2012 was a banner year for antiabortion laws

Wed, 02 Jan 2013 19:02:00 +0000

According to a policy review released by the Guttmacher Institute, 2012 saw the second-highest number of abortion restrictions ever enacted. The ranking comes as little surprise in a year when politicians like Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock became household names, and one of the House's staunchest antiabortion members got second billing on the Republican presidential ticket.

During the year, 19 states enacted 43 provisions to restrict access to abortion services, whether mandating invasive ultrasounds, blocking health insurance coverage, shuttering women's health clinics or limiting access to the morning-after pill and contraception. The record for most restrictions was set in 2011 with 92.

The worst offenders? Arizona ranked No. 1, enacting seven antiabortion restrictions, and Kansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wisconsin followed close behind with at least three restrictions each.

U.N. calls contraception a “universal human right”

Wed, 14 Nov 2012 18:20:00 +0000

The United Nations Population Fund has for the first time declared access to contraception as a "universal human right," CBS reports. From the UNFPA's "State of the World Population 2012," issued today:

All countries should take steps to meet the family-planning needs of their populations as soon as possible and should, in all cases by the year 2015, seek to provide universal access to a full range of safe and reliable family-planning methods and to related reproductive health services which are not against the law. The aim should be to assist couples and individuals to achieve their reproductive goals and give them the full opportunity to exercise the right to have children by choice.

Salon.com > family planning

2012 was a banner year for antiabortion laws

U.N. calls contraception a “universal human right”