California NOW

Why Secretary Sebelius Missed the Mark Last Week

By now, we all know about Secretary Sebelius’ surprising decision last week to override the FDA, as well as the scientific community by keeping Plan B as a prescription-only option for anyone under the age of 17.  The Secretary stated that she had based her decision on the fact that 10% of girls as young as 11 are now capable of becoming pregnant through the early onset of menstruation and that since there are significant cognitive and behavioral differences between girls aged 11 and 16, she worried that young girls would not understand the full ramifications of taking the drug without first consulting with a medical professional.¹

On the surface this may sound reasonable.  Her idea seemed to be - let's do some more research on pre-teens with precocious puberty because the Plan B drug manufacturer failed to include enough pre-teens to satisfy Secretary Sebelius' safety concerns.²

There are  practical realities that Secretary Sebelius overlooked, which when given voice, clearly demonstrate that 11 year olds are not safer because of Secretary Sebelius' decisions, 12-16 years olds are not safer because of Secretary Sebelius' decisions, and most certainly society at large are not safer.

First, what Sebelius failed to weigh or even mention is the harm done by the potential consequence of keeping access to Plan B difficult for most teens and pre-teens - pregnancy.  The studies and common sense confirm the dangers associated with pregnant preteens whose bodies are not developed sufficiently to handle pregnancy.  Second, Sebelius failed 12-16 year olds, whose cognitive abilities were not in question and all women over 17, who would have been able to buy the pill without an uncomfortable ID check.

There were numerous solutions at Secretary Sebelius' disposal to cure whatever perceived danger the Secretary believed preteens would be exposed to by a failure to understand labeling instructions of Plan B; such as, access to comprehensive, culturally appropriate sex education, as well as, education about healthy relationships and teen dating violence, the vigorous enforcement of Title IX's anti-harassment/bullying provisions, re-enactment and vigorous enforcement of the Violence Against Women Act and other laws protecting girls and women from sexual violence.  Strengthening programs designed to provide safe spaces where girls and boys can thrive is the more appropriate answer to Secretary Sebelius' concerns. 

The bottom line is this:  11 year olds are not safer because Secretary Sebelius' chose to prevent young girls from accessing emergency contraception needed because of actions or inactions by others in positions of power.

Eleven year olds could be safer today -  all of us could be safer today if Secretary Sebelius addressed the root causes - the reason why any of us need to address 9, 10, or 11 year old girls being of "reproductive age"  and being impregnated.  One root cause is the inundation of endocrine disrupting chemicals in our environment.³   Secretary Sebelius has the power to address this cause by aggressively seeking the elimination of these toxic chemicals.  For one thing, Secretary Sebelius could discontinue the use of Fluoride in public water systems, a known endocrine disrupter.  That decision is within her power.⁴   The Secretary and the Obama administration as a whole could be aggressively advocating for the passage of the Safe Cosmetic Act⁵  and the Aqua Act⁶ , which deals with safe drinking water.  We all have a right to be protected from human produced environmental toxins, but it does not go unnoticed that women, people of color and the poor are poisoned in greater proportion by these corporate manufactured toxic chemicals.

The increasing number of ever younger girls being of "reproductive age" should be what concerns Secretary Sebelius and her concern, should be demonstrated by an aggressive effort to reverse the trend rather than denying young girls access to emergency contraception because the powers that be failed to protect her from both toxic chemical exposure causing precocious puberty and from a rape culture that makes her sexually accessible.

Secretary Sebelius and President Obama need to hear our concerns about this decision, a decision that abdicated their responsibilities in preventing the increasing number of ever younger girls being of "reproductive age" through vigorous environmental protection.  They also need to understand that the decision to deny access to Plan B without a prescription from young women and girls 16 and younger prevents them from adequately protecting themselves.

The truth is, young women were not protected by this decision and they were not made safer.  Only when we, as a society, including Secretary Sebelius and President Obama, deal with the reasons why preteens need contraception can we truly provide real safety - because that protection is based on every young girl's right to reproductive justice.

