TRAP laws are politically motivated, unnecessary, or burdensome regulations imposed on abortion providers -- but not other medical professionals. That's the catch.
Forty-four states and the District of Columbia currently have some sort of TRAP law - although a number of them have been overturned by the courts. Common TRAP laws restrict where abortion care may be provided and force doctors to obtain medically unnecessary additional licenses.
Some TRAP laws come straight out of the absurd-o-sphere: Mississippi requires that abortion clinics be located in an "attractive" setting. (How considerate!) South Carolina requires abortion clinics to keep outside areas "free of grass that might serve as a haven for insects." In fact, some reporters are making a connection between South Carolina and Virginia.
Last year, the South Dakota Senate considered a bill that would have required physicians providing abortion care to be physically present in the town 24 hours in advance of the procedure. The problem is that no local doctors currently provide abortion services in South Dakota, and doctors travel there from other states. Mandating that physicians arrive a day early could have made it impossible for doctors who work in multiple states during the week to provide care to South Dakotan women. Do women have the right to choose if there's no doctor who can provide this care?
Clearly, TRAP laws have nothing to do with women's health or safety. They're just another way for anti-choice politicians to attack abortion providers, even if it means they close.
Last week, the pro-choice community scored a victory in Florida. Rep. Kendrick Meek, who has a perfect pro-choice record with NARAL Pro-Choice America, won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. Meek's victory paves the way for a pro-choice pickup in the Sunshine State. Now he faces anti-choice candidates Charlie Crist and Marco Rubio (Rubio is also backed by the Tea Party) in the general election on November 2.
Florida isn't the only Gulf Coast state with an exciting chance for a pro-choice pickup in Congress. In Louisiana, NARAL Pro-Choice America PAC has endorsed state Rep. Cedric Richmond for U.S. House in the 2nd District.
Richmond will face off against incumbent Republican Joseph Cao in the November election. Cao has never voted pro-choice while in Congress, and even voted for the Stupak-Pitts amendment to the health-reform bill. Cao wants to overturn Roe v. Wade and called abortion "a moral evil, at a par with slavery."
This morning's news includes reports of how two states' respective anti-choice governors are saying no to federal funds for comprehensive teen-pregnancy-prevention programs. You know, the kind of programs that teach teens about abstinence and contraception. These efforts help young people prevent unintended pregnancy and avoid sexually transmitted diseases. Would anyone really say no to such commonsense policies?
We are outraged Gov. Tim Pawlenty is willing to continue to play games with the lives of Minnesota youth... During a time of tremendous budgetary challenges for our state, the governor has once again shown that he will put political games ahead of sound policy recommendations.
Teen-pregnancy prevention and accurate sex education are not controversial topics. The public supports this evidence-based approach. In fact, a newspaper in Gov. McDonnell's state just released findings from a survey that shows 80 percent of parents in Roanoke support comprehensive sex education.
Allow me to introduce the new, "reimagined" ProChoiceAmerica.org, our primary website. The redesign has been a huge part of my life for many months, and I can honestly say that it was worth it. We're so excited about the changes we've made.
We really thought about you, the 600,000 or so people who visit our site every year, at every step in the process of redesigning the site. We hope you'll find it's easier to use and an even better resource than before.
Here are a few new features we're especially excited about.
We know that talking about choice can be tough for some people. But speaking up for your pro-choice beliefs - and dispelling anti-choice lies - is important to protecting our rights. In the new Talk About Choice section, we've put together answers to common questions about choice to help you talk proudly about their values. Don't see your question? Send it to us.
We're putting Women's Voices front and center. You'll find more stories from pro-choice women and men throughout the site and in this central location.
We've made it easy to share any page with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, or on many other social media sites. You can also get to our Facebook and Twitter pages from anywhere on the site.
While we've re-arranged things a bit, your favorite pages are still there.
This month, women's health care came under attack in the
University of North Carolina system.The
anti-choice blogosphere initiated an email campaign against the UNC system's
new required health insurance plan to be implemented this fall.
Why? Because it includes the option of abortion care, a standard coverage
included in more than 87% of private health-insurance plans.
Fortunately, NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina has been fighting to save women's health coverage at the UNC system.When students return to campus this fall,
they will still have access to comprehensive health care. The UNC system
responded to the protests by offering an alternative plan where students can
opt out of abortion coverage. Students who don't opt out won't pay a higher
rate because abortion coverage doesn't affect health-plan costs.
This compromise did not placate anti-choice activists at
UNC.Kristen Hawkins, executive director
of "Students for Life," told the Herald
Sun:
"Abortion is not health care,
neither for the preborn child or his mother... Abortion should be removed from
the UNC System completely."
This is the goal of the anti-choice movement: remove a
benefit standard in nearly every comprehensive health insurance plan.Students and employees of the UNC system don't
have to purchase health insurance that covers abortion care if they don't want
to.But anti-choice activists are trying
to make sure that no woman has coverage for abortion care at all.Period.
If you're a college student, what have been your experiences
with reproductive-health services on campus?Does your health insurance plan cover abortion care?
Since we last talked (or wrote, rather), NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia's efforts to take on anti-choice Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's latest attack on abortion providers have continued to gain steam.
In addition, editorials from the Washington Post and The Virginian-Pilot took Cuccinelli to task for using his office to push a politically motivated agenda that will do nothing to improve women's health services in the Old Dominion. Writers at Slate and The Atlantic weighed in with their thoughts, too.
