ProgressNow.org Daily News Digest

Craig Daily Press / Unwed pregnancy still ‘high’ in Moffat County

http://www.craigdailypress.com/news/2009/jan/03/unwed_pregnancy_still_high_moffat_county/ Elation. Uncertainty. Fear. A positive result on a pregnancy test can elicit a wide range of emotions for local women who visit the Yampa Valley Pregnancy Center. “I’ve had women dissolve into tears,” Director Debbie Rudd said. “I just kind of sit quietly and let them work through it and try to ascertain whether they’re (crying) tears of happiness or if they’re just totally upset. “I’ve seen both.” Among its other clients, the Pregnancy Center provides ser­­­­­­vices to single pregnant women. That demographic has increased steadily in the past. In 2000, 22.6 percent of births in Moffat County were to single mothers, according to the Colorado Children’s Campaign, a bi-partisan state nonprofit advocating for child health care and education.

More stories in National/Health Care and Public Safety | Colorado/Health Care and Public Safety

More stories in National/Reproductive Choice | Colorado/Reproductive Choice

GJSentinel.com: Couple finds they’re one of many adopting Chinese children

http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/12/14/121508_1A_chinese_adoptions.html Four-year-old Macey Geer will have her first Christmas on American soil this year. Kate Geer and her husband adopted Macey from Sichuan, China, in July as their second child and little sister to their 6-year-old son, Ian. The adoption ended nine months of paperwork, waiting and sending care packages to Macey. Through her “paperwork pregnancy,” Kate Geer said, about the only thing that has surprised her during the adoption process is discovering how many families in Grand Junction are similar to hers.

More stories in National/Reproductive Choice | Colorado/Reproductive Choice

Donor’s gift to help state trim unwanted pregnancies - The Denver Post

http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_11123522 A confidential private donor's $3 million annual gift is nearly doubling Colorado's family-planning budget in a major new push to reduce the 40 percent of state pregnancies that are unintended. The expansion will deliver free or low-cost birth control, vasectomies, tubal ligation and other services to thousands more state residents at a time when economic troubles probably will increase demand. Before the grant, which will extend for three to five years, the state estimated it was serving only about 52,000 of the 200,000 low-income residents who would qualify annually for family planning, said Candace Grosz, director of women's health for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. "It's important for clients to be pregnant when they want to be pregnant and when they're able to care for their children," Grosz said. That, according to a broad survey of pregnant women conducted as part of a federal study, does not always happen. The survey, which covered women in all income brackets, found that 40 percent did not intend to become pregnant.

More stories in National/Reproductive Choice | Colorado/Reproductive Choice

Ex-Denver archbishop hits Obama on abortion - The Denver Post

http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_11037787 The former Archbishop of Denver, J. Francis Stafford, now a cardinal in Rome, described President-elect Barack Obama's stand on abortion as cause for Catholics to weep tears of betrayal during a speech last week in Washington. The Catholic News Agency reported Thursday that Stafford told students at Catholic University of America that even though Obama clearly stated his "anti-life agenda" prior to the election, Americans were too excited at the prospect of electing a black president. Now that he has been chosen, the cardinal predicted, "I foresee the next several years as being among the most divisive in our nation's history."

More stories in National/Election | Colorado/Election

More stories in National/Religion | Colorado/Religion

More stories in National/Reproductive Choice | Colorado/Reproductive Choice

News : Education through comedy (Montrose, CO)

http://montrosepress.com/articles/2008/11/10/news/doc491520ca31ae4315288048.txt Colorado ranks as the 22nd highest state for teen pregnancy in the U.S., although rates have gone down 3 percent since 2006, according to the Guttmacher Institute. The Western Slope region in particular is among the highest in the state over the past few years, according to Teen-Aid. In an effort to continue the decline, Montrose High School brought in a comedian to raise student awareness. Keith Deltano is more than a comedian; he’s an educator. The former military police officer, math and social studies teacher and private counselor spoke to Montrose High freshman and sophomore students to inform them about the dangers of sex and the advantages of abstinence. Students attended only with parental consent.

