Let's hear it for the ACA!

Today the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the 2010 Affordable Care Act. It's good for the country and especially good for women.

The Campaign Against Women

I may not always agree with ACOG, but this  Letter to the Editor in the NY Times is spot on:

The onslaught of laws focusing on denying reproductive health care rights is a concerted campaign against women. These laws are not grounded in science or evidence-based medicine.

The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists believes that access to family-planning counseling and to the full array of contraceptives is a basic and essential component of preventive health care for women. 

Efforts to defund Planned Parenthood, which provides cervical cancer and mammography screening, contraception and other preventive care to millions of women, are egregious and disproportionately hurt poor women. 

As physicians for women’s health care, ob-gyns see firsthand the havoc that punitive ideology-based laws have on the health of women and their families. These ill-conceived laws are based on the pretext of protecting health, but they do anything but that. 

Mandating that women be legally forced to undergo transvaginal ultrasound or any other medical procedure against their will and against their physician’s judgment is an outrageous violation of patient autonomy and the confidential doctor-patient relationship. Decreasing access to family planning and contraception will only increase unintended pregnancies and negatively affect family and societal health. 

Politicians were not elected to, nor should they, legislate the practice of medicine or dictate the parameters of the doctor-patient relationship. Our message to politicians is unequivocal: Get out of our exam rooms. 

JAMES T. BREEDEN
President, American Congress
of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
Washington, May 22, 2012

Pap Smear Protocol

The link between cervical cancer and particular strains of the HPV (Human Papillomavirus) will mean fewer pap smears for women. If you test negative for HPV, you will only need a cervical cancer screening every three years. That doesn't mean women should miss their annual well woman visit, but I won't complain about less speculum time! Read about details in this article from City of Hope.

cervix extras

Two straggling cervices that were made at the Valentine's Day cervix knitting party at A Verb for Keeping Warm. The pale pink one was by a young lady who dropped in and had never knit in the round before. The fuchsia one was made by Sarah who works at Verb. Both are spending the summer at the Kinsey Institute Juried Show.

National Woman's Health Week

May 13th through 19th is National Woman's Health Week and today, quite fittingly I have an appointment to see my doctor for a well woman visit. Regular check ups and preventative screenings play an important part in managing our health. Access to shouldn't be a barrier, but nor should time. Take the time to take care of yourself and encourage the important women in your life to do the same.

bon voyage!

Here's a photo of the cervices before they were packed up and shipped off. All 77 will be spending the summer in Bloomington Indiana at the Kinsey Institute Juried Show.

still knitting

The Felt Cervix Project will continue to accept contributions of your cervices, so keep knitting and send them in!