Pryce should have spent time in Congress uniting, not dividing
Seven Missed Opportunities Pryce and other Congressional leaders should have acted on in 2006 to reduce the need for abortion
Columbus, OH – One week before the November elections, NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio Executive Director Kellie Copeland challenged Rep. Deborah Pryce to explain why she has refused to join a group of bipartisan lawmakers in abandoning divisive attacks on safe, legal abortion and devote her efforts to commonsense, common-ground prevention measures. Pryce has refused to cosponsor any key legislative proposals that would help Ohio women prevent unintended pregnancy and therefore, reduce the need for abortion. “Ohioans are tired of politically motivated attacks. They want real solutions that will prevent unintended pregnancies,” Copeland said. “A band of courageous pro-choice and pro-life lawmakers has bridged the ideological divide on the question of legal abortion and introduced a package of commonsense bills that would dramatically reduce the need for abortion – yet congressional leaders, including Rep. Pryce, steadfastly ignore them. It’s time for voters to reject Pryce’s compliance in divisive attacks on a woman’s right to choose and elect a true pro-choice leader, Mary Jo Kilroy.” Since anti-choice congressional leaders gained control in 1995, the House has voted 111 times on choice-related issues. Pro-choice Americans lost all but 14 of these votes. Copeland continued, “Pryce and the anti-choice congressional leadership could have taken action on seven specific legislative proposals in 2006 that would dramatically reduce the need for abortion. Among other things, these bills would prohibit rogue pharmacists from denying women their birth-control prescriptions; ensure rape survivors are offered emergency contraception (i.e. the “morning-after” pill) in hospitals; provide our young people honest, realistic sex education; and require insurance companies to cover birth control in the same way they cover other prescription medication, like Viagra. These are all commonsense measures that people on both sides of the abortion debate should – and do –agree on, yet Rep. Pryce won’t even sign her name to these bills.” A detailed list of the seven things Rep. Pryce and other congressional leaders could have done in 2006 to reduce the need for abortion follows. Contact: Kellie Copeland (216) 283-2180 Seven Things President Bush, Rep. Pryce and Congress Could Have Done in 2006 To Reduce the Need for Abortion Each of these proposals sets aside the abortion issue and focuses on ways to prevent unintended pregnancy. 1. The Prevention First Act (H.R. 1709) is a bill that clearly bridges the pro-choice/pro-life divide. Sponsored by Sen. Harry Reid and Rep. Louise Slaughter, it is a thoughtful package of services to help women and couples prevent unintended pregnancy – which would reduce the need for abortion. It increases funds for family-planning services, assures contraceptive equity in health-insurance plans, and improves women’s access to emergency contraception, among other things. Moreover, polling shows that Americans prefer prevention-based measures over President Bush’s anti-choice agenda by a 61-to-27 percent margin. 2. The Responsible Education About Life Act (“REAL”: H.R.2553), sponsored by Sen. Frank Lautenberg and Rep. Barbara Lee, would establish the first-ever federal sex-education program for young people. There are three separate federal “abstinence-only” programs that by law must forbid discussion of contraception’s benefits in preventing pregnancy – yet there is no similar program for honest sex education that teaches about both abstinence and birth control. The current federal “abstinence-only” programs are so controversial and prescriptive that three states simply refuse to accept the funds. REAL is bipartisan and has more than 100 sponsors – and polls confirm that 90 percent of the “engaged” public supports honest, realistic sex education for young people. 3. Women across America are encountering rogue pharmacists who refuse to fill their birth-control prescriptions – and in some cases lecture and humiliate them in public. The Access to Legal Pharmaceuticals Act (“ALPhA”: H.R.1652) would ensure that a woman receives her prescription contraception, whether or not an individual pharmacist has an objection. This legislation is bipartisan and has more than 100 cosponsors – and it has overwhelming public support. Nearly 80 percent of the general public – and even more than 70 percent of self-identified “pro-life” voters - oppose pharmacies that refuse to fill birth-control prescriptions. 4. The Compassionate Assistance for Rape Emergencies Act (“CARE”: H.R.2928) would ensure that victims of sexual assault are offered emergency contraception in the emergency room. Each year, approximately 25,000 women in the United States become pregnant as a result of rape. An estimated 22,000 of these pregnancies—or 88 percent—could be prevented if sexual assault victims had timely access to emergency contraception. Sponsored by Rep. Steve Rothman and more than 100 cosponsors, this legislation is bipartisan and garners widespread public support. Polls show that nearly 80 percent of American women want their hospitals – religious-affiliated or not – to offer emergency contraception to rape survivors. 5. Shockingly, some health-insurance plans cover prescription drugs but discriminate against prescription contraception. Consequently, women have to pay out-of-pocket for services that should be covered by insurance. Some women simply may not be able to afford it. The Equity in Prescription Insurance Contraceptive Coverage Act (“EPICC”: H.R.4651) would simply ensure that prescription birth control is covered equally with other prescription drugs. It’s been awaiting congressional action for nine years; it has more than 100 cosponsors and is bipartisan. Twenty-four states have enacted similar laws, as has Congress for federal employees. Don’t other American women deserve contraceptive equity too? 6. America has the highest teen-pregnancy rate of any developed Western country. Sponsored by Rep. Steve Rothman, the new Teen Pregnancy Prevention, Responsibility, and Opportunity Act (H.R.5332) would help tackle this problem by educating teens about their risk of pregnancy, teaching them about the significant responsibilities that come with parenthood, keeping them on track in school, and helping parents discuss tough topics – like sex – with their kids. 7. The number of military women who suffer sexual assault is shocking. Yet emergency contraception is not automatically available to servicewomen at overseas bases, so victims of rape – or servicewomen who simply need to back-up their regular birth-control method – may not easily be able to obtain the medication in time. Rep. Mike Michaud’s legislation, H.R.2635, would ensure that military health-care facilities stock EC and make it available to servicewomen and military dependents as part of the regular drug formulary on every base.
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