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Blogs Comment On Sotomayor Confirmation Hearings, Health Reform, Other Topics
The following summarizes selected women"s health-related blog entries.~ "Judge Sotomayor Provides Important Testimony on the Constitutional Right to Privacy and Its Application to Reproductive Rights," Marcia Greenberger, Womenstake: "One major line of questions, asked repeatedly throughout the hearings" for President Obama"s Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor was her "views on the constitutional right to privacy," Greenberger writes, adding, "Given that this right is central to women"s lives, protecting" such "decisions involving whether to bear children ... and having consensual adult sexual relations, it is important to analyze Judge Sotomayor"s answers carefully." According to Greenberger, because Sotomayor "had not ruled directly on the right to privacy as a federal judge, her testimony in this area warrants particular attention." Following questions from senators such as Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Sotomayor portrayed a "clear agreement with the right to privacy and strong description of the court"s current precedents regarding Roe and women"s health," which "lend[s] further support to the view from her legal record that she would not undermine Roe v. Wade if confirmed to the Supreme Court" (Greenberger, Womenstake, 7/16). ~ "Major Steps Forward for Health Care Reform," Thao Nguyen, Womenstake: Nguyen, outreach manager for the National Women"s Law Center, reports that the health care reform legislation passed by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee is "particularly important for women because of the critical headway it makes towards women"s ability to secure access to quality, affordable health care throughout their lives." The bill "works towards confronting many of the particular obstacles faced by women in our current health care system," such as banning the "discriminatory" practice of basing insurance premiums on gender, even when maternity benefits are excluded, Nguyen writes. The bill also bans insurance companies from rejecting patients based on medical history, which has prevented many domestic violence survivors and women who have had caesarean sections from obtaining coverage. Nguyen concludes that "the momentum for health care reform could not have come at a more needed time" because women and their families "need quality, affordable and comprehensive health more than ever" (Nguyen, Womenstake, 7/15).~ "Democrats for Life of America Ousts Member Who Supports Contraception," Feministing: Feministing reports that Democrats for Life of America removed Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) from its advisory board because he supports efforts to improve access to contraception. According to Ryan, he was dismissed from the board after four years after attempting to persuade the group to support contraceptive use as a way to avoid unintended pregnancies. According to the blog, "This is why we call anti-choicers "anti-choice": because they"re not just about making abortion illegal." It adds, "They don"t want women to have access to contraception either -- something that 98% of American women will use at some point in their lives" (Feministing, 7/15). ~ "Umpires, Perspective and the Supreme Court," Jim Wallis, Sojourners" "God"s Politics": "During his opening remarks for his own confirmation hearing in 2005, Chief Justice [John] Roberts made" an analogy between judges and umpires "that has gotten a lot of play in the media and has already been used quite a few times during" Sotomayor"s confirmation hearing, Wallis writes. He adds that "nothing in the world would frustrate me more than an umpire who would call the game differently based upon the color of the jersey that" players were wearing. "But I haven"t seen that happen," Wallis writes, adding, "In fact, the biggest problem we face isn"t an umpire that has favored one team over the other, but umpires who make mistakes in their rulings and judgment because of their lack of perspective." He adds that Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) and "others w
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'Health On The Hill' Examines Senate Finance Committee's Discussions On Funding Health Reform
The Kaiser Family Foundation"s Jackie Judd talks with Kaiser Health News" Mary Agnes Carey about upcoming and recent activities on Capitol Hill this week, including the scheduled "s closed-door "walk through" with panel members to discuss options to finance health care overhaul legislation.
News of the day
HIV Antibody Tests Unreliable For Early Infections In Teens
A previously healthy teenager shows up at the doctor"s office with a sore throat, fever, aches and general malaise. Routine blood tests are normal, an HIV test comes back negative, and the pediatrician sends the patient home with a diagnosis of acute viral infection.
Public Health

Also In Global Health News: Polio Vaccines In Nigeria; Health Care In Indonesia; Circumcision To Prevent HIV/AIDS In Botswana

Nigeria Releases 57M Polio Vaccines, Aims To Increase Vaccine Coverage The Nigerian government recently released 57 million doses of the trivalent oral polio vaccine for a nationwide campaign that concluded on Sunday, Nigeria"s Guardian newspaper reports. Additional campaigns are scheduled for July, August and October (Muanya, Guardian, 5/28). The Guardian published a related article exploring the government"s plans to "shore up immunization coverage in the race to meeting the health-related [U.N.] Millennium Development Goals of reducing significantly child and maternal deaths by 2015" (Muanya, Guardian, 5/29). Jakarta Post Examines Indonesia"s Provision of Health Care Although a recent World Bank report highlights Indonesia"s "struggles to maintain and improve important health outcomes for the poor and achieve the Millennium Development Goals," the report also finds "Indonesia"s growing economy, political stability and decentralization prospects now allow it to think expansively about healthcare," the Jakarta Post reports. The article examines the Indonesian government"s "highly ambitious" plan to offer free medication to all citizens through the expansion of community health insurance and three World Bank-suggested approaches that would help the Indonesian government reach their goal by 2013 (Jakarta Post, 5/29). Report Estimates Potential Impact of Circumcision Effort in Botswana on HIV/AIDS Botswana"s campaign to circumcise nearly half a million men by 2012 will prevent almost 70,000 new HIV cases by 2025, according to a report published Thursday in the Journal of the International AIDS Society, AFP/Yahoo! News reports. The government"s national campaign aims to circumcise 460,000 boys over the age of five, and the country has begun airing television and radio advertisements to encourage men to be circumcised at local clinics. "Scaling up safe male circumcision has the potential to reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS in Botswana significantly," according to the study. The report puts the estimated cost of the circumcision campaign at about $47 million (AFP/Yahoo! News, 5/28). This information was reprinted from globalhealth.kff.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at globalhealth.kff.org. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


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