Category: Updates

Anti-Choicers Stop At Nothing – Fool Washington Post to Promote Their Agenda

“Anti-Abortion Sting Video Fools Washington Post, No One Else” (from Forbes.com)

“The conservative “gotcha” video* whose claims fall apart upon close inspection is fast becoming a well-established trope. So perhaps it’s a sign of learning that the latest entry in the genre, which “exposes” the lack of mammogram services at most Planned Parenthood clinics, only snookered one mainstream media outlet: the Washington Post.

The video is the work of the Live Action, an anti-abortion group that has been lobbying fervently in support of a Republican-led effort to defund Planned Parenthood. Live Action’s founder, Lila Rose, is an activist-provocateur in the mold of James O’Keefe, he of the ACORN and NPR stings.

In the video, Live Action’s agent calls various Planned Parenthood clinics and attempts to schedule a mammogram, only to be told time and again that they’re not available. “[C]ontrary to the claims of Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards and other supporters of the nation’s largest abortion chain, the organization does not provide mammograms for women,” declares the group — proof, it says, that Planned Parenthood’s claims to provide comprehensive reproductive health services are hollow.

The only problem is there doesn’t seem to be any evidence that anyone in an official capacity at Planned Parenthood has ever claimed the organization does provide mammograms at its clinics — only that it conducts breast cancer screenings and refers patients needing mammograms to facilities where they can get them.

Live Action’s video shows Richards, during an appearance on HLN’s “Joy Behar Show,” saying that a bill before congress, H.R. 1, would cause “millions of women” to lose their access to “basic family planning — you know, mammograms, cancer screenings, cervical cancer [screenings].” That’s a solid assertion: H.R. 1 would have defunded President Obama’s healthcare bill, which, among other things, provides insurance coverage for preventive care for women.

I searched through Factiva looking for examples of anyone from Planned Parenthood claiming its clinics offer mammograms and found nothing. I emailed and called Live Action to ask if it can cite any such instances; I’ve yet to hear back. So it’s a non-story: Party A proves Party B doesn’t provide thing Party B never claimed to provide. Doubtless that’s why The New York Times, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and other major outlets gave the whole thing a pass, leaving the usual right-wing outlets — Fox News’s Sean Hannity, the Washington Times, etc. — to crow about it to each other, and the liberal watchdog group Media Matters to pick it apart.

Yet somehow the Washington Post got pulled in sans skepticism, running a story on page A4 headlined “Planned Parenthood Challenged on Purported Mammogram Claim.” What, you may wonder, is a “purported” claim? Surely in this era of 360 degree media, any claim made in public must yield a digital paper trail? Why not, then, save the reader the work of figuring out whether that “purported” claim was ever made, and save the copy desk the extra headline space?

I asked the Post’s reporter, Rob Stein, those questions and whether, in effect, he’d been duped into treating a lazy piece of propaganda as news. “I’d prefer to let the story speak for itself,” he told me.

If only it did.”

Top 3 Reasons To Demand Rep Nan Hayworth Recuse Herself!

Rep Nan Hayworth’s Conflict of Interest

If you believe earmarks are bad because they use tax payer dollars to indirectly feed a Congressional representative’s campaign coffers and to generate votes, then you must believe congressional votes cast to directly fuel a congresswoman’s own personal bank account are horrifically bad…maybe even criminal.

That’s exactly what it seems newly elected Republican Rep Nan Hayworth (NY– 19 CD) is doing.

Hayworth is apparently voting in such a way, on specific issues, that directly benefits her own personal financial bottom line, and her husband’s career as the head of a major health care lobbying organization.

Let me explain: Every time Rep Nan Hayworth votes on any aspect of health care that is exactly what she is doing!

