National Abortion Federation Blog: Saporta Reporter

Austin, Texas City Council Votes to Regulate Crisis Pregnancy Centers

2010-04-12T12:32:00.003-04:00

Last week, the Austin, TX City Council voted unanimously to require Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPCs) that don't offer or refer clients for abortion care or birth control services to post signs with that information at their facilities.

This ordinance comes two months after the Baltimore, MD City Council passed a similar law requiring CPCs without licensed medical professionals to post signs informing women that they were not receiving information from medical professionals. The majority of CPCs often use deceptive advertising practices to give the appearance that they are legitimate medical clinics that provide a variety of reproductive health care services, including family planning and abortion care.

In reality, most CPCs do not provide full options counseling and generally will not refer for abortion care or birth control. Women who mistakenly visit CPCs describe being harassed, intimidated, and given blatantly false information at their appointments.

If you have experience with a deceptive CPC, we would be interested in hearing your story.

>Learn more about CPCs.

Justice John Paul Stevens Retires from the Supreme Court

2010-04-09T19:13:00.001-04:00

Today we issued the following statement:

Throughout his 35 years on the Supreme Court, Justice John Paul Stevens has been an influential member of the Court known for his protection of civil rights and civil liberties. We thank him for his years of dedicated public service, and wish him well in his retirement.

Justice Stevens consistently and vigorously upheld the protections of Roe v. Wade. He voted to uphold a woman's right to choose in several important cases, including Casey and Stenberg (Carhart I). Most recently in Carhart II, Stevens joined Justice Ginsburg's impassioned dissent attacking the majority for placing women's health in danger when the Court upheld a federal law banning certain abortion procedures in 2007. In 2000, Stevens wrote the majority opinion in the Court’s decision to uphold a Colorado buffer zone measure that protected women seeking abortion care from harassment.

The Supreme Court plays a critical role in protecting women’s access to abortion care, and the last two cases involving abortion (Carhart I and II) have been decided by just one vote. This vacancy is an opportunity for President Obama to select a justice who will uphold the right to privacy found in the United States Constitution with the same vigor as Justice Stevens.

State News Round-Up

2010-04-09T11:58:00.001-04:00

Anti-choice legislators in the states continue to restrict women’s access to abortion care by passing bills that ban health insurance coverage for abortion, interfere in the doctor-patient relationship, and place an undue burden on both women and their health care providers.

Last week, the Tennessee House Commerce Committee passed a bill that would eliminate insurance coverage for abortion care from a health insurance exchange slated to go into effect in 2014. Several states are considering a variety of different restrictions on insurance coverage for abortion care under the new structure created by federal health care reform.

The Tennessee legislature also approved a bill that would require abortion clinics to post signs that read, in part, "It is against the law for anyone, regardless of the person's relationship to you, to coerce you into having or to force you to have an abortion." A similar measure was recently passed in Georgia. These bills are unnecessary, as abortion providers already work extensively with their patients to determine that their decision is voluntary and informed.

In Oklahoma, Governor Brad Henry signed into law three separate anti-choice bills. The statutes outlaw gender-specific abortion; regulate the provision of medical abortion; and create the Freedom of Conscience Act, which says employers "cannot discriminate against an employee by refusing to accommodate the religious beliefs of said person as it pertains to abortion, human embryos, fetal transplants or euthanasia."

>Learn more about state restrictions.

Wednesday's Words from Women

2010-04-07T15:31:00.000-04:00

Man Arrested for Threatening NAF Member

2010-04-07T12:08:00.002-04:00

A Dallas man is facing federal charges for threatening NAF member Southwestern Women’s Surgery Center in Dallas, TX. Erlyndon Joseph Lo, 27, went to the Plano federal courthouse last Friday and filed a court document saying that at noon that day, he was planning to go to the clinic and "use deadly force…," according to court documents. Lo was arrested by the FBI on Saturday and remains in custody.

"We won’t tolerate threats to clinics,” said Mark White, spokesman for the Dallas FBI. "We acted swiftly to ensure that no one was injured and that no act of violence actually did take place.”

Lo has been charged with one felony count of communicating a threat via an instrument of interstate commerce and one misdemeanor violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. If convicted, he faces up to six years in prison.

>Learn more about clinic violence.

Convicted Murderer Scott Roeder Sentenced

2010-04-01T20:21:00.002-04:00

Today I released the following statement:

Today a judge in Wichita, KS sentenced anti-abortion extremist and convicted murderer Scott Roeder to the maximum sentence allowed by Kansas law for the murder of NAF member Dr. George Tiller.