More stories in National/Marriage and Family Issues | Colorado/Marriage and Family Issues

More stories in National/Reproductive Choice | Colorado/Reproductive Choice

Catholics buck advice from bishops at the polls - The Denver Post

http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_10920154 Catholics, as a group, defied or ignored Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput and other nationally prominent bishops who instructed them not to vote for abortion-rights advocates, including Barack Obama. National exit polls of Catholic voters showed they gave Obama a 9 to 11 percentage-point edge over Republican presidential candidate John McCain. Nationwide, U.S. Catholics were more supportive of Obama than the rest of the electorate, giving him 52 percent of the vote to McCain's 46 percent. The 2008 presidential campaign and election highlighted a deep divide among U.S. Catholics, who make up nearly a quarter of the electorate. Chaput had led a group of more than a dozen vocal bishops who argued that abortion, which he calls intrinsically evil, was the single-most important issue in the election.

More stories in National/Election | Colorado/Election

More stories in National/Religion | Colorado/Religion

More stories in National/Reproductive Choice | Colorado/Reproductive Choice

‘Personhood’ prospects dimming in Colorado | VailDaily.com

http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20081012/NEWS/810099901/1002 LA JUNTA, Colorado— Church hasn’t been out but a couple hours, and there are free sandwiches in the fellowship hall for anyone interested in hearing why Colorado should become the first state where voters say life begins at conception. But the rally attracts just a handful this day to hear the main backer of the Colorado ballot amendment, Kristi Burton, at La Junta’s Trinity Lutheran Church. “You don’t have to be a Christian or any religion to agree with this: At the moment of conception, a new and unique human being has been created,” says Burton, a 21-year-old who attends a conservative online law school called Oak Brook College of Law and Government. Burton’s amendment would change the state constitution to say that the word, “person,” “shall include any human being from the moment of fertilization,” with all the constitutional rights that confers. The change wouldn’t immediately outlaw abortion in Colorado. But it would set up legal battles that backers and opponents say would compel judicial reviews of federally guaranteed abortion rights. Interestingly, some of the amendment’s most prominent adversaries oppose abortion.

More stories in National/Election | Colorado/Election

More stories in National/Reproductive Choice | Colorado/Reproductive Choice

Residents invited to join 'Life Chain' on Sunday in opposition to abortion

http://www.greeleytribune.com/article/20081002/NEWS/110029996/1002 An effort to bring people together in the fight against abortion is scheduled for Sunday. The "Life Chain," which is held across the United States and Canada, invites residents to stand and pray for an hour for those -- born and unborn -- affected by abortion. Those standing in the "Life Chain" also will hold pictureless signs opposing the act, according to a release. Ardis Briggs, who has attended the event since the mid-1990s, said the "Life Chain" does not aim to display graphic pictures. Instead, it is a national movement held on the first Sunday of October to raise awareness of the topic. Briggs said the event is a particularly powerful experience as it helps create a "wave" of prayer across the United States and Canada in opposition to controversial medical procedure.

More stories in National/Reproductive Choice | Colorado/Reproductive Choice

Hospital sale suit: Dead for now : County News : Boulder Daily Camera

http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2008/sep/03/hospital-sale-suit-dead-now/ A lawsuit that challenges the proposed sale of Exempla Good Samaritan Medical Center in Lafayette to a Catholic organization was thrown into limbo Wednesday when a judge granted a request from lawyers to put a stay on the case. Frances Koncilja, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said it was in the “best interests of our clients” to request the stay from District Judge Morris Sandstead Jr. She said the parties in the case will wait to see what comes of arbitration in a similar suit in Denver, in which Exempla sued Lenexa, Kan.-based Sisters of Charity over the proposed transaction. At the heart of the $311 million deal is concern by opponents of the sale that transferring full control of Good Samaritan, as well as Exempla Lutheran Medical Center in Wheat Ridge, from Arvada-based Community First Foundation to Sisters of Charity would make certain procedures banned by Catholic directives — such as tubal ligations, emergency contraception or end-of-life treatments — off-limits to patients.

More stories in National/Reproductive Choice | Colorado/Reproductive Choice

Denver’s hot streak protected - The Denver Post

http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_9953564 We're the drunkest, we're the thinnest, and now another national survey rates Denver as the U.S. city with the highest rate of contraceptive use. Party!

More stories in National/Reproductive Choice | Colorado/Reproductive Choice

Pregnancies jump after Grand Junction festival - The Denver Post

http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_9817712 Whether it's something in the water or the grooving sounds of country music, the aftermath of what one health officials calls Grand Junction's "Woodstock" drives up pregnancies in this city each year. Nurse-Family Partnership supervisor Wanda Scott said referrals to her agency from the Mesa County Health Department quadruple every year after the music festival Country Jam. Scott told commissioners about the phenomena Monday during a presentation called, "How are the Children?" Scott said on average the health clinic sees between 25 to 30 pregnancies a month. She says five weeks after the festival that number jumps to almost 80 a month.

