Tag Archives: Jan Brewer

Pro-Choice Friday News Rundown

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  • Teen_GroupA federal district court has decided that emergency contraception must be sold over the counter without any age restrictions. WOOO HOOO! (WaPo)
  • In a rare moment of common sense, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer has decided to end her (losing) battle with Planned Parenthood. (RH Reality Check)
  • Why the pro-choice community needs to talk about the horrifying Gosnell abortion trial. (Jezebel)
  • A bill defining life at the “moment of fertilization” has been sent to the governor of Kansas to be signed into law after passing in both the state House and Senate. Ten bucks says another state will try to trump this ruling by declaring “life at the moment of ejaculation.” (Ms. Magazine)
  • Sorry, anti-choicers, you can no longer give away “fetus dolls” to students in New Mexico. (Raw Story)
  • Alabama is trying to go the way of its suckatcular neighbor, Mississippi, with regard to new stipulations on abortion clinics. (CNN)
  • A rash of radical “heartbeat” abortion bans are a growing threat to Roe v. Wade. (MSNBC)
  • Compared to those born in the 1970s, teens today are waiting longer to have sex. (Guttmacher)
  • Forbes rightly deduces that all the controversy over contraception misses the economic point. (Forbes)

Pro-Choice Friday News Rundown

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  • News that should surprise no one: Abortions in Arizona are up 25 percent this year. Thank you, Jan Brewer and our craptastic legislators. (AZ Daily Sun)
  • Oh, but the Center for Arizona Policy (aka big time anti-choice lobby) disagrees with these facts. (East Valley Tribune)
  • Women are befuddled about birth control and I can’t help but wonder why. It’s not like our education system focuses mostly on only teaching abstinence, or that most parents don’t take the time to talk about sex and reproductive health with their children! #Sarcasm (Toronto Sun)
  • Speaking of parents failing their children with regard to sex ed … (Think Progress)
  • Dear anti-choicers: All of the roadblocks you put in front of women seeking abortions — mandatory ultrasounds, various arbitrary waiting periods, forcing them to listen to propaganda prior to having an abortion — ultimately have no effect on abortion rates. Know why? Because they don’t get to the core of why women have abortions. These obstacles are rooted in the false assumption that women are ignorant and not fully capable of making proper decisions about their bodies, and thus need to be educated about abortion. Because none of those things is true, your tactics, predictably, are failing to do what you intended them to do — reduce abortions. Feel free to try again, but only with tactics that are considerably less stupid. For instance, access to affordable contraception and comprehensive sex ed. That’d be a good start! (Salon)
  • Ann Romney does not wish to discuss serious world issues like birth control or same-sex marriage because those topics are not what this election is about. She’d much rather talk about what kind of husband and father Mitt is. After all, that’s what is on the minds of Americans. Is Mitt a nice dad? Is he good to his wife? Then obviously he’s qualified to lead the nation and serve as commander in chief. Duh. She also says those issues distract from the real issues: jobs and the economy. (WaPo)
  • Uh, Earth to Ann: Birth control is an economic issue. A woman’s ability to control her own fertility will be the most important factor in dictating her professional and socio-economic status. (Jezebel)
  • “Forcible rape” language is still all the rage among the anti-choice crowd. This time it’s New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, who proposes the state needs proof of “forcible rape” in applications for childcare assistance. I wish this were some kind of a joke. (RH Reality Check)

Governor Brewer Is Imposing Her Beliefs on Arizonans

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Editor’s Note: The following piece is a guest blog post from Planned Parenthood Arizona President and CEO Bryan Howard.

Gov. Jan Brewer isn’t shy about her goals. She wants to give government and employers power over women’s private medical decisions. She wants to undermine women’s access to reproductive health care. And she wants to take away public funding from every single Planned Parenthood health center in Arizona.

“I do not support the goals of Planned Parenthood. They believe in choice. So let’s just cut right through the fat and tell it like it is.” — Gov. Jan Brewer

Opponents of women’s health in the Arizona legislature have done everything they can to give Gov. Brewer whatever she wants. In the face of these relentless attacks, providing care to Arizona women and families has become more difficult than ever.

But I’m not giving up on our patients, and I’m not giving in to Gov. Brewer’s bullying. Neither are the doctors, nurses, staff, and volunteers at Planned Parenthood Arizona health centers. Arizona women continue to make their way to our 14 health centers to protect their health, and our doors will be open to them no matter what. And attacking Planned Parenthood in Arizona is attacking Planned Parenthood everywhere. Continue reading →

Pro-Choice Friday News Rundown

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  • Catholic bishop excoriates Arizona’s St. Joseph’s hospital for terminating a woman’s pregnancy in order to save her life. Apparently the term “pro-life” only covers the life of a fetus and not the life of a woman. Good to know! (AZ Central)
  • Anti-choice hypocrisy must be contagious in the state of Arizona. Gov. Jan Brewer: “Pro-life” when it comes to fetuses, but clearly “Anti-life” when it comes to her constituents who need life-saving organ transplants (Huff Po)
  • Teen parents talk legal, financial consequences of sex (USA Today)
  • Another state decides not to trust women: New Alaska abortion notification law takes effect (Reuters)
  • Oral contraceptives exonerated! It turns out, the pill is not responsible for the majority of the estrogen in our drinking water (Web MD)
  • Opponents of a woman’s right to choose are serving up a big helping of threatening, anti-choice rhetoric with a side of butterflies, cute puppies, smiling moons, hearts, and child-like alphabet letters. Sort of like a big unappetizing bowl of Anti-choice Lucky Charms! (Jezebel)

Arizona’s SB1309 Law Has Gutted Sex Education

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In May of 2010, Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law SB1309, the  so-called “Parental Bill of Rights.”  This bill requires parental consent before a child or teen can receive sex education in school.  This law also requires Arizona schools to notify parents when material regarding “sexuality” is presented in non-sex education classes, such as biology. Proponents of the law say this bill will ensure that the government does not intrude on parents’ child rearing.  The Arizona Board of Education says that it will be up to the local school governing boards to implement the law.

