National Abortion Federation Blog: Saporta Reporter

Abortion Hotline Launched to Serve Women in Anti-Choice Ecuador

2008-07-18T11:13:00.001-04:00

Recently, a safe abortion hotline was launched to offer help to women living in Ecuador, a staunchly anti-choice country. Begun by the Dutch organization WOW (Women on Waves), the new hotline serves women by providing reproductive health information, including options for safe, at-home medical abortions. The hotline had a grand launch with activists hanging a banner advertising the service on a religious statue overlooking the capital city of Quito.
Due to a high degree of violence against women, along with poor health care and educational opportunities, thousands of dangerous and illegal abortions are performed in Ecuador every year, leading to 20,000 to 30,000 hospitalizations annually. Currently in Ecuador, abortion is a crime in all situations except for when the woman’s life is in danger and she consents to the procedure, or if the pregnancy is the result of the rape of an insane or mentally retarded woman.

Learn more about the NAF hotline.
Read more from NAF member Marcy Bloom.

Majority of Canadians Support Dr. Morgentaler’s Award

2008-07-10T14:45:00.000-04:00

Two out of three Canadians either support or somewhat support NAF member Dr. Henry Morgentaler’s appointment to the Order of Canada, according to an opinion poll released this week. The poll, conducted for Canwest News Services and Global National, showed 65% of Canadians supported the decision, with women, Quebecers, and people under age 35 as being most likely to favor Morgentaler’s award.

"Two-thirds support is very solid," said John Wright, senior vice president of Ipsos Reid, the polling firm that conducted the survey.

According to the Governor General's website, Morgentaler was made a member of the Order of Canada for "his commitment to increased health care options for women, his determined efforts to influence Canadian public policy and his leadership in humanist and civil liberties organizations."

Following the announcement last week, abortion opponents have asked the Governor General to revoke this award. Today, Action Canada for Population and Development (ACPD) has launched a petition to urge the Governor General to stand firm by her decision to award Morgentaler with this honor.

>Learn more about Dr. Morgentaler’s appointment to the Order of Canada.
>Sign ACPD’s petition.

Kansas Grand Jury Declines to Indict Tiller

2008-07-07T15:34:00.001-04:00

After a six-month investigation, a Kansas Grand Jury adjourned on Wednesday without issuing a criminal indictment against NAF member Dr. George Tiller.

In a statement released by the Sedgwick County district attorney’s office, the grand jury said: “After six months of conducting an investigation that included hearing extensive witness testimony, reviewing volumes of documents and medical records of patients of Women’s Health Care Services (Tiller’s Wichita clinic), this grand jury has not found sufficient evidence to bring an indictment on any crime related to the abortion laws.”

Kansas is one of six states that permit citizen-petitioned grand juries. Throughout his career, Tiller has consistently been targeted by anti-abortion extremists. His clinic has been vandalized, his staff and patients have been repeatedly harassed, and in 1993 Tiller was shot and injured by an anti-abortion extremist.

NAF Member Dr. Henry Morgentaler Awarded Order of Canada

2008-07-01T15:56:00.001-04:00

We are extremely pleased that Dr. Henry Morgentaler has been awarded the Order of Canada. Dr. Morgentaler exemplifies the ideals and principles of the Order of Canada with his lifetime commitment to women’s reproductive freedom. Canadians owe him a tremendous debt of gratitude for standing up for women’s lives and health at great personal sacrifice and risk.

Dr. Morgentaler, a survivor of the Holocaust, has made a positive lasting impact on the lives and health of Canadian women for more than 40 years as a physician and advocate. He came forward publicly in 1967 and testified that women should have access to safe and legal abortion care at a time when abortion was illegal and countless women were sacrificing their lives and health to end an unplanned pregnancy. In 1988, Dr. Morgentaler won a significant victory for Canadian women in the Supreme Court of Canada in R v. Morgentaler, the ruling that decriminalized abortion in Canada. This landmark decision changed the legal landscape in Canada, and was named one of the most important and influential Charter cases of the last 25 years.

