UPDATE: Limbaugh bust security costs Missouri taxpayers $1,100
David A. Lieb – The Columbia Missourian – May 24, 2012
The Missouri House has spent more than $1,100 in taxpayer money on a security camera to keep watch over a new bronze bust of conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh, the House clerk said Thursday.
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Are Missouri lawmakers at war with women?
Elizabeth Crisp –St. Louis Post-Dispatch – May 21, 2012
The “war on women,” as it has been dubbed nationally, served as a call to arms for Democrats in Missourithis legislative session, where bills that would make it harder for women to get abortions, and in some cases contraception, seemed to pass with ease through the House and gain traction in the Senate.
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Editorial: Legislature won’t find success until voters clean it up
Editorial Board – St. Louis Post-Dispatch – May 19, 2012
Before Missouri legislative leaders pounded their gavels to end their annual session on Friday, Republican leaders already were declaring their five-month frat party a success.
This is not unusual. Nearly every Missouri legislative session ends the same way.
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Missouri’s desultory, destructive session
Editorial – The Kansas City Star – May 19, 2012
This will be remembered inMissourias the year the legislature didn’t even try.
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The Joplin Globe – May 16, 2012
Lots of angry words are being tossed around about a secretive ceremony held Monday in our state Capitol to honor Rush Limbaugh’s induction as a member of the Hall of Famous Missourians.
Let us add our “ditto” to that criticism.
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Rush Limbaugh debacle sullies Missouri, Tilley
Kansas City Star Editorial – May 16, 2012
The Missouri House chambers, meant to be a place of vigorous debate and many voices, this week became the locked province of radio host Rush Limbaugh and a few of his greatest admirers.
They were on the inside. By order of House Speaker Steve Tilley, the public was on the outside — literally locked out, with state troopers at the doors to reinforce the message.
Shame on Tilley. His selection of the blustery and offensive Limbaugh for entry into the Hall of Famous Missourians was questionable. But locking the public out of the induction ceremony was unacceptable.
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Editorial: Missouri Speaker’s legacy: It’s El Rushbo’s House now
The Editorial Board –St. Louis Post-Dispatch – May 16, 2012
That Mr. Tilley would sell his soul to Mr. Limbaugh, and offer a place in the Capitol rotunda for his likeness is hardly surprising. In fact, it’s oddly appropriate; history will record that under Mr. Tilley’s watch, the discourse in the House has not been too different from the sort of bile that is a regular feature of Mr. Limbaugh’s show. Still, no House member has yet publicly called a woman a ‘slut,” as Mr. Limbaugh did in March.
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Sleeping through a counter-revolution
Walle A. Amusa – The St. Louis American – May 10, 2012
Falsely, Bishop Jenky claimed that if re-elected, President Obama would close Catholic schools, hospitals, Newman Centers and all Catholic public ministries.
This is fear mongering of the worst kind.
All President Obama has done is to uphold the law and insist that any church-affiliated organization that accepts tax dollars cannot and should not discriminate against any American in their delivery of services or health care benefits.
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The myth of the “morning-after abortion pill”
Irin Carmon – Salon – April 26, 2012
It started around February, when Republicans were still eager to talk about contraception. The Obama administration, or so Mitt Romney charged in Colorado, was forcing religious institutions to provide “morning-after pills –in other words abortive pills — and the like, at no cost.”
It was, of course, a lie. Romney was conflating two different pills: emergency contraception, known as the morning-after pill, which prevents a pregnancy; and chemical abortion, or mifepristone, which ends a pregnancy of up to seven weeks’ gestation and isn’t covered under the new guidelines. Since both pills were marketed in the U.S. around the same time, even some pro-choicers have gotten confused. But Colorado happens to be the epicenter of people confusing them on purpose. It’s the birthplace of the Personhood movement and home to Focus on the Family, both of which have strategically called emergency contraception “abortion” on the scientifically unproven basis that they could block a fertilized egg from implanting.
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Why Planned Parenthood matters
Joan Walsh – Salon – April 17, 2012
I’ve always supported Planned Parenthood, but I think the group has helped change the political debate in this country in tangible ways over the last year or so, and I’m excited to talk about where we go from here.
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Missouri Contraception Law: Legislators Approve Bill Allowing Refusal Of Abortion Care
John Celock – HuffPost Politics – March 29, 2012
The Republican-controlled Missouri House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a bill Wednesday afternoon that would allow the denial of certain medical services to women for religious reasons, following an emotional debate where the majority leader was forced to deny he compared women to farm animals.
