Tag Archives: planned-parenthood

Elizabeth Warren Slams Republicans for Bill to Defund Planned Parenthood

by ValenciaBrenner Posted on August 3, 2015

Mother Jones

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As the Senate convened on Monday to vote on a bill seeking to defund Planned Parenthood, Sen. Elizabeth Warren took the floor to issue a fierce defense of the health organization.

“Do you have any idea what year it is?” Warren asked. “Did you fall down, hit your head, and think you woke up in the 1950’s or the 1890’s? Should we call for a doctor? Because I simply cannot believe that in the year 2015, the United States Senate would be spending its time trying to defund women’s health care centers. You know, on second thought, maybe I shouldn’t be that surprised. The Republicans have had a plan for years to strip away women’s rights to make choices over our own bodies. Just look at the recent facts.”

The Massachusetts senator continued her impassioned speech and listed examples of Republican-lead efforts to gut health care services to women over the years, including the recent budget proposal that includes a measure to remove federal funding for family planning providers.

The most recent call to gut federal spending on Planned Parenthood was sparked by several videos secretly recorded by a sting mission that appeared to capture top officials from the organization discussing the sale of fetal tissues. Following the public release of the videos, Planned Parenthood was hit by two cyber-attacks—one aimed at its website and another claiming to have hacked into the organization’s databases and employee information.

The group, which now receives $528 million in federal funding (or 41 percent of its annual budget), also provides contraception to almost 40 percent of women who rely on public programs for family planning.

The videos have already moved Congress to launch two probes into the organization’s activities. Eight Republican governors—including several who are running for president—have opened parallel investigations. Many Republican senators—including several who are running for president—have vowed to strip Planned Parenthood of its hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding.

While its opponents tried to brand Planned Parenthood as an abortion mill, the group has stressed that abortions make up only 3 percent of its services, and STI screenings, Pap tests, and pregnancy prevention comprise the vast majority of its activities.

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Elizabeth Warren Slams Republicans for Bill to Defund Planned Parenthood

Posted in Anchor, Cyber, FF, GE, LAI, LG, ONA, Radius, Uncategorized, Venta | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Elizabeth Warren Slams Republicans for Bill to Defund Planned Parenthood

Tell women about birth control that works — and they’ll choose birth control that works

by ValerieWindham Posted on June 17, 2015

Tell women about birth control that works — and they’ll choose birth control that works

By on 17 Jun 2015commentsShare

Straight from the “no shit” department: Counseling clients at family planning clinics about the proven effectiveness of contraceptive methods results in more clients choosing more effective methods, and in turn, reducing unintended pregnancy. Fancy that!

A study published today in The Lancet shows what happens when you provide training on effectiveness-based contraception counseling — which includes discussion of long-acting reversible contraceptives such as the IUD and hormonal implant, the most effective forms of birth control — to 20 Planned Parenthood clinics. After monitoring these clinics (and another 20 that did not receive the training), the study authors found a significant difference in contraception choices made.

From The Atlantic:

The results were striking: 71 percent of the providers who received the training discussed IUDs and implants with their patients, but just 39 percent of those in the control group did so.

In the intervention group, 28 percent of women ended up choosing IUDs or implants, compared with 17 percent in the control group. Among women who had gone to the Planned Parenthood for family-planning services, the effectiveness counseling reduced the rate of unintended pregnancies by half over the course of a year.

So — talk to women about birth control based on what actually, really, truly works, and they will choose birth control that actually, really, truly keeps them from getting pregnant when they don’t want to be.

The next step, obviously, is making said birth control more accessible. Baby steps — or should we say, no-baby steps.

Source:
An IUD in Every Uterus

, The Atlantic.

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Tell women about birth control that works — and they’ll choose birth control that works

Posted in alo, Anchor, FF, GE, LAI, ONA, oven, Radius, solar, The Atlantic, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Tell women about birth control that works — and they’ll choose birth control that works

Are the Director and Star of "Obvious Child" Concerned About Anti-Abortion Backlash?

by HannaDabney Posted on June 12, 2014

Mother Jones

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Obvious Child is being widely described as an “abortion comedy“—a catchy, if inadequate, designation. The movie (directed and co-written by Gillian Robespierre, and starring Saturday Night Live alum Jenny Slate) does involve abortion and funny jokes, many of which are about abortion and farting, among other topics. But Obvious Child is much more than the “abortion comedy” designation might lead you to believe.

