National Abortion Federation Blog: Saporta Reporter

Keep the pressure on the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Michael Leavitt, and let him know that family planning must remain a priority! Sign NAF’s petition and urge him to reconsider Dr. Keroack’s appointment and select a candidate whose goals and positions are consistent with Title X’s mission to provide high-quality family planning services to millions of Americans.

>View NAF’s press release denouncing the appointment of Dr. Keroack

Robert Weiler Jr. was sentenced to five years in prison and three years of supervised release Monday for possessing a pipe bomb, being a felon in possession of a stolen firearm, and attempting to destroy or damage an abortion clinic. Weiler was arrested in June after his parents turned him in to authorities. He pleaded guilty in October and told federal agents that he planned to bomb a Greenbelt abortion clinic and shoot the clinic’s doctor.

>Find NAF’s statistics on violence and disruption.

New Brunswick’s new Minister of Health, Mike Murphy, said that the province’s abortion policy is not a priority, according to an article in the Telegraph-Journal. "To be very truthful, in the last two months it hasn't come up on my agenda whatsoever. There's no plan for change that I know of at the present time," Murphy said in the article.

We at NAF were very surprised at Minister Murphy’s statement. We have been in touch by letter and phone with his office and have a meeting scheduled with him in January to discuss access to abortion care in New Brunswick.

Even though there is no law restricting abortion in Canada, access to publicly-funded abortion care remains a problem for many women. Only abortions provided by obstetrician-gynecologists in hospital settings with approval from two physicians are eligible for public funding in New Brunswick. This policy is a clear violation of the Canada Health Act.

Thursday, U.S. District Judge Richard Arcara rejected all of the defense motions to dismiss a federal case against convicted murderer James Kopp. Kopp was convicted of second-degree murder and is serving a 25-year-to-life state sentence for the 1998 shooting of an abortion provider. He faces a life term if he is found guilty of violating the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act in the shooting.

Preparing his own defense, Kopp argued that this latest case should be dismissed because the shooting did not take place in a clinic entrance. Kopp admitted to fatally shooting Dr. Barnett Slepian and had planned to argue that the shooting was justified because it was intended to save the lives of the unborn. Arcara determined Kopp cannot use this defense since his actions attempted to prevent legal behavior. Kopp is also barred from including abortion related photographs or discussion of his anti-choice views in his defense.

NAF commends the House of Representatives for voting against an ill-advised bill, which would have intruded upon the physician-patient relationship and substituted political agendas for sound science and medicine. H.R. 6099 would have required providers to inform a patient seeking a legal abortion after 20 weeks that there is "substantial evidence" that a fetus may feel pain during an abortion procedure. This would have been accomplished by forcing women to read and sign a statement with inflammatory rhetoric that projected a level of certainty that far exceeded the scientific research. We are grateful that legislators recognized that available science failed to support the conclusions drawn by the legislation and its required statement. Women deserve to make private health care decisions based upon accurate, unbiased medical information, without interference from Congress.

Just weeks ago, voters across the country rejected extremism and elected candidates supportive of reproductive freedom. But as anti-choice politicians in Congress prepare to adjourn for the year, they are attempting to interfere with private health care decisions by requiring doctors to provide women seeking an abortion with misleading information.

Anti-choice advocates are going to bring H.R. 6099, the “Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act” to a vote on Wednesday, December 6. This ill-advised bill would inappropriately interfere with the way doctors provide care to women, advance political agendas over sound science, and would punish doctors for providing responsible patient care.

Women seeking a legal abortion after 20 weeks would be forced to read and sign a statement saying that "there is substantial evidence the process of being killed in an abortion will cause the unborn child pain." Available scientific evidence fails to support the conclusions drawn by this legislation and its required statement.

Doctors already share relevant information about health care options and respect the decisions made by their patients. This legislation intrudes upon the doctor-patient relationship by requiring doctors to provide information that they may not believe is appropriate or accurate for an individual patient. Responsible medicine requires that patients and doctors be able to make treatment decisions together based on each patient’s unique circumstances.

Requiring doctors to share misleading mandated communication with their patients, is a dangerous insertion of Congress into private health care decisions. We urge you to contact your Representative to oppose this legislation so that doctors and patients, not politicians, can continue to determine what constitutes medically appropriate care.

>Read NAF's position statement opposing this legislation

>View NAF's press release

Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter and Planned Parenthood of Indiana signed a settlement agreement Thursday, ending almost two years of legal battles over the medical records of minor patients. Carter has agreed to return patient records his office obtained from Planned Parenthood and refrain from further record requests following a ruling from the Indiana Court of Appeals in September, which stated a minor's right to privacy trumps the state's desire to search for evidence of abuse. In March 2005, the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit attempted to seize the records of over 80 minor patients visiting Planned Parenthood clinics across the state for services including birth control, pregnancy tests, and counseling. At first Planned Parenthood surrendered partial records of eight patients to comply with the investigation, but sought an injunction when the unit expanded its request.