You Are the Trumpany (TM) You Keep
Donald Trump’s person in charge of family planning policy at Health and Human Services, Teresa Manning, is a big fan of a notorious Holocaust denier. Manning also opposes government support for family planning and doesn’t believe birth control works, but you probably guessed that when you heard Trump put her in charge of family planning. Her connection to neo-Nazi fringe elements is even crazier. Manning edited a book and led panel discussions that included Joe Sobran, who she described as “a national treasure.” He’s also a leading Holocaust denier, pushing the outrageous lie that “fewer than a million Jews perished of various causes—chiefly disease—during World War II.” And he prefers to call the Holocaust “The Jewish Misfortune.” You can see how Trump might think this is one of those “very fine people” he praised at Charlottesville. Trump’s official in charge of ruining family planning sure loves him!
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I’ll Never Complain About My Speculum-Free Job Again
Think your job can be a pain? Gynecological Teaching Assistants (GTA’s) take pelvic exams and give feedback to help train medical students and registered nurses how to go about their business in a way that’s the most beneficial to the patients. GTA’s act as patients in order to be more effective teachers. Before GTA’s med students trained on models, corpses, or unconscious patients, none of whom provide much in the way of feedback. GTA’s help students hone everything from speculum technique to bedside manner—all to make your next OB-GYN experience a more pleasant one. It’s hard work, but rewarding—very few GTA’s are saying “Take this job and shove it.”
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OBJECTION: Biased Judge Would Harm Women
Justice Denied! OHIO Supreme Court Justice Sharon Kennedy refuses to recuse herself from an abortion case where the fate of Toledo’s only clinic is at stake. That clinic, Capital Care Network, asked Kennedy to recuse herself after she gave a speech for the Greater Toledo Right to Life—two days after the court agreed to hear the case. And Kennedy’s campaign website boasts of her endorsement by anti-choice groups. She issued a two sentence statement calling the recusal request “without merit.” Capital Care was shut down with the favorite TRAP law technique of requiring “admitting privileges” at a local hospital. Capital Care had one with the University of Toledo Medical Center…so Ohio passed a law that banned public institutions from partnering with abortion clinics! Two lower courts have said the clinic should remain open. So far nothing Justice Kennedy has said indicates that she agrees.
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Let's Talk About the Birds and the Bees jkjk Let's Talk About Vaginas and Penises and STIs
Testing, Testing. With STI rates rising fast, young people in DELAWARE are being urged to get annual testing. Here are four things experts say you should know about getting tested for STI’s:
-Be Real with Teens—let’s call a penis a penis!
-In Delaware, STI Testing for Teens is Confidential—although the parents of a girl under 16 are notified if she has an abortion.
-There Are Options for Testing Sites—including Planned Parenthood clinics and many of Delaware's School Based Health Centers.
-Schedule STI Tests at Least Once a Year—The fact that you don’t have symptoms doesn’t mean you don’t have an STI.
Oh, and just because you’re not from Delaware doesn’t mean you shouldn’t look into getting tested where you live.
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#ExposeFakeClinics
TMW Even Texas Can't Pretend Your Fake Clinic is Helping Women
In-defund-sible! What do you get when you take Planned Parenthood out of a state’s approach to women’s health? In TEXAS you get a big ol’ Texas-sized longhorn cow patty. After Texas defunded Planned Parenthood, they decided to throw $7 million dollars at shit-show “evangelical non-profits” like the Heidi Group. They were supposed to upgrade women’s clinics that don’t offer abortion to provide at least some of the care that had been available from Planned Parenthood. The Heidi Group got $5 million for family planning services, but now only plans to serve 20% of the 18,000 women originally intended. Obviously, they don’t get the “planning” part at all! Even Texas realized they had to cut the money going to these incompetent frauds. They’re no better than the phony “Crisis Pregnancy Centers” that masquerade as healthcare providers. Both the defunding of PP and shifting that money to CPC’s are things we continue to hightlight in our #Exposefakeclinics campaign. And even as they’re forced to cut money for the blatantly incompetent Heidi Group, Texas continues to pour tax dollars into fake CPC’s! Texas defunded Planned Parenthood in 2011—and they’ve totally failed to take up ANY of the slack to provide services for women. This is the kind of fiasco you’ll get nationwide if conservatives manage to defund PP entirely.