Dr. Morgentaler’s determination and tireless efforts on behalf of women have never ceased. He has survived numerous threats on his life, a clinic bombing, prison, and constant harassment by protesters. Despite challenges and obstacles, Dr. Morgentaler has persevered, and he continues to provide leadership in the current struggle to ensure that women have access to funded abortion care.

Throughout his career, Dr. Morgentaler has received numerous awards, including an honourary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Western Ontario and a scholarship named in his honour by the Canadian Federation of Sexual Health. The National Abortion Federation (NAF), the professional association of abortion providers in Canada and United States, has awarded Dr. Morgentaler its highest honour, the Christopher Tietze Humanitarian Award, as well as a special award designating him a National Treasure.

Arizona Senate Rejects Bill Preventing Nurses from Providing Abortion Care

2008-06-27T13:54:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, the Arizona Senate defeated a House-passed bill preventing advanced practice nurses from providing abortion care. This bill would have contradicted last month’s decision by the Arizona Board of Nursing that it is within the scope of practice of appropriately trained advanced practice nurses in the state to provide early aspiration abortion care.

A nurse's scope of practice is determined by the state Board of Nursing based upon specified guidelines established in the Nurse Practice Act for that state. Professional boards are charged with making these types of scope of practice decisions due to their extensive knowledge of the profession, and their judgments should be respected.

>Learn more about the role of advanced practice clinicians in abortion care.

Article Examines Ultrasound Laws

2008-06-26T13:44:00.002-04:00

An article published yesterday by Stateline.org takes a comprehensive look at the nation’s ultrasound laws. This year legislation mandating ultrasound provision was introduced in 18 states. In April, Oklahoma passed the most restrictive law, which requires a woman to undergo an ultrasound one hour prior to obtaining abortion care and listen to an explanation from the medical professional performing the ultrasound while the image is displayed so that she can see it. This type of legislation unfairly manipulates women and violates the integrity of the doctor-patient relationship.

>Learn more about abortion rights in the states.

Canadian Women Still Face Challenges Accessing Plan B

2008-06-24T16:32:00.001-04:00

While Plan B has been approved to be sold on drugstore shelves instead of behind-the-counter in Canada, many women may still face challenges in accessing the drug in a timely manner. A reporter with the Edmonton Sun anonymously called 10 drug stores in the Edmonton area and found that none of them offered the medication on pharmacy shelves, only behind the counter. The National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory Authorities approved Plan B (also known as emergency contraception) for over the counter sale in Canada in mid May.

>Learn more about emergency contraception.

Majority of People Reject Criminal Penalties for Abortion According to Opinion Poll

2008-06-19T16:41:00.002-04:00

According to an opinion poll released this week, majorities in 17 out of 18 nations surveyed reject the use of criminal penalties such as fines or imprisonment, as a means to prevent abortion.

WorldPublicOpinion.org interviewed 18,465 respondents in 18 geographically and culturally diverse countries representing 59 percent of the world’s population. Respondents were from countries where abortion is legal including the United States and France, and also countries with highly restrictive abortion laws like Mexico, Poland, and South Korea. On average across all 18 countries, 52 percent of respondents favored leaving the matter of abortion to the individual.

“Clearly many governments around the world using criminal penalties to try to prevent abortions are out of step with their publics,” said Steven Kull, director of WorldPublicOpinion.org.

WorldPublicOpinion.org is a collaborative research project of research centers from around the world, managed by the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland.

Michigan Governor Plans to Veto Proposed Abortion Ban

2008-06-12T15:37:00.004-04:00

Today, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm stated that she would veto a bill headed to her office, which bans certain types of abortions without an exception for a woman’s health. The bill was passed today by the Senate, and resembles a federal ban upheld by the Supreme Court last year. There have been three previous attempts in the state to outlaw the procedures covered in the bill, but all have been declared unconstitutional by federal courts.