While this won’t bring Dr. Tiller back, it is important that Roeder spend the rest of his life in prison so that he cannot harm another abortion provider. Anyone thinking of committing a similar crime also needs to understand that there is no justification for murdering an abortion provider, and that if they commit such a crime they will spend the rest of their lives in prison.

In January, a Sedgwick County jury took just 37 minutes to convict Roeder of first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault. Under Kansas law he faced a mandatory life sentence with the possibility of parole after 25 years; however, based on aggravating circumstances, prosecutors requested and received a “Hard 50” sentence, which requires Roeder to serve at least 50 years before he can be considered for parole. Roeder is 52 years old.

We hope this sentence will serve as a deterrent for those who may be considering following in Roeder’s footsteps. In a civilized society, we cannot allow anti-abortion extremists to take the law into their own hands in order to advance their own personal, political agendas.

NAF Member: An Open Letter to Bart Stupak

2010-04-01T13:01:00.001-04:00

NAF member Carole Joffe, author of Doctors of Conscience and the recently released Dispatches from the Abortion Wars, has just published an open letter to Congressman Bart Stupak about the violence and harassment abortion providers face every day. Published on the website of Beacon Press, the letter reads in part:

“I wonder, however, if your own experience has made you more empathetic with abortion providers, who have for years endured similar behavior from the same antiabortion extremists who have now targeted you? Though obviously you and the provider community do not agree on the abortion issue, perhaps now you can agree with them that the disagreements over this issue must remain civil. How can we call ourselves a democracy if we cannot express political beliefs without fear of violence? Congressman Stupak, I respectfully call on you to disavow violence against all Americans, not just elected officials.”

Carole’s letter is particularly timely, as today Scott Roeder will be sentenced for the murder of Dr. George Tiller.

>Read the entire letter here.

Wednesday's Words from Women

2010-03-31T08:19:00.001-04:00

NAF Calls for Redefinition of What Being Pro-Choice Means Status Quo Harms Millions of Low-Income Women

2010-03-22T15:25:00.000-04:00

Today, I issued the following statement:

Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed historic health care reform legislation. And while we agree that the health care system is certainly broken, it is unfortunate that reform continued the discrimination against our country’s most vulnerable women.

Health care reform was intended to expand comprehensive health care coverage for millions of Americans. Abortion care is basic health care for women and should not be treated differently from any other health care service, yet restrictions like the Hyde Amendment seriously limit women’s access to care. Although it has been the status quo for more than 30 years, the Hyde Amendment is a harmful, unacceptable policy that discriminates against millions of women who rely on the government for the rest of their health care.

While many of us feel very strongly that public funding restrictions need to be lifted, the pro-choice community did not attempt to use health care reform as a vehicle to advance this important goal. Now that reform has been passed, it is time for pro-choice leaders in the private and public sectors to come together to truly address the inequalities in access to abortion care and work to repeal the Hyde Amendment.

Every month, our toll-free Hotline receives thousands of calls from women who are unable to afford the abortion care they need. We recently heard from a woman who was fleeing an abusive relationship and although she had Medicaid, it wouldn’t cover her abortion; a full-time college student who was selling her textbooks to raise money for her procedure because health insurance through school didn’t cover abortion care; a rape victim and mother who was pawning her possessions in order to afford an abortion; an unemployed mother of four who was facing eviction and suicidal because she could not afford an abortion; and a single mother raising a child with a disability, who was employed and on Medicaid, but unable to afford the cost of the abortion care she needed.

In a fair and just society, we cannot continue to discriminate against our poorest women and their families. It’s time to redefine what being pro-choice means in this country. You can’t be pro-choice and deny low-income women the same access to abortion care as wealthier women.

While passing health care reform was important, it is critical that the President and our pro-choice allies in Congress now turn to protecting the health and rights of low-income women and begin to work toward the repeal of the Hyde Amendment. All women—regardless of their economic status—deserve equal access to the abortion care they need.

Wednesday's Words from Women

2010-03-10T09:52:00.000-05:00

Wednesday's Words from Women

2010-03-03T09:03:00.000-05:00

Over one-third of women of reproductive age have an abortion by the age of 45. However, women who have chosen abortion are often absent from the public debate. In order to break the silence surrounding abortion, we will be featuring real stories from real women each Wednesday on our blog. If you would like to share your story with us or have it published on our blog, go to http://www.prochoice.org/pregnant/hotline/share.html.

