Science should trump political opinions and it backs Udall's position on birth control

Does the personhood amendment ban certain kinds of birth control?  That is becoming a key question in the Colorado Senate campaign, and buried in a recent factcheck.org meandering judgment call, it might be up to the US Supreme Court to decide.  That is hardly comforting.  Furthermore, scientific facts should trump political opinions, and the facts are supported by those most scientifically involved in the issue:  The personhood amendments ban certain kinds of birth control and more. Found at the end of factcheck.org is this gem:

“The nonpartisan American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) says that defining a fertilized egg as a person with legal rights ‘would have wide-reaching harmful implications … on women’s access to contraception.’”

Cory Gardner, Republican challenging incumbent Democrat Mark Udall, on one hand opposes the state personhood amendment but supports the federal one. To blunt criticism he is against birth control, he then advocates over-the-counter sales of birth control while opposing Obamacare that covers the entire cost of birth control, wanting women to pay for birth control out of their own pockets. Not only is that a consumer-unfriendly approach, it is also dangerous and would leave little choice of birth control methods to women.

From the ACOG website, www.ACOG.org:  “These "personhood" proposals, as acknowledged by proponents, would make condoms, natural family planning, and spermicides the only legally allowed forms of birth control. Thus, some of the most effective and reliable forms of contraception, such as oral contraceptives, intrauterine devices (IUDs), and other forms of FDA-approved hormonal contraceptives, could be banned in states that adopt "personhood" measures.  Women's very lives would be jeopardized if physicians were prohibited from terminating life-threatening ectopic and molar pregnancies.  Women who experience pregnancy loss or other negative pregnancy outcomes could be prosecuted in some cases.  

“So-called "personhood" measures would have a negative impact on fertility treatments, including in vitro fertilization (IVF), that allow otherwise infertile couples to achieve pregnancy and create their families. Such proposals would also invariably ban embryonic stem cell research, depriving all society of potential lifesaving therapies." 

Not only is Gardner speaking out of both sides of his mouth, but what he is advocating is not in women's interests.  Mark Udall is correct in hitting Gardner for his stance on birth control and personhood in current advertising. 

So why all of this focus on women's choice issues anyway?  There are many other pressing concerns that will face the Senate.  The reason is that women's rights are of great interest to a very important demographic -- unmarried women -- which has determined the outcome of elections in Colorado in the past.  Women had thought the war had been won, but what the GOP and Cory Gardner are supporting are a rollback of those victories.  However, Gardner has also not made a case for his position on other issues, attempting the soft approach of "my father sold tractors; Udall is a politician who supports Obama."  On those "other issues" he is still an unknown factor, a pig in a poke.

A version of this appeared in the www.skyhidailynews.com October 3, 2014

http://www.factcheck.org/2014/09/abortion-distortions-2014/

ACOG Statement on “Personhood” Measures

February 10, 2012

Washington, DC -- The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) is unequivocally opposed to the so-called "personhood" laws or amendments being considered in several states. These measures erode women's basic rights to privacy and bodily integrity; deny women access to the full spectrum of preventive health care including contraception; and undermine the doctor-patient relationship. ACOG firmly believes that science must be at the core of public health policies and medical decision-making that affect the health and life of women.

Like Mississippi's failed "Personhood Amendment" Proposition 26, these misleading and ambiguously worded "personhood" measures substitute ideology for science and represent a grave threat to women's health and reproductive rights that, if passed, would have long-term negative outcomes for our patients, their families, and society. Although the individual wording in these proposed measures varies from state to state, they all attempt to give full legal rights to a fertilized egg by defining "personhood" from the moment of fertilization, before conception (ie, pregnancy/ implantation) has occurred. This would have wide-reaching harmful implications for the practice of medicine and on women's access to contraception, fertility treatments, pregnancy termination, and other essential medical procedures.

These "personhood" proposals, as acknowledged by proponents, would make condoms, natural family planning, and spermicides the only legally allowed forms of birth control. Thus, some of the most effective and reliable forms of contraception, such as oral contraceptives, intrauterine devices (IUDs), and other forms of FDA-approved hormonal contraceptives could be banned in states that adopt "personhood" measures. Women's very lives would be jeopardized if physicians were prohibited from terminating life-threatening ectopic and molar pregnancies. Women who experience pregnancy loss or other negative pregnancy outcomes could be prosecuted in some cases.  

So-called "personhood" measures would have a negative impact on fertility treatments, including in vitro fertilization (IVF), that allow otherwise infertile couples to achieve pregnancy and create their families. Such proposals would also invariably ban embryonic stem cell research, depriving all of society potential lifesaving therapies.

ACOG supports guaranteed access to the full array of clinical and reproductive services appropriate to each individual woman's needs throughout her life. These "personhood" measures must be defeated in the best interest of women's health.