Did you know…?

• In 1973, the Supreme Court ruled in “Roe vs. Wade” that American women have the constitutional right to choose a safe, legal abortion until fetal viability. 

• In more than 85% of U.S. Counties, there is no abortion provider.
• State legislatures have passed over 400 measures restricting abortion, ranging from outright bans to mandated delays and biased counseling requirements.
• Abortion clinics have suffered more than 90,000 acts of violence and disruption, including 7 murders.
• In more than 30 states, State Medicaid does not fund abortions for poor women, except in cases of life-endangerment, incest and rape.
• Most Catholic hospitals provide neither full reproductive health care nor abortion services. The combined Catholic health system is the largest non-governmental health system in the country and it is growing in strength and size.
• In 18 states women are required by law to delay their abortions up to 24 hours after receiving state-mandated information. Doctors are required to read from a script designed to dissuade women from choosing abortion.
• A bill banning abortions throughout pregnancy passed in the South Dakota Senate and was signed by the Governor. The law contains no exception for rape, incest, or maternal health.

• Pharmacists can legally refuse to provide birth control in some states.
• In many states, insurance companies cover prescriptions for Viagra, but refuse to cover birth control pills.
• The U.S. Department of Justice guidelines for treating rape victims do not include emergency contraception, the medically approved precaution to prevent pregnancy.
• The FDA, ignoring the recommendations of its own advisory panel, has not made emergency contraception (EC) available over-the-counter.
• More than 50% of Catholic hospitals do not provide emergency contraception, even to victims of rape.
• With few exceptions, Catholic hospitals do not provide contraceptives, sterilization, or even condoms for AIDS prevention.

• Research-based, systematic studies show that Abstinence-Only education:
  • Fails to reduce adolescent sexual activity, despite high rates of “virginity pledges".
  • May increase the risk of sexually transmitted diseases among adolescent “virginity pledgers.”
  • May increase adolescent pregnancy rates.
• Despite this evidence, federal funding of Abstinence-Only education has more than doubled in the past four years. The current budget is $167 million; over $200 million is proposed for 2006.
• When schools accept federal Abstinence-Only funding, contraception cannot be mentioned, except to discuss failure rates.
• Abstinence-Only education includes false information:
  • About the effectiveness of condoms, exaggerating their failure rates, both as contraception and protection against HIV transmission.
  • About abortion, claiming risks that do not exist.
  • About transmission of HIV, stating that the virus can be transmitted in sweat and tears.
  • That touching another person's genitals can cause pregnancy.
• Abstinence-Only education excludes information about:
  • Preventing transmission of HIV using condoms.
  • How to select and use birth control.
  • Any method (other than abstinence) to prevent transmission of sexually transmitted infections.
  • Testing for sexually transmitted infections.
  • The importance of annual pap smears for early detection of cervical cancer.
• Abstinence-Only education promotes, as fact, stereotypes that:
  • Girls care less about achievement and their futures than do boys.
  • Girls are weak and need protection.

• If a single U.S. Supreme Court justice who supports Roe vs. Wade retires and is replaced by an anti-choice judge, opponents of Roe will have a majority on the court.
• Careful legal analysis shows that if Roe vs. Wade is overturned, 18 states are likely to enact abortion bans.
• When abortion was illegal, thousands of women died each year.   

• Get involved with a group that supports women's rights.
• Urge elected officials to support women’s rights.
• Give copies of this booklet to five friends.

Resources cited for this booklet:

http://www.tompaine.com (“Whose Conscience?” by Gloria Feldt)

http://www.prochoiceamerica.org (NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation presents…Em & Lo’s Sex Ed for Grownups)

http://kaisernetwork.org

http://www.ppatp.org (Planned Parenthood of Amarillo & the Texas Panhandle)

http://www.guttmacher.org (The Alan Guttmacher Institute,“Second Chance Denied: Emergency Contraception in Catholic Hospital Emergency Rooms” by Catholics for a Free Choice and Ibis Reproductive Health, 2002)

http://www.democrats.reform.house.gov (“The Content of Federally funded Abstinence-Only Education Programs” prepared for Rep. Henry Waxman Dec 2004)

http://www.ucsusa.org (Union of Concerned Scientists)

http://www.reproductiverights.org

http://www.naral.org (NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation)

http://www.prochoice.org (National Abortion Federation)

http://www.aclu.org (ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project)

http://www.abortionaccess.org (The Abortion Access Project)

http://www.mergerwatch.org (The Education Fund of Family Planning Advocates)