Abortion in Maine — Protecting Access to a Safe, Legal Procedure

Posted on June 10, 2013 by nancy

This week, we feature testimony given at a Judiciary Committee hearing regarding LD 1339 and LD 760 – bills that would restrict access to abortion in Maine.

These bills will come up for a vote this week, please call your legislators and ask them to reject any further restrictions to abortion services.

My name is Ruth Lockhart and I am Executive Director and Co-Founder of Mabel Wadsworth Women’s Health Center in Bangor. We are one of only three public centers where a woman seeking an abortion in Maine can go.

I’m going to share with you how abortion care works at Mabel Wadsworth Center to dispel any myths or misconceptions about how are abortions are provided for women in Aroostook, Hancock, Penobscot, Piscataquis, Waldo and Washington counties. Continue reading →

Posted in Abortion Care, Reproductive Rights, Teen Pregnancy, Teen Sexuality, Women's Health | Leave a comment

EC — Over the Counter, For You & Me

Posted on June 5, 2013 by nancy

Good news!

Yesterday, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order denying the federal government’s request to stay a U.S. District Court judge’s decision to make emergency contraception(EC) available over the counter, without age restrictions. 

What this means for you and me — our sisters, daughters, friends, etc… — is that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has to comply with a previous court order and allow emergency contraception such as Plan B to be sold on store shelves, just like aspirin and other over-the-counter medications.

Why is this such good news?
Continue reading →

Posted in Birth Control, Family Planning, Reproductive Health Care, Reproductive Rights, Sexual Health, Women's Health | Leave a comment

Beyond “The Talk” ~ Preventing Teen Pregnancy

Posted on May 29, 2013 by nancy

In last week’s blog post highlighting Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month, we described what the FPA is doing to support Maine educators and students. As the month of May comes to a close, we want to give you – trusted adults, teachers, parents and concerned community members – ideas about how you can help prevent teen pregnancy.

Maybe you’re wondering, “Me?! What can I do?”

Well, there are two words that can start you on your way – listen and talk. Continue reading →

Posted in Parenting, Sexual Health, Teen Pregnancy, Teen Sexuality | Leave a comment

The Local Scene ~ Teen Pregnancy Prevention in Maine Schools

Posted on May 23, 2013 by nancy

Kathy Kerr, Teacher at Mount Blue Middle School, Farmington

So far during Teen Pregnancy Prevention month, we have taken a global, national and statewide look at teen pregnancy.  Now we’re narrowing our focus even more — to the classroom level — to see what some Maine teachers and schools are doing.

FPA’s Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program works with schools and community organizations dedicated to providing youth with comprehensive sexuality education.  Our program’s main goal is to strengthen the capacity of Maine educators and schools as they provide sexuality education programs that deliver positive results.

We promote the use of evidence-based programs because they’ve been proven to change sexual behaviors among youth, like: Continue reading →

Posted in Comprehensive Sexuality Education, Evidence Based Sexuality Education, Teen Pregnancy, Teen Sexuality | Leave a comment

Teen Pregnancy ~ Maine’s Encouraging News!

Posted on May 15, 2013 by nancy

In last week’s blog post highlighting Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month, we talked about how the US compares to the rest of the industrialized world with respect to teen sexual behavior and pregnancy rates. Let’s zoom in to look at Maine and how we compare to other U.S. states.

Did you know that Maine has the 6th lowest teen pregnancy rate in the U.S.? Maine’s teen pregnancy rate of 43 (per 1,000 females ages 15-19) is much lower than the U.S. rate of 68. The lowest rate in the U.S. is found in New Hampshire (33) and the highest rate in the U.S. is in New Mexico (93).

Many factors affect teen pregnancy rates ~ demographics, socio-economics, education policies and access to health care resources for young people.  Here are some of the things Maine has done right in order to lower what were some of the highest rates of teen pregnancy in the U.S. 30 years ago:
Continue reading →

Posted in Comprehensive Sexuality Education, Teen Pregnancy | Leave a comment

Teen Pregnancy — How Does the U.S. Measure Up?