Why? Because:
Reason #1:      Nan Hayworth is a founding partner of the huge, thriving Mount Kisco Medical Group which is a 235-physician multispecialty medical group;

Reason #2:      Hayworth’s husband, Scott, is also a founding partner and President and Chief Executive Officer of the Mount Kisco Medical Group;

Reason #3:   Husband Scott is also the Chair of the Board of Directors of the American Medical Group Association, “AMGA’  (perhaps so named as to be easily confused with the AMA, the American Medical Association…) In other words, he is the head guy at a major lobbying organization that-surprise-lobbies on health care.

The American Medical Group Association provides “a comprehensive package of benefits, including political advocacy [code for lobbying],…”AMGA “promote[s] policymakers’ and lawmakers’ awareness…”

“Through our efforts, members are assured that their interests are represented before many audiences, including Congress and federal agencies, in addition to other healthcare organizations and interest groups.” These are direct quotations from the AMGA website, with italics added.

Translation: Nan Hayworth’s husband is the head lobbyist who has personal access to a congresswoman—his wife—on issues that directly benefit their/her pocketbook.

He’s not just making money for them as a lobbyist.
She—Rep Nan Hayworth—is making money for them personally each time…

***She votes for the Pence bill to cut all funding to Planned Parenthood and all of their cancer screenings, STI testing, birth control and more;

***She votes to cut all Title X funding and thus the family planning services provided to approximately five million women and men;

***She votes to overturn the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Those patients have to go somewhere…maybe to one of the more than 113,000 physicians who practice in AMGA member organizations or…to the Hayworth’s very own Mount Kisco Medical Group.

Hayworth keeps proving her husband’s power as a lobbyist and her ability as a founding partner to keep bringing money home, literally.

This must be illegal….no?

“GOP Bill Would Force IRS to Conduct Abortion Audits”

Stop The Insanity! This Extremist Anti-Choice Congress Wants the IRS to Audit Abortions.

Anti-Choice Extremists, led by Republican House Rep. Pitts, want to pass H.R. 3–the Stupak Amendment on Steroids–so the IRS can audit abortions.

They don’t care about jobs. They Only Want to Continue On-going Attacks Against Women!

These zealots want to subject rape and incest victims to audits if they choose abortion.

If Pitts‘ bill H.R.3, becomes law it could prohibit using tax benefits such as credits or deductions to pay for an abortion or health insurance that includes abortion coverage.

In enforcing H.R. 3, the IRS could make a woman relive the horrid experience by requiring that she describe her sexual assault that she already told the police again to an agent from the IRS.

Read more from Mother Jones, click here: “Were you raped? Was it incest? And other questions the government’s tax cops would have to ask women who’ve terminated pregnancies.”

 

If Pitts‘ bill H.R.3, becomes law it could prohibit using tax benefits such as credits or deductions to pay for an abortion or health insurance that includes abortion coverage.

In enforcing H.R. 3, the IRS could make a woman relive the horrid experience by requiring that she describe her sexual assault that she already told the police again to an agent from the IRS.

Alert White Plains: Special Election March 31st – Right to Life Candidate Targets Mayor’s Job!

ALERT!
SPECIAL ELECTION
THURSDAY, MARCH 31
ST !

If you live in the
City of White Plains
and
you care about
Choice, Women, Children, and Families
YOU NEED TO KNOW

Tom Roach is the good guy running for Mayor of White Plains in a Special Election being held on March 31, 2011. He is running on the Democratic, Working Families, and Independence party lines.

Former President of the City Council, and, now, acting Mayor of White Plains,Tom Roach is a 100% pro-choice advocate who will protect our women, children, and families.

Roach understands the importance of our clinics, childcare, health centers, and the importance of protecting access to our reproductive health care centers.

His opponent, Bob Hyland, has a history of being endorsed by the Right to Life party.
A high profile former football player and sports bar owner, Hyland has no experience in elected office. His claim to fame is that in 1988 he tried to register to vote as a member of both the Republican and Right to Life parties.

According to the anti-choice zealot website LifeNet, Hyland has a record of helping the [Right to Life] cause.

