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My Support for Women's Issues
and Reproductive Rights
Right to choose:
I believe women have the right to obtain a
medically safe, legal abortion under the standards set forth by the U.S.
Supreme Court in the Roe v. Wade decision. Women must
continue to have the right to balance personal, spiritual, family,
medical and other factors in making this very difficult, and very
private decision. Planned Parenthood:
Planned Parenthood health centers provide services and counseling to
nearly 5 million Americans. Through important federal programs Planned
Parenthood provides services to low-income clients, including
contraceptive services, cancer screening, and the testing and treatment
of sexually transmitted diseases. These funds do not pay for abortions.
Some people wish to stop public funding of Planned Parenthood because it
sometimes uses its own privately raised funds to provide abortion
services and advocate for changes in abortion laws. I support continued
public funding for Planned Parenthood's services. Insurance
Coverage for Contraceptives:
Nearly half of all pregnancies in the United States are unintended, and
nearly half of those unintended pregnancies end in abortion.
Contraceptives have a proven track record of enhancing the health of
women and children, preventing unintended pregnancy, and reducing the
need for abortion. Although contraception is basic health care for
women, many insurance policies exclude this vital coverage. I support
requiring insurers to cover all FDA approved prescription contraceptives
in the same way they cover other prescription drugs. Funding
for Family Planning:
Each year more than 4 million low-income women receive family planning
services from clinics that receive funding from federal programs such as
Title X (ten). These services fill an unmet need for women who often
have inadequate or no health insurance. Services offered at these
clinics include: contraceptive services; family planning counseling;
pelvic and breast exams; screening for anemia, diabetes, and high blood
pressure; testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases; safer
sex counseling; basic infertility screening; and referrals to
specialized health care. Every year demand increases for these services,
yet spending on them has remained static or decreased. I support an
increase in spending for family planning services. International
Family Planning:
Currently an estimated 350 million couples worldwide lack access to a
modern range of contraception. The US government helps fund
international family planning services administered through USAID (U.S.
Agency for International Development) and UNFP (United Nations
Population Fund). I support an increase in federal funds for these
programs. Oppose the Global Gag Rule:
The global gag rule is intended to force foreign non-governmental
organizations to renounce abortion-related activities (providing
abortions with their own funds or speaking publicly about their
country's abortion laws) as a condition of receiving US family planning
funds. Even though no taxpayer funds are used to perform abortions, the
gag rule would force organizations to stay silent on the subject of
abortion if they want to continue to receive funding for vital family
planning services. I believe this jeopardizes men and women's health and
infringes on free speech and for these reasons I oppose the global gag
rule. Responsible Sex Education:
Despite the fact that 70% of Americans support responsible,
age-appropriate, medically accurate sex education, Congress has
allocated millions of dollars for abstinence-only sex education, which
excludes any mention of contraception, family planning or disease
prevention. I support the teaching of responsible age-appropriate,
medically accurate sex education, including information about both
abstinence and contraception, in public schools. Emergency
Contraception:
In 1998, the FDA approved the first packaging of emergency
contraception, also known as "the morning after pill."
Emergency contraception is a high dose combination of oral
contraceptives that if taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex, can
safely prevent a pregnancy from occurring. I support efforts to increase
access to emergency contraception. Attempts
to Weaken Roe v. Wade:
Certain groups have tried to erode the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade
decision by trying to ban specific abortion procedures. One such attempt
was the campaign to ban the so-called "partial birth" abortion
procedure. I support a woman's right to choose the abortion method most
likely to preserve her health, in consultation with her physician and
family, and free from government interference? Confidential
Health Service:
I believe that minors, as well as adults, should have confidential
access to reproductive health service, including family planning,
disease prevention, and abortion. While I fully support encouraging
minors to discuss these matters within their families, I will vote
against government mandated parental involvement in a minor's
reproductive health care. Clinic
Violence:
In recent years, a campaign of violence,
intimidation, and harassment has been waged against reproductive health
providers, patients, and their families. I support the enactment and
enforcement of laws that help prevent violence, intimidation and
harassment directed at reproductive health providers and their patients,
while believing that the federal government should defer to states in accomplishing this. Abortion
Access:
Congress has used its funding powers to single out certain classes of
women (low-income women, federal employees, military personnel serving
overseas, residents of the District of Columbia and women in federal
prisons) and restrict their access to legal abortions because their
health care is funded in part by the federal government. I would support
access to abortion services by voting against such restrictions. Note:
Facts related to the above positions are available at Planned Parenthood
on their web-site at http://www.plannedparenthoodvotes.com
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