Posts Tagged ‘contraception
Our Rights Also Matter
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Laura Bassett: Obama Moves To Protect Planned Parenthood Funding, Permanently
The Obama administration has proposed a new rule that would prevent states from defunding Planned Parenthood or any other family planning provider for political reasons. The new rule which the Department of Health and Human Services proposed last week, says that states cannot withhold Title X federal family planning money from certain recipients for any reason other than the “provider’s ability to deliver services to program beneficiaries in an effective manner.” That means states can no longer vote to defund Planned Parenthood because some of its clinics offer abortion services.
“This will make a real difference in so many people’s lives,” said Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood. “Thanks to the Obama administration, women will still be able to access the birth control they need to plan their families, and the cancer screenings they need to stay healthy.” The Title X program provides basic preventive health care and family planning services for 4 million low-income Americans. About 85 percent of patients who use Title X have incomes below $23,500. Planned Parenthood serves about a third of those patients, using the $70 million a year it receives in Title X grants to subsidize contraceptives and cancer and sexually transmitted infection screenings for people who can’t afford them.
More here
The President’s Day
President Barack Obama and Attorney General Loretta Lynch arrive for the Public Safety Office Medal of Valor ceremony. According to the White House, the medal ‘is the highest national award for valor presented to a public safety officer. The medal is awarded to public safety officers who have exhibited exceptional courage, regardless of personal safety, in the attempt to save or protect human life.’
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President Barack Obama embraces Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Tyler Call after awarding him with the 2014-2015 Public Safety Office Medal of Valor. According to the White House, ‘Special Agent Call, who was off duty with his family, helped rescue a woman from her ex-husband who had violated a restraining order and held the victim at gunpoint
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Constance Wilson accepts the he 2014-2015 Public Safety Office Medal of Valor from U.S. President Barack Obama on behalf of her late grandson, Philadelphia Police Department Sergeant Robert Wilson III. According to the White House, ‘Sergeant Wilson put himself in harm’s way during an armed robbery, drawing fire from the assailants and suffering a mortal wound as he kept store employees and customers safe
President Barack Obama awards Niagara County County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Joey Tortorella with the 2014-2015 Public Safety Office Medal of Valor. According to the White House, ‘Deputy Tortorella confronted and subdued a volatile gunman who had shot and wounded his parents inside their home and by doing so prevented the gunman from threatening the safety of students at a nearby elementary school
President Barack Obama presents North Miami Police Dept. Officer Niel Johnson the Medal of Valor. According to the White House, ‘Officer Johnson pursued a man who had shot a Miami police officer and two other innocent bystanders, withstanding fire from an assault weapon, and apprehended the assailant
President Barack Obama presents Johnson City Police Patrolman Louis Cioci the Medal of Valor. According to the White House, ‘After witnessing the murder of his fellow officer, Patrolman Cioci pursued and apprehended the gunman at a crowded hospital, thereby saving the lives of employees, patients, and visitors.’
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President Barack Obama presents the Medal of Valor to Miami-Dade Police Officer Mario Gutierrez. According to the White House, “Gutierrez sustained multiple stab wounds while subduing a knife-wielding assailant who attempted to set off a massive gas explosion that could have resulted in multiple fatalities
President Barack Obama awards Garland Police Officer Gregory Stevens with the 2014-2015 Public Safety Office Medal of Valor. According to the White House, ‘Officer Stevens exchanged gunfire at close range and subdued two heavily-armed assailants preventing a mass shooting
President Barack Obama awards Omaha Police Department Officer Coral Walker with the 2013-2014 Public Safety Office Medal of Valor. According to the White House, ‘After exchanging gunfire, Officer Walker single-handedly incapacitated a man who had killed and injured multiple victims on a shooting spree
President Barack Obama awards Midwest City Police Department Major David Huff with the 2013-2014 Public Safety Office Medal of Valor. According to the White House, ‘Major Huff saved the life of a two-year-old girl after negotiations deteriorated with a man holding the child captive at knife point.’
