PUSH
JOURNAL MEDIA SUMMARY
April
16-30, 2008
SEXUAL
AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND RIGHTS
Chileans
Protest Ban on “Morning-After” Pill: On April 23 - 25, several media
outlets reported that over 15,000 Chileans took to the streets to protest a high
court ruling that banned free distribution of the “morning-after” pill
by the public health system. "This is a demonstration by the country in demand
of freedom," Gloria Maira, of the Movement for the Defence of Birth Control,
told IPS. "We don't want any more moral dictatorships. We want to make the
decisions in our beds, we want to decide on our own uterus, we want to decide
how many children we will have. We do not accept the Constitutional Court decision."
Read: IPS, Women’s Enews
European
Council Demands Legal Abortion: On April 15 and 16, several media outlets
reported on the Council of Europe’s call for a guarantee of "safe and
legal" abortion for women in all its 47 member states, despite objections
from Poland and other nations. After a four-hour debate and decisions on 72 amendments,
the parliamentary assembly of the council voted 102 to 69 in favor of the resolution.
Read: Times of Malta, Agence France Presse, Irish Times, International Herald
Tribune, Irish Examiner
Antiabortion
Initiatives Divide Movement: On April 21, The Wall Street Journal reported
that even though anti-abortion initiatives are being pushed in five U.S. states,
the overall movement is divided. Initiatives in California, Missouri and South
Dakota are all aimed at limiting access to abortion and related services. But
some in the anti-choice movement want efforts to ban abortion outright, overturning
Roe Vs. Wade, while some want only to continue chipping away at access. Read:
The Wall Street Journal
Kansas
Governor Vetoes Abortion Restriction: On April 22, the Associated Press reported
that Gov. Kathleen Sebelius vetoed a bill that would impose new restrictions on
abortion providers and allow lawsuits to block late-term procedures. “I am
concerned that the bill is likely unconstitutional or, even worse, endangers the
lives of women,” Sebelius said. “As governor, nothing is more important
to me than the safety, health and privacy rights of our citizens.” Read:
Associated Press
Italian
Doctors Refusing to Perform Abortions: On April 22, Agence France Presse reported
that according to a new report by the Italian Ministry of Health, nearly 70 percent
of Italian gynecologists now refuse to perform abortions on moral grounds and
the number is increasing. "Abortion law is in danger", with the option
to have a termination "more and more resembling an obstacle course,"
Milan gynecologist Silvio Viale told ANSA news agency. Read: Agence France Presse
Unsafe Abortion Common
in Pakistan: On April 23, the Daily Times (Pakistan) reported that World Population
Foundation (WPF) Programme Manager Cyma Ashraf estimated that 890,000 abortions
occur annually in Pakistan. On average, she said, every Pakistani woman experienced
abortion at least once in her lifetime and only four to seven percent of women
go to a trained health professional for the procedure. Ashraf recommended that
the Pakistani government make motherhood safer by eliminating discrimination against
women, including violence and traditional practices that endanger their health.
Read: Daily Times
Abstinence-only
Sex Education Under Fire: On April 23, several media outlets reported that
U.S. support for abstinence-only sex education in schools is under debate after
alarming rates of sexually transmitted infections were recently reported by the
Centers for Disease Control. The American Public Health Association, the U.S.
Institute of Medicine, The American Psychological Association and the American
College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists have all testified to Congress, agreeing
that scientific studies have found no proof that abstinence-only works to reduce
pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections or the age of sexual debut. "[T]here
is evidence to suggest that some of these programs are even harmful and have negative
consequences by not providing adequate information for those teens who do become
sexually active," Dr. Margaret Blythe of the American Academy of Pediatrics
told one congressional committee. Read: Los Angeles Times, The Washington Times,
Reuters, ABC News
Justice
Scalia Denies Bias in Abortion Cases: On April 24, The New York Times reported
that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonio Scalia told CBS’s “60 Minutes”
that he is admittedly a social conservative but is not biased on issues that come
before the Supreme Court. ''On the abortion thing, for example, if indeed I were
... trying to impose my own views, I would not only be opposed to Roe versus Wade,
I would be in favor of the opposite view, which the anti-abortion people would
like to see adopted, which is to interpret the Constitution to mean that a state
must prohibit abortion,'' Scalia told correspondent Lesley Stahl. Read: The New
York Times
Forty
Years Later, Abortion Debate Still Looms in Britain: On April 27, The Independent
(UK) and The Washington Post reported that the abortion debate endures in Britain,
40 years after the country legalized abortion in 1968. Anti-choice advocates are
trying to lower the 24-week term limit and reduce access to abortion services.
