” (Saletan, “Human Nature,” Slate, 6/4).

~ “The ABCs of Antiabortion Activism,” Tracy Clark-Flory, Salon‘s “Broadsheet”: Tiller’s murder “has opened up a Pandora’s box for pro-lifers, giving rise to all sorts of troublesome questions about the culpability of lenient law enforcement and the movement itself,” Clark-Flory writes. She continues, “They certainly won’t find salvation from Pandagon’s Amanda Marcotte, who got her mitts on a disturbing antiabortion activist handbook” now online from Justice for All “that lays bare some of the lies, deception and cynical manipulation that might have led to Tiller’s assassination.” According to Clark-Flory, “The single justifiable situation for an abortion is ectopic pregnancy, the manual explains,” adding, “Deception of that sort is found throughout the handbook.” She writes, “Activists are instructed that when confronting targets they are to pretend that they’re A-OK with contraception” so that “their mark will let his or her guard down and think that, you know, there’s actually a rational, fact-based discussion to be had.” Clark-Flory continues, “The truth, of course, is that the manual goes on to arm activists with medical misinformation that they can spread about birth control.” She concludes that Marcotte “puts this tactical deceit in perfect context: ‘It shows one face to the initiated and another to the public, especially on the topic of contraception. Once you realize this, the movement’s half-hearted denunciations of Dr. Tiller’s murder, coupled with the enthusiastic return to calling Dr. Tiller a monster, become all the more chilling’” (Clark-Flory, “Broadsheet,” Salon, 6/4).

~ “Late-Term Abortions: Facts, Stories and Ways To Help,” Jodi Jacobson, RHRealityCheck: Despite the “extensive coverage” of the murder of abortion provider George Tiller, “little has been said to shed light on what late-term abortions are, who has them and why,” Jacobson writes. She continues that the “media and talking heads pontificating on this subject” have caused the “dominant narrative” to be “one which perpetuates an assumption that people are electing to have late-term abortions for the sake of convenience” and “women are shamed for choosing abortion, no matter the circumstances.” In addition, Tiller has been “portrayed even indirectly as a despicable aide in their shame,” Jacobson writes. The blog says that this “narrative is so pervasive that even among those who consider themselves pro-choice, many people are left to wonder: Are these women just waking up one day … and opting for an abortion at 24 weeks?” Jacobson adds, “In fact, … I have found the misunderstanding about late-term abortion to be widespread even among many of those in the public health advocacy community.” Jacobson provides the following facts about abortion later in pregnancy: only about 1% of all U.S. abortions occur after 21 weeks; “[l]ate-term abortions are severely restricted by law” and most states have laws governing them; viability, on which many of these laws are based, “is a medical, not a legal definition”; Kansas is “strict on the issue of late-term abortions”; and there is a “huge gap in the narrative” of Tiller coming from “the extremist right” and “the many women and men who have been served” by Tiller. According to Jacobson, “Obviously, in this climate, constant political vigilance is needed against the erosion of women’s rights in law and in policy,” the “public narrative that shames women and providers,” and the “actions of the extremist right that daily put them at risk.” She continues, “This will be increasingly true in the coming months” (Jacobson, RHRealityCheck, 6/2).

~ “Protecting Abortion Providers,” Kate Harding, Salon‘s “Broadsheet”: Although violent acts such as shootings and bombings are the “most dramatic examples,” pro-life groups long have been conducting “relentless campaigns of intimidation,” according to National Women’s Health Foundation President Susan Hill, Harding writes. Hill said that she and other providers have seen an increase in this harassment. Harding writes that the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act of 1993 “didn’t stop the violence” any more than pre-existing laws did. Attorney General Eric Holder has ordered “increased security for some abortion providers” nationwide and pledged to work with local law enforcement in Kansas to investigate Tiller’s murder. However, according to Harding, Hill believes the “real problem lies with local law enforcement around clinics that are well-known targets.” Hill said, “Local law enforcement is guilty. I think they see us as a pain in the ass. We call every time there’s some kind of a violation, and they don’t like it ’cause they don’t want to be bothered.” Hill added, “We’ve been telling them for months that something was coming. We always suffered our killings when the Democrats were in power. It wasn’t their fault, it’s just that the protesters were out of control” (Harding, “Broadsheet,” Salon, 6/2).

