When a Global Gag Rule’s not Enough, Bring it on Home

If you’re not familiar with the “Global Gag Rule” (or “Mexico City Policy”), it’s a rule that the U.S. will not provide any family planning funds to organizations that (use their own money to) provide abortions, make referrals for abortion, or lobby to make abortion legal in their own country - see globalgagrule.org and this section from the International Women’s Health Coalition for further background.

Now, “nearly 80 conservative groups” have signed on to a letter asking Bush to revise a “Domestic Family Planning Gag Rule,” which would essentially create Global Gag Rule for the United States, preventing organizations that provide family planning services (such as Planned Parenthood) from receiving Title X funds if they also provide abortions or abortion referrals.

As explained in The Hill: “Former President Ronald Reagan first issued regulations more than 20 years ago that prohibited family planning organizations from providing advice to help women obtain abortions. The Reagan-era regulations were upheld by the Supreme Court, but were then rescinded soon after former President Bill Clinton took office in 1993.”

“Conservative leaders say they are perplexed why Bush has not reversed Clinton’s decision during more than eight years in office.They say that Bush could re-implement the regulations though a simple order that would go into effect after a brief public comment period.”

The National Abortion Federation notes that under the old policy governing Title X family planning funds, “These revised regulations implemented the ‘gag rule’ which prohibited the discussion of abortion as a family planning option. Although never actually enforced nationwide, the ‘gag rule’ also prohibited referrals to abortion providers and required a physical and financial separation of abortion-related activities from Title X activities.”

The “conservative groups” are also trying to drum up support for the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act (HR 4133), which would “amend title X of the Public Health Service Act to prohibit family planning grants from being awarded to any entity that performs abortions.”

[Hat tip to the National Partnership for Women & Families]

1) Think About Sex. 2) Design Undies. 3) Win!

ISIS, the people who previously brought you the Sex Ed Digital Video Contest, are hosting a new design contest focused on communicating about sex and risk reduction.

From the release:

The “In Brief: What if Your Undies had the Last Word…” campaign, located at www.undiescontest.com, invites entrants to develop their own art and slogans for boxer shorts, women’s underwear, or t-shirts containing a message about sexual communication, including preventing HIV and other STDs. The Grand Prize winner will receive a $1,000 scholarship or cash equivalent, and twelve pairs of underwear.

I’m getting a huge kick out of these ISIS contests, because they encourage a creative approach as well as requiring people to really think about the issue and condense it into something understandable and manageable. It’s sort of like those old speech contests in grade school, except much more interesting and entertaining.

Deb Levine, executive director of ISIS, had this to say:

“Talking about HIV and STDs is uncomfortable, especially in the heat of the moment, so we are excited at this opportunity to create a forum for bringing prevention to the forefront,” said Deb Levine, executive director of ISIS. “The ‘In Brief’ campaign is designed to help sexually active people (and those thinking about having sex) communicate about the risks before they take their clothes off. We are confident the awareness raised by this campaign will encourage people to talk about their sexual health before they are in a risky situation.”

The contest opened on April 3rd, and submissions will be accepted until 1:30 PM Pacific Time on May 15, 2008. Complete rules are available here. If you got to the “Enter Contest” tab on the site, you can also view and vote for current entries.

10 Most Terrifying Contraceptives

Cracked Magazine is probably not your best source of contraceptive information, but they do have an amusing piece right now, History’s 10 Most Terrifying Contraceptives, including the old crocodile poo technique. Don’t try this at home.

The Onion also has their own twisted take on the news that 25% of young women may be infected with an STI.

Back Up Your Birth Control

Today’s the Back Up Your Birth Control Campaign Day of Action to increase awareness of emergency contraception, and the campaign website has several suggestions for how you can get involved, as well as information on how to obtain emergency contraception.

Oral Arguments Available for Illinois Emergency Contraception Refusal Case

A case disputing pharmacists’ obligations to dispense legal prescriptions (specifically, emergency contraception) was argued before the Illinois Supreme Court, stemming from the state Governor’s 2005 emergency rule requiring that pharmacies fill these valid prescriptions. Unfortunately, a transcript of the arguments before the Court this week is not available, but audio and video is provided at this site - scroll down to Morr-Fitz v. Blagojevich.

PS-There is some discussion on the case at the WSJ Health Blog. Also, if you’re in Illinois and need EC, you probably don’t want to go to Fitzgerald Pharmacy, Kosirogg Rexall Pharmacy, or Eggleston Pharmacy, plaintiffs in the case.

Annuale: You May Develop a Leathery Tail

Last night’s Saturday Night Live included a dead on spoof of pharmaceutical advertising, in the form of an ad for “Annuale,” a fake oral contraceptive that allows you to get your period only once a year. They really nailed the faux-girlfriends, questions-asking, and disclaimers - “Do not take Annuale if you plan to ever become pregnant, as it may turn your baby into a firemonster. In the days around your period, you may develop a leathery tail. Annuale may cause you to develop a second vagina.” Heh.

WordPress doesn’t allow the NBC videos to be embedded, so here it is from YouTube. If it gets yanked from that site, here’s the link to the spot on the NBC website. Note: if you’re not seeing the video below at all, it’s because YouTube is down at the moment.

Knit a Condom Amulet!

