“Fighting the War on Contraception in America”
In September 2008 the most recent and possibly the most vicious assault ever launched against women's health care rights is chronicled on Future Choices by Mary Jane Gallagher, President & CEO of the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association. Non-wealthy American women will face insurmountable barriers when they seek basic health care if the Bush administration succeeds in imposing new regulations on federally funded health facilities. In “Fighting the War on Contraception in America,” Ms. Gallagher reveals the dimensions of this unconscionable attack on American family planning and contraception.
As of the time of this posting Federal officials are considering a rule allowing health care workers to refuse -- because of their own moral convictions -- to provide contraceptives to patients seeking care in the facility where they are employed.
This attempt by right-wing extremists could endanger millions of women and men by restricting access to essential family planning services. |
Ms. Gallagher first alerted the nation to this terrible threat to the nation's public health in an article in the New York Times on July 15, stating that: “...under the proposal, contraceptive services would become less available to low-income and uninsured women.”|See full article
Editorial outcry against the proposed regulations has been widespread. Most recently columnist William Saletan writes in a Slate opinion piece:
Although HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt in his final version of a proposed regulation that aims to protect health workers who refuse to participate in abortions based on religious beliefs dropped a sentence that could have included contraception in the definition of abortion, Leavitt also has "chosen to leave open the possibility that the regulation will be applied that way." |
The Hastings Center has weighed in strongly that the so-called 'conscience clause' in the proposed regulations is devious at best. |See further Nancy Berlinger's 8/26/08 column in Bioethics Forum
In his blog Health & Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt attempted to rebutt Ms. Gallagher's assertions that the proposed regulations erect an insurmountable barrier to contraceptive services for poor and underinsured women in this country. "Americans should not be misled by what Sec. Leavitt is saying in his blog," Ms. Gallagher asserts. "His agency is fast at work on new regulations that could limit access to contraception for millions of men and women despite his claims to the contrary. What they are up to now is not about abortion, it is about stopping access to contraception. "
NFPRHA Launches Ad Campaign Against Bush's Anti-contraception Regulations
Ask your elected representatives to speak out against the regulations
Sarah Palin and the Republican plot against family planning
The wrongheadedness of these deleterious regulations is clearly spelled out in opinion columns and editorials across the nation, many of which may be found here or here.
Ms. Gallagher urges everyone who cares about the health and well-being of American families to send a message to Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt, whose department is considering this rule change, telling him: "Contraception is NOT abortion."
And then urge all your friends to do the same!
Send a letter to your local newspapers to express outrage over Bush's HHS regulations.
The National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association (NFPRHA) is a vital membership organization of dedicated family planning providers -- public health departments, hospitals, general health providers and stand-alone reproductive health caregivers. Together, we help people act responsibly, stay healthy and plan for strong families.
Mary Jane Gallagher, President and CEO of the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association, is certainly no neophyte in the women’s health arena. |See further: her bio
This page last updated September 7, 2008 12:31 .