The following summarizes selected women's health-related blog entries.

~ "Should the Government Pay for Abortions?," Deborah Kotz, "On Women," U.S. News and World Report blogs: In reference to President-elect Barack Obama's pledge to sign the Freedom of Choice Act if it is approved by Congress, Kotz writes that she is "not so sure" about Obama "when it comes to his abortion policies" and whether he will follow through with his promise to be a "'great uniter.'" According to Kotz, "Activists both for and against FOCA are already staking out their battle positions" over the bill, which would codify Roe v. Wade. To find out more about the potential effects of FOCA, Kotz says that she asked William Eskridge, a constitutional law expert and Yale Law School professor, "What impact will the law really have?" She writes that Eskridge told her that FOCA "won't force doctors or private hospitals to perform abortions ... [n]or will it overturn state laws protecting women's health, such as clinic regulations that say only licensed doctors can perform abortions." The wording of the legislation "simply says" that "a government may not deny or interfere with a woman's right to choose," Kotz writes. However, Eskridge added that the law could force many state- or city-run municipal hospitals to provide abortions, which potentially could affect Catholic hospitals that receive public funding. According to Kotz, "The new law would ensure that if military hospitals provide family planning services and pregnancy care, they also must provide abortion services." She adds that military personnel currently must go off base for abortion procedures, which is a "huge problem" for those serving in countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan. "Government health insurance, like Medicaid, would also have to cover pregnancy termination," she writes. Kotz says that the "thorniest issue" surrounding FOCA is "whether the right to an abortion applies to all pregnant females -- including those as young as 11 or 12 as well as those who are over 18." She continues, "The legislation refers to protecting the rights of a 'woman', but neglects to define what that means," which leaves ambiguity as to whether the law would invalidate state parental notification statutes. Kotz concludes, "Where I think all of us can agree is that there needs to be fewer unplanned pregnancies in this country. I'm just hoping that the new president will pay attention to another campaign promise: To implement better programs to address this issue so women can avoid having to make the difficult choice" (Kotz, U.S. News and World Report, 12/9).

~ "Plan B, FDA Delays and Janet Woodcock," Alicia Mundy, Wall Street Journal Health Blog: FDA Drug Safety Division Director Janet Woodcock "would like you to know that she's not to blame" for the three-year delay in the approval of nonprescription sales of the emergency contraceptive Plan B, Mundy writes in a blog entry. "Sure Woodcock was FDA drug division director for part of the time Plan B was bottled up," Mundy continues, but Woodcock -- who is a potential candidate for FDA commissioner -- said she "wasn't the foot dragger." According to Mundy, Woodcock said in an interview that she "'wanted Plan B ... behind the counter. I don't think that the public is ready for hormonal contraception to be out on the shelves at the 7-Eleven.'" Mundy adds that "as the search for a new FDA Commissioner heats up" the "hunt for the party responsible for the delays has become the stuff of legal legend and lawsuits by reproductive rights organizations" (Mundy, Wall Street Journal Health blog, 12/5).


~ "Re-enslaving African American Women," Loretta Ross, RH Reality Check: "African-American women who care about reproductive justice know that the limited membership in the black antiabortion movement doesn't represent our views, and we are not fooled into thinking that they care about gender justice for women," Ross writes, adding, "In fact, if they had their way, we would be re-enslaved once again, based on our fertility." However, the black antiabortion movement "needs to be taken seriously" because the "people involved in it carefully exploit religious values to make inroads into our communities" and "poison the soil in which we must toil," Ross writes. She says that the movement "appears stronger and more numerous than it actually is," and is "[g]enerously funded by a predominantly white antiabortion movement desperate for black representatives." Ross continues that the black antiabortion movement "needs to be carefully studied through opposition research" because "[i]nformation on them, their connections to white antiabortion groups and their sources of funding is scant." Black leaders who claim membership in the movement have had a "disproportionate impact" and "created the false impression that if only black people were warned that abortion is genocide, women would stop having them in order to preserve the black race, either voluntarily or pressured by the men in their lives," she writes. Ross concludes, "We need our leading African-American women's and civil rights organizations to speak out more strongly in support of reproductive justice" and "let the world know that [those in the movement] do not speak for black women" (Ross, RH Reality Check, 12/8).