President Barack Obama awards Santa Monica Police Department Officers Jason Salas (R) and Robert Sparks and Captain Raymond Bottenfield (L) with the 2013-2014 Public Safety Office Medal of Valor. According to the White House, ‘Officer Salas, Officer Sparks, and Captain Bottenfield placed themselves in mortal danger to save the lives of students and staff during a school shooting on the busy campus of Santa Monica College
President Barack Obama awards Los Angeles Police Department Officer Donald Thompson with the 2013-2014 Public Safety Office Medal of Valor. According to the White House, ‘While off duty, Officer Thompson traversed two freeway dividers and endured first- and second-degree burns while pulling an unconscious man to safety from a car moments before it became engulfed in flames
Tweets Of The Day
ObamaCare + Women = Progress
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Guttmacher Institute: Fewer U.S. Women Of Reproductive Age Were Uninsured In 2014
The percentage of women of reproductive age who were uninsured dropped sharply between 2013 and 2014, the first full year of implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The decrease among women aged 15–44, calculated by the Guttmacher Institute, mirrors broader national trends reported by the U.S. Census Bureau. This includes steeper drops in the uninsured rate in states that expanded Medicaid under the ACA compared with the rates in those states that did not. The proportion of reproductive-age women without health insurance declined by more than one-fifth between 2013 and 2014, from 17.9% to 13.9%. The change appears to have been driven primarily by gains in Medicaid coverage (from 17.2% to 20.2%). There was a small increase in the proportion of women with private health insurance, from 60.9% to 62.1%.
Gains in insurance coverage among reproductive-age women who live below the poverty line were substantial as well. The uninsured rate dropped by one-fifth, from 32.1% in 2013 to 25.6% in 2014. The gains in the proportion of women aged 15–44 who have insurance coverage has significant implications for access to health care in general, and to sexual and reproductive health care in particular. Medicaid has long offered a very robust package of sexual and reproductive health care services, including family planning services and supplies without out-of-pocket costs for enrollees. And the ACA has spurred significant improvements in private plans’ coverage; most notably, the contraceptive coverage guarantee ensures that privately insured women can access the full range of 18 Food and Drug Administration–approved contraceptive methods for women without out-of-pocket costs.
More here
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A Tweet Or Two
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Bravo, bravo, bravo and Congratulations. It’s been a LONG time coming
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Thank you, Shonda Rhimes for reflecting the world as it should be. Also, the 3 women of color who have won Lead Actress at the SAG Awards have all come from Shonda Rhimes’ shows. She has forever changed the face of TV and if you aren’t watching any of her shows, you need to correct that mistake
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The LOVE that Taraji P. Henson showed the Black actresses who won last night is beautiful. She gave them standing ovations and led the cheers and made sure the audience recognized such huge accomplishments
https://twitter.com/JasmineSalters/status/645949725175349248
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A must watch speech
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This is the best ad Apple has put out for Apple Music. Social media was agog. Who created this masterpiece? AVA DUVERNAY! Plus, there’ll be more
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Historic
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BOOM
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Men? Don’t sleep
https://twitter.com/feministabulous/status/645354938294489088
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Greedy jerks
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Yo, Hillary? What’s good?
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BOOYAH
https://twitter.com/peterwsinger/status/645937526528544768
https://twitter.com/carlquintanilla/status/645951778463289344
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So, ye olde PM Cameron allegedly stuck his penis into a dead pig’s mouth while in college and commenced with the “sexy time.” And you thought the GOP was the only gift that keeps on giving
A Tweet Or Two
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BOOM
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https://twitter.com/DavidAWeinberg/status/639920539822354432
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Missy Elliott = A+++++++. Johnny Depp as Whitey Bulger = OH. HELL. YEAH
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WTF?!
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Even in liberal California, women’s rights can be denied. The fight never ends
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It’s 2015 and some refuse to get it into their DUMB brains that blackface is racist
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Secretary of State John Kerry suggested on Thursday that the United States would play a greater role in alleviating the increasingly high-profile Syrian refugee crisis, which the United Nations believes to be the worst refugee dilemma in 25 years. “We could do a lot more to protect those people,” Kerry told The Huffington Post’s Sam Stein. Speaking from the State Department, Kerry acknowledged that while America has donated over $4 billion in humanitarian assistance to help Syrians, the situation in their war-ravaged country and in neighboring states remains dire for millions. Kerry did not suggest that the U.S. should be taking in more refugees. Rather, he indicated that any increased American effort would focus on working with existing refugee camps in other countries.
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A Tweet Or Two
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https://twitter.com/Kelcie_W/status/635527652774776832
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https://twitter.com/willienelson/status/634896410597441536
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https://twitter.com/ajam/status/634707990143234048
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https://twitter.com/traceylross/status/633616629176340480
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https://twitter.com/Babylonian/status/631538180097880064
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https://twitter.com/TheTumblrPosts/status/635984849744990208
Tweets Of The Day
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https://twitter.com/tharealjazs/status/626937161032597504
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https://twitter.com/jbouie/status/627113387651133441
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https://twitter.com/tehawesomersace/status/627110538514862081
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https://twitter.com/PPBlackComm/status/626969636135923713
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https://twitter.com/allanbrauer/status/627137495075950592
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The Obama Diary 
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