Astorino, His Puppets & Imitators, & Washington Extremism
What is going on in Washington DC, brought on by the anti-choice zealots empowered by the Republican win last November, can happen here in Westchester County and in its towns and cities like the County’s capital–White Plains.

Westchester’s Right to Life County Executive Rob Astorino is a rabid extremist, yanking funding away from working women and their children.  This is a man whose budget shows he only cares about those who vote for him. The rest of us–especially the working poor–are being thrown under the bus so that he can claim to meet budget promises. Trust me when I say we will all pay later in tax dollars for Astorino’s stunts.

Hyland is an Astorino impersonator who will do to White Plains what Astorino is hard at work trying to do to the County!

Tom Roach stands with Governor Cuomo
for Women’s Reproductive Rights!


The Message Here:

VOTE FOR TOM ROACH

THURSDAY, MARCH 31st!
Special Elections have a very low turnout because few people realize the election is occurring.
Thus your vote will have a multi-fold impact!
TELL YOUR FRIENDS TO VOTE
TOM ROACH!

Pssst-Pass it On: University of Vermont Students Oppose the Pence Amendment!

Students at the University of Vermont Show They are Willing to Fight for What is Important–Women’s Health!

On February 25, 2011,  Senator Lederer-Plaskett  and Speaker of the Senate Chevrier sponsored a resolution in opposition to the Pence Amendment. 

They used the attached PowerPoint presentation to help make their argument. Click to view: PPHPWPT 

An overwhelming majority of the Student Government Senate then voted in support of the resolution.

Knowing the power of the vote, the University of Vermont Student Government Association will send the resolution to Vermont’s U.S. Senators, Patrick Leahy and Bernard Sanders, urging them to vote ‘nay’ on the Pence Amendment, in an effort to protect the health and well being of all Vermont Residents, including students at the University of Vermont.

Pass this on to the students you know. They can join forces with students at the University of Vermont and around the country.

Below is the text of the resolution:

Resolution in Opposition to the Pence Amendment

Whereas, the Pence Amendment and Proposed Budget Cuts passed the U.S. House of Representatives on February 17, 2011,

Whereas, the Pence Amendment and Proposed Budget Cuts will end all Federal Funding for Planned Parenthood and 102 affiliated organizations

Whereas, the current federal funding makes up approximately 37% of Planned Parenthood’s annual budget[1],

Whereas, Planned Parenthood provides life-saving cancer screenings and pap smears, STI and HIV Testing, and distributes Contraception and information about Family Planning free of charge[2],

Whereas, Planned Parenthood provides free health care services to those who cannot afford them,

Whereas, Planned Parenthood maintains that if the Pence Amendment passed in the Senate, 48% of their patients would be unable to utilize Planned Parenthood’s services and therefore would have no way of accessing their chosen form of health care[3],

Whereas, the Hyde Amendment prohibits any federal funding for abortion, excluding abortions due to rape or incest, or a threat to the life of the woman, eliminating the possibility of federal funding for Planned Parenthood from being used to fund abortion procedures[4],

Whereas, without Federal Funding Planned Parenthood would be unable to provide much needed services and would be forced to close as many as eight hundred clinics[5],

Whereas, Planned Parenthood serves 3 million Americans, and 21,000 Vermonters annually[6],

Whereas, the University of Vermont Student Government Association believes that the budget cuts to Planned Parenthood would have an extremely detrimental effect on the health and wellbeing of the UVM Student Body and the United States as a whole,

Be It Resolved that the University of Vermont Student Government Association demands the continued federal funding of Planned Parenthood and other Women’s Health Organizations,

Be it Further Resolved that the University of Vermont Student Government Association urges its U.S. Senators, Patrick Leahy and Bernard Sanders, to vote ‘nay’ on the Pence Amendment, in an effort to protect the health and wellbeing of all Vermont Residents, including students at the University of Vermont.