More stories in National/Reproductive Choice | Colorado/Reproductive Choice

Planned Parenthood HQ open - The Denver Post

http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_9812302 Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains has finished its $6.3 million headquarters in Stapleton almost three months ahead of schedule, the organization said. The three-story building at East 38th Avenue and Pontiac Street will serve as a medical facility and will house the organization's administration. It opened last week. Anti-abortion groups protested outside the construction site almost every day since work began in November, but they were unable to stall the project, said Leslie Durgin, senior vice president for community development.

More stories in National/Reproductive Choice | Colorado/Reproductive Choice

Company to protesters: ‘We build buildings’ : Real Estate : The Rocky Mountain News

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jun/27/company-to-protesters-we-build-buildings/ General contractor Bill Hornaday's Thanksgiving Day dinner last year was interrupted by what he calls "anti-abortion zealots" picketing his house in Greenwood Village. They held signs and loudly chanted that Hornaday, president of the Rocky Mountain division of the Weitz Co., was deciding whether unborn children live or die. The protests were part of a string of attempts to disrupt the company's business because it was constructing a $6.5 million headquarters building for the Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains near Stapleton, which opens next month. Hornaday said he has never seen anything like the attacks on his business and fellow executives in 30 years of constructing commercial buildings along the Front Range. "What we do is build buildings," Hornaday said. "We should not, nor should anyone, have to be subject to the kind of economic terrorism we were. That is just not right."

More stories in National/Reproductive Choice | Colorado/Reproductive Choice

GJSentinel.com: Nonprofit group pays drug addicts to get birth control, sterilizations

http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/06/25/062608_1BBirth_control_project.html A controversial new program that offers free birth control and even cash payments to drug-addicted mothers rolled into Mesa County on Wednesday. The effort, Project Prevention, headed by Barbara Harris of North Carolina, who was invited to Mesa County by Commissioner Janet Rowland, offers $300 and the chance for drug-addicted women to receive free temporary or permanent birth control. Harris, who drives a 30-foot motor home emblazoned with images of pregnant mothers drinking alcohol along with statistics about the effects of drug addiction, touted the program Wednesday night at the Mesa County Health Department to an audience of about a dozen people, mostly media and members of the liberal advocacy group A Voice of Reason. The latter group opposed the concept, on the grounds that giving drug addicts money enables people to buy more drugs. They also claim that sterilizing people who use drugs is racially discriminatory.

More stories in National/Reproductive Choice | Colorado/Reproductive Choice

Hospital takeover sent to arbitration : Local News : The Rocky Mountain News

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jun/24/hospital-takeover-sent-to-arbitration/ The cases involving the takeover of two Exempla hospitals by Sisters of the Charity of Leavenworth will go to arbitration, under a Denver District judge's ruling Monday. "Plaintiffs argue that the repercussions from the transfer of ownership interest generate great public concern which should be addressed in a courtroom, not behind closed doors," wrote Judge Wiliam D. Robbins. "It is recognized there are serious concerns; however, not only Colorado policy, but federal policy strongly favor arbitration." At issue is whether the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System can take over Exempla Lutheran Medical Center in Wheat Ridge and Exempla Good Samaritan Medical Center in Lafayette. The two hospitals are co-owned by Sisters of Charity and an Arvada nonprofit, the Community First Foundation. Community First wants to sell its 50 percent stake in the hospitals to Sisters of Charity for $311 million. Sisters of Charity wants to proceed with $300 million in improvements to the two hospitals. But the Exempla board and other groups are opposed to the sale because medical staff at both facilities would have to follow Catholic ethical and religious directives that ban abortions, vasectomies, tubal ligations and other forms of birth control, unless deemed medically necessary.

