Posts by Vicki Saporta
Canada Releases Abortion Statistics
Today, Statistics Canada released abortion data for 2005. According to the data, a total of 96,815 abortions were provided to Canadian women that year, which was down 3.2 percent from 100,039 in 2004. The agency reported that abortion rates fell in every age group except among women aged 35 to 39, where it remained the…
Read MoreAppeals Court Strikes Down Virginia Abortion Ban
Yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit overturned a Virginia abortion law on constitutional grounds. This is the second time the federal appeals court in Richmond has struck down this law ruling it would impose an “undue burden” on a woman’s right to obtain abortion care. The 2-1 ruling affirms the same…
Read MoreWomen’s Health Care Innovator Dies
Harvey Karman, an early abortion provider who developed a device, which improved abortion care died this month. In the 1970s Karman developed a soft, flexible tube, or cannula, which made early suction abortions possible with local or no anesthesia and made perforation far less likely. The Karman cannula became a crucial component of abortion care…
Read MorePlan B Approved for Over-the-Counter Sale in Canada
This week, the National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory Authorities (NAPRA) has accepted a recommendation and approved Plan B (also known as emergency contraception) for over-the-counter sale. Under current rules in Canada, women who want to buy Plan B have to ask pharmacy staff for the drug, a condition critics say may discourage some women from…
Read MoreSeries Examines Laws Targeting Abortion Providers
This month, RH Reality Check is featuring a series on Targeted Regulation of Abortion Provider (TRAP) Laws, which single out abortion clinics for unnecessary, politically motivated, restrictive regulations. The series examines how abortion opponents use legislation to restrict women’s access to safe, legal abortion care. “The anti’s strategy has been to allow abortion to remain…
Read MoreRestrictive Bills Fail in Florida, Kansas
Although access to abortion care continues to be threatened in the states, this week, we celebrated the following defeats of new proposed restrictive legislation: The Florida Senate failed to pass a bill, which would have required a woman seeking abortion care to have an ultrasound and view the results unless she signed a waiver. After…
Read MoreLet’s Focus on Protecting Women
> Read my op-ed in the Ottawa Citizen on Saturday, April 26 explaining why NAF opposes bill C-484.
Read MoreMore Italian Doctors Refusing to Provide Abortion Care
Last week, the Italian Health Ministry reported that nearly 70 percent of gynecologists in the country now refuse to perform abortions on moral grounds. Although Italy legalized abortion in 1978, the Vatican has pushed for doctors to claim a “conscientious objection” and refuse to provide abortion care. The number of gynecologists claiming such an exemption…
Read MoreNAF Commends the Governor of Kansas for Her Veto of Legislation Restricting Abortion
Today, Governor Kathleen Sebelius (D-KS) vetoed a bill (Senate Bill 389) imposing new restrictions on abortion care. Gov. Sebelius noted in her veto message that the bill, “endangers the health of women and is likely to be found in violation [of] the United States Constitution and the Constitution of the State of Kansas.” Vicki Saporta,…
Read MoreQuebec’s Legislative Assembly Denounces C-484
Yesterday, the legislative assembly in Quebec voted unanimously against federal Bill C-484, which would create a new crime of causing injury to or the death of a foetus. This bill would elevate the foetus – even an embryo only weeks old – to a status equal with that of the adult woman, and could be…
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