NEWSWOMEN'S HEALTH

The Milwaukee area has two hospitals that provide services for sexual assault victims. If you are unfortunate enough to go to one of the hospitals that does not provide that service, you will be sent away. Or worse, you may wait. Perhaps you will wait for over an hour before leaving, angry and frustrated -- not knowing that after such a long wait, when someone finally came to see you, you would have been sent away anyway. This was my story. This story was in many ways why the SlutWalk movement appealed to me, why I began SlutWalk Milwaukee, and why I am pushing a Change.org petition to fix this situation; a petition that most are shocked to sign because most believe that they, or their daughters, their mothers, their friends, would be treated at any medical center were they the victim of a sexual assault.

A few years ago, I was working with a group of underprivileged youth. Many of the girls in this program had a history that included sexual violence. Some believe this to be the product of poverty. It is not. That these girls shared their stories with me was based on my position, but high school classrooms all over the United States have the same issue. One in four girls will be sexually assaulted before the age of 18. During my time at this program, one of the girls came to me to say that she had been raped the day before. I did what I thought was the most responsible thing to do: I immediately drove her to the nearest medical center. We were sent away. This was a small clinic that did not have the resources to aid a sexual assault victim. Before we were sent away, a nurse thought it would be a good idea to talk to us anyway. She asked a teenage victim of sexual assault very intimate and personal questions about her body, and then when she giggled out of nervousness, the nurse told her that it didn't sound to her as though she had been raped.

Once we left, we were told to go to the city, where a hospital there could care for us. And that is where my story started. Waiting in an emergency room with a teenage girl who became more agitated with every minute that were not seen, until she eventually begged me to leave.

The entire time we attempted to get services, she attempted to explain herself. She wanted me to know that she didn't "ask for it." She wanted to me know that she was sorry. She wanted to convince that she was "not a slut." Those were her words. She asked me to forgive her for being raped.

Somer Leon decided that she didn't want one more San Francisco woman tricked by crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs). With her volunteer group, the Bay Area Coalition for Our Reproductive Rights, Leon launched a campaign on Change.org, calling for truth-in-advertising legislation that would bar these "fake clinics" from claiming non-existent services. The bill passed the local Board of Supervisors with overwhelming support on Tuesday, with Leon's petition credited for demonstrating support for the bill.

Thousands of CPCs exist nationwide, and the majority -- 87%, according to a Congressional report -- mislead or lie to patients. These ideological fake clinics lure in pregnant women with false advertising about offering comprehensive reproductive health care, only to pursue a conservative religious agenda. They lack trained medical personnel, don't provide advertised services, and deceive patients with fabrications about abortion leading to breast cancer, mental illness, and infertility. Many resort to shaming tactics and pressure women to "accept Jesus"; some go as far as telling a patient she's not pregnant in order to keep her from considering abortion, which can pose a serious health risk.

Similar legislation has already passed in New York City, Baltimore, and Austin. What can you do to make sure that women in your hometown won't get tricked by crisis pregnancy centers?

Last month, we asked you to take action for no co-pay birth control coverage, as part of a National Women's Law Center and Planned Parenthood blog carnival putting pressure on Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Now, we can announce that these efforts from Change.org members and across the blogosphere have paid off: yesterday, HHS made the long-awaited and very welcome announcement that birth control will now be entirely covered for women with insurance.

This victory was won by pressure from many organizations and individuals across the country, including petitions on Change.org from CREDO Action and member Augusta Christensen, with thousands pressuring Secretary Sebelius to protect women's health. This change will significantly increase women's contraceptive access and ability to prevent unplanned pregnancy. Even better, not only is contraception fully covered, other women's preventative health services and breastfeeding expenses are now co-pay free as well.

Unfortunately, not all women will reap the benefits of this decision. In fact, for uninsured women who already struggle the most with access to contraception and health services, it doesn't do them much good at all.

With the help of 1600 Change.org members, an Illinois bill that would revoke the medical license of a convicted sex offender has passed the state legislature. Just one thing stands between it and becoming law: the signature of Gov. Pat Quinn.

It seems like quite the no-brainer -- who wants to be the guy that says: "Rapists as doctors? That seems a-okay to me!" But, unfortunately, we can't rely on something seeming like a no-brainer.

After all, the Chicago Tribune investigation that sparked this legislation revealed that certain decision-makers don't think sexually assaulting patients is that big a deal. The Department of Financial and Professional Regulation allowed a gynecologist to rape or sexually assault multiple patients before finally getting around to disciplinary action years later. The judge, who agreed the doctor has sexually assault or harassed at least three women, felt all that warranted was a nine-month suspension. Then good ol' Doc Smith could get back to professionally poking around in women's vaginas. Shudder.

When Holly Yeager got the news that she was expecting her third child, she wanted to make sure that she could have the same incredible, safe birthing experience that she had with her first two babies. So, Holly contacted her new insurance company, Geisinger Choice, to find out if her midwives were covered by her plan. Geisinger Choice said yes, so Holly proceeded as planned with her pregnancy plans. Unfortunately for her, things were about to get very complicated.

At Holly's initial appointment at her preferred midwife practice, Birth Care and Family Health Services in Bart, Pennsylvania, she was asked about her wishes regarding where she'd like to give birth. She indicated that she'd prefer a home birth, but was willing to compromise and deliver at the birthing center, depending on what her insurance carrier allowed. Three days later, Holly received a letter from Geisinger Choice denying coverage for both options.