[1] http://www.plannedparenthood.org/files/PPFA/Pence_Fact_021111_vF.pdf

[2] http://www.plannedparenthood.org/

[3] http://www.plannedparenthood.org/files/PPFA/Pence_Fact_021111_vF.pdf

[4] http://www.factcheck.org/2010/04/the-abortion-issue/

[5] http://www.plannedparenthood.org/files/PPFA/Pence_Fact_021111_vF.pdf

[6] Ibid

Save The Date – Sunday, April 10th – A Forum on Women’s Reproductive Health & the Role of Government

Join us for an informative forum on Sunday, April 10th, at the Scarsdale Public Library at 1 p.m.  on Women’s Reproductive Health and the Role of Government.

Presenters:

Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, (AD 88) will detail the role of legislation in advancing public policy and women’s reproductive health.

Kathryn Miller, Vice President for Clinical and Community Health Programs at Public Health Solutions, will explain the role all levels of funding play in health care, and the potential risks of certain aspects of so-called fiscal belt tightening.

Catherine Lederer-Plaskett, President of WCLA – Choice Matters, will examine the impact that elections at all levels of government have on reproductive health, the make-up of the State Senate and aspects of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the national health care legislation).

There is no cost to attend.

RSVP Here!!!!

Join Us – Rally For Women’s Health! – Feb 26th – Foley Square

RALLY
For
WOMEN’S HEALTH & RIGHTS!


JOIN WITH WOMEN
FROM ACROSS THE STATE

AND MAKE OUR VOICES HEARD!

Saturday, February 26th Foley Square

(Across from the Court House in Lower Manhattan,
between Lafayette St. & Centre St.
New York, NY 10007)

1-3pm

Directions: Take the #4, 5 or 6 SUBWAY downtown to BROOKLYN BRIDGE/CITY HALL STATION. Exit at the rear of the platform, towards the last car of the subway train. When you come up above ground you will be standing in Foley Square.

REMEMBER

Current Anti-Choice Bills
1. H.R. 3, misleadingly called the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act”, introduced by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ);

2. H.R. 358,  the so-called “Protect Life Act” sponsored by Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa); and

3. H.R. 217, Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act, sponsored by
Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN). (PASSED IN THE HOUSE 2/18/2011.)

We Must Stop this anti-choice run-away-train Congress! There are lives at stake – those of the living, breathing women of this nation!

Last Friday, the House passed the Pence Amendment (H.R. 217.)
This amendment—if it passes the Senate–will mean the end of federal support for an organization, Planned Parenthood, that each year provides more than 800,000 women with breast exams, more than 4 million Americans with testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, lifesaving cancer screenings, HIV testing, and 2.5 million people with contraception.

But that is not enough! They now want to zero out all funding for Title X in the Federal budget. That means all the health centers we know and have come to rely on will get NO funds for Title X. Women will die!

Right now, our pro-choice congressional representatives and advocates are fighting back but they need us. They need to hear from us!

Sponsoring Organizations: (List in formation) Choice Matters, Community Health Care Networks Family Planning Advocates of New York State, Feminist Majority Foundation, Inwood House, NARAL Pro-Choice NY, National Advocates for Pregnant Women, National Council of Jewish Women New York Section, New York Civil Liberties Union, NOW-New York City, NOW-New York State, Planned Parenthood Affiliates New Jersey, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic, Planned Parenthood Mid-Hudson Valley, Planned Parenthood of Nassau County, Planned Parenthood of New York City, PRCH, Public Health Association of New York City, Public Health Solutions, Raising Women’s Voices, Religious Institute, Reproductive Health Access Project, SisterSong NY, Trust Black Women, Trust Women, United Neighborhood Houses, Violence Intervention Program Inc., Women’s Media Center, YWCA of Brooklyn

Today’s Newly Elected Congress: No Jobs! Only Attacks on Women’s Health & Rights!

We Must Stop this anti-choice run-away-train Congress! There are lives at stake – those of the living, breathing women of this nation!

