Feminist Daily News Wire
September 6, 2006
Chile: Birth Control Free for Women Over 14
The Chilean government recently decided that contraception will be publicly available for all women over the age of 14. According to IPS, all public health centers must dispense birth control, including emergency contraception (EC), free of charge. The decree also ensures that younger women can without authorization from their parents obtain a prescription for birth control pills.
The Catholic Church and conservative politicians are already criticizing the decision that aims to give women of all ages and incomes control over their sexual and reproductive lives. Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, a pediatrician, responded, saying to the Santiago Times, "The obligation of the state is to provide alternatives, and the obligation of families, of each one of us, is to communicate with our children, explain things to them, and to teach them." Government Spokesperson Ricardo Weber expanded on the real need for Chile to provide these services, telling IPS that 14 of every 100 young people are sexually active by the age of 14.
The decision was made by the Chilean Health Ministry after the Chilean Center for the Development of Women asked for greater accessibility to EC.
Now compare this to the requirements that Texas just passed.
Feminist Daily News Wire
September 5, 2006
Texas Finalizes Parental Consent Form; Includes Notarization Requirement
The Texas Medical Board finalized Texas' parental consent form last week for women under 18 seeking an abortion, mandating that the form be notarized by a third party. Though the Texas legislature passed the parental consent law in 2005, the Medical Board was responsible for drafting the final version of the form. The parental consent law passed by the legislature did not require the form be notarized. The official consent form will take effect 20 days after it is published in the Texas Register, which is expected to happen in the next two weeks, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Reproductive rights activists opposed the notarization requirement because of the added difficulty that it places on pregnant teens, and because of the lack of privacy involved with notarization. "This is the result of political pressure from other organizations who do not believe a woman or her parents can be trusted with private medical decisions," said Emily Snooks, spokeswoman of Planned Parenthood of North Texas, about the notarization requirement according the Star-Telegram.
I don’t know, but I think we are taking two steps forward and three steps backward. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that they have a woman President who is also a pediatrician.
In the ideal world I would be in favor of paternal notification. But I deal with social workers on a regular bases and I know that in the real world it would mean their death if they told a parent. The social workers constantly see girls that are beaten by their father’s because the father didn’t like the boy that she was dating or because he didn’t like the way she dressed, it could be fatal.
Do we really want girls to have to go out and seek “backroom abortions” or take something because she heard it from a friend, who heard it from her friend that if you take these pills and drink this liquid it will cause an abortion? Or do we want to deal with sanely.
We, apparently, think that ignorance means safety. That, plus suffer for your sins, especially if you can get pregnant.
ReplyDeleteOf course, most real of the people who make policies like this stand no chance of a) being pregnant, or b) suffering in any way from any sins they commit (like shooting a friend while hunting).
Kinda gives one a headache, doesn't it?
BUT! It's nice to see that Chilean women are advancing a bit.