~ "Wombs for Rent," Feministe: In response to Alex Kuczynski's recent New York Times Magazine article on infertility and surrogacy, a Feministe blog post writes that infertility is a "complicated issue, and how women deal with it is fraught with a whole series of social justice implications," including issues related to class. The post says, "It's problematic that the article included relatively little context of the class issues tied up in access to infertility treatments. Instead, infertility is again represented as a rich white woman's issue." The blog says that "when we talk about reproduction in a justice-based framework, it's very difficult to argue for a system where more powerful women with greater freedom of 'choice' have the liberty to use other women's bodies for their reproductive ends." It adds that reproductive rights extend to the "right to have children, ... yet many women with fertility issues find themselves marginalized and ignored." Women of "all classes" are affected by infertility, but in vitro treatments are "incredibly expensive and often require out of pocket payment, making it inaccessible for many women," the blog says. In addition, the blog entry says that there is "a lot about surrogacy itself that is deeply problematic." The post continues that it is "almost universally a wealthier family paying a lower-income woman for use of her body, and it's hard to argue that there isn't an element of economic coercion involved." The blog continues, "Obviously, all of the women choosing to act as surrogates aren't suffering from false consciousness; they're making rational decisions based on constrained circumstances ... But how constrained must circumstances be before we say enough?" The blog entry says that surrogacy is "exploitative on its face," but "there has to be some way to outsource pregnancy where the rights and interest of all parties are protected." The blog also discusses reaction to the photographs that accompanied the Times Magazine article -- which juxtapose "the clear class distinctions" between Kuczynski and the surrogate -- and readers' comments on Kuczynski's choice to use a surrogate (Feministe, 12/8).

~ "Deciding the Fate of Frozen Embryos," Tara Parker-Pope, New York Times' Well blog: The "chance to become biological parents" through in vitro fertilization has been "given to countless couples, rendered infertile by cancer, illness or nature," but "many of them remain torn over the fate of frozen embryos that they no longer need," Parker-Pope writes in a post on a recent Times article on embryo donation. She adds that "many people who are done having children are finding it harder than they ever expected to decide the fate of those embryos." The Times article examined results of a survey that found many fertility patients were dissatisfied with the most common options for frozen embryos that they did not plan to use. Parker-Pope invites readers to discuss the article, asking, "Have you considered or opted for in-vitro fertilization? What decision did you make about how to dispose of unneeded frozen embryos?" (Parker-Pope, New York Times' Well blog, 12/8).

~ "Two Pro-Life Wins in Louisiana Over the Weekend," Karen Cross and Tim Wymore, National Right to Life blog: "Between the contested Minnesota senate race and the two Louisiana house races, pro-life citizens have had good reason to pay attention to politics well into December," Cross and Wymore write in a blog entry. According to the blog, abortion-rights opponent Anh "Joseph" Cao (R) defeated Louisiana 2nd district incumbent Rep. William Jefferson (D) -- who supports abortion rights -- by 49.6% to 46.8%. In addition, abortion-rights opponent John Fleming (R) defeated Paul Carmouche (D) by 48% to 47.7% for the 4th district congressional seat. The Minnesota Senate race between abortion-rights supporter Al Franken (D) and abortion-rights opponent Sen. Norm Coleman (R) is not finalized with one tally indicating Coleman as the winner, according to Cross and Wymore. However, Cross and Wymore write that the "margin has ebbed and flowed on almost daily ballots as the two campaigns jostle over allegedly 'missing' ballots and challenges to individual ballots." Cross and Wymore conclude that if Coleman wins, he "will be another valuable pro-life vote in the Senate, which has already lost several pro-life members this year. His victory, along with that of pro-life Georgia Sen. [Saxby] Chambliss (R) last week, Cao's and Fleming's, would make a welcome ending to a long election year" (Cross/Wymore, National Right to Life blog, 12/8).

Reprinted with kind permission from nationalpartnership. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

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