by Kate Michelman,  pro-choice activist and former president of the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL)

Amidst all the deserved attention being paid to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the earthquake in Haiti, health care reform, the Senate election in Massachusetts, there is another deserving issue that goes largely unnoticed unless it is in crises-- except for one day a year. Rather than bemoan the lack of attention or the reasons for it, I want to use the occasion of this anniversary of Roe v. Wade to remind all of us of the importance of this issue to every woman, indeed every American.

It has been a journey of more than 40 years since I sat in a hospital conference room, interrogated by men who held my fate, my family, and my choice in their hands. After all these years, I can still feel the humiliation, the shame, and the anger as though those doctors were sitting in front of me now, demanding to know whether I was capable of dressing my children in the morning and being intimate with my husband at night. This indignity was in the service of deciding whether I met the criteria for a diagnosis as " unfit for childbearing" necessary for permission to have an abortion in a hospital rather than a back alley. Roe v. Wade changed all that by recognizing a woman's constitutional right to make decisions in matters of pregnancy, childbearing and abortion in privacy, safety and with dignity. It saved women from the shame and degradation of illegal abortion and its humiliating consequences. And Roe was an important milestone for women in their long and difficult journey to full equality, dignity and economic security.

If you’re interested in helping out victims of the earthquake in Haiti, check out these organizations:

Save the Children
Save the Children is the leading independent organization creating lasting change in the lives of children in need in the United States and around the world.

On Friday, January 8, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke to commemorate the fifteenth anniversary of the International Conference on Population Development,  where delegates from 179 countries signed the Cairo Program of action committing to improve adolescents' access to information and services and reduce negative sexual health outcomes among adolescents.   Read what James Wagoner and Nicole Cheetham had to say about Secretary Clinton's speech and the anniversary.

Praise for Secretary Clinton’s Speech and Encouragement for Bold Action
by James Wagoner, President, Advocates for Youth

During the eight years of the Bush Administration, the U.S. government bartered away women’s and young people’s rights as bargaining chips in an ideologically-driven culture war.  However, bold leadership from President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton has ushered in a new era of U.S. global leadership on sexual and reproductive health.

Secretary Clinton Pulls Through for Women and Girls’ Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights 
by Nicole Cheetham, Director, International Division

Secretary Clinton did not disappoint in her commitment to women’s and girls’ reproductive health and rights.  She stated unequivocally that reproductive rights are at the heart of development, that we cannot achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) without them, and that ensuring these rights is key to development and political and economic stability and security around the world.

by Meghan Rapp, Manager, State Strategies  

For the last three years, state sex education leaders have gathered in Washington, DC at the State Summit to strategize with national organizations about ways to pass comprehensive sex education policies at the state and national level. Much of these efforts had been directed at eliminating funding for abstinence-only programs, but this year, it was a new day in sex education and there was cause to celebrate during the conference – the President proposed eliminating federal abstinence-only funds from his budget. (And, as we have recently learned, Congress has followed this lead by keeping the funds out of the omnibus appropriations bill.)

by James Wagoner, President, Advocates for Youth

After a decade of denial and ideological assault on science-based public health, the passage of the omnibus appropriations bill this past weekend represents a major win for youth advocates who support rights-based, evidence-based sexual and reproductive health programs. Not only did the legislation "flip the switch" on $114 million in federal spending from abstinence-only-until-marriage programs to comprehensive teen pregnancy prevention and sex education programs, it also established an office on adolescent health within the office of the Secretary at HHS.

While these victories are significant, advocates will need to maintain their vigilance given the timidity many Democrats and Administration officials have exhibited when it comes to sexual health issues. 

by James Wagoner, President, Advocates for Youth

This week, the Senate voted AGAINST using health care reform to restrict women’s access to abortion coverage.  By a vote of 54 to 45 – and after weeks of grassroots pressure from across the country – the Senate delivered a striking victory.

And it wouldn’t have happened without you.

We’ve sent an enormous number of email these past few weeks – so thank you for bearing with is, and for all you have done to help reach this point.

In the last few weeks, you have:

• Sent 5,395 letters to Congress
• Made thousands of phone calls to your Senators
• Organized events and helped raise awareness on over 100 college campuses

And on December 2, more than 1,200 activists came to DC to lobby their legislators in person. 

Momentum is on our side – call Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office today. 

by James Wagoner, President, Advocates for Youth

More than with any recent bill in Congress, this fight over health care reform is as much about legislative procedure as it is about the substance of the bill itself. 

The Senate is likely to pass its version of health care reform in the next few weeks – without new, unnecessary restrictions on abortion coverage, but with $50 million in restored funding for ineffective and ideologically driven abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. 

After that, the Senate bill must be merged with the health care reform bill passed by the House of Representatives last month…  And here’s where it gets tricky. 

by Emily Bridges, Director of Public Information Services

The school district of Alameda, California has been in the news because of its elementary school curriculum about bullying prevention.  

The problem with the curriculum:  its Lesson 9 teaches that some people have same-sex parents and that those students should not be bullied.

Without even the usual lip service to their caring for the sinner but not the sin, anti-gay activists have cried "Indoctrination!"  One activist said parents don't want their kids being "bombarded" with "pro-homosexual messages" at school.

Others say it's just too early to learn these lessons; when the lesson was introduced a conservative blogger called it  "The end of the innocence" - a particularly disturbing formulation as it implies that teaching kids not to taunt and bully others is the equivalent of teaching them The Joy Of Gay Sex.