So, why would an insurance company who previously stated in covered care by midwives deny Holly these options? A call to the customer service department netted this response: while midwives as individual practitioners are covered, the actual spaces where they do their work (homes, birthing centers, etc) are not. The director of Birth Care and Family Health Services has been trying for years to get someone from Geisinger Choice to meet with her and visit the center without luck.

Reproductive rights are under attack in Louisiana.

State Rep. John LaBruzzo recently introduced a bill in the Louisiana House that would have criminalized abortions, even in cases of rape and incest. For the time being, the House has decided not to vote on the matter because federal law mandates that rape and incest victims have the right to obtain abortions. Since defying the Hyde Amendment could result in Louisiana losing $4.5 billion in Medicaid funding, the House moved Bill 645 to the Appropriations Committee for further study. While that constitutes a minor victory for pro-choice advocates, the words LaBruzzo used to defend the bill continue to shock.

When a female legislator questioned Labruzzo about how effective the bill would be in reducing the abortion rate during a recent committee hearing, LaBruzzo proceeded to compare women seeking abortions to drug addicts.

“We’ve illegalized murder and drugs for a long, long time, and yet those crimes continue to take place,” LaBruzzo said. “And it’s not our stance here to say that ‘just because people smoke pot and break the law or use heroin and break the law, then we should legalize it.’"

It may be one of the most absurd policies my home state has ever come up with: using carrying condoms as evidence for arrest and prosecution for intent to commit prostitution. It's simultaneously wildly offensive to individuals who opt to be prepared to engage in safe sex and a severe public health danger -- in a city that distributes free condoms to combat sky-high rates of HIV, no less, which makes it doubly ridiculous.

The New York State Legislature is considering doing something about this, with a bill sponsored by Sen. Velmanette Montgomery that would prohibit law enforcement from using condom possession as grounds for arrest and prosecution. Unfortunately, it's been considering doing something about this ludicrous situation for years, with a version of the bill introduced and doomed to die on a regular basis. But this year is the year to change all that, right? And New York City Council Member Jessica Lappin is getting on board with a proposed resolution in support of the No Condoms as Evidence Bill.

Bei Bei Shuai currently languishes in jail without the opportunity to even post bail. Her crime? Being deeply depressed and attempting to commit suicide.

But for anti-choicers in Indiana, where Shaui lives, what's important isn't this woman's mental or physical health. They're not disturbed that Shaui found herself so unable to cope with life that she swallowed rat poison, a slow and agonizing way of dying, or looking to help her get better since she survived after the intervention of friends. No, instead they want to toss in jail. Because Bei Bei Shaui was pregnant at the time, and after the failed suicide attempt, a c-section was performed on her -- and a few days later, the premature baby delivered died.

As Robin Marty writes on RH Reality Check, in arresting and charging Shaui, "the state has just declared that any pregnant woman who is hurt in any way that could be seen as self-inflicted could be charge as a potential self-aborter and murderer." Obviously, charging a pregnant woman with murder for either a self-induced miscarriage or premature delivery sets a dangerous precedent for women's bodily rights.

Of course, there's no evidence that we've seen that Shaui's desire was to self-induce an abortion -- the evidence perhaps only exists in the minds of anti-choice prosecutors. (Not that this should really matter, since, again, a woman's body should still be her own.) The willingness to set such a precedent shows a callous disregard for individuals suffering from a mental condition. This is a tragic story, but Shaui certainly isn't getting the help she needs while locked in jail, either for the initial depression or grief over the death of her prematurely delivered baby. And the I wonder where the justification for refusing bail lies -- this disturbed woman hardly poses a danger to society. She wasn't looking to harm anybody else, only, sadly, herself.

Last month, a midwife in North Carolina was arrested for doing her job. Amy Medwin, a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) licensed in the state of Virginia, had been attending home births in North Carolina and the state was having none of it. They brought her up on charges of practicing midwifery without a license. A charge that might make more sense if North Carolina if the state in fact actually offered professional licensure for midwives, but it doesn't.

Apparently, the North Carolina government doesn't want its women having home births. Why they think it is the lawmaker's job to choose individual women's birthing experience is beyond me. Unfortunately, it isn't the only state that feels that way. Fourteen states currently fail to recognize CPMs.

Today, March 11th, is the National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers. Despite threats of violence by anti-choice extremists and the cold-blooded murder of Dr. George Tiller, these brave individuals put themselves at risk to protect a woman's health and her right to make decisions about her own body. To say, hey, thank you, sincerely, you can take a stand for women and pro-choice doctors by standing up against concerted attacks on vital funding.

As I wrote last month, House Republicans have taken aim at family planning in order to strip Planned Parenthood of its funding. Never mind that the majority of services provided by Planned Parenthood are things such as HIV testing, birth control, and cancer screenings. Members of Congress opposed to women's bodily integrity believe the simple fact that an organization provides abortions amongst its many offering means that it should be ground into the dirt. (On the state level, a bill introduced just yesterday in Kansas would strip the nonprofit status of any medical facility that opted to provide abortions, a shocking new form of attack.)

To their everlasting credit, Planned Parenthood stays strong and continues to offer all comprehensive reproductive health services, from prenatal care to adoption counseling to abortion procedures. But they need your help. The Senate has rejected the House's decision to strip Planned Parenthood of funding, which means the two bodies of Congress will have to hash out their differences. Your voice asking Congress to stop efforts to eliminate family planning funding could tip things in the right direction.