~ “George Tiller’s Murder Is Our Fault,” Bonnie Erbe, U.S. News & World Report‘s Thomas Jefferson Street: Tiller’s murder has “lifted the cover off the netherworld of violent antiabortion extremism,” and the “proliferation of antiabortion violence … is a very, very scary development in U.S. history,” Erbe writes. She adds that this is a “form of domestic terrorism” that requires “more state and federal investigation so would-be perpetrators can be stopped before they kill.” Erbe cites a report that Scott Philip Roeder, the man arrested for Tiller’s murder, was arrested 13 years ago for “criminal use of explosives.” She continues, “It goes without saying that a well-balanced individual is not going to engage in stalking, amassing an arsenal or spending his or her entire life pursuing a violent act,” but the continuing recession has an “even greater destabilizing influence on those who suffer from mental health disorders,” as was “apparently the case with Dr. Tiller’s alleged murderer.” Erbe concludes, “It’s a shame on our society that he was not stopped before he apparently committed murder” (Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street, U.S. News & World Report, 6/2).

~ “In Obama Nominee Sotomayor, a Supreme Opportunity for Republicans,” Mary Kate Cary, U.S. News & World Report: “If Republicans are smart,” they will “leverage” Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s Supreme Court nomination hearings “into a necessary national discussion about principles and values” rather than more divisive issues, Cary writes. “Just about every Supreme Court nomination” since Sen. Edward Kennedy’s (D-Mass.) “‘Robert Bork’s America’” speech in 1987 “has been incendiary, divisive and deeply ideological,” but “this time, maybe things can be different,” she adds. The entry states that Republicans “know the hard truth” that Sotomayor likely will be confirmed “no matter what the Republicans do,” so “why not make lemonade out of lemons?” It is “time for a thoughtful discussion of what Republicans believe ‘fairness under the law’ means today,” why they believe “judicial activism is bad for our country,” and what is “at stake for families and businesses when judges write laws from the bench,” Cary writes. She continues that GOP senators should “carefully and thoughtfully spell out any differences they have with Sotomayor’s judicial philosophy” and not “get into wedge issues like gay marriage, abortion or stem cells” (Cary, U.S. News & World Report, 6/3).

~ “Pro-Life States Have Lower Abortion Rates,” Nate Silver, FiveThirtyEight: States with higher numbers of adults who consider themselves “pro-life” have lower rates of abortions among both teenagers and adults, according to a 2005 SurveyUSA poll, Silver writes. He writes that it “seems” that “people do practice what they preach,” as for “each increase of about 10%” in the number of self-identifying “pro-life” residents, the “percentage of pregnancies ending in abortion is reduced by about 5%.” Silver states that he “ran a regression analysis” to test whether states with more self-identifying “pro-life” residents “have more restrictive abortion laws,” but he “generally did not find any significant relationships.” However, “it does appear that” the four states where abortion was legal before Roe v. Wade “maintain somewhat higher abortion rates today.” Silver continues that one “complication” is “that of access,” noting that there is a “very strong relationship … between having access to an abortion provider in one’s county and the pro-life leanings of that state.” He also writes that data from the Guttmacher Institute “suggests that abortion providers in pro-life states carry a larger caseload,” which “may imply that there are either too few providers in pro-life states to meet the demand for abortion (or too many in pro-choice states).” He concludes, “I’m not going to try and sum this up with a nice, sugary conclusion” because it “is a complicated issue, and appropriately enough, it has complicated answers, even when it comes to statistics” (Silver, FiveThirtyEight, 6/2).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women’s Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women’s Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

© 2009 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.

