Tempers run hot when it comes to the subject of abortion. I don’t believe that the two far ends of the debate will ever meet half-way, but I do think that most people (I hope) feel that we do have the power to dramatically reduce the incidence of unwanted pregnancies. Education, a strong primary health system, easily available and safe and effective birth control will make abortion a rare event. Add to that improved care and technology, and hope, for infants born with birth defects.

Today is a dark day in health history. It is the 12th anniversary of the first doctor who was murdered by fanatical opponents of legalized abortion. Dr. David Gunn, age 47, was shot outside an abortion clinic in Pensacola, Florida in 1993. He was entering the clinic when a terrorist shot him, and sorry, I consider these people to be terrorists.

What followed was another murder the following year, when Paul Hill shot and killed Dr. John B. Britton and his bodyguard, James Barrett, outside a different clinic in Pensacola.

The mainstream anti-abortion movement condemns these murders, as does the Catholic Church. I mean, how can you say you believe in life when you think killing is okay? These actions don’t serve any purpose, except to make abortion opponents appear like radical and deranged killers, who think only fetal lives have value. Plus, it does nothing to reduce the numbers of abortions, it does not convince women who are planning to terminate their pregnancies to reconsider their decision, and only sets the stage for increased hostility.

At any rate, this is a bleak anniversary. And just as an added note; as we may lament about the high rate of abortion and unintended pregnancy in the country, just remember that many insurance companies refuse to pay for contraceptives. Refuse, that’s right. They’ll pay for Viagra, no problem, but not to supply a woman (couple) with an effective means of pregnancy prevention.

Image courtesy of Stock.xchng.com

Apparently, that is the current line of thought at the Department of Justice in regards to rape victims. The guidelines for treating rape victims make no mention of preventing pregnancy, and completely omit any mention of the morning after pill, which could prevent 89% of pregnancies. Why is that? Do rape victims have to suffer an unwanted pregnancy, courtesy of their attacker? Should they ultimately be forced to either have an abortion or bear a child?

In many countries, rape victims are the ones blamed for the crime, and in the U.S., it used to be very difficult for a woman to get justice after being raped. “She asked for it,” was a common line of thought, particularly if the woman was between the ages of 10 and 90, and slightly more attractive than a troll. Or “boys will be boys,” was a line used not too long ago by a judge in Ireland, a nation considered to be in line with the European Union’s definition of human rights.

Anyway, here is a press release from the office of Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), who has been a champion for women. Read this and weep. And then cheer that someone like Maloney is trying to amend this horrendous travesty.

Helping Rape Victims:

New Bill Would Override DOJ Decision to Exclude Morning After Pill From National Treatment Guidelines

Current national guidelines for treating rape victims has no mention of emergency contraceptives to prevent unwanted pregnancies

WASHINGTON, DC – When the Department of Justice recently released the first ever National Protocol for the treatment of rape victims, it omitted even a mention of giving victims the option of emergency contraception to prevent unwanted pregnancies. To remedy that glaring error, Reps. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), Chris Shays (R-CT), Diane E. Watson (D-CA) and James R. Langevin (D-RI) introduced the “Best Help for Rape Victims Act” (H.R. 1214).

The bill would require the Department of Justice to include Emergency Contraception (EC), commonly called the “Morning-After Pill,” in its first-ever national medical guidelines for treating sexual-assault victims, the National Protocol for Sexual Assault Medical Forensic Examination.

“We should be doing everything we can to help rape victims recover from sexual attacks, not withholding important health information from them.” said Maloney. “Apparently, the Justice Department has a different set of values.”

“It is unthinkable that a National Protocol to treat victims of sexual assault would not require health practitioners to provide a full understanding of the risks they face and treatment options,” Shays said. “Rape victims deserve to be fully informed of all their options and this bill would ensure they get that respect.”

“Denying women access to information following a traumatic assault compounds an already horrific crime,” said Langevin. “It is critical that we explain the full array of health services to rape victims, and this legislation accomplishes that.”

“The horrifying fact is that every year, tens of thousands of sexual assault victims become pregnant as a result of being attacked, ultimately leading to abortion,” said Watson. “This bipartisan legislation is about basic human rights for victims of sexual assault who have been traumatized by their attack and are in dire need of necessary medical assistance and treatment. Providing basic information regarding emergency contraceptives is only a sensible step to help such victims confront the potential consequences of their attack.”

Of the 300,000 women who are sexually assaulted each year, an estimated 25,000 will become pregnant as a result. If EC was regularly offered to rape victims, its 89% success rate could avert up to 22,000 unplanned pregnancies every year–many of which may ultimately be terminated in abortion.

The “Best Help for Rape Victims Act” would address this problem by simply requiring the Department of Justice to include language in the Protocol stating that a victim of sexual assault, who is at risk of pregnancy from rape, should be offered information about EC, and should be provided with EC on site if the victims request it.

