Reproductive Health --
Legislation and Court Cases
 

Appeals Court Says: Railroad's Policy To Not Provide Coverage for Contraceptives Is OK

In a controversial decision on March 15, 2007 the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis found that Union Pacific's policy of providing no coverage for contraceptives for female employees or female members of employees' family does not constitute discrimination against women. See further.
  • For much of last spring, a sex education bill called the Healthy Teens Act was sailing through the New York State Legislature... Read further: "Muzzling Sex Education"
  • In "Choices Albany Needs To Make" Daphne Philipson, Board Chair Emeritus of Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic, presents an excellent review of important pending legislation in Albany in 2006. Daphne very aptly asserts that passage of both the the Healthy Teens Act (see above) and a new Emergency Contraception bill ("Unintended Pregnancy Prevention Act") would make New York a significantly safer and healthier place for women and their families. They both passed in the Assembly but languished in the Senate.
  • In “Reproductive Rights -- Crossroads in the Courts” Lisa Winjum, JD, Director, Public Affairs and Communications at Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic, asserts that the most pressing issues endangering our reproductive rights are the Ayotte v Planned Parenthood of Northern New England case currently pending before the Supreme Court, and the nomination of Samuel Alito to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor who announced her retirement from the Supreme Court in July 0f 2005. Ms. Winjum also succinctly summarizes the wider attack on reproductive rights: the roadblocks complicating access to Emergency Contraception which we are witnessing at the state and federal level and in our local pharmacies.
  • In “EC Over the Counter: Smart Choice for New York,” Assembly Member Amy Paulin eloquently addresses the relevance of her 2005 bill, the Unintended Pregnancy Prevention Act, which was pending before the State Senate at the time this show aired. Passed three times in the past by the Assembly this legislation, which would make Emergency Contraception available at pharmacies without prescription, had traditionally languished in the Senate. In 2005, however, the bill was passed by the Senate but suffered a veto by Governor Pataki. The effort to make emergency contraception accessible to people in need continued in 2006.