Reproductive health

Reproductive health is a general term covering birth control, contraception, and family planning. It also may include the issues of abortion, reproductive rights, and right to life, as well as the pro-life movement.

Related SourceWatch Resources

External links

Opinion

"I Had an Abortion"
Reader's Companion to U.S. Women's History, "Pro-Choice and Antiabortion Movements": "Paul M. Weyrich, founder of the Heritage Foundation and the Committee for the Survival of a Free Congress, was the first leader to make opposition to abortion a litmus test for candidates. Richard Viguerie, the fund-raising and direct-mail pioneer, used the abortion issue to raise millions of dollars for conservative efforts. Kevin Phillips, who founded the Conservative Caucus, mobilized the conservative grassroots."

Legislation

Pro-Life Press Releases: Abortion News (re Legislation 1997-2004), United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
104th Congress: Analysis of 1996 ACU Ratings of Congress, conservative.org.
105th Congress: Rolling Back Women's Rights: Vote Analysis Reveals Anti-equity Bias, NOW, October 1998.
U.S. Congress Roll Call Votes on Abortion and Other Right-to- Life Issues During 1997 and 1998, National Right to Life Committee, October 1998.
106th Congress: National Right to Life Scorecard on Abortion and Other Right-to-Life Issues, U.S. House of Representatives 1999-2000, National Right to Life Committee, October 10, 2000.
107th Congress: Votes on Abortion (Preliminary) (as of August 1, 2002).
108th Congress: S. 3: "A bill to prohibit the procedure commonly known as partial-birth abortion". For the purposes of S. 3, "Partial-birth abortion" is defined as "an abortion in which the person performing the abortion: (1) deliberately and intentionally vaginally delivers a living fetus until, in the case of a head-first presentation, the entire fetal head is outside the mother's body, or, in the case of a breech presentation, any part of the fetal trunk past the navel is outside the mother's body; and (2) performs the overt act, other than completion of delivery, that kills the partially delivered living fetus."

Articles & Commentary

David Espo, "U.S. Senate votes to ban 'partial-birth' abortions in late pregnancies," AP, March 13, 2003.
Robin Toner, "House Bans an Abortion Method," The New York Times, June 5, 2003: On June 4th, "The House overwhelmingly approved legislation tonight to outlaw what abortion opponents call partial birth abortion, putting the anti-abortion movement on the brink of a major victory."
Judy Keen and Kathey Kiely, "Bush: USA isn't ready for total abortion ban," USA Today, October 29, 2003: "President George W. Bush, who campaigned as an opponent of abortion, said Tuesday that Americans aren't ready to support a complete ban. ... Next week, he will sign into law the first federal restriction since the Supreme Court legalized abortion in 1973. The new law will outlaw a procedure that opponents have labeled 'partial-birth abortion.' ... Bush has never called for a ban on all abortions."
Tom Raum, "Abortion Bill May Trigger Election Fight," White House AP, November 6, 2003: "President Bush's signing of a ban on a certain type of abortion helps him shore up re-election support within his party's conservative core. It also appears to be triggering some unintended political consequences, from mobilizing abortion-rights activists, who consider it the first attack on the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion, to setting up a divisive election-year battle over the court's next vacancy. ... Given the strong passions surrounding any abortion question, the president's signing of a bill Wednesday that outlaws what critics call partial-birth abortion could have political ramifications far beyond the medical and ethical issues at stake."
Peter Wallsten, "If Ax Falls on Roe, It May Also Split GOP," Los Angeles Times, July 4, 2005. Re retirement of Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.