csmonitor.com
WASHINGTON - Behind the ever-boiling battle over abortion in America sits a quieter but still central issue: access to contraception. And the news there may be surprising.
In a report released Tuesday, the New York-based Guttmacher Institute ranked all 50 states in their efforts to reduce unintended pregnancy and found a diverse collection of states at the top. California ranked first and New York ranked fifth, a result that may seem predictable, given both states' liberal orientations toward social issues. But between them in the highest rankings sit three conservative states - Alaska, South Carolina, and Alabama.
The reason, says the report's author, is that these states are acutely aware of the relationship between unintended pregnancy and dependence on welfare, and they see the economic and social benefit in helping women avoid unintended pregnancy. In turn, that helps women avoid the abortion question altogether.
"What you see in these results is that helping women avoid unintended pregnancy is not just a blue-state issue," says author Cynthia Dailard, a policy analyst at Guttmacher. The institute was at one time affiliated with Planned Parenthood, but is no longer.
"Alaska, Alabama, and South Carolina scored very high, even though we think of them as having an anti-abortion environment," says Ms. Dailard. "But they've really stepped up to the plate in terms of making family-planning services available, particularly to low-income women."
All 50 states and the District of Columbia were rated on three criteria: service availability, laws and policies, and public funding.
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Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Thursday, February 23, 2006
South Dakota Senate OKs Bill to Outlaw Abortion
Los Angeles Times
"PIERRE, S.D. — Legislation meant to prompt a national legal battle targeting Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion nationwide, was approved Wednesday by the South Dakota Senate, moving the bill a step closer to final passage.
The measure, which would ban nearly all abortions in the state, now returns to the House, which passed a different version earlier. The House must decide whether to accept changes made by the Senate, which passed its version 23-12. "
...
"PIERRE, S.D. — Legislation meant to prompt a national legal battle targeting Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion nationwide, was approved Wednesday by the South Dakota Senate, moving the bill a step closer to final passage.
The measure, which would ban nearly all abortions in the state, now returns to the House, which passed a different version earlier. The House must decide whether to accept changes made by the Senate, which passed its version 23-12. "
...
Sunday, February 19, 2006
American Psychological Association Criticized for Pro-Abortion Position
LifeNews.com
by Steven Ertelt
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The American Psychological Association is coming under fire for continuing its long-standing position in favor of abortion despite new studies showing abortion causes a host of psychological and emotional problems for women.
The APA adopted a pro-abortion position in 1969, but it was not based on any research showing abortion to be psychologically beneficial for women.
Dr. David Reardon of the Illinois-based Elliot Institute, which examines the effects abortion has on women, says the organization should re-evaluate its position in light of a new study linking abortion to mental illness.
New Zealand researchers tracked 25 years of worth of data on women drawn from one of the largest and most comprehensive longitudinal studies in the world. Led by Prof. David M. Fergusson, who backs legal abortion, the team expected their study to refute others linking abortion to higher rates of mental health problems.
Instead, the team found abortion was clearly linked to elevated rates of depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and suicidal behavior.
Reardon says the findings so surprised Fergusson's team that they began reviewing studies cited by the APA in its claims that abortion is beneficial, or at least non-harmful, to women's mental health.
They found that the APA's claims were based on a small number of studies that had severe shortcomings and that the organization is ignoring a number of newer studies showing abortion adversely affects women.
The criticism of the APA has led psychologist and newspaper columnist Warren Throckmorton, in a Washington Times column, to call on the APA to address Fergusson's criticisms. According to Reardon, he was referred to Nancy Felipe Russo, a researcher who speaks for the APA on women's issues.
However, Russo, professor in psychology at Arizona State University, is an abortion advocate who tries to use her position in APA to refute pro-life assertions that abortions hurt women.
Russo participated with an APA group in February 2003 in putting together a web site designed to "correct inaccurate information about" abortion put out by pro-life groups.
Russo and two psychology professors co-chaired the panel charged with creating the web site.
In an interview with the APA's news publication, Russo discounted assertions by pro-life researchers that women who have abortions can suffer from post-abortion syndrome.
"Anti-abortion advocates allege that post-abortion syndrome is a type of post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD], though no scientific basis exists for applying a PTSD framework to understanding women's emotional responses to a voluntarily obtained legal abortion," Russo claimed.