5 (1 votes)

Healthcare Prof:

5 (1 votes)

The Washington Post on Friday examined the renewed attention on abortion procedures performed later in pregnancy following Kansas provider George Tiller’s shooting death on Sunday. Tiller was one of the few physicians in the U.S. who performed late abortions. The Post reports that these abortions make up a small portion of the 1.2 million abortions performed each year — more than 88% of abortions are performed in the first trimester and less than 1% are performed after 21 weeks’ gestation. Data published in 2001 from 15 states and New York City show that as many as 2,400 abortions after 24 weeks’ gestation were performed in the U.S. that year, according to Stanley Henshaw, a senior fellow at the Guttmacher Institute. He added that most of those abortions likely were performed in the 25th or 26th week.

Henshaw said that little is known about the circumstances surrounding third trimester abortion procedures and that “information just isn’t available.” The government does not collect detailed data regarding the number of such procedures, who is performing them and under what circumstances. In addition, abortion providers who perform the procedure later in pregnancy supply very little published information, the Post reports. According to the Post, most abortion providers will not perform the procedure after 22 or 24 weeks’ gestation because of legal and other concerns, social stigma, or inadequate training and lack of experience. A 2001 survey of 1,819 abortion providers indicated that 18 clinics and 12 hospitals performed abortions at 26 weeks’ gestation. However, the Post reports that the number of providers offering abortions later in pregnancy likely has declined in correlation with the decreasing number of overall providers. Henshaw said the number of providers offering the procedure later in pregnancy also likely has declined.

Abortion-rights supporters say that third-trimester abortions are performed only when medically necessary, such as when a fatal abnormality is detected in the fetus or a life-threatening complication in the woman is discovered. Other circumstances include cases when the woman suffers serious emotional issues or is undergoing cancer treatment, the Post reports. Vicki Saporta, president of the National Abortion Federation, said that women who experience such pregnancies have “no good choice” and “nee[d] to terminate their pregnancies to protect their own health.” Tiller “provided both the emotional and physical care for women in that situation,” she said (Stein, Washington Post, 6/5).

Los Angeles Times Profiles Abortion Provider Hern

The Los Angeles Times on Friday profiled Warren Hern, a Colorado-based abortion provider who performs the procedure later in pregnancy and was a close friend of Tiller’s. Hern has provided abortions since 1973 when the Supreme Court legalized the procedure with Roe v. Wade. He said he “felt doing abortions was the most important thing I could do with my life.” Hern opened the Boulder Abortion Clinic in 1975, and in the 1980s authored and self-published a textbook, Abortion Practice. He said that he eventually began to focus on abortion procedures later in pregnancy, which currently make up the majority of his practice. Such abortions usually are performed because of medical complications in the woman or abnormalities in the fetus. Patients at Hern’s clinic receive counseling to explain the procedure and to ensure the woman wants it, although he said many women have already made their decision with their own physician. Hern said that although Tiller’s death has been an emotional situation, his clinic is “pretty busy taking care of people who said they couldn’t find anyone else” to perform abortions later in pregnancy (Correll, Los Angeles Times, 6/5).

Bond Set for Tiller Shooting Suspect

Sedgwick County, Kan., District Judge Warren Wilbert on Thursday set a $5 million bond for Scott Roeder, the man charged with shooting and killing Tiller, the AP/Yahoo! News reports. A preliminary hearing for Roeder is scheduled for June 16. If convicted, Roeder faces a mandatory life sentence, and he would be ineligible for parole for at least 25 years (Hegeman, AP/Yahoo! News, 6/5).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women’s Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women’s Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

© 2009 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.

2.5 (4 votes)

Healthcare Prof:

5 (1 votes)

The recent murder of Kansas abortion provider George Tiller has prompted other providers nationwide to reassess their need for protective measures against violent actions from opponents of abortion rights, the AP/San Francisco Chronicle reports. In the days following Tiller’s murder, many clinic officials nationwide said that they had contacted law enforcement and examined their existing security measures. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder also ordered the U.S. Marshals Service to provide security to several clinicians and facilities. According to the AP/Chronicle, violence against abortion providers in the 1980s and 1990s forced many to take various precautionary measures in and around their clinics, while some underwent training to protect themselves.