Background:
On January 13, 2005, Congresswoman Maloney and a bipartisan group of 96 of her colleagues urged the Justice Department to help rape victims avoid unwanted pregnancies by including the option of emergency contraception (EC) in its National Protocol for Sexual Assault Medical Forensic Examination.

Additionally, on February 10, Congresswoman Maloney was denied an opportunity to speak and led to believe she could not submit testimony at a public hearing held by the Justice Department that was scheduled to gather public comment on the Protocol. Instead having her statement or written testimony accepted, Maloney was asked to leave by an official who suggested that if she did not leave security would be called.

The Department’s first-ever medical guidelines for treating sexual-assault victims currently excludes any mention of EC, commonly called the “Morning-After Pill,” even though earlier draft versions did contain references to EC.

This is what I mean when I raise my eyebrows over the “threat” of the avian flu pandemic. Right now, at this moment, today, tomorrow, and probably the day after, there is a disease that affects at least 500 million people every year. And kills about one million, although some estimates say that number is more like two to three million.

What is that, you may ask? SARS, the other disease that was slated to cause the next pandemic? Bird flu? No, nothing exotic. Just good old malaria.

A report by a team of tropical disease experts found that this number is about 50% than the estimates of the World Health Organisation (WHO). And even worse is that the deadliest form of malaria, caused by the parasite plasmodium falciparum, has a much higher incidence than previously assumed.

There’s no vaccine for malaria, but yet, this disease gets very little press. Is it because it primarily occurs in “those” places, regions far away from North America and Europe? Is it because it’s boring, humdrum, been there done that kind of thing? Nothing much new to report, nothing to get the juices going and the public whipped into a frenzy?

Hard to say, but look at how crazy the “experts” are getting over a few people who contracted the flu from birds, while 500 MILLION people contract malaria every year.

The American Connection

Surprise, surprise, the U.S. was once a hotbed for malaria. It was endemic to this country until the late 1940’s, and that’s not very long ago. Most of the transmission occurred in the southeastern states, and the CDC actually came into being because of the malaria control operations.

And don’t think that the problem is solved. There are about 1,500 cases of malaria diagnosed in the US each year. Most are in persons entering the country for the first time or returning from foreign travel, but since the 1980s, cases and outbreaks have been reported that originated in the US. That’s right, a bite from a blood thirsty malaria carrying mosquito occured right here, in a country where the disease was supposed to have been eradicated. Homegrown cases have been reported in Florida, California, New York, and Texas.

It would be very easy for malaria to be re-established in the US. While we got rid of the parasites which causes malaria, the anopheles mosquito, which functions as the vector (transports the critter and passes it along to you via a bite) is still very much present in this country. If malaria isn’t controlled world-wide, it is quite easy for the parasite to get re-acquainted with American soil. Everything’s set up, ready to go.

For example, mosquitos aren’t much concerned about border control. Malaria still occurs in parts of Mexico, and nobody is sitting by the Rio Grande with a shotgun, demanding that the mosquitos cease and desist. In 1997, after two hurricanes hit the western part of the country, a dramatic rise in malaria followed. The state of Oaxaca recorded 10,755 cases, up from 546 the year before.

Drug and Insecticide Resistant

Malaria is bad enough without any added frills, but the parasites are becoming increasingly resistant to chloroquine, the drug most widely used for prevention and treatment. Chloroquine-resistant strains have been reported from areas in Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Resistance to insecticides is also becoming prevalent, thus allowing the mosquito populations to flourish. A continued increase in drug-resistant malaria throughout the world, however, could increase the number of cases of imported malaria, and in turn, set the stage for malaria to re-emerge here.

Bird flu has killed about 50 people in South East Asia since December 2003. This isn’t to say that we should ignore it, but certainly, it seems that there are far more pressing public health problems to contend with. Like multi-drug insecticide resistant malaria, for starters?

About 9,000 women can thank George W. Bush for having the wisdom to withhold $34 million from the United Nations Population Fund. If that money had been allocated, as was decided by Congress many moons ago, they might still be alive. But instead, they have gone to that great big White House in the sky.

Every year about 9,000 Tanzanian women die in childbirth, due to malnutrition and lack of access to health care, according to a report by the U.N. Over half deliver at home, many without the help of a skilled birth attendant.

“Nine thousand women die every year while giving birth or through complications during birth. There are 529 deaths in every 100,000 live births,” Rodney Phillips, U.N. Children’s Fund representative in Tanzania, told Reuters in an interview.

Tanzania is a poor country, where about 50% of their population of 35 million lives on less than a dollar a day. The average woman gives birth to six children. So just think of what might have been. If Bush had permitted the $34 million to be given to the UNPF, as it was supposed to, not only may some of those 9,000 women survived last year, but they would also be having less children, if they had access to birth control. Imagine trying to feed a family of six children on less than a dollar a day, George. A lot of poor African women also die because of illegal abortions, but when your family planning options are limited, it sure beats watching your baby starve to death.

So much for family values.