Read the week's best commentary from bloggers at the Center for American Progress' "ThinkProgress," International Women's Health Coalition's "Akimbo" and more.
CONTRACEPTION:
"Texas Planned Parenthood receives big donation to help cover birth control, STD tests," Alex Zielinski, Center for American Progress' "ThinkProgress": Zielinski writes about a $2 million donation from the Boone Family Foundation and the Harold Simmons Foundation to Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas that "will make long term birth control and [sexually transmitted infections (STI)] testing affordable for thousands of women across the state." According to Zielinski, the funding, set to take effect in September, "reflects the foundations' understanding of accessibility to reproductive health services in Texas." Zielinski explains that despite a recent Supreme Court decision striking down parts of Texas' omnibus antiabortion-rights law (HB 2), "women's health clinics are few and far between in the expansive state," and "[i]t could take years before new reproductive health clinics replace the ones originally forced to close by HB2." Moreover, she notes that "Texas still refuses to cover any Planned Parenthood visits -- often making birth control and specific STD tests an out-of-pocket expense." Zielinski writes, "With distance and cost significant hurdles for thousands of Texans, it only makes sense to fund a long-term contraception that doesn't need constant refills or payments" (Zielinski, "ThinkProgress," Center for American Progress, 8/1).
GLOBAL ISSUES:
"Girls' rights take center stage at the 21st International AIDS Conference," Nicole Rajani, International Women's Health Coalition's "Akimbo": At the 21st International AIDS Conference last month, "[f]or the first time, international agencies and donors spoke meaningfully about women's and girls' rights and gender equality as essential to ending HIV," Rajani writes. She highlights a symposium organized by the International Women's Health Coalition that "explored how gender inequalities, power imbalances, violence, and poverty combine to make adolescent girls and young women particularly vulnerable to HIV and what can be done to break the cycle." Citing the panelists' discussion, Rajani explains that education and other social factors "affect [young women's] ability to keep themselves safe and prevent HIV," noting that "they will not be able to take [biomedical interventions, such as pre-exposure prophylaxis] if they do not have the information and the authority in their relationships and families to do so." However, Rajani notes that "[w]hile the impact of HIV on girls and young women got more attention than ever before, government leaders at the conference didn't follow up with major new financial commitments." Calling on global leaders "to reverse this and boost spending if we are to end AIDS," Rajani concludes, "All the positive rhetoric about empowering girls and young women needs to be backed up by real investment" (Rajani, "Akimbo," International Women's Health Coalition, 7/29).
ABORTION RESTRICTIONS:
"Texas health department pamphlet on abortion is full of bullshit," Amy Marten, Broadly: Medical groups have expressed concerns over inaccuracies and medical misinformation included in Texas' latest version of a booklet that providers are required to give to a woman seeking abortion care, Marten writes. Marten explains that medical groups have criticized previous iterations of the booklet, mandated by the state since 2003. According to Marten, "Texas health officials claim to have consulted with [the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG)] this time around and say they have made some revisions 'after reviewing medical research and information from experts in the field.'" However, ACOG, the Guttmacher Institute and other medical experts dispute the accuracy of the booklet, citing medically inaccurate and misleading statements in the latest revisions that suggest abortion care is dangerous or that there is a link between abortion care and breast cancer (Marten, Broadly, 7/29).