Anti-Abortion Protester Charged with Violating Oakland Bubble Zone Ordinance

2008-06-11T17:43:00.001-04:00

Anti-abortion protester Walter Hoye was due in court today on four misdemeanor charges of violating an Oakland bubble zone ordinance.

The bubble zone ordinance protects patients, doctors, nurses, and other employees of reproductive health care facilities as well as volunteer escorts who assist people entering and exiting the facilities. The ordinance prohibits several different behaviors at reproductive health care clinics, including approaching closer than 8 feet for the "purposes of counseling, harassing, or interfering" with someone without the person's consent.

In February, the Oakland City Council unanimously passed the bubble zone ordinance. Hoye has been involved in legal challenges to the bubble zone, and last month became the first person cited for violating the ordinance.

>Learn more about state Clinic Protection Bills.

Liberal Party Leader Vows to Defeat Bill C-484

2008-06-05T16:41:00.000-04:00

Today, Stéphane Dion, leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, vowed to block passage of Bill C-484, which would create a new crime of causing injury to or the death of a foetus.

Dion indicated that he shares the view that the bill would reopen the abortion debate and said: "We will not allow that to happen."

>Learn more about why NAF opposes Bill C-484.

Dr. Henry Morgentaler Honoured by Canadian Labour Congress

2008-05-28T16:39:00.000-04:00

Today, the Canadian Labour Congress awarded NAF member Dr. Henry Morgentaler with its highest honour, the Award for Outstanding Service to Humanity, for his work to promote health and equality for women.

“It is more than fitting that as we celebrate Dr. Morgentaler’s historic legal victory for women in the Supreme Court of Canada 20 years ago – we honour his amazing contribution to the advancement of human rights, women’s equality, and progressive change,” Ken Georgetti, president of the Canadian Labour Congress, told delegates.

For more than 40 years, Dr. Morgentaler has worked as a physician and advocate for women’s reproductive freedom. He was one of the first doctors to provide abortion care in Canada and won a significant victory for Canadian women in the Supreme Court of Canada in R v. Morgentaler, the ruling that decriminalized abortion in Canada in 1988.

>Learn more about legal abortion in Canada.

National Abortion Federation Affirms Rejection of Anti-Abortion Ads

2008-05-27T18:35:00.001-04:00

Today we released the following statement in response to Advertising Standards Canada’s (ASC) declaration that an anti-abortion ad campaign launched in January by Life Canada is “deceptive”:

We concur with the decision of Advertising Standards Canada to reject this
deceptive ad campaign. These ads violated standards for acceptable advertising
by using misleading images and misinformation to advance an agenda of banning
abortion. We commend ASC for affirming that advertisements must be truthful and
accurate.

The controversial ads featured an image of a pregnant woman with text that read, “Nine months: the length of time abortion is allowed in Canada. No medical reason needed. Abortion, have we gone too far?”

Eighty-two percent of abortions in Canada are provided during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, according to Statistics Canada. In reality, doctors in Canada only provide abortion care after 23 weeks 6 days from a woman’s last menstrual period if a woman’s health or life is at risk or the fetus has a lethal anomaly.

Cities across Canada including Fredericton, New Brunswick and Kelowna, British Columbia refused to run these ads due to their “offensive” and “controversial” nature. The ads were also pulled from public transportation in Hamilton, Ontario prior to this decision by ASC.

Women facing an unwanted pregnancy deserve accurate information, not this type of politically motivated propaganda.

NAF provides unbiased, factual information about abortion care through our toll-free Hotline (1-800-772-9100) and website (www.prochoice.org).

Canada Releases Abortion Statistics

2008-05-21T16:59:00.003-04:00

Today, Statistics Canada released abortion data for 2005. According to the data, a total of 96,815 abortions were provided to Canadian women that year, which was down 3.2 percent from 100,039 in 2004.

The agency reported that abortion rates fell in every age group except among women aged 35 to 39, where it remained the same. Women in their early 20s accounted for the largest age group—at 31 percent—of women who obtained abortion care in 2005.