Kate Michelman, former president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said the election of former President George W. Bush, an abortion-rights opponent, helped alleviate some violence against abortion providers. However, she said that she believes Tiller’s murder might indicate the situation is changing during the first months of President Obama’s administration. Obama has rejected abortion-rights opponents’ calls for restrictions on the procedure and also reversed the “global gag rule,” or “Mexico City” policy.

Michelman said, “Historically, when those who oppose a woman’s right to decide are frustrated politically, they get more violent,” adding, “I have been thinking about this ever since the [Obama] election.” She said that some providers will remain fearful even though she believes clinics are now safe. “In the end … if someone is out to get you and they are determined and have a chorus encouraging them, … there’s not much you can do to stop them,” Michelman said. Provider LeRoy Carhart, who provided abortion services at Tiller’s clinic, said that people who commit violence against abortion providers should be charged with hate crimes (Hanna, AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 6/3).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women’s Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women’s Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

© 2009 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.

4.33 (3 votes)

Healthcare Prof:

3 (2 votes)

Fox News host Bill O’Reilly is “being incredibly disingenuous when he claims that he bears no responsibility for others’ actions in the killing of Dr. George Tiller on Sunday,” Mary Alice Carr, vice president of communications for NARAL Pro-Choice New York, writes in a Washington Post opinion piece. “When you tell an audience of millions over and over again that someone is an executioner, you cannot feign surprise when someone executes that person,” she continues, adding that “O’Reilly knew that people wanted Tiller dead, and he knew full well that many of those people were avid viewers of his show. Still, he fanned the flames.”

Carr writes that she has pledged to no longer appear on O’Reilly’s show because she realized that her appearance “would only legitimize his speech and that no good would come of my efforts.” She adds that when a producer called her to come on the show following Tiller’s murder, she responded that, among other things, the community of abortion-rights supporters “hold[s] O’Reilly responsible for helping to create a climate in which hate was allowed to fester.”

Carr notes that following Tiller’s death, “O’Reilly had the opportunity to apologize for his words” and “say that this tragic outcome was something about which he felt sorry,” but “[h]e didn’t.” She adds, “When restraint and perspective were called for, he fanned the flames higher.” Carr concludes that she will not appear on O’Reilly’s show because “if the murder of a man in a house of worship wasn’t enough to make Bill O’Reilly repent, what hope d[o] I have?” (Carr, Washington Post, 6/4).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women’s Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women’s Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

© 2009 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.

Healthcare Prof:

Antiabortion-rights legislators in Kansas plan to push for harsher restrictions on abortion when the next legislative session begins in January 2010, despite increased tensions following the murder of abortion provider George Tiller, the AP/Indianapolis Star reports.

According to state House Judiciary Committee Chair Lance Kinzer (R), the debate over abortion rights should continue in the state because some laws aimed at restricting abortion access are not being enforced properly. This year, Kinzer pushed legislation (S.B. 218) to strengthen the state’s restrictions on abortions performed later in pregnancy, but the bill was vetoed by former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D). Gov. Mark Parkinson (D) has said his views are “very similar” to those of Sebelius on abortion rights. On Monday, he called on advocates on both sides of the issue to tone down their rhetoric. Parkinson also has said that Kansas should aim to reduce unplanned pregnancies.

State Rep. Tom Sawyer (D), who supports abortion rights, said he would like to see legislators take one year off of debating the issue, adding that he thinks this is unlikely. He said, “It’d be nice to have one session where we didn’t have to debate it,” adding, “People who are adamant, who keep bringing up these issues, are going to keep bringing them up. I don’t think [Tiller's murder] is going to slow them down.”

However, state House Speaker Mike O’Neal (R) said tensions over abortion rights “will calm down a great deal” in the coming months. He added, “All those issues are still there. As long as the parties on both sides behave themselves and not let the rhetoric get out [of] hand, I think we can stay focused on the issues.” State Sen. Tim Huelskamp (R) said that abortion-rights opponents likely will focus in the short term on the Board of Healing Arts, which licenses and regulates physicians, and the courts. A criminal case against a Planned Parenthood clinic in Johnson County, Kan., is pending (Hanna, AP/Indianapolis Star, 6/5).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women’s Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women’s Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

© 2009 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.

