Categories
Cardiovascular
Diagnostics
Endocrinology
Health Insurance
Medical Devices
Mental Health
Nutrition
Oncology
Public Health
Sexual Health
Popular Articles

Opinion Piece Examines Abortion-Rights Opponents' Response To Connection Between Recession, Abortion
In response to recent news reports from Reuters, the Associated Press and other media outlets tying the recession to an increase in demand for abortion, the antiabortion-rights community is arguing that women are "choosing their own material comfort over the life of their unborn children" -- an interpretation that is "wrong on several accounts" -- Double X contributor Anna Murphy Paul writes in an opinion piece."No one wants her most intimate decisions to be driven by money," but, at the same time, "opting not to have a child you can"t afford to raise can be a realistic and responsible -- if painful -- choice, one often based on taking good care of the kids you already have" Murphy Paul says. She continues, "Nor is the intrusion of economic concerns on childbearing a phenomenon of this recession, or even the loosening of sexual mores over the past half-century; historically, financial hardship has been an ever-present motivation for ending a pregnancy."Murphy Paul cites the results of a 2005 Guttmacher Institute survey that found that nearly three-fourths of respondents said that the reason they decided to have an abortion was that they "could not afford a baby right now," which was the second-most common reason. The report found that the top reason for having an abortion was that children would interfere with women"s education, work or ability to care for dependents, all "concerns that are also largely economic in nature," Murphy Paul writes. She notes that at the time the study was published, "the Dow was still riding high, and the housing bubble seemed it would never pop." Murphy Paul adds that a 1987 Guttmacher survey on the same subject produced results "almost identical" to the 2005 survey.However, "to hear the pro-life activists tell it, women aren"t really struggling with difficult choices -- they just don"t want to give up the luxuries to which they"ve become accustomed," Murphy Paul writes. Abortion-rights opponents promote offers of counseling and no-cost infant supplies provided through "pregnancy re centers" to support women who choose not to have an abortion, but such centers often provide misleading information or offer little assistance beyond the first few months after birth, she says."Pro-life activists are surely right about one thing: It"s tremendously sad when a woman decides that she can"t bring into the world a child whom under better circumstances she would have welcomed," Murphy Paul continues. However, the "harsh rhetoric about selfishness and irresponsibility help far less than an acknowledgement of -- and lasting aid with -- the true costs of raising a child," she writes. According to Murphy Paul, in "the absence of such help, the most responsible act is to face economic reality head-on. For some women, that may mean abortion" (Murphy Paul, Double X, 5/15).

Budget Deal Slashes Health Care, Saddles California With Greater Costs Over The Long Term
The president of the California Medical Association, Dev A. GnanaDev, issued the following statement today in regards to the announced state budget deal:
News of the day
Farmed Fish May Pose Risk For Mad Cow Disease
University of Louisville neurologist Robert P. Friedland, M.D., questions the safety of eating farmed fish in the June issue of the Journal of Alzheimer"s Disease, adding a new worry to concerns about the nation"s food supply.
Medical Devices

Clinical Psychologists Welcome Lord Layard's Call For More Child Therapists

The British Psychological Society"s Division of Clinical Psychology has welcomed Lord Layard"s call for 1,000 more child therapists to be employed by the NHS to improve access to evidence-based psychological interventions for children. Lord Layard devised the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) approach to adult mental health services, and he has now proposed that this approach be extended to services for children and adolescents. Dr Jenny Taylor, the Chair of the Division, said: "The introduction of IAPT for adults of working age has transformed social attitudes to mental health difficulties and given evidence-based psychological therapies the prominence they deserve. Although the challenge with children, both of identifying the right therapies and demonstrating the resultant social and economic gains will be greater, we very much want to support this initiative and see it through to fruition." In a letter to Ed Balls, the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Dr Taylor made the following points: - Clinical and other applied psychologists are ideally placed to fill and develop roles as trainers, supervisors and therapists working with those children and adolescents with the most complex problems; - Training for new therapists should not concentrate on one therapy but equip them to deliver between a range of evidence-based approaches under supervision; - The element of the programme aimed at strengthening the evidence base should capitalise on the often underused high level research skills of existing staff such as applied psychologists; - As happened with the IAPT programme for adults, pilot sites should receive central funding so that the potential of this model in services for children and adolescents can be explored. British Psychological Society


Add your comment:
Name:
Site address: http://
Your message:
Enter today\\\\'s date, 2 digits
(spam protection):

© Copyright 2009