NH House Passes 24 Hour Abortion Waiting Period Provision
The New Hampshire House of Representatives voted yesterday in favor of a bill that requires a woman seeking an abortion to wait 24 hours from the time of the consultation with the doctor or abortion provider to the time she undergoes the abortion. Last month, the New Hampshire State Senate voted against a different bill...
Catholic Bishops Reject Birth Control Coverage Compromise
In a statement released yesterday, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) announced that they submitted comments (PDF) to the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in opposition to the Obama Administration’s recent announcement that employers’ insurance plans must include contraception coverage. The Obama Administration, in an accommodation, made clear that if...
Obama Administration Threatens to Veto House Version of VAWA
The Obama Administration released a Statement of Administration Policy (PDF) yesterday in which the administration threatened to veto the House version of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), HR 4970, because it does not contain many of the protective provisions that are included in the Senate version. These provisions include protection for LGBT, immigrant, and...
OK Judge Permanently Blocks Anti-Abortion Law
An Oklahoma Judge ruled on Friday that a proposed state law severely restricting medication abortions is unconstitutional, permanently blocking the enforcement of the bill. Oklahoma County District Judge Donald Worthington issued the ruling against the bill, which banned non-FDA approved uses of the drug for abortion, but allowed for off-label use of the same medication...
Survey Finds Decrease in Number of Women CIOs
The number of US women in Chief Information Officer (CIO) positions has decreased since 2010, according to a survey (PDF) released by Harvey Nash USA this week. In 2010, 12 percent of CIOs were women. That number dropped to 11 percent in 2011 and is down to 9 percent this year. The report finds that...
KS Governor Signs Anti-Abortion ‘Conscience’ Bill
Kansas Governor Sam Brownback signed a bill into law on Monday that gives pharmacists the right to deny women any drug that the pharmacist believes can cause an abortion. Critics have argued that the bill can give pharmacists the right to deny contraception or the morning after pill to women because under the law, pharmacists...
Study Released on Young Adults’ Understanding of Contraception
A study conducted by the Guttmacher Institute and published in the June 2012 edition of Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health demonstrates the link between knowledge of contraceptive methods and avoidance of risky behaviors among young adults. The Guttmacher institute collected data from a nationally representative sample of 1,800 sexually active people between the ages...
TN Governor Signs Law Banning Education of ‘Gateway Sexual Behavior’
Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam signed a law on Friday banning schools in the state from teaching students about “gateway sexual activity” in sex education classes. According to drafters of the bill, so-called gateway sexual activity includes any type of “intentional touching of the primary genital area, groin, inner thigh, buttock or breast of a human...
AZ Governor Signs Law Expanding Birth Control Coverage Exemption
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed a law on Friday that expands an exemption to a state law that requires employers to include birth control coverage in their health plans’ coverage of prescription medication. Under a law passed in Arizona in 2002, employers’ health plans must include contraception coverage if the plans cover prescriptions, unless the...
Montana Teen Birth Control Coverage Ban Ruled Unconstitutional
Yesterday, District Judge James Reynolds ruled unconstitutional Montana’s ban on birth control coverage for teenage girls who are insured by the state’s low-income health insurance program for minors, Healthy Montana Kids. He concluded that the law “violates the right of privacy and the rights of persons not adults set forth in the Montana Constitution.” In...
House Passes Ryan Budget with Cuts to Social Programs
The House on Thursday passed a plan to increase military spending while slashing funding for food and child care programs, as well as Medicaid and federal employees’ benefits. The budget proposal, written by House Budget Committee chairman Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI1), was an attempt to avoid the cuts to defense spending mandated in last summer’s...
Utah Enacts 72-Hour Mandatory Waiting Period for Abortions
This week, Utah became the only state in the country to enact a law that requires a 72- hour waiting period for a woman seeking an abortion. The state measure, passed earlier this year and enacted on Tuesday, requires a woman seeking an abortion to undergo a face-to-face consultation with a medical practitioner at a...