South Dakota Planned Parenthood Advocate

Letter: Government should not limit affordable birth control

There's a great letter to the editor of SDSU's The Collegian today by the delightful Libby Trammell. I thought our Planned Parenthood Advocate readers would enjoy it.

Carmen

House Republicans are attacking a recent decision by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to require new insurance plans to cover birth control with no co-pays.

They are pushing to undermine this preventive care provision by allowing Catholic hospitals and schools to be exempted, even though these organizations employ and serve individuals of different faiths and backgrounds. It would mean millions of workers and their families would lose access to affordable birth control.

For college students like me who worry about the cost of living and tuition, the HHS decision is huge. I want to plan a family — but only after I’ve graduated and am financially stable. The reality is that women of all faiths use birth control and would benefit from access to birth control with no co-pays: 99 percent of sexually experienced women in the U.S. use birth control at some point in their lives, including 98 percent of sexually experienced Catholic women. Birth control is an essential part of women’s preventive health care.

Representative Noem and the House Republicans are wrong on this issue. Instead of focusing on jobs and the economy, they are spending their time trying to take affordable birth control away from women.

Libby Trammell
SDSU Student

Time is Running Out: Take Action and Protect Birth Control Access for All Women!

URGENT: Anti-choice groups and their allies in Congress want to eliminate birth control coverage. Stop them! Ask the president to stand strong.

U.S. Bishops in concert with anti-choice groups and allies in Congress are attacking a recent decision by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to require new insurance plans to cover birth control with no co-pays.

We can't let them succeed — not after fighting so hard to secure coverage for preventive care that is so critical for women.

Please ask President Obama to stand strong and reject these demands to eliminate birth control coverage for millions of women.

The "New Face" of Feminism

As our pals over at Dakota Women acknowledged last week, there’s been a bunch of talk lately about the fact that, surprise!, there are young feminists out here working for a breadth of women’s issues, including choice. The misperception that young women aren’t involved in feminist activism likely spreads from the fact that activist movements look different in 2011 than they did in 1920, 1970 or even 1990.

The world has moved online, and thus somewhat out of the streets, but that doesn't make the work young women are doing for the movement any less valuable.

Courtney Marin, of Feministing.com, recently wrote a piece for The Nation in which she said, “the belief that online activism isn’t “real” or deserving of financial support isn’t just an insult to entrepreneurial bloggers and organizers; it’s creating a crisis in the feminist movement.” Some potentially fantastic online work is being hindered by the fact that this work isn’t seen as “legitimate” in the eyes of many funders.

An article in USA Today titled “As NOW Marks 45 Years, Is Feminism Over the Hill?” saw an outcry of letters from feminists across the age spectrum. In their letter, Steph Herold and Shelby Knox urge USA today to interview the young feminists, the ones who “keep feminism fierce and vibrant.”

Organizations across the progressive movement, including our own, are making a conscious effort to engage millennials (otherwise known as all folks born after 1980) which is extremely important. I am excited to look at new ways to engage my generation. However, I think it is also important to acknowledge that many of us are already engaged; our efforts just look different from those of previous generations. By reaching out to the millennial generation in ways that make sense to them, I think we can accomplish great things for the pro-choice and women’s movements.

Where are the young feminists? We’re right here, on the front lines, gearing up to move feminism forward.

~Alisha Sedor, Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice South Dakota

P.S. Courtney Marin also did a great TED Talk on this very topic last year

Unofficial TTRT Book Club - ...And His Lovely Wife

I was reminded about Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown this spring while watching an episode of Glee. Glee villain Sue Sylvester announced she was running for a US House seat for Ohio, and my first thought was, “whew, I’m glad she’s not running for Senate. I love Sherrod Brown.”

My love for Sherrod stemmed from a 2007 memoir by his wife, and Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, Connie Schultz. She tells tales from the campaign trail including young staffers dictating her schedule and being introduced at a function as “Sherrod Brown…and his lovely wife” – no name included. Schultz wrote for The Plain Dealer and her accomplishments include several articles advocating for women’s health care including this one on the Stupak Amendment back in ‘09.

…And His Lovely Wife is a delightful read and I recommend it for political and/or campaign junkies like many of our Planned Parenthood Advocate readers.

~ Carmen, Planned Parenthood Advocate

President Obama, Stand Strong on Birth Control Coverage for Women!

Ever since the Obama administration issued regulations requiring insurance coverage for birth control with no co-pays, anti-women's health groups and their allies in Congress have been fighting tooth and nail to take that coverage away from women.

We can't let them succeed — not after fighting so hard to secure coverage for preventive care that is so critical for women. Please ask President Obama to stand strong and reject these demands to eliminate birth control coverage for millions of women.

>TAKE ACTION: Ask President Obama to stand strong on birth control coverage for women

The Team Roe Times November Issue!

We are excited to present to you the SIXTH issue of The Team Roe Times, a joint project between Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and NARAL Pro Choice South Dakota! Packed inside this informative newsletter is an update on Mississippi "personhood", the new face of feminism, the latest book in our TTRT Unofficial Book Club and SO MUCH MORE.

Download The Team Roe Times Vol 1 Issue 6

Epic Win in Mississippi!

I’m not sure what else can be written about the defeat of “Personhood” that hasn’t already been written. The victory itself was huge and completely unexpected – from those on both sides. I arrived in Jackson, Mississippi on October 27, as a volunteer for Mississippians for Healthy Families. Much like our own SD Campaign for Healthy Families, MSHF was comprised of a group of local community members, parents, attorneys, and members of both the medical and faith communities that came together to educate voters on the dangerous consequences of passing this initiative. Over and over, the message was clear: “personhood” is government going too far. There are too many unintended consequences. 

CDC Committee Recommends HPV Vaccines for Young Men

The initiatives being taken now to encourage boys to get vaccinated against HPV are so important. Last month, a Center for Disease Control committee recommended that males 11-21 be vaccinated against HPV. HPV affects both genders but the measures taken to safeguard against it have so far been focused on women. HPV can be the primary cause in several types of cancer, not just those affecting women. Vaccinating young men will protect them and their future partners against the fear of contracting HPV or any of the types of cancers that can be caused by HPV.