I have two sets of twins, both delivered via C-section. The second delivery was extremely difficult due to severe scar tissue. My doctor informed me this pregnancy could take my life or leave me with severe complications. I have four small children, two seven-year-olds and two eight-year-olds, and I could not risk not being there to watch them grow up and share their lives.

--Submitted by Karen* through a member clinic

After the pregnancy test came back positive, I knew that I was going to get an abortion. I'm only 21; I'm too young to be a mom, and I don't have the money to support myself and a child. I'm still in college, and I don't want to drop out and end an art career that had yet to start. Not to mention the man involved was no longer in my life. He's also still in college, and I didn't want to put the burden on him of paying child support and student loans. It wouldn't be fair to either of us.

I went to a clinic outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The first visit there was for a sonogram and to find out my blood type. One of my best friends went with me for support. I love her so much for going with me. My next visit was for the actual procedure. I'm lucky that my mom was understanding; she went with me so that she could drive me home. The staff at the clinic is just amazing; they made sure that I understood the procedure and what was going to happen after. They also had a counselor for me to talk to about the abortion.

I know this was the right choice for me. It was the hardest thing I've ever had to go through, but I'll never regret my decision. I'm just thankful that my close friends and my mom were there for me to help get me through everything.

--Submitted by Abigail* through our website

*Names have been changed to protect patient privacy

NAF Board Member Profiled in The Washington Post

2010-02-26T17:12:00.002-05:00

Today, The Washington Post profiled abortion provider and NAF Board Member Dr. Carol Ball. Dr. Ball is one of four physicians who travel from out of state to provide abortions in South Dakota, which has not had an in-state provider of elective abortions since 1994.

South Dakota has seen some of the fiercest challenges to Roe v. Wade, including a 2006 bill that would have banned all abortions except when a woman’s life was in danger. Voters in the state rejected this ban in 2006, and a similar measure in 2008.

Dr. Ball has cared for women for nearly 30 years. She currently serves as the medical director for Planned Parenthood’s regional office in the Twin Cities. The clinic she works at in South Dakota is the only clinic in the entire state.

Wednesday's Words from Women

2010-02-24T16:54:00.000-05:00

Over one-third of women of reproductive age have an abortion by the age of 45. However, women who have chosen abortion are often absent from the public debate. In order to break the silence surrounding abortion, we will be featuring real stories from real women each Wednesday on our blog. If you would like to share your story with us or have it published on our blog, go to http://www.prochoice.org/pregnant/hotline/share.html.

I chose this decision because I always wanted to bring kids into a better world, one where I would be married to the man I was having kids with, not separated. I wanted to be caught up on my bills and prepared for having kids. It was a hard decision to make, but in my life right now it is the best decision for me.

--Submitted by Avery* through a member clinic

Growing up I went to a private Presbyterian high school with devotions and Bible class every day along with chapel every Sunday. One of the most exciting events for the school was when we all caravanned to the capitol to march in a pro-life parade once a year. I always did it, but deep down I knew I felt differently.

I was about to graduate college when I became pregnant. I saw a little plus sign on the stick, picked up my phone, and made an appointment. When the day came I was nervous but ready. In the waiting room I met a mother of two. She didn’t have access to care where she lived in Nashville and had to drive a long way to obtain an abortion. Another girl chimed in that she was from Macon, Georgia. Their stories came as a shock to me because these women had to travel so far and pay so much to get care that I was able to access so easily due to my insurance and location.

The clinic was extraordinary, they offered counseling and the entire office was comfortable. I felt a light bulb go off waiting for the doctor. Two years previously I had gone through a rape trial that had dragged out for years, and my rapist was only sentenced to one year. There my rights were almost nothing, whereas here at the clinic, I felt empowered—everything mattered and my choice was supported.

I was put under anesthesia for 30 minutes and then it was over. The only discomfort I felt was minor cramping, and the relief was extraordinary. I left feeling happier than I had felt in years for many reasons. The biggest reason was that this was the first major decision I had made myself. I now knew that I was in control of my life and decisions.