When Throckmorton asked Russo to comment on the New Zealand study and the APA criticisms, she indicated the group developed its position on abortion based on ideological and not scientific reasons.
She told Throckmorton the study would not alter APA's pro-abortion position because "to pro-choice advocates, mental health effects are not relevant to the legal context of arguments to restrict access to abortion."
Throckmorton sent a rough draft of his article to Dr. Reardon for comment and Russo was quoted more bluntly saying "it doesn't matter what the evidence says." Reardon says that comment was stricken before the Times article was published.
According to Reardon, an author of several of the studies on abortion that have been ignored by the APA, Russo's statements "confirm the complaint of critics that the APA's briefs to the Supreme Court and state legislatures are really about promoting a view about civil rights, not science."
"Toward this end, the APA has set up task forces and divisions that include only psychologists who share the same bias in favor of abortion," he explained.
Reardon believes the APA's task forces on abortion have actually served to stifle rather than encourage research.
"When researchers like Fergusson or myself publish data showing abortion is linked to mental health problems, members of the APA's abortion policy police rush forward to tell the public to ignore our findings because they are completely out of line with their own 'consensus' statements which are positioned as the APA's official interpretation of the meaningful research on abortion," he said.
by Steven Ertelt
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The American Psychological Association is coming under fire for continuing its long-standing position in favor of abortion despite new studies showing abortion causes a host of psychological and emotional problems for women.
The APA adopted a pro-abortion position in 1969, but it was not based on any research showing abortion to be psychologically beneficial for women.
Dr. David Reardon of the Illinois-based Elliot Institute, which examines the effects abortion has on women, says the organization should re-evaluate its position in light of a new study linking abortion to mental illness.
New Zealand researchers tracked 25 years of worth of data on women drawn from one of the largest and most comprehensive longitudinal studies in the world. Led by Prof. David M. Fergusson, who backs legal abortion, the team expected their study to refute others linking abortion to higher rates of mental health problems.
Instead, the team found abortion was clearly linked to elevated rates of depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and suicidal behavior.
Reardon says the findings so surprised Fergusson's team that they began reviewing studies cited by the APA in its claims that abortion is beneficial, or at least non-harmful, to women's mental health.
They found that the APA's claims were based on a small number of studies that had severe shortcomings and that the organization is ignoring a number of newer studies showing abortion adversely affects women.
The criticism of the APA has led psychologist and newspaper columnist Warren Throckmorton, in a Washington Times column, to call on the APA to address Fergusson's criticisms. According to Reardon, he was referred to Nancy Felipe Russo, a researcher who speaks for the APA on women's issues.
However, Russo, professor in psychology at Arizona State University, is an abortion advocate who tries to use her position in APA to refute pro-life assertions that abortions hurt women.
Russo participated with an APA group in February 2003 in putting together a web site designed to "correct inaccurate information about" abortion put out by pro-life groups.
Russo and two psychology professors co-chaired the panel charged with creating the web site.
In an interview with the APA's news publication, Russo discounted assertions by pro-life researchers that women who have abortions can suffer from post-abortion syndrome.
"Anti-abortion advocates allege that post-abortion syndrome is a type of post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD], though no scientific basis exists for applying a PTSD framework to understanding women's emotional responses to a voluntarily obtained legal abortion," Russo claimed.
When Throckmorton asked Russo to comment on the New Zealand study and the APA criticisms, she indicated the group developed its position on abortion based on ideological and not scientific reasons.
She told Throckmorton the study would not alter APA's pro-abortion position because "to pro-choice advocates, mental health effects are not relevant to the legal context of arguments to restrict access to abortion."
Throckmorton sent a rough draft of his article to Dr. Reardon for comment and Russo was quoted more bluntly saying "it doesn't matter what the evidence says." Reardon says that comment was stricken before the Times article was published.
According to Reardon, an author of several of the studies on abortion that have been ignored by the APA, Russo's statements "confirm the complaint of critics that the APA's briefs to the Supreme Court and state legislatures are really about promoting a view about civil rights, not science."
"Toward this end, the APA has set up task forces and divisions that include only psychologists who share the same bias in favor of abortion," he explained.
