Blogs Comment On Calif. Senate Race, Medical Abortion, Other Topics

The following summarizes selected women's health-related blog entries.

~ "This Week In History -- First Birth Control Clinic Opens," Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota's "Stand With Us": The first U.S. family planning clinic was opened by Margaret Sanger in October 1916 in Brooklyn, New York, according to the blog entry, which recounts the story of a patient who "inspired [Sanger] to learn all she could know about pregnancy prevention, to coin the term 'birth control,' and to travel the world learning how other countries delivered this vital information." Although the first clinic was shut down, "a movement was born," the blog continues, adding, "Where it was once illegal for a health care professional to utter a word about how a woman could prevent pregnancy, today we at Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota are proud to serve and educate over 64,000 annually." The blog says, "As we prepare to break ground on a state-of-the-art flagship health care center and administrative headquarters ... let's reflect on how far we've come," and "let us also never forget how much is at stake" ("Stand With Us," Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, 10/18).

~ "Pregnant Women with Breast Cancer Should Do Chemo," Bonnie Rochman, Time's "Healthland": Although physicians have long believed otherwise, new data show "that pregnant women treated for breast cancer do at least as well as non-pregnant women," Rochman writes. The data come from a study -- conducted by researchers at the University of Texas' MD Anderson Cancer Center and presented at the 2010 Breast Cancer Symposium -- that tracked 75 pregnant women treated for breast cancer from 1989 through 2008. The women were compared to non-pregnant breast cancer patients of similar ages and stages of cancer. According to Rochman, "Pregnant women had a five-year disease-free survival rate of 74%, compared to 56% in non-pregnant patients." She adds that "[o]verall survival rates for pregnant women were a bit higher, too" and that "[d]ata released to date on the babies' outcomes show they are doing well." Rochman notes that treating pregnant women with chemotherapy does require postponing the treatment to the second trimester to avoid the risk of birth defects (Rochman, "Healthland," Time, 10/21).














~ "Fiorina Grossly Misrepresents Boxer on Reproductive Health Choices," Jodi Jacobson, Women's Campaign Forum's "Women and Politics": It is "no secret" that several female candidates who are running for elected office this November "are anti-choice," including Carly Fiorina, the Republican nominee for the Senate seat held by "longtime women's rights advocate" Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Jacobson writes. While "Fiorina obviously has many accomplishments to tout," such as her former positions as chair and CEO of Hewlett-Packard, her campaign website states that she "believes that life begins at conception; she is pro-life," according to Jacobson. The website also touts Fiorina's support from several antiabortion-rights groups, including the National Right to Life Committee, the California Pro-Life Council and the Susan B. Anthony List. Jacobson writes, "I don't know if Fiorina is politicking or actually means what she says," but it is "difficult for me to understand how a woman at her level of professional achievement could, at this stage of her life, believe in laws that would effectively make most forms of contraception illegal." Furthermore, Fiorina has been "lying about Barbara Boxer's position" by falsely suggesting that Boxer "supports partial-birth abortion" and believes "that babies don't have rights until they leave hospitals," Jacobson states. She adds that "[t]hese comments are a deeply disturbing misrepresentation by Fiorina, someone who I would have thought had enough smarts to try to win an election on its merits, not on lies" (Jacobson, "Women and Politics," Women's Campaign Forum, 10/21).

~ "Little-Known Medication Offers Safe and Accessible Alternative to Surgical Abortion," Audacia Ray, International Women's Health Coalition's "Akimbo": "Millions of women worldwide have safely terminated their pregnancies" by using the "highly effective" combination of mifepristone, an abortifacient that is illegal in many countries, and misoprostol, an anti-ulcer medication that is more widely available, Ray writes. Misoprostol alone is also about "85% successful in inducing abortion when used as recommended, offering a safe and accessible alternative for women who have no other options," she continues. However, "[n]ot enough women know about misoprostol as an option for safe abortion," which is why IWHC has collaborated with Gynuity Health Projects to release "Abortion With Self-Administered Misoprostol: A Guide for Women." The report is available in English, French, Portuguese and Spanish. Ray writes, "While it is certainly important for health care practitioners to be trained on the administration of medical abortion, ... it is also important for women themselves to have access to life-saving information." She continues that it is "essential that women get the information they need to make informed and safe choices about their bodies and reproductive health," concluding, "The availability of misoprostol, and the distribution of multilingual information about how to use misoprostol, are both steps in that direction" (Ray, "Akimbo," International Women's Health Coalition, 10/19).


Reprinted with kind permission from nationalpartnership. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families.


© 2010 National Partnership for Women & Families. All rights reserved.