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Protestors Hold “Rally Against Rush” at State Capitol
Zheng Hwuang Chia – KOMU.com – Updated: Mar 29, 2012
JEFFERSON CITY- Supporters of women’s health rallied at the state capitol Wednesday to deliver what they said were 35,000 letters to House Speaker Steven Tilley and Governor Jay Nixon.
The group was protesting against Tilley’s intention to put a bust in the capitol honoring radio host Rush Limbaugh.
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Limbaugh bust opponents rally at Missouri Capitol
Elizabeth Crisp –St. Louis Post-Dispatch – March 28, 2012
JEFFERSON CITY • Those who oppose a plan to add controversial talk radio host Rush Limbaugh to the state Capitol’s Hall of Famous Missourians continue to speak out.
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Contraception uproar: It’s the ’60s all over again
Robin Abcarian -Los Angeles Times – March 24, 2012
Last fall, before he became a front-runner in the Republican presidential race, Rick Santorum told a conservative Christian blogger inIowathat he would use the White House bully pulpit to promote his concerns about something most people considered settled: birth control.
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Anti-abortion centers draw renewed look in Jeff City
Jason Hancock – Kansas CityStar – March 19, 2012
Millions of dollars in state funds and tax credits have been doled out in recent years to assist mostly faith-based nonprofits in their efforts to reduce the number of abortions performed in Missouri.
Critics complain, however, that much of the money ends up benefiting what are called pregnancy resource centers, which they contend often pose as medical clinics while providing inaccurate information designed to scare women away from having an abortion.
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The Affordable Care Act Protects Women’s Health
Valerie B. Jarrett – The Daily Beast – Mar 20, 2012
Almost two years ago, the president signed the Affordable Care Act. Today the new law is giving millions of families the security that comes with knowing their health care will be there for them when they need it. And the law is helping women address many of the challenges they have faced getting the care they need.
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Protestors Warn Romney is Not for “The Everyman”
KMOX CBS St.Louis – March 13, 2012
KIRKWOOD, MO–(KMOX)–With passing motorists honking to show their support, a crowd of more than twenty protestors holding signs stood outside the park where Mitt Romney spoke with supporters.
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Tilley, Limbaugh and the Party of Misogyny
Political Eye – The St. Louis American – March 8, 2012
On Tuesday, Ellen Sweets did what a great many women (and the men who respect and love them) wanted to do. She sent a scathing comment about conservative broadcaster Rush Limbaugh to someone responsible for his amplification or glorification. Thousands of emails, letters and calls at Limbaugh’s expense have been sent to radio stations that broadcast Limbaugh, advertisers that support his show and, in this case, a Missouri legislator who had announced he would go forward with erecting a bust in Limbaugh’s honor in the state Capitol’s Hall of Famous Missourians.
This move came in the middle of the the same news cycle when Limbaugh set off a growing national controversy for calling a young law student a “slut” and a “prostitute” simply because she practiced birth control and supports insurance funding for it.
The Missouri state legislator in question is Speaker of the House Steve Tilley, a Republican from Perryville. Ellen Sweets let Steve Tilley have it:
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Letters to the Editor – St. Louis Post-Dispatch – March 8, 2012
Standing up for employees - Pamela Merritt, St. Louis
When 51 senators voted to table U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt’s controversial conscience amendment that would have granted all employers the ability to refuse any health care coverage they find morally objectionable, they cast the right vote.
Access to health care should not depend on who a person’s boss is or whether her employer thinks something is immoral.
I’ve been on birth control pills to treat endometriosis and uterine fibroids for more than a decade. In that time, I’ve had employers who were Mormon, Jewish, Catholic and atheist. I never thought to ask for their views on birth control pills during the job interview or explain how hormonal therapy is used to treat endometriosis and uterine fibroids when accepting their job offer. Instead, my health has been protected because of uninterrupted hormonal treatment, despite having had employers from such diverse religious backgrounds.
I struggle to understand how 48 senators came to the conclusion that health care as an employee benefit also should be an opportunity for employers to impose their morality on everyone they employ. But I’m thankful that 51U.S.senators, including Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., voted to stand up for employees and access to health care.
Moral obligations - M’Evie Mead, Webster Groves
Birth control is health care used to keep women’s bodies healthy. Women’s health is not a political football, nor is it something my boss should be able to take away based on some moral conviction or conversion. I’m proud of U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and state Rep. Jeanne Kirkton, D-Webster Groves, who voted to retain access for birth control and other health care coverage for women regardless of where they work.
Fifty years of safe, legal access to contraception has significantly increased women’s ability to participate in our economy, society and politics. Those pretending that this debate about health insurance coverage is somehow not about health but about institutions’ right to religious liberty are intellectually dishonest.
