…to U.S. Representative Steve Driehaus (OH-01) for standing up to the Susan B. Anthony List, a curiously-named anti-abortion group, and their false notion that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act contains federal funding for abortion.

Filing a criminal complaint that SBA List billboards are illegal and make false claims, Rep. Driehaus stated that “not one dime of federal funds is being used for abortion.”

Whereas Planned Parenthood and Rep. Driehaus view abortion access differently, we applaud him for calling out the SBA List and their desperate tactics to attempt to re-define the national health care reform law, misrepresent its provisions, and mislead the public.

Spanks…

…to U.S. Representative Jean Schmidt (OH-02) for her incredible lack of judgment, discretion, and tact when she discussed abortion with a group of elementary school students, some as young as six years old.

During a school assembly at Good Shepherd Catholic Montessori in Cincinnati, Rep. Schmidt strayed from her presentation and acknowledged that her next remarks would be political in nature.

She then discussed abortion with the students and defined it as "the taking of a child's life in the mother's womb." Not until she had engaged the students in the discussion did she reclaim some sense of judgment and suggest that they ask further questions of their parents.

In order to ameliorate the uncomfortable situation, school officials sent a letter home to parents to apologize “for the awkward position this may put you in of introducing a difficult issue at a time that may be premature for you.”

Unfortunately, Rep. Schmidt has fought to keep real sex education out of the classroom, but feels it is appropriate to discuss abortion with young children. Appalling!

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At the largest Obama rally since he took office, 35,000 Buckeyes gathered on the Oval to hear about the direction our country is moving in, and they help move along our country's birth control policy as well.

Ohio State VOX members and Planned Parenthood volunteers were living up to the school slogan, "Do Something Great," and got busy collecting signatures to make no cost birth control the law under Health Care Reform!
Two dozen young women and men educated the crowd and added names to a growing petition from Planned Parenthood.

Nearly three-fourths of American voters (71 percent) believe insurers should be required to fully cover the birth control pill and other forms of prescription contraception as they will be required to do for other preventive health care services under the new health care reform law, according to a new survey conducted by Hart Research Associates and commissioned by Planned Parenthood Action Fund.
In addition, the survey found that access to affordable birth control is a serious issue. The survey reports that one in three women voters (34 percent) have struggled with the cost of prescription birth control at some point in their lives.

For young adult women, who are most likely to experience an unintended pregnancy, more than half (55 percent) experienced a time when they could not afford to use birth control consistently.

“At Planned Parenthood, we see too many women choosing between birth control and basics like rent, tuition and childcare. Because our country leads the industrialized world in unintended and teen pregnancy, prescription birth control must be made available at no cost,” said Katherine Schwarz, of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of Ohio. “Making birth control available at no cost makes it possible for women to use the method that works best for them and will reduce the number of unintended pregnancies in America.”

Out-of-pocket costs for birth control can be prohibitively expensive for many women, especially those with low-incomes. The high price of birth control can result in women using birth control inconsistently or not at all, often leading to unintended pregnancies. Co-pays for birth control pills typically range from $15 to $50 a month, and co-pays and other out-of-pocket expenses for long-term contraception, such as the IUD, cost significantly more upfront.

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Our 3rd Annual Meeting was held on Tuesday, September 14, 2010 at the YWCA in Columbus!

The public luncheon program featured a compelling panel discussion on comprehensive sex education and Ohio’s schools moderated by Marcia Egbert of the George Gund Foundation. With panelists representing five of the many, unique perspectives on this complex topic—a PlainTalk educator and Coalition member, a college student, a professional from the Ohio Department of Education, a pediatrician who specializes in adolescent medicine, and the recently-retired director of a GRADS (Graduation, Reality, and Dual Role Skills) program for high school parents and parents-to-be—those present were treated to a frank and lively discussion and valuable, new ways of looking at the current sex ed scenario in Ohio.

A little more than two years since the formal launch of the Coalition for Family Health, we have made great strides. The gains we have made have been slow, but they have also been incredibly steady; the needle is moving in the right direction.

For more information, please visit us at www.ocfh.org


And here is the rest of it.

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