All of the new Oklahoma laws aimed at limiting abortion and contraception are great for the Republican family that lives in a gingerbread house with a two-car garage, two planned kids and a dog. In the real world, they are less than perfect…yet I cannot convince my Republican colleagues that one of the best ways to eliminate abortions is to ensure access to contraception.Doug Cox, a Republican state legislator and practicing physician, in an op-ed today. “Denying access to [the morning-after pill] is a sure way to increase legal and back-alley abortions,” Cox wrote. “Moreover, such a law would discriminate against low-income women who depend on Medicaid for their health care.” Oklahoma Republicans have proposed several draconian restrictions on abortion and contraception; while Cox opposes abortion, he’s been honored by Planned Parenthood for defending a woman’s right to contraception and “effectively argu[ing] against more than 160 anti-women’s health measures.” source
One of the touted benefits of “Plan B” is that it only raises taxes for those making $1 million or more. As Eric Cantor said this morning, the plan would raise revenue “without hurting many small businesses” or taxpayers.
But a closer look at the tax impacts of Plan B shows that while it raises taxes on most million-plus earners, it also raises takes for many low-income earners.
According to the Tax Policy Center, the tax code adjustments contained in Speaker Boehner’s ‘Plan B’ proposal would only bestow a tax cut on those making between $200,000 and $500,000 annually. Worse, approximately 20 percent of those making $20,000 or less will see their taxes increase by $1,070 - an increase of at least five percent for each taxpayer.
![thedailywhat:
Plan B6 of the Day: Officials at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania were asked to explain their decision to offer students access to the emergency contraception pill Plan B through a vending machine inside the school’s health center.
“We had some conversations with them and did a survey of the student body and we got an 85 percent response rate that the students supported Plan B in the House Center,” said Ship’s Vice president of Student Affairs, Dr. Roger Serr.
One dose of the so-called “morning-after pill,” which can legally be purchased over-the-counter by individuals 17 or older, will set students back $25. The university says it uses money made from sales to purchase more pills. Some 350 to 400 doses are sold each year.
“The vending machine is just a way to dispense it,” said Dr. Serr. “It’s provided, it’s not necessarily promoted on a large scale.”
[wtae / poo.]
What do you think? Should a university be selling emergency contraception from a vending machine?](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lz1b6lS8gr1qzpwi0o1_500.jpg)
Plan B6 of the Day: Officials at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania were asked to explain their decision to offer students access to the emergency contraception pill Plan B through a vending machine inside the school’s health center.
“We had some conversations with them and did a survey of the student body and we got an 85 percent response rate that the students supported Plan B in the House Center,” said Ship’s Vice president of Student Affairs, Dr. Roger Serr.
One dose of the so-called “morning-after pill,” which can legally be purchased over-the-counter by individuals 17 or older, will set students back $25. The university says it uses money made from sales to purchase more pills. Some 350 to 400 doses are sold each year.
“The vending machine is just a way to dispense it,” said Dr. Serr. “It’s provided, it’s not necessarily promoted on a large scale.”
What do you think? Should a university be selling emergency contraception from a vending machine?
(Source: thedailywhat)
We ask that you share with us your specific rationale and the scientific data you relied on for the decision to overrule the FDA recommendation [to increase access to Plan B].Fourteen Democratic Senators • In a letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who last week overruled an FDA recommendation that Plan B, the emergency contraception, be available without prescription to minors. In the words of Greg Sargent, who reported the story, “it isn’t every day that 14 Senators aggressively call out their own party’s Health and Human Services Secretary.” Then again, a lot of Senate Democrats are up for re-election next year, so there is an element of realpolitik at play. source (via • follow)
» Time for Plan C: The manufacturer of the drug, Teva Women’s Health (unrelated to the sandal manufacturer), had requested FDA approval to allow unrestricted, over-the-counter sale of Plan B One-Step (currently, girls below the age of 17 must obtain a prescription before purchasing the drug). The FDA approved it, but Sebelius, citing “significant cognitive and behavioral differences between older adolescent girls and the youngest girls of reproductive age,” ordered the FDA to revoke its approval.
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