Healthcare Prof:

The antiabortion-rights movement’s presence in Wichita, Kan., faces an uncertain future as its leaders re-examine their strategy after the shooting death of Kansas abortion provider George Tiller, the New York Times reports. According to the Times, Wichita has been a center for the antiabortion-rights movement for almost two decades primarily because of the location of Tiller’s clinic, which is one of the few in the U.S. that performs abortions later in pregnancy. Most notably, thousands of protesters converged on the city in the summer of 1991, known as the “Summer of Mercy,” and the city is known as a “hot spot” for groups opposed to abortion rights, the Times reports. Antiabortion-rights group Operation Rescue moved its headquarters to Wichita to focus on Tiller’s clinic, and there are five other operations in the city aimed at discouraging women from having abortions. However, many groups are concerned that interest in the antiabortion-rights movement and donations in support of the cause will drop without the presence of Tiller and his patients. Troy Newman, president of Operation Rescue, said that he does not “know what the future holds” and that it is “too early to say what comes next” for the movement. He added that Scott Roeder, the man charged with Tiller’s murder, “did more to damage the pro-life movement than you can imagine.”

According to the Times, the antiabortion-rights movement is facing increasing backlash related to the murder, with some abortion-rights supporters saying that abortion-rights opponents’ inflammatory rhetoric helped incite the violence. Mark Gietzen, president of the Kansas Coalition for Life, said that there also is disagreement among antiabortion-rights groups over whether their leaders should have issued statements condemning the murder. Tiller’s clinic currently is closed, and no patients are being given appointments, although his family said in a recent statement that it would like to continue his work, according to the Times. David Gittrich, development director of Kansans for Life, said that although Tiller’s murder will “change things in the pro-life movement … until abortion is illegal, unthinkable and unacceptable, there’s going to be plenty of things for pro-lifers to do” (Davey, New York Times, 6/8).

Justice Department Launches Federal Probe of Murder

Meanwhile, the Department of Justiceon Friday began a federal investigation into Tiller’s murder and is seeking to determine whether more than one person was involved in the shooting, the Times reports. Federal officials will review evidence and look into possible violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, according to DOJ. The investigation will be conducted alongside Kansas’ murder prosecution. A DOJ spokesperson would not comment on whether the investigation would affect the jurisdiction in which Roeder is eventually tried (Cullotta, New York Times, 6/6).

Abortion Providers, Advocates Respond to Comments from Suspect

In related news, abortion-rights providers and advocates responded to Roeder’s recent comments implying that more violence against abortion providers is planned, the AP/Google.com reports. In an interview with the Associated Press, Roeder said that there are “many other similar events planned around the country as long as abortion remains legal.” Roeder refused to elaborate on his statement, and law enforcement officials said that they are not sure if his statement is legitimate. LeRoy Carhart, an abortion provider who practiced at Tiller’s clinic, noted that Tiller was not the first abortion provider to be murdered, adding, “There is more than one lunatic running loose in this country that can be influenced by the religious rhetoric.” Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said she believes it is “imperative for anti-choice groups to tone down that rhetoric and keep the more extreme elements in their movement from copying” Roeder (Hegeman, AP/Google.com, 6/8).

NPR Examines FACE Act, Antiabortion Violence

NPR’s “Morning Edition” on Friday examined the impact of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act and the future of the law in the aftermath of Tiller’s murder. According to “Morning Edition,” the law was passed about 15 years ago and made crimes like trespassing or vandalism felonies if they are targeted at abortion providers or clinics. The law also made it a felony to use force to block abortion services. According to Vicki Saporta of the National Abortion Federation, the FACE Act appeared to slow antiabortion-rights violence for about 10 years, and some “were hoping that we had turned a corner.” However, she said,”with the murder of Dr. Tiller, it’s clear that that hasn’t occurred. In some ways we’ve just been lucky.” Saporta said the law has not stopped all antiabortion-rights violence because it does not target lower-level threats like harassment or stalking, which she said can lead to more serious violence. “Morning Edition” reports that abortion-rights advocates are calling for an expansion of the FACE Act to target the violent rhetoric used by some antiabortion-rights groups (Smith, “Morning Edition,” NPR, 6/5).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women’s Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women’s Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

© 2009 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.