Being Catholic was central to my upbringing. For us kids it meant Catholic school, weekly Mass, First Communion. For my parents it meant that artificial contraception was off limits as a violation of conscience. After my mother’s first miscarriage, she was told pregnancy was a life-threatening condition. The second miscarriage meant weeks in the hospital away from her four children. I remember huddling in the hospital parking lot with my brothers and sister waving to her window. We weren’t allowed to visit. My mother is alive today because my parents eventually made a different decision about contraception, also based on their consciences.
I respect my parents’ struggle to uphold their faith while tending to their moral obligation to parent their children. I do not respect politicians who would wrench that decision and my mother away from my family.
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Missouri Dems ask Speaker to abandon plans to honor Rush Limbaugh
Jason Hancock – The Kansas City Star – March 6, 2012
A group of Missouri House Democrats have written a letter to Speaker Steve Tilley requesting that he abandon plans to induct Rush Limbaugh into the Hall of Famous Missourians.
News of Limbaugh’s induction into the hall, which honors famous Missourians for their achievements and contributions to the state, broke Monday afternoon. Since then, Democrats have decried the idea, especially in light of the controversy surrounding Limbaugh’s recent comments in which he referred to aGeorgetownUniversitylaw student as a “slut” and a “prostitute.”
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Health care provision doesn’t trample religious freedom
Bailey Parrish –SpringfieldNews-Leader – February 26, 2012
I’m a 23-year old-employee of a Catholic hospital. When I was 20, I was hired as a nurse’s aide. It’s hard, unglamorous and underpaid work, but together with nurses, doctors, social workers, housekeeping and administration, we take care of our patients. We also take care of each other.
The Obama administration recently made a decision to protect affordable access to birth control. Now, millions of women employed at religiously affiliated hospitals or universities will receive the same health and economic benefits as everyone else.
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‘Mad Men’ vs. Angry Women? ‘Culture war’ reruns in contraception debate
Robert Koenig –St. Louis Beacon – February 22, 2012
Is it “Mad Men” versus Angry Women? Religious liberty versus secular freedom? Or “rights of conscience” versus rights of contraception?
No matter how you view the hot debate over the Obama administration’s new rule on contraceptives coverage — and U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt’s “Rights of Conscience” amendment that would block it — many hear echoes of the “culture wars” of previous decades over issues like birth control.
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St. Louis Post-Dispatch – February 15, 2012
Supporting good public policy
Thank you to President Barack Obama for standing firmly in support of good public policy by supporting birth control coverage for all women.
Ninety-nine percent of American women who have had sex have used birth control. The very small group of Catholic bishops who have been very vocal in opposition to birth control without copays are nowhere near the mainstream on this issue.
Birth control allows women to plan their families, and it saves money. Family planning care is estimated by the Guttmacher Institute to save taxpayers $6.20 for each dollar spent. Birth control coverage without copays is good for women, and it is good forAmerica.
Kim Gifford • St. Louis
Liberty isn’t dependent on work
The editorial board got it right in supporting no-cost birth control coverage. I was relieved to see President Barack Obama ensuring that women regardless of where they work will have access to no-cost birth control, thanks to the preventive care provision of the Affordable Care Act.
The religious and moral liberty about which we should be concerned is that of the individual women who deserve the ability to prevent unintended pregnancy and to protect their health. This liberty shouldn’t rely on where you work. And your employer certainly shouldn’t have the right to strip you of it.
Cara Weber • St. Louis
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Bill to block birth control coverage on religious grounds moves forward
Marshall Griffin –St. Louis Public Radio – February 14, 2012
Planned Parenthood lobbyist Michelle Trupiano spoke against the bill before the committee vote.
“Increased access to birth control is directly linked to declines in maternal and infant mortality, as well as other health benefits…it’s not always used just to prevent pregnancy,” Trupiano said. “Women should not be denied access to this benefit just because they work for a religious employer.”
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Missouri Legislature may chime in on contraception mandate
Virginia Young –St. Louis Post-Dispatch – February 14, 2012
The Missouri Senate is poised to jump into the federal fray over insurance coverage for birth control.
A Senate committee fast-tracked a bill today that would let employers and health insurers in the state opt out of providing coverage for contraception, sterilization and abortion based on the employer’s or the health plan’s religious beliefs or “moral convictions.”
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Health insurance- Churches can’t dictate care
Jennifer Head –Springfield News-Leader – February 10, 2012
I am a mother of two. I have used birth control in the past. I have friends who have at different stages of their life been advised by a medical professional to use birth control medication. For medical reasons, not for the protection against pregnancy; my sister being one of them. I would hate to think that if she worked for a religious hospital (which we have in our community), she would have had to suffer for her medical care. The majority of my friends and family that have used the product are healthy and happy. Some of them are deeply religious people.