On Friday, the House passed the Pence Amendment (H.R. 217.)
This amendment—if it passes the Senate–will mean the end of federal support for an organization that each year provides more than 800,000 women with breast exams, more than 4 million Americans with testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, and 2.5 million people with contraception. Women will die.

What did newly elected Rep. Nan Hayworth (R – 19th C.D.) do when the pressure was on???

Hayworth Voted with Pence and AGAINST the Women of this Nation, and her District!

This new Congress has launched an unprecedented attack on women’s reproductive rights, and they have a powerful strategy.

Instead of going directly at overturning Roe v. Wade, they have launched a multi-bill assault. Right now, our pro-choice congressional representatives and advocates are fighting off three bills plus budget cuts all at once, and the anti-choice zealots promise that this is just the beginning.

H.R. 3 “is radically broad and is clearly intended to prevent all women from obtaining health insurance coverage for abortion services – even insurance paid for with private dollars or provided by employers in the private marketplace.  The bill would raise taxes on millions of American families and impose intrusive new government rules on private, personal medical decisions.” (*Italics added) Center for Reproductive Rights

Under H.R. 3, “women would no longer be able to use their tax-saver accounts to pay for abortions because, in Smith’s view, this would constitute a federal subsidy; nor could families with high health insurance expenses deduct those expenses from their taxes if the insurance they buy with their own money includes coverage for abortion — even if they never use the coverage to pay for one. Small businesses, though not large corporations, could no longer deduct the cost of their employee insurance plans if they cover abortion, as 87% of health plans now do.” (*Italics added)  Los Angeles Times

H.R. 358 “would allow hospitals that object to abortion (as some Catholic ones do, for instance) to make the appalling decision to withhold the procedure even in dire emergencies when it is necessary to save a woman’s life — a car accident, say, or a shooting. It also includes an objectionable provision — one that failed to become part of the healthcare reform  law passed last year — that would prohibit federal funds from being used toward the purchase of any health insurance that includes abortion coverage. Current law prohibits federal funds from being used for abortion but allows insurance companies to segregate federal money from private funds used for abortion.” Los Angeles Times

Pitts and his buddies are quite literally willing to let women, who are in need of emergency pregnancy termination to save their lives, die. This bill would allow hospitals to refuse to provide abortion care when necessary to save a woman’s life. “…they have written into the bill a new amendment that would override the requirement that emergency room doctors save every patient, regardless of status or ability to pay.  The law would carve out an exception for pregnant women; doctors and hospitals will be allowed to let pregnant women die if interventions to save them will kill the fetus.”

Pitts’ new bill would free hospitals from any abortion requirement under EMTALA, meaning that medical providers who aren’t willing to terminate pregnancies wouldn’t have to — nor would they have to facilitate a transfer.”

“The Pitts bill effectively turns all hospitals into arms of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.  In other words, your health care is now fully subject to fundamentalist religious ideology.” RH Reality Check

To read more, go to RH Realty Check
And the Center for Reproductive Right

H.R. 217 – Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act
PASSED IN THE HOUSE – 2/18/2011

The sole purpose of this act is to attack Planned Parenthood. It seeks to deny any federal funding to Planned Parenthood.

Friday afternoon, 2/18/2011, the House passed this horrific amendment revoking all  funding from Planned Parenthood.  The bill is  falsely advertised as saving tax-payer dollars and ensuring that no federal funds are used for abortion. False Advertising! It is already law that NO federal funds can be used for abortion, other than in cases of rape, incest and to save a woman’s life. Passage of this fiscally irresponsible amendment will ultimately cost lives, and tax payers more dollars in long term health related cost for the poor and most vulnerable. Any funds that a clinic uses for such services must be raised separately and outside of federal taxpayer dollars. More than ninety percent of Planned Parenthood services are non-abortion related.  Their work is focused on preventive care including  birth control and cancer screenings. The final vote was 239-185.

