Choosing the right time to have a baby

September 21, 2011 Posted by Chris

Baby

M Glasgow via Flickr

Lets face the facts, there is never going to be the one, perfect time in your life when having a baby will not cause serious disruption to your everyday goings on, but there are some factors, that if taken into consideration, will make the process easier in the long run.

First, of course, is finances. Having a baby is very expensive. You will need to look at your household income and plan carefully. Many new parents set up a savings fund in their child’s name when they are born as a sort of rainy day account. Set up a monthly direct deposit to it so that you don’t even see the money. (more…)

Protesters seek end of buffer zone law

September 7, 2011 Posted by Chris

Abortion.MFL32.WDC.24jan05

ElvertBarnes via Flickr

A judge received a request from an anti-abortion team asking to end a law regarding buffer zones around abortion clinics. The group claims the protest-free zones violate their freedom of speech. The anti-abortion group said that the zones around Planned Parenthood clinics in Springfield, Boston and Worcester are restricting them from expressing their anti-abortion messages and the help they offer to expectant moms. They said that the issue is a serious situation.

According to Michael J. DePrimo, a Connecticut-based lawyer, “There needs to be a means of true communication.’’ DePrimo represents some of the activists. But according to the assistant state attorney general Kenneth W. Salinger, the general basis of the lawsuit is that most people never listen to the message of the protesting group. “They can, and do, share their messages outside the buffer zones,’’ he said. (more…)

Birth Control Options

August 25, 2011 Posted by Chris

Time to come back to the original focus of this page: To inform and educate. For everyone out there thinking but not sure about birth control, here are some quick facts about the most popular methods and their reliability:

Abstinence

Abstinence can be an effective way to prevent pregnancies from happening. If you don’t have sex you are not going to get pregnant. If used continuously, abstinence is very effective in preventing pregnancy and it also prevents STDs. Abstinence is one of the safest ways to prevent pregnancies and there are no side effects, except, of course, that you cannot have sex. Plus, its free. Your choice absolutely!

Birth Control Pills (more…)

Kansas abortion clinic defunding law faces legal test

August 3, 2011 Posted by Chris

According to Planned Parenthood, a new Kansas statute taking away funding from its Kansas branches is the result of anti-abortion campaigns despite the fact that none of its federal funding compensates abortion services. Planned Parenthood has gone to court in a bid to ask the federal judge to block the implementation of the statute. The family planning service provider is arguing that a ruling would impact thousands of low income patients receiving STD testing, cancer screening, pregnancy testing, and contraception services.

Although Planned Parenthood provides Kansas state abortions solely from its Overland Park clinic, it also maintains two other clinics in Wichita and Hays. Planned Parenthood claims that these two other clinics operate at a loss and provide only non-abortion reproductive health services. The organization says if the state statute goes into effect and strips federal funding, the Hays clinic will have to close and low-income individuals will be affected. (more…)

Planning for Parenthood? Relax, there’s plenty of help available

July 25, 2011 Posted by Chris

image via www.sxc.hu

Some critics think, all we ever talk about is abortion. Of course, thats not true. After all, we are called “Planned Parenthood”. But can you really plan for parenthood? Sure, you can read all the books, buy all the clothes, bottles, toys, prams etc. and sure you can decorate your baby’s new room but, at the end of the day, parenting is full of surprises and even the best, most carefully laid out plans fall apart in the hurricane of a new baby. (more…)

PP and the States

July 16, 2011 Posted by Chris

Pro Choice EscortI hate the fact that issues of defunding and abortion are prevalent, that they take over all other topics that should be our main focus or concern. But with GOP lawmakers in state after state, Indiana, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Kansas, defunding Planned Parenthood in their 2011 legislative sessions and those in states like New Hampshire, Texas, or Ohio planning similar measures, there is simply no way around it. Republicans always take the same path: First they claim that there is a need to defund Planned Parenthood over 3% abortion services with the weak argument that federal dollars are going to abortion services. Next, they make it almost impossible for clinics to get licensing. Now, we have come to a phase where they deny PPs ability to dispense birth control and antibiotic­s. But this is serious stuff and women, especially lower-income women, need the support primarily for their personal health and not because they are “anti-life”. (more…)

Planned Parenthood’s Indiana Medicaid issue

July 14, 2011 Posted by Chris

Sydney Ken Wilber Reading Groupphoto © 2006 Tim Mansfield | more info (via: Wylio)I have written about the fact that states such as Texas, Wisconsin, and New Hampshire have recently moved to disallow the use of state Medicaid funds for abortions. Indiana is the hub of all this legislative activity since it attracted the ire of the Obama administration in its decision to strip taxpayer funding for abortions within its Medicaid program. President Obama’s administration has threatend to hold back billions of Medicaid funding to the state of Indiana if it doesn’t continue to fund Planned Parenthood, the premiere family planning/abortion provider in the United States. (more…)

North Carolina Defunds PP

June 20, 2011 Posted by Chris

James Madisonphoto © 2008 Cliff | more info (via: Wylio)Not that we need any more evidence that PP is under attack. We know that we are fighting an uphill battle in a conservative country that rejects women’s rights and endangers female health with the hyper-ideological catchall “pro-life”. What I just don’t understand is why we are still talking about what the Founding Fathers would have done. We live in the 21st century, are we going back to Newton to discuss the future of science? Unfortunately that is exactly the content of debates today. The North Carolina senate just decided to defund Planned Parenthood, making it the third state after Indiana and Kansas. That is one thing. Money is scarce, times are bad. The problem is that conservatives are continuing to frame the debate in terms of an ideological battle between those that preserve Americas freedom and those that want to undermine it. Kinda sad, if you ask me. (more…)

Pro Choice v. Pro Life? No!

June 12, 2011 Posted by Chris

Pro-Choice/Anti-Choice Rally 3photo © 2010 Dave Fayram | more info (via: Wylio)The Washington Post just published an article on a new survey which says that most Americans are both pro-choice and pro-life at the same time. Doesn’t make sense? Yes, it does. Entrenched in ideological battlefields we simply forget that not everyone who fights abortions thinks it should be illegal and not everyone who thinks abortion should be legal thinks its morally right. Thats exactly what the survey says. 52 % percent of Americans say its morally wrong, 56% say it should be legal. The conflict between morality and legality does not divide the nation, it divides individuals. (more…)