What We're Reading - August 6
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Good morning, everyone! The talk of who will be Mitt Romney’s VP continues, as many believe he will announce his running mate as early as this week. Meanwhile, the Obama campaign is out with a new ad that highlights Romney’s poor record on women’s health. Here’s what we’re reading this morning…
New Obama ad targets Romney’s plans to “get rid of” Planned Parenthood. “Obama Campaign Attacks Mitt Romney Over Women's Health Issues In New Ad” – “President Barack Obama's reelection campaign slammed Mitt Romney over women's health issues in a new ad released Saturday. The ad, titled ‘Important,’ features on-camera interviews with an array of women to emphasize the significance of access to contraception and funding for Planned Parenthood. It comes just days after the Obama administration's birth control mandate took effect, requiring most employers to provide free birth control coverage in their health insurance policies. ‘This is not the 1950s,’ a woman named Alex says in the ad. Later, she adds, ‘I don't think Mitt Romney can even understand the mindset of someone who has to go to Planned Parenthood.’ The ad then pivots to the infamous clip of Romney saying he would ‘get rid of’ Planned Parenthood. In an interview earlier this year, while offering a few suggestions on how he would reduce the deficit, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee had said, ‘Of course you get rid of Obamacare, that's the easy one, but there are others. Planned Parenthood, we're going to get rid of that.’”
They’re at it again. The Catholic church appeals to Congress for legislation that could overturn the birth control mandate. “Catholic church implores Congress to overturn Obama birth-control mandate” – “The U.S. Catholic church is imploring Congress to pass legislation overturning the Obama administration's birth-control mandate. The policy, which took effect on Wednesday, requires most employers to cover contraception in their healthcare plans without a co-pay. The mandate has been challenged extensively in court. Twenty-five lawsuits have been filed against it so far, mostly by groups who object to birth control or consider some forms of it to be abortion. But that litigation ‘may take years,’ Cardinal Daniel DiNardo warned in a letter to members of Congress. He said lawmakers should act against the mandate ‘before it completes its business this year.’ ‘The fundamental importance of the religious freedom issue at stake demands a timely congressional response,’ wrote DiNardo, the chair of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities. ‘Timely and uniform protection of these rights cannot be expected from the current lengthy judicial process.’ The White House policy exempts churches and houses of worship, and allows women who work for religiously affiliated groups to receive free birth control directly from their insurers.”
Comprehensive sex education works. “Abstinence-only is bound to fail” – “Sometimes partisan battles in Washington cause civilian casualties. Here is one example. The federal Department of Health and Human Services recently offered $4.6 million to nonprofits interested in providing ‘abstinence-only’ pregnancy prevention education programs. Entities that receive this funding — which the government has been providing periodically for more than a decade — must teach the benefits of abstaining from sex, but are prohibited by law from ‘any other education regarding sexual conduct.’ This is a dangerous gag rule that precludes safe-sex education, such as the use of condoms. Abstinence-only education was promoted by those who claimed the approach was more effective in reducing teen pregnancies than an expansive curriculum that includes the discussion of safe-sex practices. Experience and research, however, have proven those claims to be inaccurate: Teen pregnancy rates are higher among those who receive abstinence-only education than those who get comprehensive sex ed. Based on that evidence, it is now time for Congress to end the failed abstinence-only experiment. And if Congress won’t do so, President Obama should.”
