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Colorado Stem Cell Awareness Rally To Take Place In Denver, Colorado On June 13th, 2009
Building on the momentum of their previous events, The Stem Cell Awareness Association will hold a Stem Cell Awareness Rally in Denver, Colorado on June 13th, 2009. The group"s last event, in Punta Gorda, Florida, drew past patients, prospective patients, news media, U.S. physicians and specialists, as well as members of the public interested in learning more about stem cell treatment.

Kansas Becomes Central Battleground In Abortion-Rights Debate
Kansas has become "perhaps the fiercest battleground" in the abortion-rights debate with mass protests, prosecutions, lawsuits and the recent murder of abortion provider George Tiller, the AP/Washington Post reports. Kansas State University political scientist Joe Aistrup said, "There"s a very prominent vein in Kansas politics that tends toward moral righteousness." He said that this contributes to that unending debate and has produced extremists on both sides of the issue in the state.Peter Brownlie, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, said that the majority of those who maintain the intense debate on abortion rights are political leaders. "There is a very clear and growing gap between the general public and the political leaders who are committed to this being such a constant and volatile issue," he said. Brownlie added that on issues relating to abortion, sex education and family planning, "Kansans" views are not markedly different from most Americans, but there are political forces at work, some of them well beyond the state borders."The Post reports that Kansas is different than most states where either supporters or foes of abortion rights dominate. According to the AP/Post, Kansas often sways between having key lawmakers who support abortion rights and those who oppose them. For example, a Republican-dominated Legislature over the past six years passed several bills to restrict abortion access, but much of the legislation was vetoed by former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D). The result has triggered frustration in groups opposing abortion rights, and they continue to feed widespread opposition to abortion in the state, the AP/Post reports.According to Burdett Loomis, a University of Kansas political science professor, there even is a split among Kansas Republicans in regard to abortion rights, as some Republicans in the state are evangelical Christians who oppose abortion rights, while others are moderates who support such rights. He said the split "might pop out in gun laws, home schooling, evolution, but it starts and stops with abortion" (Crary/Hanna, AP/Washington Post, 6/3).Wall Street Journal Examines Abortions Later in PregnancyIn related news, the Wall Street Journal on Thursday examined how Tiller"s clinic in Kansas became a battleground in the abortion-rights debate particularly because some of his patients were in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. According to the Journal, even though the subject of abortion later in pregnancy is the of "a deep cultural divide," both sides agree that it is "anguishing." Fewer than 1% of all abortions in the U.S. are performed in the second or third trimesters, and most states prohibit abortions late in pregnancy but include exceptions for the woman"s life and health.The Journal reports that abortion procedures performed later in pregnancy often carry increased health risks, are more expensive and are emotional. The Guttmacher Institute reports that 8.9 maternal deaths occur during every 100,000 abortions performed later in pregnancy, compared with 7.1 deaths per 100,000 births. The article also profiled women who chose to undergo abortions later in pregnancy at Tiller"s clinic, as well as arguments from abortion-rights opponents (Simon, Wall Street Journal, 6/4).
News of the day
Group Files Petition Over Enforcement Of Regulations In Adult Film Industry To Prevent Sexually Transmitted Diseases
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation last week filed a petition in Los Angeles County Superior Court asking "the court to order the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health to enforce regulations that require condom use in adult-film production or take other reasonable steps to stem the spread of disease," the Los Angeles Times reports (Yoshino, 7/17). In the petition, "the group claims that in the month since an actress tested positive for HIV, the county Department of Public Health has done little to address what it considers to be a serious health threat" (AP/San Jose Mercury News, 7/16). In a statement released last week, the department, said, "The county continues to strongly support state legislation and the regulatory role of the [California Division of Occupational Safety and Health] as the most appropriate means to regulate the practices in the adult-film industry that expose performers to unnecessary and preventable occupational risks of acquiring and transmitting these diseases," adding, "The department does not believe that litigation is the best means to deal with this issue" (Yoshino, 7/17).
Health Insurance

Statement By HANYS' President Daniel Sisto On The White House Health Reform Agreement With Hospitals

"Today"s White House health care reform announcement clearly demonstrates that hospitals are willing to make a tremendous sacrifice to help expand health care coverage to millions of Americans who desperately need and deserve better access to care. "However, these cuts will be very difficult to absorb. New York"s hospital margins are the second lowest in the nation, with most hospitals barely breaking even or losing money each year. "Therefore, it is essential that our sacrifice is not made in vain. Congress and the Obama Administration must ensure that they pass and implement a final reform plan that will deliver on the promise of universal coverage. The outcomes must match the rhetoric. "It is also imperative that other non-provider sectors of health care also make commensurate contributions. Every stakeholder must be part of the solution. As the American Hospital Association says, "Coverage for all, paid for by all." "We must see this effort through, for all Americans who rely on, and pay for, a health care system that is in dire need of meaningful reform." Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS)


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