--Submitted by Mariah* through a member clinic

Names have been changed to protect patient privacy

Wednesday's Words from Women

2010-02-17T18:06:00.001-05:00

Maternal Health Pledge Must Include Access to Safe Abortion Care

2010-02-11T10:57:00.002-05:00

Today, I issued the following statement:

Last week, Prime Minister Harper announced that he plans to make maternal health in the developing world a priority when he hosts the G8 summit in June. If the Prime Minister is truly serious about improving women’s health internationally, his initiatives must address the comprehensive maternal and reproductive health care needs of women, including access to safe abortion care.

As we have seen in Canada and other countries throughout the world, access to safe, legal abortion care preserves women’s health and saves women’s lives. Unsafe abortion remains one of the leading causes of maternal mortality in developing nations. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), nearly 70,000 women worldwide die from unsafe abortions annually and millions more are injured, many permanently.

The WHO also estimates that up to 40 percent of maternal deaths could be prevented with access to family planning and contraception services. International health and development agencies, including Amnesty International and the United Nations, consistently link contraception to maternal health in the developing world.

However, last week Canadian International Development Agency Minister Bev Oda said the government’s child and maternal health strategy will not address unsafe abortions in developing countries or support access to family planning and contraception. Canada must not follow in the footsteps of the United States, which during the Bush Administration restricted funding for foreign organizations providing abortion counseling, referrals, or care, and those who worked to challenge abortion restrictions. This policy had devastating consequences for the millions of women in developing nations who rely upon such organizations for essential health care services.

This is a critical opportunity for Prime Minister Harper to champion the health of some of the world’s poorest women. We join Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff and others in the Liberal Party in urging the Prime Minister to keep ideology out of the maternal health initiative and include access to contraception and abortion care in his efforts to improve maternal health care.

Letter to the Editor: Abortion and the Health Pledge

2010-02-05T12:35:00.004-05:00

Today, my letter to the editor was published in The Globe and Mail:

If the Prime Minister is serious about improving women’s health internationally, his initiatives must address the comprehensive maternal and reproductive health care needs of women, including access to safe abortion care. As we’ve seen here and in other countries around the world, access to safe, legal abortion care preserves women’s health and saves women’s lives. Unsafe abortion remains one of the leading causes of maternal mortality in developing nations. According to the World Health Organization, nearly 70,000 women worldwide die from unsafe abortions annually and millions more are injured, many permanently.

This is a critical opportunity for Mr. Harper to champion the health of some of the world’s poorest women. We join Mr. Ignatieff in urging the Prime Minister to include access to contraception and abortion care in his efforts to improve maternal health care.

Montgomery County (MD) Regulates Crisis Pregnancy Centers

2010-02-04T15:48:00.003-05:00

This week, the Montgomery County Council in Maryland passed a bill that requires pregnancy centers without licensed medical professionals to post signs telling women that they are not receiving information from medical professionals.

This bill is expected to affect the operations of crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs), the majority of which do not have medical professionals on staff, and often use deceptive advertising practices to give the appearance that they are legitimate medical clinics that provide a variety of reproductive health care services, including family planning and abortion care.

In reality, most CPCs do not provide full options counseling and generally will not refer for abortion care or birth control. Women who mistakenly visit CPCs describe being harassed, intimidated, and given blatantly false information at their appointments.

The bill passed on a vote of 7-2.

If you have experience with a deceptive CPC, we would be interested in hearing your story.

>Learn more about CPCs.

“The Abortion Monologues” Opens in Calgary

2010-02-04T12:43:00.004-05:00

Following its 2009 premiere at NAF’s Annual Meeting, The Abortion Monologues is set to open today at Mount Royal University in Calgary. In a profile in this week’s Maclean’s, playwright Jane Cawthorne, a former women’s studies teacher who now writes full-time, discusses the show, which presents more than 20 fictional female characters’ experiences with abortion. “I felt that the public discussion on abortion was polarized, and didn’t reflect what goes on in the real lives of women,” says Cawthorne, who has volunteered with non-profit women’s health and reproductive rights groups for two decades. “Whatever you believe about abortion, at some point in the play, you will be forced to think again.”

Wednesday's Words from Women

2010-02-03T17:51:00.003-05:00

Roeder Found Guilty of First Degree Murder

2010-01-29T14:46:00.001-05:00

Today we released the following statement:

Today in just 37 minutes, the jury in Wichita found Scott Roeder guilty of first degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault.

While this verdict won't bring back Dr. Tiller, it is important that justice was served. Important for the safety and security of other abortion providers and important for women's continued ability to access quality abortion care.

In a civilized society, we cannot allow anti-abortion extremists to murder abortion providers in order to advance their own religious and political beliefs.

