Blogs Comment On Sotomayor Confirmation Hearings, Health Reform, Other Topics

The following summarizes selected women's health-related blog entries.

~ "Judge Sotomayor Provides Important Testimony on the Constitutional Right to Privacy and Its Application to Reproductive Rights," Marcia Greenberger, Womenstake: "One major line of questions, asked repeatedly throughout the hearings" for President Obama's Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor was her "views on the constitutional right to privacy," Greenberger writes, adding, "Given that this right is central to women's lives, protecting" such "decisions involving whether to bear children ... and having consensual adult sexual relations, it is important to analyze Judge Sotomayor's answers carefully." According to Greenberger, because Sotomayor "had not ruled directly on the right to privacy as a federal judge, her testimony in this area warrants particular attention." Following questions from senators such as Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Sotomayor portrayed a "clear agreement with the right to privacy and strong description of the court's current precedents regarding Roe and women's health," which "lend[s] further support to the view from her legal record that she would not undermine Roe v. Wade if confirmed to the Supreme Court" (Greenberger, Womenstake, 7/16).

~ "Major Steps Forward for Health Care Reform," Thao Nguyen, Womenstake: Nguyen, outreach manager for the National Women's Law Center, reports that the health care reform legislation passed by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee is "particularly important for women because of the critical headway it makes towards women's ability to secure access to quality, affordable health care throughout their lives." The bill "works towards confronting many of the particular obstacles faced by women in our current health care system," such as banning the "discriminatory" practice of basing insurance premiums on gender, even when maternity benefits are excluded, Nguyen writes. The bill also bans insurance companies from rejecting patients based on medical history, which has prevented many domestic violence survivors and women who have had caesarean sections from obtaining coverage. Nguyen concludes that "the momentum for health care reform could not have come at a more needed time" because women and their families "need quality, affordable and comprehensive health more than ever" (Nguyen, Womenstake, 7/15).

~ "Democrats for Life of America Ousts Member Who Supports Contraception," Feministing: Feministing reports that Democrats for Life of America removed Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) from its advisory board because he supports efforts to improve access to contraception. According to Ryan, he was dismissed from the board after four years after attempting to persuade the group to support contraceptive use as a way to avoid unintended pregnancies. According to the blog, "This is why we call anti-choicers 'anti-choice': because they're not just about making abortion illegal." It adds, "They don't want women to have access to contraception either -- something that 98% of American women will use at some point in their lives" (Feministing, 7/15).















~ "Umpires, Perspective and the Supreme Court," Jim Wallis, Sojourners' "God's Politics": "During his opening remarks for his own confirmation hearing in 2005, Chief Justice [John] Roberts made" an analogy between judges and umpires "that has gotten a lot of play in the media and has already been used quite a few times during" Sotomayor's confirmation hearing, Wallis writes. He adds that "nothing in the world would frustrate me more than an umpire who would call the game differently based upon the color of the jersey that" players were wearing. "But I haven't seen that happen," Wallis writes, adding, "In fact, the biggest problem we face isn't an umpire that has favored one team over the other, but umpires who make mistakes in their rulings and judgment because of their lack of perspective." He adds that Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) and "others who have picked up these talking points of criticism have mistaken a very particular view of the world. They have claimed an attribute that only belongs to God." According to Wallis, the "problem is that Sen. Sessions doesn't really want impartiality; he wants judges who will see things just like he would." He concludes that a senator who "wants only one perspective isn't really concerned with truth or justice, but with the maintenance of historic dominance and control" (Wallis, "God's Politics," Sojourners, 7/16).

~ "Are You a Condom Worshipper? (Or, When the Purity Pushers Lose Their Damn Minds)," Feministing: National Abstinence Clearinghouse President Leslee Uhruh's comment that supporters of comprehensive sex education are "condom worshippers" is a good example of "why folks in the virginity movement need to rebrand their image," a Feministing blog entry states. It notes that "the majority of the country ... want[s] their kids to learn medically accurate information about sex so they can make healthy decisions." The blog continues, "That's why more media-savvy abstinence-only leaders are now using more mainstream-friendly language" and rebranding themselves as "folks interested in 'holistic approaches' and 'healthy lifestyle choices.'" The post continues that "[w]hile I'm glad to see that these organizations are scrambling, I'm also a bit wary of writing them off completely," which is why "we have to continue to be vigilant on a state and community level." The blog recommends checking Advocates for Youth or SIECUS for updates on sex education policy (Feministing, 7/16).


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