Healthcare Prof:

5 (1 votes)

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Congress “should review the killing” of Kansas abortion provider George Tiller “to determine whether there are systemic problems that led to apparent gaps in the FBI’s performance in the case,” a New York Times editorial states. According to the Times, Holder “took the prudent step of ordering” the U.S. Marshals Service to “provide security for certain abortion clinics and physicians thought to be at heightened risk,” but the government’s response “must not end there.”

The editorial states that Scott Roeder, the man accused of killing Tiller, has a history of activity related to the antiabortion-rights movement that “should have sparked greater concern” with the FBI, including being suspected in 2000 of “repeatedly gluing shut the doors of an abortion clinic in Kansas City, Kan. — a federal crime under the 1994 Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances law.” Roeder also was found in possession of “gunpowder and a fuse” when stopped for a traffic violation in 1996, according to the Times. The editorial states, “In the past, Tiller was shot in both arms, and his clinic was bombed and vandalized,” but “it seems as if the federal authorities failed to increase security for Dr. Tiller and his offices.”

The editorial continues, “An armed criminal bent on murder is hard to stop, and we do not blame the FBI for Dr. Tiller’s death.” However, “reproductive rights advocates say enforcement of the clinic protection law waned in the Bush years,” the editorial says, concluding that Holder “should make sure there is no underlying problem that inhibits efforts to combat intimidation and violence against the dwindling number of legal abortion providers — and women they help” (New York Times, 6/8).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women’s Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women’s Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

© 2009 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.

Healthcare Prof:

The Washington Post on Monday examined how antiabortion-rights advocates are pressing state legislatures to approve measures designed to restrict access to abortion and compel women seeking the procedure to reconsider. The Post reports that the election of President Obama, who supports abortion rights, and the Democratic majority in Congress have made it less likely that there will be new federal restrictions on abortion or an overturning of Roe v. Wade. In response, antiabortion-rights groups have pushed to enact more state-level restrictions, such as parental consent for minors and waiting periods. According to the Post, state legislatures in 2008 considered around 400 measures to restrict abortion. Gretchen Borchelt, senior counsel at the National Women’s Law Center, said, “The states are the battlegrounds and certainly the testing grounds of new kinds of restrictions.” She added, “State legislatures can be more creative in what they’re trying to push and see what works.”

The restrictions — known as Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers, or TRAP laws — include measures such as requiring a woman to visit a clinic twice at least 24 hours apart before obtaining an abortion, severely limiting public funding for abortion, mandating consent from both parents or a judge’s signature before minors can obtain abortions and requiring that women view ultrasounds before abortion procedures. The ultrasound laws are aimed at making women reconsider the decision to have an abortion, while the waiting period laws “have the added effect of raising the obstacles and the costs,” particularly for low-income and working-class women, who are most likely to have unintended pregnancies, the Post reports.

Terri Herring, head of Mississippi’s Pro-Life America Network, said, “We tried every which way, and we were successful in the state way.” She added, “All-or-nothing means nothing. Incremental means something.” Herring’s next goal is enacting a law in Mississippi requiring clinic staffers to report the identities of the sexual partners of minors. The Post reports that Mississippi, which has some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country, has become a model for antiabortion-rights groups in other states. According to Herring, the “greater goal, even in legislation, is to influence the culture.” Felicia Brown-Williams, a Planned Parenthood staffer in Mississippi, said, “We’ve got a glut of bills we fight every year. We spend the first two months in sheer and utter panic that one of these bills is going to get past us” (Slevin, Washington Post, 6/8).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women’s Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women’s Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

© 2009 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.