Naomi of A Little Red Hen has been knitting condom amulets to raise awareness of safer sex for a while now, which you know if you’re been reading here since early last year. Concerned about rising rates of HIV infection among older adults, and the stigma against talking about sex in general, Naomi has been whipping up these visible reminders that protecting yourself isn’t shameful and chronicling her progress on her blog. The project has now expanded to include its own website and additional knitters, with a goal of “encourag[ing] other knitters to use leftover yarn (or buy one on-sale ball) and make these, get the message out.” Free patterns are available on the site for you to knit your own, and you can submit your own condom amulet project work to be featured on the site.

Now for the gushing…

I can’t believe these are so pretty. Just go look at this bra pouch version by Lisa Daehlin - a beautiful pink bra complete with a small pouch for stuffing with your favorite condom - or bus pass, or change, just like grandma used to do. I don’t normally go in for pink things, but this is gorgeous. Artist Amanda Gale has made a thong version. Likewise, Naomi makes the college-themed amulets, which are so clever - she was kind enough to send me an Oberlin one. I’d love to see colleges’ student health/sexual health/orientation folks making these available. If I’d known Naomi in college, and she’d been making these then, I totally would have made a costume for Safer Sex Night out of these puppies. Go look at them all, they’re stunning.

More on the Patch and Blood Clot Risks

The Blog That Ate Manhattan has a great discussion of the contraceptive patch and blood clot risks in response to the recent FDA label change for the drug.

Reproductive Health and the Catholic Hospital Conundrum

In my near-hometown of Knoxville, TN, healthcare economics and religious dogma have combined to limit the choices of women who want to control the reproductive aspects of their lives. Struggling Baptist Hospital has been “merged” into St. Mary’s hospital, and the partnership’s parent company is now Catholic Healthcare Partners. As a result, patients of Baptist no longer have the option to have a tubal ligation, as it is at odds with the Catholic belief structure. A spokesperson say, “This component of our business is negligible,” despite indicating that 9% of last year’s deliveries at Baptist involved this procedure. Vasectomies are also out, “at any clinics owned by St. Mary’s or Baptist,” although they have indicated that emergency contraception will be available to rape victims.

To be perfectly clear, I understand that private hospitals may have every right to perform only procedures that do not conflict with their religious missions, as patients are free to go elsewhere. I worry, however, about those women whose insurance dictates a provider list at hospitals that do not perform the procedures they need - those women are only free to choose another provider to the extent that they are able to pay out-of-network charges and another provider is available within an accessible distance and time frame. I grew up in a state where, with the exception of a handful of “cities,” each county might have one, maybe two, hospitals - these policies seem likely to disproportionately affect poor and rural women.

I also worry about the forcing of two surgical procedures when one would have sufficed. These hospitals are essentially telling women who need a c-section and wanted tubal ligation while their abdomens were already open, “Sorry, you’ll have to pay another OR fee, and accept the risks of another round of anesthesia, another round of surgery, another period of recovery, because we don’t believe in what you want to do.” I can certainly understand why a woman mid-pregnancy would be disinclined to switch from a familiar provider and hospital, leaving her to choose between her known provider and two surgeries instead of one if she wants to control her fertility. Tennessee Guerilla Women reported yesterday on a friend who was trying to very quickly find a new provider for her daughter’s impending birth, hoping to find care elsewhere in a very small window of time.

The issue of services of Catholic hospitals is not a new one. Similar merger-related worries are being discussed in Colorado, and the Wisconsin legislature just passed a bill requiring all hospitals to provide emergency contraception (even the Catholic ones), which has been an issue in Massachusetts as well.

I have seen women on various blogs indicate that they will no longer give their business to St. Mary’s or Baptist, now that they know one’s existing policies and the changes to Baptist’s. One point specific to the Knoxville situation that is extremely interesting to me is that of the affiliation of the Lisa Ross Birthing and Women’s Center with St. Mary’s. To my knowledge, this is the only CNM-staffed birthing center in Knoxville, and for miles around - and their transfer agreement is with St. Mary’s, which is also where they offer midwife-attended births. In investigating my own options for possible future birth, I considered the possibility of camping out in K-town, close to my family and friends, and using the Center. Now that I know more about St. Mary’s (and now Baptist’s) policies, I absolutely would not. I’m making a consumer choice, and it’s to avoid spending my money at hospitals with policies like these. Additionally, I wonder how these religion-based policies square with Ross’s mission statement, which declares, “The woman has opportunities and responsibilities in decision making regarding her care” and “All women deserve equal treatment, regardless of ethnic, racial, or cultural differences, education, or socioeconomic status.”

[Thanks to Katie Allison Granju for the tip. The Archcrone also has commentary.]

Contraceptive Patch Label Updated to Address Blood Clot Risks

The label for the contraceptive patch Ortho Evra was updated yesterday as a result of a study that suggested that women using the patch were at higher risk of serious blood clots than women using birth control pills.

In 2005, the label was updated to note that women using the patch seem to be receiving higher levels of estrogen than those using the pill, and so may have increased risks.

The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute has a good overview of deep vein thrombosis (a kind of blood clot mentioned in the updated label), including causes, risk factors, symptoms to watch out for, prevention, and other topics, as well as on pulmonary embolism, when the clot travels to the lungs.