Al Franken Pushes Military To Offer Emergency Contraception To Soldiers Abroad

http://airamerica.com/politics/01-11-2010/franken-pushes-military-offer-plan-b-soldiers/


Al Franken, hot on the heels of his legislative victory to give female military contractors access to the criminal justice system if they are sexually assaulted abroad, turned his eyes this week to the female soldiers who face spotty contraception access and assaults of their own. Franken and Maine Senator Olympia Snowe introduced the Compassionate Care For Servicewomen Act to give servicewomen access to emergency contraception at all military bases--including those that are overseas.

The bill would require that all military pharmacies stock emergency contraception and offer it to servicewomen without a prescription, as the Food and Drug Administration currently allows civilian woman to obtain it. Currently, servicewomen face spotty access to emergency contraception coverage, particularly in facilities abroad, even as they were recently threatened with court martials if their primary contraception failed, if they were sexually assaulted or if they simply failed to use contraception and then became pregnant. Military facilities are not allowed to provide abortion services under federal laws covering Medicaid and Medicare recipients, soldiers and federal employees.

In 2002, the Bush Administration interfered in a Pentagon effort to add emergency contraception to its Basic Formulary, which would have required that all military medical facilities keep it in stock. Plan B was initially approved for sale in 1999 with a prescription, and its manufacturer fought for nearly the entire Bush Administration to get approval to sell it over-the-counter.
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I'm so glad Al is in D.C. now

He's so unlike the usual herd of bloviating dinosaurs I can hardly take it in, sometimes.

To Al:
:applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:
:applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

more applause for Al, though

To Al:
:applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:
:applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

why can't all dudes be as smart as him?

This legislation is long overdue.

At one and the same time this is simple decency and a wedge issue that will mightily discomfit the GOP. And, it's only a wedge issue because the GOP is so full of superstitious, misogynistic vermin and those who pander to them, so the fault that it's a wedge is on them, not Al, who's always a swell guy! Credit to Olympia Snowe: I bet all the female GOP senators will support this, but that a majority of Republican male senators will oppose it.

I BET that somewhere in the Republicans' knee jerk rejection, they will say it would COST TOO MUCH!

Remember me when they say it!