Read the week's best commentary from bloggers at Slate's "XX Factor," The Advocate and more.
ABORTION RESTRICTIONS:
"The GOP's war on abortion may have cleared the way for a Zika disaster," Nora Caplan-Bricker, Slate's "XX Factor": Caplan-Bricker writes about a recent Kaiser Health News article highlighting "a potentially tragic piece of irony: that the U.S. states where the Zika virus will likely hit first, and hit hardest -- Florida and Texas -- are among the least prepared to minimize its impact," in part because they "have spent recent years systematically dismantling reproductive healthcare." She explains that "both states declined to participate in the Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act [PL 111-148], which means that many of their residents fall into a 'coverage gap.'" According to Caplan-Bricker, for low-income women who consequently remain uninsured, "family planning clinics have long been the best places to seek out contraceptives, prenatal exams, and other forms of reproductive healthcare at manageable prices." However, she writes that "many of these facilities also provide abortions -- or, as in the case of some Planned Parenthoods, are affiliated with others that do -- and as state-level [conservative lawmakers] have accelerated their war on abortion, hundreds of clinics have been forced to scale back operations or close altogether." Noting public health officials' concerns of a potential influx of people attempting to access the few remaining family planning clinics, Caplan-Bricker concludes, "Texas and Florida don't seem to be doing much to prepare for that possibility." While the states are encouraging other preventive measures and discouraging pregnancy, conservative state lawmakers "have made it ever harder for low-income women to follow that advice" (Caplan-Bricker, "XX Factor," Slate, 6/14).
What others are saying about abortion restrictions:
~ "Oklahoma takes pro-life activism straight to the classroom," Robin Marty, Care2.
ABORTION-RIGHTS MOVEMENT:
"Abortion stigma and the politics of the closet," Camilla Taylor et al., The Advocate: Taylor, counsel for Lambda Legal, and colleagues write about an amicus brief Lambda Legal filed on behalf of the plaintiffs in Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt, a Supreme Court case challenging "two provisions of Texas's House Bill 2, an anti-abortion law enacted in July 2013 that, if allowed to go into effect, would force the vast majority of Texas abortion clinics to close." The lawsuit's "outcome is crucial to LGBT people," the authors explain, noting that not only do LGBT people require abortion access, but "landmark court victories for LGBT people share a common doctrinal foundation with precedents protecting the constitutional right to abortion; erosion of the right to terminate a pregnancy puts LGBT civil rights at risk." Moreover, the authors write that the "interconnected struggles for reproductive autonomy and LGBT liberation also share a common obstacle. People who have an abortion -- whether members of the LGBT community or not -- experience something familiar to all LGBT people: stigma." They note, "Although abortion is one of the most safe and common surgical procedures in the United States, two in three women who have had abortions anticipate being stigmatized if others find out." According to the authors, "This concern of being 'outed' as having had an abortion keeps 58 percent of those who have had abortions from sharing their stories with their families and friends." Citing the "tangible problems in health and interpersonal relationships" spurred by stigma, the authors add, "We also know that stigma associated with the exercise of a fundamental right -- whether it is the right to love the person of one's choice or the right to terminate a pregnancy -- interferes with a person's ability to come out of the closet to advocate on his or her own behalf in legislatures, in ballot fights, and in numerous other settings." They conclude, "Though the choice of whether or not to 'come out' of the abortion closet is a deeply personal one, LGBT people know all too well the political cost of remaining silent" (Taylor et al., The Advocate, 6/16).
What others are saying about the abortion-rights movement:
~ "Interview with a woman who recently had an abortion at 32 weeks," Jia Tolentino, Jezebel.
~ "Meet the woman fighting for abortion rights at the Supreme Court," Lilli Petersen, Refinery29.
~ "This 'New York Times' documentary crushes the negative stereotypes about abortion providers," Hillary Crawford, Bustle.
CONTRACEPTION:
"Study: Teen birth rates rose in schools that gave out free condoms with no instruction," Christina Cauterucci, Slate's "XX Factor": "A new data analysis of in-school condom distribution programs from the 1990s has added new complexity to our understanding of teen pregnancy prevention," Cauterucci writes, citing a study that found "teen births rose 10 percent at schools that gave out free condoms to students." According to Cauterucci, the researchers "tracked pregnancy rates before and after the condom programs were introduced" at schools that "provided mandatory counseling about proper condom use and schools that gave out the condoms with no instruction." She notes that the researchers found "the 10 percent increase among condom-distributing schools was mostly caused by schools that did not give their students mandatory counseling about how to properly use condoms." In contrast, according to Cauterucci, "Schools that did provide counseling 'may have seen no change or perhaps a decline' in teen birth rates." Cauterucci highlights a theory posited by the researchers for the increased pregnancy rate: "Staff at the condom-distributing schools that did not offer mandatory counseling may have seen the condom program as a substitute for education," and therefore failed to "'promot[e] contraceptive use or other conduct discouraging conception.'" The study "offers another bit of evidence that promoting teen sexual and reproductive health requires a both and solution, not an either or," Cauterucci writes. She concludes, "Teens need condoms to prevent [sexually transmitted infections], and they need a wide variety of contraception options to suit their needs. But without comprehensive sex education, the benefits of both will be limited" (Cauterucci, "XX Factor," Slate, 6/15).
What others are saying about contraception::
~ "Can the IUD revolution come to the Bible belt?" Olga Khazan, The Atlantic.