Where Does Newly Elected Rep. Hayworth (R) 19th NY-CD Stand on Redefining Rape and the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortions Act?

When running Nan Hayworth claimed to be—what was it again—on yea, pro-choice but now she doesn’t want to take a position. Now, she seems, shall we say, conflicted: Vote Party line (and platform) or support women?

FYI:
1.
Hayworth has defended the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortions Act in letters to constituents.
2. Hayworth has failed to take a stand on redefining rape; and
3. Hayworth justifies tax penalties for abortion.
4. Nan Hayworth is Anti-Choice!

Ask Nan Hayworth Where She Stands!
Let’s remind Nan we’re watching.
Click Here
or Contact her
at
In D.C.:
1440 Longworth HOB
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-5441
Fax: (202) 225-3289
In Goshen:
255 Main St., Suite 3232G
Goshen, NY 10924
Phone: (845) 291-4100
Fax: (845) 291-4164

REP. ENGEL – ATTACKS ON WOMEN’S HEALTH THE WRONG MESSAGE

Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY-17) twice offered an amendment to the so called “Protect Life Act,” (H.R. 358) in an attempt to thwart attacks on women’s health resulting from the Republican bill.   Rep. Engel is a senior member on the House Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Health.  (To view the entire debate and vote on the amendment in the Health Subcommittee – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tF8CpmEP57w)

Rep. Engel’s amendment, defeated Tuesday by the full Energy and Commerce Committee by a vote of 31-19, would maintain current laws which protect both doctors who do not practice abortion and those who do.  The so-called “Protect Life Act,” does away with basic protections except for those health care providers who oppose abortion.  The measure would criminalize anyone who would do the procedure or even educate a woman on her choices.  The House also voted on Friday to pass an amendment to strip funding for Planned Parenthood, a measure Rep. Engel voted against.

“If this irresponsible bill becomes law it would put the lives of women at risk.  It is ironic that a bill titled ‘protect life’ could result in the inevitable loss of life.  These bills are the Republican Majority’s opening salvo in their determined quest to dismantle the existing law protecting a woman’s right to seek medical assistance for her own body.  Make no mistake, this bill may pass the House and then go nowhere, but this is not going to stop the Republican’s attempts to pass more extreme legislation to advance their social agenda,” said Rep. Engel.

“I am sure that there are doctors and nurses who believe that they are morally required to provide a requested abortion to a victim of rape, or in an emergency situation,” said Rep. Engel. “However, the Republican leadership only wants to protect one group’s conscience, and no others.  This is wrong and it’s not fair.”

Unfortunately, pro-choice health providers are not protected by Roe v. Wade, as some claim.  “If a hospital fires a doctor because he performs abortions elsewhere, that’s not protected by Roe v. Wade.  Nor is it protected if a nurse is not given a job because she has provided counseling on abortion.  There are also cases where a hospital chooses to provide training on safe abortion methods and is denied a grant as a result.  This bill does not protect these care providers from discrimination for simply following the law.  I find it to be very disappointing that the Majority refused to protect these doctors and chose instead to advance a political agenda.”

Rep. Engel added, “This bill is not equal conscience-protection, instead it is a government advancement of a particular viewpoint—and we don’t do that in this country.  This is more of the Republican Right ill-advised plan to refight the culture wars of the past.”

“We should not protect one group’s conscience and criminalize another’s; it’s not fair and it’s not right.  We need the two-way protections that exist in current law and my amendment would have provided that.”

Rep. Engel is a longtime supporter of women’s reproductive rights and has a 100% voting record from Planned Parenthood, WCLA (Westchester Coalition for Legal Abortion) – Choice Matters  and NARAL Pro-Choice America.  “For a party that rails against government intrusion in people’s lives, the Republicans want the federal government involved in one of the most personal decisions made by a woman and her family.  For me that is the height of hypocrisy,” added Rep. Engel.