Nashville, TN – In his first few days in office, President Barrack Obama issued key executive orders changing eight years of Bush administration policy. One was overturning the global gag rule which restricted information and services for millions of women worldwide on critical basic health services. Keri Adams, vice president of Planned Parenthood of Middle and East Tennessee, says that, once again, health care providers will be able to inform women of their full range of reproductive health care options.

"It's a signal to the rest of the world that the U.S. can once again be a leader in the fight for equal access, rights and freedom especially related to health care. "

At the Tennessee statehouse, Adams says, there's also been a shift. New House Speaker Kent Williams announced he wants to quickly pass a stalled measure to restrict access to abortion in the state. Adams says she's hoping President Obama's move will impact state policy, as well.

"We want to use that momentum to try to make sure that we are able to preserve access to basic health care services, like low-cost family planning and abortion services for the women in Tennessee. "

According to Adams, the Obama administration can be expected to make additional changes in previous policies so as to increase access to affordable birth control, increase funding for family planning and comprehensive sex education, and health care for all Americans.



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Oregon is in the upper echelon when it comes to the number of women in higher office.

Four of the five statewide elected positions in the state are held by women, including Tina Kotek in the governor's office. It is a rare achievement.

Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics, said the national average for women in statewide elected offices is about one in three. However, the number of women in the top positions in Oregon is guaranteed to go down in November, with men running for two of the five offices. Walsh acknowledged it is the nature of politics.

"No state can just say, 'Well, we fixed the problem of women's underrepresentation in politics. We don't need to do the work of recruiting and supporting women to run.'" Walsh stressed. "That work is ongoing."

Men will be facing off in Oregon's Secretary of State and Attorney General races in November. But Walsh noted the state has set a high bar elsewhere too. Women hold half of its Congressional seats and women are in a little more than 40% of the seats in the state legislature.

Walsh pointed out women face a number of barriers to office. While they raise comparable amounts of money to men running in comparable races, they are less likely to self-fund their campaigns. She explained women are more dependent on small donors, which can be good because it means more people are investing in the campaign.

"The flip side of that is that the amount of time and energy and work that it takes to raise $1,000 is just exponentially higher and harder for a candidate who is more dependent on those low level dollars or those low dollar donations," Walsh stressed.

Women running for office has become a big storyline this year with Vice President Kamala Harris' run for president. Walsh noted if she wins, it will be a big breakthrough for women, especially women of color.

"The only downside to seeing a woman elected at the very top is that people then think that the problem is solved because we've elected a woman President of the United States," Walsh added. "Complacency will not get us to gender equity across levels of office."


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Following the signing of the Michigan Family Protection Act by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, concerns remain about a potential federal ban on in vitro fertilization. The Act, signed in April, safeguards reproductive services such as surrogacy IVF and abortion. However, Project 2025 could limit access to these services if he wins the presidency in November.

Stephanie Jones of Grand Blanc, a mother who used IVF to conceive and had her daughter via surrogacy after secondary infertility, is a strong advocate of the procedure.

"A ban on IVF would be a ban on critical health care to hundreds of thousands of Americans, and without access to IVF, people would not be able to grow and some start their families. So it would be devastating," she contended.

Jones nearly lost her life due to a rare ectopic pregnancy, and credits an emergency abortion with saving her. Her pre-Roe experience now drives her advocacy for policies that protect IVF and support unrestricted abortion rights.

However, many right-to-life advocates contend that these reproductive services are not only morally wrong but unsafe.

Natalie Dodson, a policy analyst with The Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington D.C., warns that reproductive service providers often downplay the health risks associated with IVF for both mothers and babies.

"In particular, the risk of non-chromosomal birth defects increase by 40%, the risk of autism is two times more likely, stillbirth increases up to 4 times compared to spontaneous conception. Additionally, women who undergo IVF experience increased health risks and poor health outcome," she said.

Dodson claims that scientifically life begins at conception, inside or outside the uterus, and said her main concern is whether embryos created through IVF have the same value as those developing naturally.


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Women's Equality Day commemorates the passage of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote. More than a century later, women have made progress but more work needs to be done.

Women have made major gains in elected positions across the country. In Oregon, they make up more than 40% of the seats in the legislature, the 13th highest percentage in the country.

Libra Forde, co-chair of the Oregon Commission for Women, said the 19th Amendment was a big accomplishment but it did not end the push for women's progress.

"As they saw a need during their time for us to have availability and access to things that they didn't have, I think most of the women -- especially the women of the commission -- we see a need to do the same thing for things that maybe women have not had access to yet and kind of taking the torch that's been passed to us," Forde explained.

Forde highlighted some of the issues where Oregon lawmakers could go further, such as being more vigorous in protecting women from domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking. On Aug. 26, 1920, the U.S. Secretary of State completed the ratification process for the 19th Amendment, ensuring women the right to vote.

Forde acknowledged Oregon lawmakers and groups across the state are doing a good job advocating for women's rights but added it is going to take a greater effort to protect rights for the next generation.

"We're going to need more than just women to do that work," Forde emphasized. "We need everyone to come together, kind of like they did 104 years ago, and say, hey, this is important to all of us and if we all came in on this, then I think we all can also succeed."

The Oregon Commission for Women is among the state's four advocacy commissions. It pushes for policies to support and protect women.


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