"The Abortion Act and its enactment was an historic advance for women,"
said Louise Hutchins of Abortion Rights. "It…allowed an incredible advancement
in women's economic, social and educational position in society by giving them
basic control over their lives." Read: The Independent (UK), The Washington
Post
Abortions
and Births Down in the U.S.: On April 27, the Baltimore Sun reported that
a new study from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) found that between 1990
and 2004, the estimated U.S. abortion rate declined by 24 percent. A CDC study
in 2002 found that the rates of both unintended and intended pregnancies have
been on the decline for more than a decade. Although researchers aren’t exactly
sure why abortions have fallen, possible explanations could be the existence of
more contraceptive choices, state laws requiring parental notification where minors
are concerned, fewer unintended pregnancies and some surprising trends among teenagers.
Read: Baltimore Sun
Scottish
Government Stops Talks on Sexual Health: On April 28, The Herald (Glasgow)
reported that the Scottish government had formally stopped school-system talks
about sexual health because of pressure from the Catholic Church. Professor Phil
Hanlon, who published a report on the country’s sexual health four years
ago, noted that national health service for people with sexual health problems
has improved, along with better sex education, emergency contraception and outreach
work. However, Hanlon said, there has been little social change around the issues
of teenage pregnancy and sexual disease. Read: The Herald
WOMEN’S
EQUALITY
Ugandan
Teachers Turning To Prostitution: On April 29, The Monitor (Uganda) reported
that a new study on HIV/AIDS prevalence in northern Uganda revealed that teachers
are increasingly taking up prostitution because it is more lucrative than teaching.
Teachers are now counted among the vulnerable people along the Kampala -Juba route
(South Sudan), where sex trade is increasingly exposing them to the deadly Aids
scourge, the Focal Officer for Aids in Emergencies at the Uganda Aids Commission,
Ms Joyce Namulondo, has said.
Women
Treated like Minors in Saudi Arabia: On April 21, IPS reported that a new
study by Human Rights watch (HRW) on the status of women in Saudi Arabia has found
they are treated like “perpetual minors,” despite the country’s
signature of an international treaty in 2001 that banned discrimination against
women. “The Saudi government sacrifices basic human rights to maintain male
control over women," according to Farida Deif, women's rights researcher
for HRW's Middle East division. "Saudi women won't make any progress until
the government ends the abuses that stem from these misguided policies."
Read: IPS
Fighting
For Women’s Rights in Sudan: On April 22, National Public Radio reported
on women’s equality in Sudan three years after the government signed a peace
agreement with the rebel group Sudan People's Liberation Movement. Many women
returning home from exile are starting to demand more leadership roles and rights.
“They’ve [women returning home from exile] got used to having more recognition
of women's rights (...) and those women learned to take on leadership roles in
the refugee camps in Kenya. And they expect more from women's roles when they
return to Sudan” said Melanie Teff of Refugees International. Read: National
Public Radio
EDITORIALS
and COLUMNS: On April 28, The Providence Journal (Rhode Island) published
an opinion piece by Brian Dixon, vice president for media and government relations
at Population Connection, about how family planning can help during a food shortage.
Recent food riots have occurred in Haiti, Egypt and other parts of the developing
world that are also among the fastest-growing in population. “It’s time
for the United States to step up and reclaim the mantle of leadership that it
held for much of the past 40 years on family planning,” Dixon wrote. “Congress
can start by approving $1 billion for international family planning programs for
next year. A billion dollars can help buy stability, security and survival.”
Read: The Providence Journal
On
April 26, The Economist published an opinion piece about the food shortage and
subsequent population boom in the Philippines. Roughly every hour, another 200
Filipino babies are born, but President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, a devout Catholic,
refuses to expand family planning services or provide contraceptives to the public.
“The Philippines has more than enough land and other natural resources to
support its population if it were not so incompetently run. But fast population
growth only makes things worse,” the article said. “And figures from
the United Nations Population Fund show that making contraceptives more widely
available does seem to bring population growth down.” Read: The Economist
On April 17, The
Dallas News published an opinion piece by Trammell S. Crow, board member of Population
Connection, about the need to double international family planning efforts in
Pakistan. Pakistan is the world's sixth-most-populous nation at 160 million citizens.
Crow listed many social and economic problems there, such as high levels of illiteracy,
noting that one in three Pakistanis struggles on less than US $1 per day. Crow
wrote: “In addition to restoring order to our beleaguered family planning
programs by repealing the Global Gag Rule, Congress and the next president should
double our annual investment in international family planning to $1 billion –
from its current $461 million.” Read: The Dallas News
---
The
above summary is produced by the Communications Consortium Media Center, 401 Ninth
Street, NW, Suite 450, Washington, DC 20004, 202.326.8700. Redistribution is encouraged
with credit to CCMC.
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