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PPAO - Virtual Lobby Day 2008
Just because you can't make it to the Ohio Statehouse for tomorrow’s Prevention First Lobby Day doesn't mean you can't lobby your elected officials to support the Ohio Prevention First Act.
Please help us ensure that every legislator's office at the Ohio Statehouse is buzzing with the excitement about the Ohio Prevention First Act! This landmark piece of legislation will reduce the need for abortion in Ohio through common sense measures to increase access to medically-accurate sexual health education and family planning services while ensuring that insurance companies cover prescription birth control and Ohio pharmacies fill all lawful birth control prescriptions.
YOU CAN HELP! Please make your voice heard in the halls of the state legislature by taking action and sending a quick letter to your elected officials in Columbus.
| Sample Letter for Campaign |
Subject: Please Put Prevention First!
Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,
Please support House Bill 251/Senate Bill 179, the Ohio Prevention First Act. Ohio ranks 48th among US states and Washington DC when it comes to its efforts to help women prevent unintended pregnancies. This is unacceptable. Ohio families need birth control and medically-accurate sexual health education, not bans and restrictions.
Additionally, ensuring broad and timely access to birth control (including emergency birth control) is the most effective way to prevent unintended pregnancy - the top cause of abortion.
I urge you, as my elected representative, to support the Ohio Prevention First Act.
Sincerely,
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Campaign Launched:
April 08, 2008
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During the 2007-2008 legislative session, Ohio has seen the introduction of an abortion ban bill and legislation that would give a prospective father “veto” authority over a woman’s decision to have an abortion. Please ask your elected officials to "Put Prevention First" and support birth control - not bans and restrictions!
Why Prevention First?
Nearly 50% of all pregnancies in the United States each year are unintended, one of the highest unintended pregnancy rates among industrialized nations. We need common sense solutions to this problem.
Reducing the unintended pregnancy rate will reduce the number of abortions. Half of all unintended pregnancies end in abortion. By reducing the number of unintended pregnancies we can safely reduce the number of abortions
Increased access to emergency contraception (EC) is an effective way to reduce unintended pregnancy and the number of abortions. A 2002 study revealed that EC use was likely responsible for up to 43% of the decline in the number of abortions in the United States between 1994 and 2000.
A recent study released by the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) concluded that that one in four (26 percent) young women between the ages of 14 and 19 in the United States – or 3.2 million teenage girls – is infected with at least one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases. The study also found that African-American teenage girls were most severely affected. Nearly half of the young African-American women (48 percent) were infected with an STD, compared to 20 percent of young white women.
What the Ohio Prevention First Act will do
* Ensure that sexual assault victims have access to emergency contraception and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases all hospital emergency rooms.
* Launch a teen pregnancy prevention grant program through the Ohio Department of Health to award grants to public and private entities to establish or expand programs geared toward at-risk youth.
* Require sex education classes to provide students with medically accurate information about abstinence, contraception and condom use as ways to prevent unintended pregnancy and STD’s including HIV/AIDS. Sex education programs that do not follow these guidelines are not eligible for state funding.
* Require a pharmacy to dispense any prescribed drug, device or over-the-counter medication in stock without delay, consistent with the normal timeframe, and ensure that every licensed pharmacy does not intimidate, threaten or harass it’s customers in the delivery of services.
* Require the Department of Health to distribute materials and educate medical professionals and the general public about emergency contraception.
* Earmark the existing $1.7 million in state funds each year for women’s health programs that include contraceptive services.
* Forbid a health insurance company from limiting or excluding coverage for FDA-approved prescription contraception if the policy covers other prescription drugs or devices.
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