These numbers include all abortions provided in hospitals and clinics in provinces and territories, except Manitoba clinics, which have not had data available since 2004. Abortions obtained by Canadian women in some U.S. states are also not accounted for by the data.

Appeals Court Strikes Down Virginia Abortion Ban

2008-05-21T16:18:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit overturned a Virginia abortion law on constitutional grounds. This is the second time the federal appeals court in Richmond has struck down this law ruling it would impose an “undue burden” on a woman’s right to obtain abortion care.

The 2-1 ruling affirms the same court’s 2005 decision to strike down the abortion ban, a ruling which prevented Virginia’s law from taking effect. However, last year the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a federal law banning certain abortions. Following this decision, the Supreme Court ordered the appeals court to reexamine the Virginia law in light of the high court's ruling on the federal ban. Since the Supreme Court decision in April 2007, federal appeals courts have overturned state bans in Michigan and now Virginia, finding that they are broader than the federal abortion ban.

Like the federal law, Virginia’s act banned certain abortion procedures after the first trimester and lacked an exception to protect women’s health.

“Unlike the federal act,” Judge M. Blane Michael wrote for the majority, “the Virginia act subjects all doctors who perform” the more common procedure “to potential criminal liability, thereby imposing an unconstitutional burden on a woman’s right to choose.”

Women’s Health Care Innovator Dies

2008-05-19T16:24:00.000-04:00

Harvey Karman, an early abortion provider who developed a device, which improved abortion care died this month. In the 1970s Karman developed a soft, flexible tube, or cannula, which made early suction abortions possible with local or no anesthesia and made perforation far less likely. The Karman cannula became a crucial component of abortion care in the developing world, and it is still used to provide women with safe, early abortion care. Karman is responsible for saving the lives of countless women throughout the world through this innovative technology.

Plan B Approved for Over-the-Counter Sale in Canada

2008-05-16T15:54:00.001-04:00

This week, the National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory Authorities (NAPRA) has accepted a recommendation and approved Plan B (also known as emergency contraception) for over-the-counter sale. Under current rules in Canada, women who want to buy Plan B have to ask pharmacy staff for the drug, a condition critics say may discourage some women from using it to prevent unwanted pregnancies.

Allowing Plan B to be sold on drugstore shelves instead of behind-the-counter will give Canadian women the ability to easily access the medication in time for it to be an effective option.

NAPRA advises Canada's provincial regulatory authorities, which will have final say in adopting the new policy in their own regions.

>Learn more about emergency contraception.

Series Examines Laws Targeting Abortion Providers

2008-05-12T17:07:00.001-04:00

This month, RH Reality Check is featuring a series on Targeted Regulation of Abortion Provider (TRAP) Laws, which single out abortion clinics for unnecessary, politically motivated, restrictive regulations.

The series examines how abortion opponents use legislation to restrict women’s access to safe, legal abortion care.

“The anti's strategy has been to allow abortion to remain legal, but to make it
unavailable,” says Bonnie Scott Jones, Deputy Director of Domestic Programs
at the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights. “Their goal is to make
abortion so difficult to obtain it's not really an option. They've also worked
to make it more difficult to be an abortion provider than any other kind of
doctor. TRAP laws work as a disincentive to becoming part of, or remaining in,
the abortion field.”

>Learn more about TRAP Laws.

Restrictive Bills Fail in Florida, Kansas

2008-05-02T12:27:00.001-04:00

Although access to abortion care continues to be threatened in the states, this week, we celebrated the following defeats of new proposed restrictive legislation:

The Florida Senate failed to pass a bill, which would have required a woman seeking abortion care to have an ultrasound and view the results unless she signed a waiver. After 90 minutes of debate, the bill died on a 20-20 tie. This legislation was medically unnecessary, and an unwarranted intrusion into the relationship between a doctor and patient.

Anti-choice senators in Kansas failed to override the governor's veto of a bill imposing new restrictions on abortion care. Last week, Governor Kathleen Sebelius (D-KS) noted in her veto message that the bill, "endangers the health of women and is likely to be found in violation [of] the United States Constitution and the Constitution of the State of Kansas."