References:

1.  http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2011pres/12/20111207a.html
2.  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45585285/ns/health/t/health-secretary-blocks-wider-access-morning-after-pill/
3.  http://www.hhs.gov/asl/testify/2010/02/t20100225a.html
4.  http://americannutritionassociation.org/newsletter/end-fluoridation
5.  http://markey.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4408&Itemid=210
6.  http://markey.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4002&Itemid=141

Monday's Action Checklist

Effective October 1st, credit card companies are required to consider an applicant’s individual income, rather than household income, to qualify for credit.  The Federal Reserve believes the new rule is required under the CARD Act (Credit Accountability, Responsibility & Disclosure Act), a law that was supposed to protect consumers from misleading credit card practices and prevent young adults from getting excessive lines of credit without supporting income but is now unfortunately targeting stay-at-home parents.  This new rule will affect stay-at-home parents meaning they can only get access to new credit cards by becoming an “authorized user” of their spouse’s card.  Take Action NOW:  Sign the petition to ask the Federal Reserve to re-think this rule.

40 million Americans don’t have paid sick days which means, that in this economy, you know they’re going to work sick and sending their kids to school sick – rather than risk losing a day’s pay or even losing their job.  The Healthy Families Act (H.R. 1876, S. 984) would set an important national standard for paid sick days. A new study estimates that if there had been a national paid sick days policy in place back in 2009, 5 million cases of the flu could have been avoided during the H1N1 pandemic.  Take Action NOW:  Tell your U.S. Senators that paid sick days are critical for American families’ economic security and that it’s not okay for families to be one virus away from losing income or becoming unemployed.

A coalition of progressive groups have filed a ballot measure that would ask those Californians who make more than $1 million a year to pay a little more in taxes. This ballot measure would tax every dollar a person makes in personal income over $1 million by 3% and each dollar over $2 million by 5%. Experts say it would raise about $6 billion a year, enough to begin re-hiring laid off teachers to reduce class sizes, rolling back college tuition increases, restoring cuts to essential services for children and seniors, re-hiring laid off emergency responders and creating jobs by repairing roads and bridges.  Take Action NOW:  Sign the petition to support this initiative to restore fairness.

Monday's Action Checklist

Working families are finding it harder to just get by.  They scrimp and save just to ensure that their children have a safe place to live, plenty to eat and warm clothing to wear.  And at this time of the year, they also try to find enough to make it a joyous holiday season.  Back in 2010, a tax holiday was put in place to stimulate the economy.  According to the New York Times, if this payroll tax holiday offers the average working family close to $1,500 a year more to spend.  That's significant.  However, Congress is considering not extending it which would result in middle class families paying higher taxes.  Raising taxes should start with millionaires and billionaires, and with the countless corporations that manage to evade paying any taxes at all rather than with struggling families. Take Action NOW:  Tell Congress to extend the payroll tax holiday for working families.

When you buy Apple's shiny new iPhone 4S, you're not just getting a phone. It comes programmed with a voice-activated personal assistant app that Apple claims can respond to any question you ask -- whether you're looking for driving directions or the best burger in town. You can ask the assistant (Siri) basically any question.  But you can't ask about abortion services unless you want to be referred to a crisis pregnancy center -- fake clinics where anti-abortion activists often lie to pregnant women in order to dissuade them from choosing abortion.  Take Action NOW:  Tell Apple that Siri should not be referring women to fake clinics and, instead, should know where real women's health service providers are located.

When it comes to emergency contraception, the FDA has refused to listen to medical and scientific consensus that says there is no rationale for age restrictions. They're poised to remove restrictions on Plan B, but not from other emergency contraception available over-the-counter.   Take Action NOW:  Tell the FDA to restore scientific integrity to federal policy and end restrictions on all emergency contraception available over-the-counter, not just Plan B.

One of the bedrock principles of democracy is that nobody is above the law--not even Supreme Court justices like Clarence Thomas.  In addition to being on the wrong side of just about every major issue since being appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Thomas has also refused to follow the law for years by failing to disclose his wife's substantial income despite being legally required to report it.  Recently, U.S. Representative Louise Slaughter is demanding that the Judicial Conference uphold the Ethics in Government Act by referring Thomas' apparent misdeeds to the Attorney General for further investigation.  Take Action NOW:  Co-sign Rep. Slaughter's letter demanding action on Clarence Thomas.