Cuccinelli did get some "friendly feedback," however. Anti-choice Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell issued his support for the attorney general's action. We love Tarina Keene's response to this development:
McDonnell and Cuccinelli are the same politicians who have vowed to outlaw abortion but now want to reinvent themselves as protectors of women's health. That's unconscionable, and the public won't buy it. If the McDonnell-Cuccinelli agenda succeeds, we could see 17 of the 21 abortion providers disappear from Virginia, eliminating women's access to abortion and other services, such as birth control and cancer screenings, that these medical facilities provide.
Let us know if you see more coverage of this issue. Also, if you live in Virginia, please take action at NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia's site.
Kudos to our colleagues at NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia for taking on anti-choice Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's latest attack on a woman's right to choose.
What Cuccinelli is trying to do is not an isolated incident. Even though abortion is one of the safest and most regulated medical procedures, the anti-choice movement has undertaken a campaign to impose unnecessary and burdensome regulations on abortion providers -- but not other medical professionals -- in an obvious attempt to drive doctors out of practice and make abortion care more expensive and difficult to obtain.
NARAL Pro-Choice America took its multi-state Vision to Win tour to Wisconsin this week with our friends at NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin.
Nancy Keenan joined activists and supporters, in particular a strong crowd of Millennials, at the annual Wine and Choice event in Madison and Milwaukee. Guests were treated to wine, chocolate, and cheese donated from local businesses. Can we say, yum?
One aspect of Wine and Choice that inspired us is NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin's decision to start an annual Dr. Tiller award to honor local heroes in the fight for reproductive rights. The Madison winner was Dr. Dennis Christensen, known as "Dr. C." by his patients and staff. Here's how the clinic manager, who nominated Dr. Christensen, described him:
"Dr. Christensen has been an abortion provider for over 30 years in the Madison area, Illinois, and Milwaukee. He has assured Wisconsin women that abortion services stayed safe and available. During much of his career in Madison, he assured that medical residents were trained in providing abortion services. He took over the sole practice of providing abortion in Madison when a provider passed away and again in Rockford, Illinois, when another provider also passed away to assure that women in the Midwest had access to abortion care. I was extremely fortunate to work with and for Dr. Christensen from 1998-2008 and before that as a business partner of another provider.
Dr. C quoted and lived by Dr. Tiller's motto of "the woman's decision" being the only factor in providing abortion services. Dr. C was a great friend of Dr. Tiller's and would be extremely honored to receive an award in his name. He is still practicing in Rockford, Illinois, and in Milwaukee in his semi-retirement until he can assure the training and continued practice of providing abortions. I continue my work as a center manager in the Madison area in honor of the work that Dr. C has done."
Wow. Thanks, Dr. C, for trusting women!
Enjoy these great photos from the events in Wisconsin:
Vision to Win is heading to Connecticut , so if you live nearby, please join us:
October 1: Hartford, Gala/Auction Event October 2: New Haven, Young Millennial Leaders Roundtable October 3: Ridgefield, Luncheon with Betsy Thompson and Rep. Jim Hines
Their report is making major headlines. On August 16, NBC Bay Area aired an interview with NARAL Pro-Choice California's Meghan Doran about the findings. Our favorite quote: "We found systematic approaches of manipulation, intimidation and false advertising." Watch the full interview:
The majority of CPCs that NARAL Pro-Choice California contacted provided shockingly false information to promote their anti-choice agenda and block women from choosing abortion:
Sixty percent advised that condoms are ineffective in reducing pregnancy and the transmission of certain STDs
Seventy percent advised that abortion increases the risk of breast cancer
Eighty-five percent advised that abortion increases the risk of infertility and
Eighty-five percent of CPCs in our study advised that abortion leads to mental health problems
Let's be clear: all of these statements are false.
Despite being one of the most pro-choice states in the country, CPCs in California outnumber legitimate clinics five to one, and can be found in 91 percent of counties. They often place themselves near legitimate health clinics to intentionally confuse women seeking abortion.
What is even more disturbing is that 69 percent of these CPCs advertised their counseling as "unbiased," despite the fact that they usually had no medical certification, provided false information, and never even mentioned abortion as an option. Only 21 percent of investigators actually saw a nurse or doctor. The rest went to unlicensed clinics that, by exploiting a loophole, continue to legally operate as long as women read their own pregnancy tests. One NARAL Pro-Choice California volunteer was horrified when asked to administer her own urine test, while a volunteer with no medical training watched.
Every year around three million American women find themselves facing an unplanned pregnancy. These women deserve unbiased and medically accurate information that will help them to make an informed choice.
Hopefully the hard work of NARAL Pro-Choice California to expose CPCs will result in more local regulation on their deceptive practices. After a similar investigative report conducted by NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland last year, Baltimore passed a law requiring CPCs to advertise in both Spanish and English that they do not provide or make referrals for abortion services or birth control.
Anti-choice groups
are trying to force a new government mandate on Alaskans that could put
thousands of Alaska's most vulnerable teens at risk.Alaskans will vote on Measure 2 on Tuesday, August 24.If you live in Alaska, click here to find out
where you can vote.
Laws like Measure 2 put teens' health and safety at
risk.Most teens facing an unintended
pregnancy already do involve their parents.But not all teens in Alaska - or anywhere - live in homes where
communication is possible.Some don't
even live with their parents; there may be drug or alcohol problems at home;
abuse; or worse.These teens, with
nowhere else to turn, may delay professional medical care, turn to the Internet
to look for risky options, or take matters into their own hands.
Of course parents should be involved in their teenagers' lives, but laws like this don't work in the complicated real world. The government can't mandate good family communication where it doesn't already exist.
Fortunately, Alaskans
Against Government Mandates--a coalition of teachers, nurses, doctors, social workers, Planned Parenthood
supporters, faith leaders and others--is fighting to defeat this anti-choice
proposal.
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