“We were confident that our take on this story was thoughtful, and heartfelt, and that the comedy was funny and not for shock value,” Slate tells Mother Jones.

The film follows New York-based comedian Donna Stern (played by Slate) who, after losing both her day job and her unfaithful boyfriend, engages in what she thinks is just a one-night stand—which leads to an unwanted pregnancy. She decides to have an abortion at Planned Parenthood, and she schedules it for Valentine’s Day. The result is a witty, honest, and affecting romantic comedy that addresses a charged issue with unexpected clarity. The Huffington Post called it, “the year’s most revolutionary film.”

Obvious Child does not push a political agenda, but there is little chance of that stopping anyone who is paid to be upset by this sort of thing from, well, being upset by it. “Has Hollywood hit a new low?” the Daily Caller asked. “Here’s a new oxymoron, even for the liberal media: abortion comedy,” NewsBusters decried. “Apparently nothing sounds funnier than an unplanned one-night stand and a courageous destruction of God’s most beautiful and most innocent creation,” Brent Bozell wrote at Townhall.com.

The film premiered in New York last week, and is getting a slow theatrical roll-out elsewhere starting this Friday. As it garners more attention, it’ll likely piss off more people. Fortunately, this doesn’t seem to be much of a concern for Robespierre or Slate. “Whatever other conversation occurs, we’re really excited,” Robespierre says. “Conservatives bashing Obvious Child haven’t seen the movie; they’re basing it on articles and trailers.”

“You know, we just set out to make this story. We weren’t thinking about anything but making this story,” Slate says. When I asked them if they were looking forward to the moment when Rush Limbaugh gets ahold of the movie, Slate replied, “We’re looking forward to people seeing our movie, and enjoying it.”

On the other side of the reproductive-rights debate, people are certainly enjoying, and endorsing, the film. “Honest portrayals about abortion in film and television are extremely rare, and that’s part of a much bigger lack of honest depictions of women’s lives, health, and sexuality,” Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement. “This film is a major breakthrough—not just because it shows a woman deciding to have an abortion but because it shows her as a full and complete person making the serious decision to end a pregnancy and still having a full and fun life.”

Planned Parenthood also consulted on the development and production of Obvious Child, vetting the script and allowing them to shoot in a clinic in New Rochelle, New York. “They were so supportive, a real friend of the film,” Robespierre says. “They read a draft of the script, they loved it, and they were so enthusiastic that we were making a movie that sort of takes away the stigma of the choice. The character is not hard on herself, and she’s not ashamed, and not judgmental. And it’s a positive, safe procedure.” Planned Parenthood then offered a few notes on the screenplay (what a nurse at one of their clinics would say to a patient, for instance). A few Planned Parenthood employees can be seen in the film as extras. “They were big fans of Jenny,” Robespierre recalls.

Robespierre became a big fan of Jenny after she saw her perform stand-up in Brooklyn in 2009, at a bar behind a record store. “We finished the script but hadn’t cast the role of Donna yet, and there she was, blowing us away with this confessional style of comedy,” Robespierre says. “She was talking about when she was a little girl she would hump furniture in her house.” The pair then made a 2009 short film, also called Obvious Child, which then became the feature they’re promoting today.

“We don’t describe our film as an ‘abortion comedy’; I don’t think that’s a thing, you know?” Slate says. “I understand that it’s something that might draw readers. But for us, it’s the funny, and heartwarming, and new story of one woman at this time in her life.”

“Yeah, we don’t like boring shit,” Slate continues, summing things up.

“Yeah, fuck that!” Robespierre says.

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Are the Director and Star of "Obvious Child" Concerned About Anti-Abortion Backlash?

Posted in Anchor, FF, GE, LG, ONA, PUR, Radius, Uncategorized, Venta | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Are the Director and Star of "Obvious Child" Concerned About Anti-Abortion Backlash?