| Comprehensive Sex Education |
| Each year, approximately one million American teens become pregnant, and nearly four million contract a sexually transmitted infection (STI). Planned Parenthood strongly supports efforts to provide young people with comprehensive, medically-accurate, age-appropriate sexuality education. Comprehensive sexuality education helps teens make healthy decisions, reduces the number of unintended teen pregnancies, and reduces the need for abortion. In the face of a dangerous, one-size-fits-all abortion restriction that would have threatened teens' health and safety, pro-choice Senators voted to provide funding for comprehensive, medically accurate sexuality education and other programs to prevent unintended teen pregnancies (07/25/06, Lautenberg amendment to S. 403, a vote in favor of this amendment was a pro-choice vote, amendment failed 48-51, roll call 214)
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| Global Gag Rule |
| The global gag rule is an anti-family planning restriction that reduces access to contraceptive and abortion services and information in poorer countries. Imposed by President George W. Bush as one of his first acts in office, the global gag rule bars foreign non-governmental organizations from receiving U.S. family planning assistance if the organization (using their own, non-U.S. funds) provides abortion services or information or advocates for pro-choice laws and policies in their own country. An amendment offered by Senator Boxer (D-CA), and approved by the Senate overturned the global gag rule; however the amendment did not make it into the final passage of the bill. (4/05/05, Boxer Amendment to S.600, a vote in favor of this amendment was a pro-choice vote, amendment passed 52-46, roll call 83)
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| International Family Planning Funding |
| International family planning assistance supports education, information, and services to help poor people around the world protect themselves from unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV. UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is the only multilateral agency primarily dedicated to addressing the unmet need for family planning and reproductive health care services worldwide. It provides contraceptives and information, health care for mothers and children, and services to prevent STIs, including HIV, for women living in some of the poorest, most remote regions of the world, or those areas most devastated by war and natural disaster. Senators voted on reducing international family planning funding by 85% through funding cuts and delays in distribution. (3/14/96, McConnell Amendment to H.R. 3019, amendment failed 43-52, roll call 35)
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| Emergency Contraception |
| Emergency contraception (EC), started within 120 hours of unprotected intercourse can prevent pregnancy by preventing ovulation or fertilization. In theory, EC may interfere with implantation, but this has not been proven. EC is not mifepristone (RU-486) and cannot cause an abortion. EC has been available for 25 years and is a safe and effective method of contraception, but anti-choice groups oppose the use of EC. Senators voted on prohibiting federal funds from being used to distribute EC at school-based health clinics. (6/30/00, Motion to Table the Helms Amendment to H.R. 4577, a vote in favor of this motion was a pro-choice vote, amendment failed 41-54, roll call 169)
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| The Right to Choose |
| The landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade established that the right to privacy extends to the decision of a woman, in consultation with her physician, to terminate her pregnancy. Senators voted on affirming that Roe v. Wade was an appropriate decision, secures an important constitutional right, and should not be overturned or narrowed. (3/12/03, Harkin Amendment to S. 3, a vote in favor of this amendment was a pro-choice vote, amendment passed 52-46, roll call 48)
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| Abortion Access for Women in the Military |
| Congress has used its funding powers to single out certain classes of women (low-income, federal employees, military personnel serving overseas, residents of the District of Columbia, and women in federal prisons) and restrict their access to legal abortion because their health care is funded in part by the federal government. As part of the relentless attack on access to abortion services, Congress continues to bar military service members and their dependents from obtaining abortions in U.S. military hospitals overseas - even if they use their own money. Senators voted on tabling the amendment to overturn the ban, which contains exceptions only for cases of life endangerment, rape, or incest, and is especially harmful to those women stationed overseas in countries where abortion is illegal and/or unsafe. (5/22/03, Murray/Snowe Amendment to S. 1050, a vote in favor of this amendment was a pro-choice vote, amendment rejected 48-51, roll call 192)
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| Abortion Ban |
| Despite the fact that the Supreme Court struck down legislation virtually identical to the so-called "Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act" in 2000, anti-choice Members of Congress insisted on advancing this legislation in 2003 to influence election politics and advance their long-term goal of overturning Roe v. Wade. This bill lacks a health exception, which the Supreme Court unequivocally said was a fatal flaw in any pre-viability abortions in violation of a woman's right to choose. Senators voted on imposing criminal penalties on doctors for performing vaguely defined abortion procedures. (3/13/03, Final Passage of S. 3, a vote in opposition to this legislation was a pro-choice vote, legislation passed 64-33, roll call 51)
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| Patient Privacy |
| Planned Parenthood is committed to medical privacy and the sacred trust of the doctor-patient relationship. We believe that individuals should have a reasonable expectation of medical privacy, particularly privacy from governmental intrusion into what rightly are private and personal medical decisions. Planned Parenthood supports all reasonable regulations that protect participants in the fetal tissue donation process from coercion, improper incentives, or medical misconduct. Congress, however, sought to require a cumbersome and detailed disclosure statement process identifying the woman donating the tissue, describing the type of medical procedure used to terminate the pregnancy, identification of the physician and clinic involved in the termination of the pregnancy to be submitted by entities receiving fetal tissue. This could have caused detrimental effects on both medical research and medical privacy. The amount and type of information violated the confidentiality and privacy of patients and clinics, possibly opening them up to additional harassment and violence. Senators voted on requiring clinics such as Planned Parenthood to hand over private patient, client, and physician information in an attempt to further regulate and restrict fetal tissue research. (10/21/99, Smith Amendment to S. 1692, a vote in opposition to this amendment was a pro-choice vote, amendment failed 46-51, roll call 338)
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| Comprehensive Family Planning |
| With more than three million unintended pregnancies each year, improving access to contraception and preventive health care should be a shared national goal. This omnibus family planning initiative would expand access to preventive health care services and education programs to help reduce unintended pregnancy, prevent the spread of infection of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), reduce the need for abortion and improve women's health - all while saving scarce public health dollars. Pro-choice Senators voted for an amendment to the budget resolution to expand the Title X family planning program, conduct outreach and education on emergency contraception, and create new teen pregnancy prevention programs (03/17/05, Reid/Clinton amendment to S. Con. Res. 18, a vote in favor of this amendment was a pro-choice vote, amendment failed 47-53, roll call 75).
