Roundup: Study Finds Initial Success for Microbicide

Study shows initial success for microbicide; Maine bill would require parental involvement in teen contraceptive use; Facebook group fights immigrant HPV vaccine requirement; roundup of states considering ultrasound legislation; libertarians against FOCA?; Glamour magazine examines women's abortion experiences; Catholic bishops out of touch on FOCA, abortion.

Microbicides Study Shows Initial Success in Preventing HIV Transmission

A study of a microbicide formulated by Invedus Pharmaceuticals showed initial success in blocking HIV transmission, the first time a microbicide has been found to be successful, Reuters reports.  "Dr. Salim Abdool Karim of the Center for the AIDS Program of Research
in South Africa and colleagues said the trial of 3,000 women showed the
gel may have protected 30 percent of the women from infection."

Bill to Require Parental Notification of Prescriptions for Teens Would Be Harmful to Teen Health
A Maine bill to require parental involvement in teens accessing birth
control and emergency contraception would be "disastrous" for teens and
the rate of teen pregnancy, argues Lisa Haberzetti on The Maine Campus: "If this bill is passed, it would be disastrous for the health and
lives of many of Maine’s youth. In a recent survey, 45 percent of Maine
high school students admitted to having sex. In another survey by the
Maine Center for Disease Control, nearly half of sexually active
teenage girls reported using prescription contraceptives for birth
control. Yet, when polled, 80 percent of teen girls reported that they
would not look for reproductive health care if their parents had to be
involved."

Facebook Group Fights Immigrant HPV Vaccine Requirement
A new Facebook group is promoting the National Asian-Pacific American
Women’s Forum petition against the HPV vaccine requirement for
immigrants seeking adjustment of status.  "1,000 Strong Against the Immigrant HPV Vaccine Requirement" writes,

The CDC Advisory Committee on
Immunization Practices (ACIP) in 2007 recommended that Gardasil, the
only FDA approved HPV vaccine, be administered to females ages 11 to 26
in the U.S. This recommendation became an automatic requirement for
those applying for immigrant visas or adjustment to permanent residency
status when the government updated its vaccination list in July 2008.
U.S. citizens are currently not required to receive the vaccination,
and yet it is mandatory for prospective immigrants. Although the HPV
vaccine has been deemed safe and effective by the FDA, it is not
designed to combat the types of infectious diseases that the
immigration requirements are intended to address. Moreover, the vaccine
is prohibitively expensive-costing a minimum of $360 to receive the
three-dose vaccination in addition to over $1,000 in filing fees-making
the mandate an undue financial burden for prospective immigrant women
and their families.

Roundup of States Considering Ultrasound Legislation
The Chicago Tribune offers a roundup
of the 12 states considering ultrasound legislation.  Included among
them are Indiana, where a woman "would be required to view an
ultrasound at
least 18 hours before an abortion, hear the fetal heartbeat and
receive a copy of the ultrasound image, and receive a copy of the
ultrasound image," and Nebraska:
"At least 24 hours before performing an abortion, a
doctor would be required to perform an ultrasound and display them ‘so
that the woman may choose to view the ultrasound images or
not.’ A woman could also request a medical description of the
image."

Libertarians Against FOCA?
In the Springfield, Missori, News-Leader,
Chad Livengood argues that libertarians "may play a role in helping
anti-abortion advocates stave off FOCA."  Though Vanessa Crawford,
political and field director of NARAL Pro-Choice Missouri, says that
"It wouldn’t, the day after it passed, throw every law in the
book out," Livengood argues FOCA would interfere with states’ rights. 
The Missouri state legislature is considering a "a similar
resolution urging Congress to reject FOCA, which he believes would make
abortion a fundamental right and prohibit any restrictions on the
procedure."

 

Glamour Examines Women’s Abortion Experiences

Aspen Baker blogs a Glamour magazine article about women’s abortion experiences:

 

“In the end there’s little drama to the procedure, but
that doesn’t make it a simple experience. How could it be, when
abortion inspires culture-quaking political and religious debates and
feels too charged to discuss, even woman to woman? “No one
talks about abortion on a personal level—there’s too much stigma
attached,” says Aspen Baker, the cofounder of Exhale, an after-abortion
counseling help line.” ..

“Yet in Glamour interviews, counselors, medical experts and more than
two dozen women who have had the procedure agreed that women don’t
discuss how they decided whether or not to end a pregnancy—how it felt
and how they recovered, physically and emotionally; how they look back
on their choice as time passes. The result is that millions of women
grapple alone with the decision and the emotions that come afterward.
Adamantly pro-choice women may be shocked by their own sadness about
having an abortion whereas extremely religious women may be stunned by
their sense of relief; both reactions, experts say, are normal”.

 

Catholic Bishops Out of Touch on FOCA, Abortion

On Alternet, Catholics for Choice president Jon O’Brien argues that "The [Catholic] bishops
are well aware that they are losing ground when it comes to
imposing their anti-abortion views on Catholics and society at large.
They were forced to hide the results of a poll they did by releasing
the horrifying — for them — results on Dec. 30, when few journalists
were paying attention. The results show that 9 in 10 of the nation’s
adults reject the bishops’ position on abortion."  The bisops’
"fear-mongering" around FOCA has taken a front seat to working in any
way to reduce instances of unintended pregnancy, argues O’Brien.