Reardon believes the APA's task forces on abortion have actually served to stifle rather than encourage research.
"When researchers like Fergusson or myself publish data showing abortion is linked to mental health problems, members of the APA's abortion policy police rush forward to tell the public to ignore our findings because they are completely out of line with their own 'consensus' statements which are positioned as the APA's official interpretation of the meaningful research on abortion," he said.
Friday, February 03, 2006
Appeals courts: Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act unconstitutional
Newsday.com
"The appeals courts said the measure lacks an exception for cases that threaten a woman's health. "
...
"The appeals courts said the measure lacks an exception for cases that threaten a woman's health. "
...
Democratic '95-10 Initiative' seeks to reduce U.S. abortion rate
National Catholic Reporter
"The message delivered by the estimated 100,000-plus antiabortion protesters who gathered here Jan. 23 for the 33rd annual “March for Life” was clear: Overturn Roe v. Wade.
“By changing laws we can change our culture,” President Bush, speaking by telephone hookup from Kansas, told the marchers. “This is a cause that appeals to the conscience of our citizens, and is rooted in America’s deepest principles – and history tells us that with such a cause, we will prevail,” said Bush.
The marchers gathered the day before the full Senate took up the nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. And though the replacement of swing-vote justice Sandra Day O’Connor with Bush-nominee Alito would leave the court with a 5-4 pro-Roe majority, even if the new justice was inclined to overturn the 1973 decision (a pledge he refused to make at his Senate confirmation hearings), his accession to the high court presents the pro-life forces with an opportunity.
Kristen Day, a former Congressional chief of staff who now heads Democrats for Life, was among the antiabortion marchers. She, too, would like to see Roe reversed, but her short-term goals are focused on another opportunity. Working with pro-life Democrats in both the House and Senate, Democrats for Life is spearheading an ambitious initiative that avoids discussion of Roe as it seeks a 95 percent reduction in the abortion rate over the next decade."
...
Bipartisan answers
The Phoenix Online
"This past week in The New York Times science section, I found an interesting confirmation of a partially-formed idea in the back of my mind: “Liberals and conservatives can become equally bug-eyed and irrational when talking politics, especially when they are on the defensive…. The process [of digesting criticisms about one’s candidate] is almost entirely emotional and unconscious, the researchers report, and there are flares of activity in the brain’s pleasure centers when unwelcome information is being rejected.” It appears that try as we might to remain purely reasonable in politics and debate, we are working against a natural inclination to which we succumb more often than we notice. Our passions sway us and can blind us to the other side of the argument.
I first experienced this phenomenon with the ever-touchy issue of abortion. I remember my mother describing what happens to a fetus during an abortion, and the image infuriates me to this day. I was then and remain staunchly against abortion. For many years, I could not understand how sane, ethical human beings could think otherwise. In high school, though, I encountered a girl who had just finished some reading for a class she had that was discussing abortion. She had seen a picture of the victim of a botched back-alley abortion, and the image she saw angered her as much as the one I had heard from my mother angered me. Since then, I have come to realize that that though I still oppose it strongly, abortion is not as black and white as I once thought it to be."
...
"This past week in The New York Times science section, I found an interesting confirmation of a partially-formed idea in the back of my mind: “Liberals and conservatives can become equally bug-eyed and irrational when talking politics, especially when they are on the defensive…. The process [of digesting criticisms about one’s candidate] is almost entirely emotional and unconscious, the researchers report, and there are flares of activity in the brain’s pleasure centers when unwelcome information is being rejected.” It appears that try as we might to remain purely reasonable in politics and debate, we are working against a natural inclination to which we succumb more often than we notice. Our passions sway us and can blind us to the other side of the argument.
I first experienced this phenomenon with the ever-touchy issue of abortion. I remember my mother describing what happens to a fetus during an abortion, and the image infuriates me to this day. I was then and remain staunchly against abortion. For many years, I could not understand how sane, ethical human beings could think otherwise. In high school, though, I encountered a girl who had just finished some reading for a class she had that was discussing abortion. She had seen a picture of the victim of a botched back-alley abortion, and the image she saw angered her as much as the one I had heard from my mother angered me. Since then, I have come to realize that that though I still oppose it strongly, abortion is not as black and white as I once thought it to be."
...
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