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| Fetal Rights |
| On its face, this law creates a penalty for violation of a number of criminal statutes if, in the course of commission of these crimes, an unborn child is injured or killed. The dangerous reality of the law, however, is that it elevates the legal status of the fetus to that of an adult human being. This is merely the first step toward eroding a woman's right to choose. Senators voted on defining an unborn child as a member of the species homo sapiens, at any stage of development, who is carried in the womb, giving separate federal protection to a fertilized egg, embryo or fetus. (3/25/04, Final Passage of H.R.1997, a vote in opposition to this legislation was a pro-choice vote, legislation passed 61-38, roll call 63)
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| Teen Health and Safety |
| Of all the abortion-related policy issues facing decision makers in this country today, parental consent or notification regarding minors and abortion is perhaps the most difficult. Planned Parenthood encourages teens to involve their parents in their decision-making process. For teenagers who live in unsafe or abusive homes or where parents have abdicated their responsibilities, however, parental consent legislation would create a dangerous, one-size-fits-all government mandate. No legislation can mandate healthy family communication or a loving, supportive environment where it does not already exist. In the 109th Congress, the Senate took a procedural vote on whether to vote on a dangerous bill that would make a criminal of any person other than a parent, including a grandmother, aunt, or older sibling, to assist a minor to cross state lines to access abortion services unless the minor has complied with the parental notification or consent laws of her home state. The bill also makes it a federal crime for a doctor to perform an abortion on a minor who is a resident of another state unless the doctor notifies the minor's parent a minimum of 24 hours before the procedure. (09/29/06, Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Motion to Concur in House Amendment to S.403), a vote in opposition to this cloture motion was a pro-choice vote, cloture motion rejected 57-42, roll call 263).
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| Violence Against Reproductive Healthcare Providers |
| Despite passage of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE), clinic violence remains a significant problem. Sadly, the perpetrators of this violence continue to attempt to avoid financial penalties by filing for bankruptcy. Senators voted to amend the federal bankruptcy code to ensure that perpetrators of clinic violence can not escape the consequences of their actions by filing for bankruptcy in an effort to discharge the fines and penalties assessed against them by courts of law (03/08/05, Schumer Amendment to S. 256, a vote in favor of this amendment was a pro-choice vote, amendment failed 46-53, roll call 28).
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| Supreme Court Nominations |
| The United States Supreme Court is responsible for interpreting the Constitution, and as the final arbiter of law, has enormous power in establishing women's rights, the right to privacy, reproductive freedoms, and other basic civil rights. Judge Alito's record demonstrates hostility to women's equality in general and reproductive rights specifically. Judge Alito was nominated to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who has for over a decade played a crucial role in protecting these fundamental rights. On the court, Judge Alito would have the power to advance his "closely held" personal view that Roe should be overturned, to work to unravel settled law and to influence adversely the course of reproductive rights; and for more than a generation, Judge Alito's record suggested that, if confirmed, he would do just that. Therefore, PPFA opposed his nomination to the Supreme Court of the United States. (01/31/06, On the Nomination of Samuel A. Alito, Jr., of New Jersey, to be an Associate Justice for the Supreme Court of the United States, a vote in opposition to this nomination was a pro-choice vote, nomination confirmed 58-42, roll call 2).
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| Health Care for Low Income Families |
| Medicaid is the cornerstone of our nation's health care safety net. In 2003, an estimated 51 million people-one in six Americans-received health care through the Medicaid program. Medicaid provides health insurance coverage to one in ten women of reproductive age and is the largest source of government funds for family planning funding. The Senate budget resolution for fiscal year 2005 originally cut between $15-$20 billion from the Medicaid program over five years and would have forced policy committees that oversee Medicaid to make changes to the program, such as cutting services like family planning. Cuts of that size would have put our ability to provide preventive health care to so many low-income women in jeopardy. Sen. Smith (R-OR) and Sen. Bingaman (D-NV) offered an amendment that eliminated the Senate's cuts to the Medicaid program and created a small pool of money to establish a Commission that would study possible changes to Medicaid. This amendment minimized the cuts to Medicaid. (03/17/05, Schumer Amendment to S.Con.Res.18, a vote in favor of this amendment was a pro-choice vote, amendment passed 52-48, roll call 58)
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