There is no justification for murdering doctors who provide abortion care. We hope this verdict will be a deterrent to those who may be considering following in Roeder's footsteps, and send a clear signal that violence against abortion providers will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Wednesday's Words from Women

2010-01-27T15:55:00.000-05:00

National Abortion Federation and ACLU Ask Court To Preclude Voluntary Manslaughter Charge In Trial Of Dr. Tiller’s Murderer

2010-01-27T12:06:00.004-05:00

Today we issued this statement announcing a friend-of-the-court brief filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the National Abortion Federation:

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) today filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of the National Abortion Federation, the ACLU, and the ACLU of Kansas in the trial of Scott Roeder, the alleged murderer of Dr. George Tiller, asking the court to preclude Roeder from arguing his anti-abortion beliefs in support of a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter rather than first degree murder.

“In a civilized society we cannot allow extremists to commit murder to advance their own religious or political beliefs,” said Vicki Saporta, President of the National Abortion Federation. “Scott Roeder should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

“Allowing the defense to argue that Scott Roeder’s anti-abortion beliefs in any way lessen his accountability in Dr. Tiller’s murder sends an ominous signal to all vigilantes,” said Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, staff attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project. “We should all be concerned; having sincere political beliefs does not mean someone should be able to get away with murder.”

Scott Roeder has been charged with first degree murder in the shooting death of Dr. George Tiller on May 31, 2009, while Dr. Tiller was attending services at his local church. Earlier this month, in pre-trial hearings, Sedgwick County District Judge Warren Wilbert ruled that he would not allow Roeder to use a justifiable homicide defense, but left open the possibility that the defense could put on evidence that would support the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter. This ruling might permit Roeder to argue that he was motivated by anti-abortion beliefs and therefore should be held less accountable.

“This is a dangerous misinterpretation of the law,” said Doug Bonney, Chief Counsel & Legal Director, ACLU of Kansas & Western Missouri. “No matter what our political or moral beliefs, we are not entitled to kill those who disagree with us. We would not allow someone who murders a general to get a lesser sentence because the murder was motivated by a belief that war is unjustifiable.”

Doctors who provide abortion care deserve the full protection of the law. They devote their lives to ensuring that women can obtain the health care they need. It is important that we support a woman’s ability to make this most private, personal decision, and it is critical that we protect the medical professionals who care for them.

If convicted of first degree murder, Roeder could be facing a life sentence; if convicted of voluntary manslaughter, he could receive less than 10 years for Dr. Tiller’s murder.

Lawyers on today’s brief include Kolbi-Molinas and Talcott Camp of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project and Bonney of the ACLU of Kansas & Western Missouri.

The ACLU brief is available at http://www.aclu.org/reproductive-freedom/state-kansas-v-roeder-aclu-amicus-brief

Wednesday's Words from Women

2010-01-20T13:34:00.000-05:00

Over one-third of women of reproductive age have an abortion by the age of 45. However, women who have chosen abortion are often absent from the public debate. In order to break the silence surrounding abortion, we will be featuring real stories from real women each Wednesday on our blog. If you would like to share your story with us or have it published on our blog, go to http://www.prochoice.org/pregnant/hotline/share.html.

I am a full-time student carrying a 3.7 GPA, and the proud mother to a two-year-old, mildly autistic, special needs child with a severe seizure disorder. Having another child at this hectic and sometimes frightening stage in my life would do both children an injustice. I can’t tell the relief I felt following my abortion, when all was said and done and I was still healthy, and my beautiful son still happy. The staff at the clinic was respectful and amazingly helpful, and at no point did I feel pressured to do something that I didn’t want to do.

--submitted by Sandra* through a member clinic

My daughter suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after a violent rape. She will never be the same innocent girl she was. Her decision to have an abortion has not been an easy one. As my support has always been there, no one understands how hard, how much it hurts, or the confusion, unless you have walked in those shoes. The protesters that walk outside the building, with their shouts and their signs, have no clue about my daughter’s story. The clinic helped my daughter “walk where no woman wants to walk.” It was not planned and it was not her fault. Thank you to the Hotline for helping my daughter.

--submitted by Loretta,* on behalf of her daughter Alexandra,* through a member clinic

*Names have been changed to protect patient privacy

Wednesday's Words from Women

2010-01-13T08:51:00.000-05:00

Wednesday's Words from Women

2010-01-06T11:16:00.001-05:00