Before the passage of SB 1309, Arizona did not require sex education.  Local school boards decided which subjects this education would cover and the grade level in which topics are introduced.  If sex education was taught, it had to be age appropriate.  Abstinence had to be covered and stressed as the only effective protection against unplanned pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS, and abstinence from sexual intercourse outside of lawful marriage was the expected social standard for unmarried school-age person.  This is from the 1996 Welfare Reform Act that had provisions added for abstinence education. The federal government then began to divert tens of millions of dollars to abstinence education programs.  Most programs were tied to religious programs, rather than traditional public health organizations.

Arizona is one of three states that now require parental consent for sex education.  The other two states are Utah and Nevada.  The Guttmacher Institute says 35 states — including the District of Columbia — mandate that students learn about sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS. Arizona is also ranked last in the nation in education funding.

The result?  Continue reading →

Pro-Choice Friday News Rundown

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  • Arizona teens are not learning about safe sex in school (AZ Daily Star)
  • Eight virus types responsible for majority of cervical cancer cases (Reuters)
  • Jan Brewer continues to fail the women of Arizona: 400,000 AZ Women Lose Health Exams to Budget Cuts (Public News Service)
  • Still no credible evidence that abortion, in and of itself, causes mental health problems for most women (Guttmacher)
  • Ten states with the highest number of teen moms- unfortunately Arizona is one of them (ABC News)
  • Abortion not the cause of the low rates of adoption in recent years (Center for American Progress)
  • IUD’s may help treat endometrial cancer, the most common cancer of the female reproductive system (MSNBC)

Jan Brewer Slashes Funding for Women’s Health Care

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We cannot catch a break with Jan Brewer!  Her hits just keep coming!   Earlier this month we shared The 10 Things Everyone Should Know About Jan Brewer.  Well, the list continues to grow.  Last week we found out that her AHCCCS funding cuts are having far-reaching negative consequences beyond denying transplant patients lifesaving care; the cuts also eliminate well-woman care, including the vital cancer prevention care and birth control access provided to women through an annual gynecological exam.

Planned Parenthood and all medical providers who accept AHCCCS are wondering how we will serve our patients so we can help women stay healthy and assist in early detection of cancers like cervical cancer, breast cancer, and ovarian cancer.  This decision will also cost Arizona an additional $15 million of federal Medicaid funding as a direct result of the elimination of these vital services.

Thanks to Jan Brewer and a majority of state legislators, low income women in Arizona can no longer receive these services! Women make up 70 percent of adults on the Medicaid program – that is more than 900,000 Arizona women who can longer access this care.  Essentially, Jan Brewer and many in the legislature have cut out prevention care for low-income women. Check out what Planned Parenthood Arizona CEO Bryan Howard told the Public Service News about the funding cuts:

Howard says a typical well-woman exam costs around $120, making it unaffordable for most AHCCCS recipients, who live on less than $1,000 a month.

Without the annual exams, Howard predicts that the eventual cost to taxpayers will be much higher, whether it’s for prenatal care and delivery of a baby a woman would have preferred to postpone, or dealing with a life-threatening disease.

“Treatment of cervical cancer, treatment of a breast mass, or breast cancer. Treatment is invariably much more expensive than the prevention.”

Make sure you cast your ballot for candidates who will protect women’s health care access.  Visit www.advocatesaz.org and view our endorsed candidates and see our 2010 Voter Guide. All of our endorsed candidates have made a commitment to protect women’s health care access in Arizona!

Have You Seen the PPAA Voter Guide?

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Early voter ballots arrived in the mail last week, and election day is right around the corner.  Have you checked out the PPAA 2010 Voter Guide to help you fill out your ballot?

This year’s voter guide is super snazzy, and fabulously pink!  Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona has the scoop on who the pro-choice candidates are, and how the different ballot propositions will affect access to reproductive health care in the state of Arizona.

The 2010 election is one of the most important elections in Arizona’s history. For the past two legislative sessions, Jan Brewer and anti-choice legislators have launched an all-out assault on women’s health and Arizona families, by passing anti-choice laws that restrict access to reproductive health care and education. Given our experience during the 2009 and 2010 legislative sessions, we expect dangerous legislation to once again have strong support in the legislature if voters allow our state representatives to be overwhelmingly anti-choice.

You can help turn the tide! Make a commitment to vote pro-choice this year, and support the PPAA-endorsed candidates in all of the races. We have the power to put a pro-choice governor back in office, as well as the other state-wide offices, such as Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Check out the voter guide, fill out your ballot, and help us get pro-choice voters to the polls. To volunteer with Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona, e-mail advocate@ppaz.org.