More stories in National/Reproductive Choice | Colorado/Reproductive Choice

Anti-abortion group rips state GOP chairman : Elections : The Rocky Mountain News

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jun/17/anti-abortion-group-rips-state-gop-chairman/ A Colorado anti-abortion group that wasn't allowed to set up a display table at the state Republican convention blasted party chairman Dick Wadhams on Monday, saying he is trying to drag the party "to the left." Colorado Right to Life President Joe Riccobono warned Republicans that by shunning their conservative base, they're headed for "another election catastrophe in November." "Wadhams has moved U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer to the liberal middle and he's trying to drag the Colorado GOP to the left," said a news release from the organization. Wadhams, who is Schaffer's campaign manager, found the charge laughable. "I've never been accused of being a closet liberal," he said. "That would come as a big surprise to my Democratic friends." Wadhams called the organization a "very small fringe group."

More stories in National/Reproductive Choice | Colorado/Reproductive Choice

Fate of hospital lawsuit weighed - The Denver Post

http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_9409051 The disputed sale of Exempla Lutheran and Good Samaritan hospitals to the Kansas-based Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System could exit the courts and go into arbitration behind closed doors. Denver District Judge William Robbins must decide whether to order the private arbitration sought by Sisters of Charity. Or, the judge could find in favor of the hospitals' operator, Exempla Inc., which has sued to block the sale and argues that the public should not be excluded from proceedings of "overriding public importance." Exempla Inc. runs Lutheran in Wheat Ridge and Good Samaritan in Lafayette, as well as the Sisters of Charity hospital, St. Joseph in Denver. Last year, Sisters of Charity, a co-sponsor of the three-hospital Exempla Healthcare System, offered $311 million for sole control to its co-sponsor, the Arvada-based nonprofit Community First Foundation. The foundation was once the fundraising arm of Lutheran Medical Center but became co-sponsor of the Exempla system in 1997 when all agreed to consolidate the hospitals' management to save money. If the sale goes through, Sisters of Charity also has agreed to infuse $300 million into Exempla Healthcare.

More stories in National/Reproductive Choice | Colorado/Reproductive Choice

The Longmont Times-Call - Most St. Vrain parents OK sex ed

http://www.timescall.com/News_Story.asp?id=8686 One-eighth of St. Vrain Valley School District ninth-graders did not attend the schools’ new, comprehensive sex-education class introduced this spring, according to data released this week. About 12 percent of ninth-grade students did not attend the one-class, in-depth discussion of birth control, school district health director Rob Berry told the school board Wednesday. The 12 percent includes students who did not recieve parental permission and those who did not return permission slips to attend the session, he said. Health class is required for graduation, and most students take it as freshmen.

More stories in National/Reproductive Choice | Colorado/Reproductive Choice

GJSentinel.com: House bill would limit protests in residential neighborhoods

http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/04/18/041908_1b_speech_debate.html State lawmakers adopted a measure Friday aimed at restricting how and where protests can take place in residential neighborhoods, despite vigorous calls that the legislation violates the First Amendment. By a 34-29 vote, the state House approved Senate Bill 192, which would make it a misdemeanor to carry a sign larger than 6 square-feet or protest within 300 feet of a targeted home. Rep. Terrance Carroll, D-Denver, said it is appropriate to protect people’s right not to be bothered by annoying and caustic public displays. “I thought it was important for people to have sanctity of the home,” Carroll said. The bill’s adoption, however, came only after it weathered blistering criticism from a bipartisan group of lawmakers, including Grand Junction’s two representatives. Rep. Steve King, R-Grand Junction, pressed his colleagues to consider what renowned protesters Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi would think of Senate Bill 192. Rep. Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction, criticized the bill as an inappropriate, constitutionally flawed means of clamping down on protest.

More stories in National/Reproductive Choice | Colorado/Reproductive Choice

Lawmakers look to keep neighborhood protesters moving | Politics West

http://www.politicswest.com/22202/lawmakers_look_keep_neighborhood_protesters_moving A bill that would curtail neighborhood protests cleared its first hurdle in the state Senate this morning. The bill – Senate Bill 192 – would prevent protesters staging a demonstration in a residential neighborhood from camping out in front of a person’s house. Instead, it would force the protesters to keep moving, and it would prohibit them from carrying signs bigger than 6 square feet. “They have to keep moving; they can’t stop in front of a residence and have a picnic,” said Sen. Steve Ward, a Littleton Republican who is co-sponsoring the bill in the Senate with Sen. Suzanne Williams, D-Aurora. “It is designed to prevent some of the more egregious forms of picketing that can take place.” The issue has come up recently as anti-abortion groups have protested outside the homes of construction executives whose companies are involved in building a new Planned Parenthood in Denver. But Ward said the bill is not meant to single out abortion protesters.

