Reproductive Health

The religious right has long railed against Halloween, condemning its pagan roots and claiming it promotes witchcraft and the occult. This year some groups are embracing the day as a time to reach kids with a pro-life and Christian message, while others use the day to burn “wicked” books and CDs. And one writer for Pat Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network warns parents that witches curse Halloween candy.

Minnesota’s largest anti-abortion group, Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, is vigorously opposing all of the health reform proposals being offered by Democrats in Congress — and it’s not just about abortion. Several Republican talking points have crept into the group’s campaign, and most of them have been debunked by the very fact-checkers the group uses [...]

Sen. Amy Klobuchar is one of several female Democratic senators demanding that health insurance disparities that impact women be eliminated as part of the health reform packages being debated in Congress. For the past two weeks, the senators have been ensuring the issues unique to women don’t get last in the vigorous debate.

An amendment that would ban federal funds going to companies that require arbitration in the case of sexual assault passed the Senate on Tuesday. The amendment was offered by Sen. Al Franken and was added to the defense appropriations bill by a vote of 68 to 30.

Twenty-one-year-old Lila Rose is a superstar of the anti-abortion right, rubbing shoulders with conservatives like Gov. Tim Pawlenty and speaking at national events like last week’s Values Voter Summit. But her tactics — secretly videotaping visits to Planned Parenthood offices and presenting edited footage without context online — raise serious questions about journalistic ethics.

On the House floor Wednesday night, Rep. Michele Bachmann warned that the health insurance reform package currently being debated by Congress would set up “sex clinics” in schools where students “taken away” to have abortions.

A report by the Guttmacher Institute released on Wednesday shows that women are choosing to delay having children due to the recession. At the same time, the cost of family planning and reproductive health services have put a strain on those women’s finances.

While usually attendees at the annual Values Voter Summit focus on hot button social issues, this year the hotel buzzed with the 10th amendment and the national debt.

Women living in rural Minnesota face poor health outcomes according to a report released by Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota on Wednesday. A lack of health insurance and clinics, along with factors like poverty, geographic isolation and even Minnesota’s extreme winters all impact the ability of rural women to access health care. The organization says that as Congress debates health care reform, the needs of rural women must be addressed.

In the Bizarro Land that is modern American politics, all is turned upside-down. Conservatives are toting dog-eared copies of “Rules for Radicals” by the late lefty Saul Alinsky, Jon Stewart has dubbed Fox News the “new liberals,” and — wait for it — Michele Bachmann, a vehement abortion opponent, is telling the government to keep [...]