>Learn more about abortion rights in the states.

Let's Focus on Protecting Women

2008-04-28T16:37:00.002-04:00

> Read my op-ed in the Ottawa Citizen on Saturday, April 26 explaining why NAF opposes bill C-484.

More Italian Doctors Refusing to Provide Abortion Care

2008-04-28T11:02:00.001-04:00

Last week, the Italian Health Ministry reported that nearly 70 percent of gynecologists in the country now refuse to perform abortions on moral grounds. Although Italy legalized abortion in 1978, the Vatican has pushed for doctors to claim a “conscientious objection” and refuse to provide abortion care. The number of gynecologists claiming such an exemption rose from 58.7 percent to 69.2 percent, from 2003 to 2007, according to the Ministry.

When presenting these findings, outgoing Health Minister Livia Turco called on Italy's various regional health authorities to "guarantee an abortion service" despite the growing number of doctors who have moral objections to the procedure.

The Health Ministry also reported an increase in immigrant women seeking abortion care, despite a decrease in the rates of legal and illegal abortions.

NAF Commends the Governor of Kansas for Her Veto of Legislation Restricting Abortion

2008-04-21T19:20:00.001-04:00

Today, Governor Kathleen Sebelius (D-KS) vetoed a bill (Senate Bill 389) imposing new restrictions on abortion care. Gov. Sebelius noted in her veto message that the bill, “endangers the health of women and is likely to be found in violation [of] the United States Constitution and the Constitution of the State of Kansas.” Vicki Saporta, President and CEO of the National Abortion Federation (NAF), released the following statement praising Gov. Sebelius for vetoing this harmful anti-abortion legislation:

Quebec’s Legislative Assembly Denounces C-484

2008-04-18T16:08:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, the legislative assembly in Quebec voted unanimously against federal Bill C-484, which would create a new crime of causing injury to or the death of a foetus. This bill would elevate the foetus - even an embryo only weeks old - to a status equal with that of the adult woman, and could be used to erode abortion rights in Canada.

Earlier this week, Quebec's Federation of Specialist Doctors, came out against this legislation.

>Learn more about Bill C-484.

National Abortion Federation Supports the Recommendation to Allow Plan B to be Sold Over-the-Counter in Canada

2008-04-17T15:13:00.001-04:00

Today we released the following statement supporting the recommendation of the National Drug Scheduling Advisory Committee (NDSAC) to the National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory Authorities (NAPRA) to allow Plan B (also known as emergency contraception) to be sold over-the-counter:

The recent NDSAC recommendation is an important endorsement to allow Canadian women the ability to easily access Plan B in time for it to be an effective option. In August 2007, NAF sent a letter to NAPRA supporting the request to allow Plan B to be sold over-the counter.

Changing the status of Plan B from behind-the-counter to over-the-counter would allow more women to prevent unintended pregnancies. Additionally, allowing Plan B to be sold over-the-counter would also reduce the cost, since a consultation with a pharmacist would not be required.

Plan B contains a concentrated dose of the progestin hormone found in daily birth control pills, and reduces the risk of pregnancy by up to 89 percent when taken within 72 hours of unprotected intercourse.

The Need for Abortion Training in Medical Schools

2008-04-14T18:53:00.000-04:00

In Canada, training in comprehensive reproductive health care including abortion is not currently offered as part of the core training in undergraduate medical education or as a part of required training in all ob/gyn or family practice residency programs. This limits the ability of physicians to provide comprehensive reproductive health care to their patients. Medical schools must provide training opportunities for medical students and residents to ensure that future generations of Canadian women have access to quality abortion care.

RH Reality Check examines this issue today on their blog and notes, "Without properly trained doctors, compassionate medical staff, and adequate facilities, women in Canada are not able to access the abortion services that they need."

To address these issues, NAF is reaching out to medical schools and residency programs to offer NAF's educational resources to help ensure that abortion is included in their curricula.