Tag: Plan B

The scandal is that, if the climate change people are right, we may soon run out of places to hold the Winter Olympics.

Rep. Amy Stephens -- a Colorado Springs Republican who once worked for evangelical powerhouse organization Focus on the Family -- argued Tuesday against an anti-abortion proposal that would have made providing emergency contraception to victims of rape and incest a Class 3 felony.

When Weld County commissioners decided to stop providing emergency contraception to county patients, concerns rooted in anti-abortion politics trumped scientific facts and testimony provided by the county’s medical chief, according to documents obtained by The Colorado Independent.

A controversial and unreported move by the Board of Weld County Commissioners to stop dispensing emergency contraception has forced low-income county health department patients to seek the drugs at the scant number of non-profit clinics in the area.

Women’s health advocates all over the country were stunned yesterday when Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius reversed an FDA request to expand access to over-the-counter emergency contraception for teenagers under the age of 17. In press releases denouncing the decision, a common theme has emerged: President Obama has followed in the footsteps of his predecessor, George W. Bush, on the heated issue of emergency contraception.

Colorado U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, head of the pro-choice caucus and a staunch advocate for women's health rights, said she was disappointed that the Obama Administration Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, on Wednesday opposed a recommendation by the Food and Drug Administration, announcing she would deny a request to expand access to over-the-counter emergency contraception to women under 17.

DENVER-- Lawmakers Monday passed a bill in the Colorado House that would require health insurance companies to include prenatal and birth control in all plans offered to women on the individual health care market. Sponsored by Denver Democrats Beth McCann and Jerry Frangas, the bill was stripped of this strong provision in committee weeks ago in order to move it onto the floor. House watchers expected to see a fight on the floor but the bill passed on a voice vote, with only minimal questioning from conservative Monument Republican Amy Stephens, who asked if the bill would now cover so-called Plan B contraception, the "morning after" pill, which some see as akin to abortion.

Lawmakers and reproductive health advocates are in full court press to repeal an 11th-hour Bush Administration rule that threatens women’s health care set to go into effect Tuesday — hours before President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration.

Expanding on Mike Lillis' story today on Capitol Hill Democrats' attempts to repeal the 11th hour Bush Administration "conscience clause" rule that threatens women's reproductive health care, 13 states are planning a federal court challenge should political remedies fail.

It's not often that Colorado is considered a less progressive state than its wild and woolley neighbor to the north, Wyoming. On the matter...