What We're Reading This Morning -- May 14
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Good morning, everyone! This week we’re celebrating National Women’s Health Week, but that doesn’t mean state legislators are — a number of states are moving forward with bills that could further restrict women’s access to health care. Kansas continues to review an omnibus anti-women’s health bill, while Ohio debates a bill that would bar funding from Planned Parenthood. Here’s what we’re reading this morning…
On Friday, Governor Bill Haslam signed a bill that could ban talk of ‘gateway sexual activity,’ meaning teachers and students should beware of discussions hugging and handholding. “Tennessee Sex Ed Bans Mention of ‘Gateway Sexual Behavior’” – “If marijuana is the gateway drug, are kissing and handholding the gateway to sexual activity? That's currently up for debate, now that Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam has signed into law the controversial bill that would ban teachers from discussing any so-called gateway sexual activity like genital touching in sex education courses, as reported on Friday by the Nashville Tennessean. Sex education in Tennessee schools already takes a stance emphasizing abstinence, but the newly signed HB 3621/SB 3310 will now require sex ed to ‘exclusively and emphatically promote sexual risk avoidance through abstinence, regardless of a student's current of prior sexual experience.’ What's more, educators are prohibited from discussing non-coital sexual activity such as genital touching as an alternative to sex, which legislators have designated as the offending ‘gateway’ sexual behavior. Outside instructors or organizations who do discuss gateway sexual behavior in a sex ed class can be fined $500, according to the law.”
In the New Hampshire House, opponents of women’s health have moved forward with multiple bills that could further restrict women’s access to care. “Robert Gillette: We need to pay closer attention to the House GOP agenda” – “Last month, in a notable act of political courage, 12 Republicans joined all five Democrats in the New Hampshire Senate to save access to health care for thousands of women and teens. Their action averted financial disaster for the state's health economy. They may also have saved a few lives. By a 17 to 6 margin, the Senate rejected House Bill 228, a bill the House adopted in January — without public hearing — that would have banned all state and federal funding to Planned Parenthood in New Hampshire, and lost the state hundreds of millions of dollars in federal health care funding. The episode is a telling illustration of divisions in the state Republican party and the sharp tactics of a militant House majority that has adopted a national conservative political agenda that's making New Hampshire a laboratory for an imported style of social engineering.”
This weekend, Jill Biden headed to Iowa to support women’s health Champ Christie Vilsack. “Jill Biden stumps for Christie Vilsack, talks track record on women's issues” – “Jill Biden jumped into an Iowa congressional race on Saturday, telling a crowd at a private fundraiser in Des Moines that it was about time the Hawkeye State was represented by a woman. The candidate in question has some major Democratic connections, though. Christie Vilsack, wife of Agriculture Secretary and former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, is running against five-term Republican Steve King in that state's fourth district. The vice president's wife pointed out that 14 Democratic women have run for governor or federal office in Iowa and lost…. ‘There aren't two political leaders who care more about women than my husband Joe Biden and President Barack Obama - except perhaps a certain secretary of agriculture some of you may know,’ Biden said. ‘We need leaders who understand that good affordable health care including preventative care like mammograms, contraception and prenatal care, are important in every family in America. We need leaders who understand that we must go forward, not backwards as some would have us do, in the battle to end violence against women.’”