Posted on May 9, 2013 by nancy

Last week, as we began our celebration of Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month, I noted that the U.S. has experienced dramatic decreases in teen pregnancy rates over the past decades. While this is an excellent trend, our teens still lag far behind their peers in other countries.

Take a look for yourself: the U.S. has much higher teen birth rates than other western,
industrialized countries and it doesn’t stop there– teen pregnancy and abortion rates are also much higher in the U.S.

On average, U.S. teens initiate sexual activity around the same age and are no more sexuality active than teens in other countries.

So, what are we, in the U.S. doing wrong?

Or to put a more positive spin on the question, what are other countries doing right? Continue reading →

Posted in Birth Control, Comprehensive Sexuality Education, STDs, Teen Pregnancy, Teen Sexuality | Leave a comment

Take the Quiz ~ National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy

Posted on April 30, 2013 by nancy

Here in Maine, spring has finally sprung—the birds are singing, bees are buzzing, the trees and flowers are budding and blooming. It’s so wonderful.

All this talk about the birds and the bees has me thinking about Maine’s highly successful efforts to reduce the rate of teen pregnancy!

On May 1, 2013, the FPA joins organizations across the country to recognize the 12th annual National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. The purpose of the National Day is to focus the attention of teens and their parents on the value of avoiding too-early pregnancy and parenthood. How are we doing that? Continue reading →

Posted in Comprehensive Sexuality Education, Evidence Based Sexuality Education, Sexual Health, Teen Pregnancy, Teen Sexuality | Leave a comment

Increasing Health Coverage for Maine Women & Families

Posted on March 28, 2013 by nancy

Understanding the many different components of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) can be a daunting task. This week, I’d like to share some important information about federal funds for expanding health coverage.

Thankfully, the Maine Center for Economic Policy and Maine Equal Justice Partners have thoroughly researched this topic and recently published a report on the impact for Maine of accepting federal dollars for health coverage.

The report concludes that:

Maine has an opportunity to cover more people and save millions of dollars currently spent to treat uninsured people in emergency rooms. We can do this by accepting federal dollars to provide health coverage to approximately 69,500 uninsured Mainers. This decision is in the hands of Maine’s legislature and governor. It will have important consequences for Maine’s economy and people.

I encourage you to read the full report. In the meantime, here are some of the main points. Continue reading →

Posted in Health Care, Legislative Advocacy, Reproductive Health Care, Women's Health | Leave a comment

Exposed — The 5 Most Common Lies about Abortion

Posted on March 22, 2013 by nancy

We see it all the time, right outside the gates of our Augusta health center.

Anti-choice protesters spend enormous amounts of time and energy spreading lies about abortion care services. At the FPA, we prefer to focus on the truth — backed up by decades of research in the field.

Here’s the truth about five of the most common lies about abortion. Continue reading →

Posted in Abortion Care, Family Planning Association of Maine, Legislative Advocacy, Reproductive Health Care, Reproductive Rights, Women's Health | 1 Comment

Think it Can’t Happen in Maine? Think Again.

Posted on March 15, 2013 by nancy

It’s happening all over the country – and it’s happening here in Maine, too.

Every day we hear about another attempt to restrict women’s access to reproductive health care somewhere in America – a 12-week abortion ban in Arkansas… elimination of family planning funding in Texas… forced ultrasounds in Virginia.  It’s clear that the groups working to deny us control over our reproductive lives have decided that state legislatures are the new battlegrounds for the War on Women.

But they can’t make any headway here in Maine, right?  Maine’s legislature and Maine’s voters have always supported reproductive privacy, right?  I mean, we defeated anti-choice bills two years ago, even with a large number of strongly anti-choice legislators.

Reproductive rights are safe in Maine, right?  

Wrong. Continue reading →

Posted in Abortion Care, Legislative Advocacy, Reproductive Rights, Women's Health | Leave a comment