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Brent Custer –Springfield News-Leader – February 11, 2012
The Obama administration as well as the federal Department of Health and Human Services has earned my admiration for ensuring access to affordable birth control for women everywhere.
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Letters to the editor, February 11 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Wanting it both ways – Mary Sue Gee •St. Louis
As a Catholic woman, I am outraged at the attempts of the Catholic hierarchy to hide behind God and claim “religious liberty” only when it is in their interest.
The bishops were angry that under the new health care law religious institutions that employ the broad public were to cover contraception in their health plans at no additional cost, like other employers . About 335,000 churches and houses of worship were exempted, but religious hospitals and universities, whose mission is to provide care and education, not inculcation of a religious doctrine, were expected to provide this coverage to their employees. This is a matter of fairness and good health care, not a matter of “religious liberty.” Read more ->
Victory for women – Jennifer Bernstein •St. LouisCounty
Vice President, Advocacy, National Council of Jewish Women,St. LouisSection
In its decision, HHS permits a narrowly defined category of religious employers (mainly houses of worship) to opt out of offering the contraceptive benefits to their workers. Institutions such as hospitals, schools and social service agencies employ people from different faiths and backgrounds and should not have the ability to impose their beliefs on their workers.
The HHS decision is a victory for millions of women who will gain access to affordable birth control and enable them to follow their own beliefs and faith traditions in making their own reproductive health decisions. Read more ->
It’s already clear – Timothy E. Hogan • Des Peres
The Post-Dispatch had it completely wrong in the editorial “Mixed messages” (Feb. 9); no “clarity” was needed from the Obama administration of the new U.S. Department of Health and Human Services health insurance regulation concerning contraceptive care coverage. The rule already is clear. There is no “mandate.” Not a single employer is required to purchase any health insurance for any employee; that would be a mandate. If an employer chooses to provide health insurance coverage as an employee benefit, then the employer must provide a plan that covers contraception. Strictly religious institutions already were exempt in recognition of their conscience concerns. Read more ->
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Obama administration must clarify contraception rules
The Editorial Board –St. LouisPost-Dispatch – February 9, 2012
The Obama administration now finds itself under assault, for example, over provisions requiring insurance companies to broaden coverage of women’s preventive health services — with no co-pay or deductible charges — starting in August. Among services that insurers will have to cover are contraception methods and procedures.
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Editorial notebook: Women with cancer don’t care about politics
Tony Messenger – St. Louis Post-Dispatch – February 6, 2012
My wife had her first mammogram last month.
There was a spot on the image. The doctor wanted a closer look.
So, a few days later, she had an ultrasound. She is fine.
But in the moments between “there is a spot” and “she is fine,” I was secretly on edge.
Cancer kills. It doesn’t discriminate.
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Right decision on birth control
Editorial – Star Tribune – January 29, 2012
The Obama administration has reached a sensible but controversial decision on health insurance coverage for contraceptives. In general, an employer’s religious beliefs should not dictate the type of drugs or medical procedures covered by their employees’ health insurance plans.
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President Obama’s Pro-Choice Birth Control Decision Draws Praise From Religious Leaders
Amanda Terkel – Huffington Post – January 30, 2012
A group of religious organizations Monday thanked President Obama for his administration’s recent decision on contraception, hoping to bring attention to religious pro-choice voices and to show that not all people of faith disagree with the new law.
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Birth Control and Reproductive Rights
Editorial –New York– January 29, 2012
It was good news that the Obama administration withstood pressure from Roman Catholic bishops and social conservatives to deny contraceptive coverage for millions of American women who work for religiously affiliated employers. Kathleen Sebelius, the Health and Human Services secretary, rejected broad exemptions from a new rule requiring all health plans to cover birth control, without a deductible or co-payment.
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Birth Control: Could It Be Illegal Again?
Adam Cohen – Time ideas – January 30, 2012
Americans have been fighting for decades over abortion, but a new battle has been raging lately — and it’s one with a distinctly retro feel. This time, the war is over birth control: whether insurance companies or government should have to pay for it — and yes, even whether it should be legal.
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Planned Parenthood lauds new rule
The Joplin Independent – January 23, 2012
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced today (Jan. 20, 2012) that a forthcoming final rule will protect women’s access to the birth control coverage benefit—birth control with no additional cost share. This announcement makes clear that HHS will not expand the current refusal provision in the women’s preventive benefit under section 2713 of the Affordable Care Act, thus protecting access to affordable birth control for the majority of women inAmerica.
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