More stories in National/Reproductive Choice | Colorado/Reproductive Choice

GJSentinel.com: Lage ruling may help define when life begins

http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/03/21/032208_1a_personhood.html A citizens group trying to define life as starting at conception probably will publicize a Mesa County judge’s decision this week to toss a handful of murder-related charges involving the death of a nearly full-term fetus. Kristi Burton, who penned Colorado for Equal Rights’ “personhood” amendment, which would define fertilized eggs as people, said it is likely her organization will use Mesa County District Court Judge Richard Gurley’s ruling to bolster its case to the voters. Gurley ruled this week that defendant Logan Lage, 24, cannot be charged with more than half a dozen murder-related charges because of the fact the victim was not a child at the time it sustained life-threatening injuries. Lage was charged with murder and 16 related lesser charges in connection with a Nov. 6 head-on crash involving his vehicle and a car driven by 26-year-old Shea Lehnen.

More stories in National/Reproductive Choice | Colorado/Reproductive Choice

Hospital compromise eyed : Local News : The Rocky Mountain News

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/mar/17/tubal-ligations-would-be-offered-under-plan/ An Arvada philanthropy group that plans to sell its control of two local hospitals to a Catholic organization says it intends to make sure that tubal ligations continue to be offered in or near the hospitals as part of the deal. Ken Eggeman, CEO of the Community First Foundation, said Monday that his organization is working on a "carve-out" at both hospitals - a separate wing or room where medical staff could perform the procedures that otherwise are banned at Catholic facilities. Under the proposed sale, which has come under intense criticism, Community First Foundation would sell its interest in Exempla Lutheran Medical Center in Wheat Ridge and Exempla Good Samaritan Medical Center in Lafayette to Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System for $311 million. With that sale, Sisters of Charity, which already owns St. Joseph Hospital in Denver, would also control Lutheran and Good Samaritan. That means both hospitals would have to follow Catholic ethical and religious directives that generally prohibit sterilizations, other forms of birth control and certain life-terminating procedures.

More stories in National/Reproductive Choice | Colorado/Reproductive Choice

Health sale a bane or boon? - The Denver Post

http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8589488 In 2005, it was determined Exempla needed $1.4 billion in capital improvements, Eggeman said. "We've been very clear that for us to borrow the millions of dollars required two things," said Sisters of Charity CEO William Murray. Sisters of Charity wanted final approval of who was on the board — and who was CEO. That led to the proposed sale. If Community First prevails in court, it will invest $61 million of the sale price, with the proceeds to be used for a separate facility to provide the reproductive services prohibited under Catholic ethical and religious directives. The remaining $250 million would go to "other health care needs of Coloradans in metropolitan Denver."

More stories in National/Reproductive Choice | Colorado/Reproductive Choice

State senate committee votes to impose protest limits : State and West : Boulder Daily Camera

http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/mar/13/senate-committee-votes-to-impose-protest-limits/ A Senate committee backed restrictions on neighborhood protesters on Wednesday after hearing from one of the construction executives who has been targeted by abortion protesters for building a Planned Parenthood clinic. The men's neighbors also urged lawmakers to pass the bill, saying they had been harassed by protesters who have played recordings of crying babies, put up large photographs of fetuses on their sidewalks and sneaked into their backyards to leave plastic Baggies holding small baby dolls and fake blood. Weitz Co. regional senior vice president Gary Meggison told lawmakers his house in Lakewood has been protested 35 times in the last seven months and most of the time the protesters have sat in lawn chairs in front of his house. Twice he said they grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, most recently on Super Bowl Sunday. The home of Weitz president Bill Hornaday in Greenwood Village has also been targeted as well as the metro area homes of subcontractors building the clinic.

More stories in National/Reproductive Choice | Colorado/Reproductive Choice

Exempla drops lawsuit against Suthers - The Denver Post

http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8539135 Exempla Inc. has dropped its lawsuit against Colorado Attorney General John Suthers. Exempla, the operator of Lutheran, Good Samaritan and St. Joseph hospitals, had asked a Denver district judge in January to set aside Suthers' finding that the transfer of the hospitals to the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System did not violate state laws for nonprofits. Exempla and the attorney general, according to Exempla's Friday motion to dismiss its own suit, have agreed further litigation of their case is not in the best interest of either.

More stories in National/Reproductive Choice | Colorado/Reproductive Choice