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American Public Health Association
133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition
December 10-14, 2005
Philadelphia, PA
 APHA 2005
 
Session: Abstinence, Abortion and Emergency Contraception: Responding to Unintended Pregnancy When Politics and Science Don't Mix
3122.0: Monday, December 12, 2005: 10:30 AM-12:00 PM
Oral
Abstinence, Abortion and Emergency Contraception: Responding to Unintended Pregnancy When Politics and Science Don't Mix
Unintended pregnancy is a deeply personal experience—yet it is a health condition that is politically charged and the focus of divisive public debate. To serve the needs of women and families objectively, public health professionals are compelled to examine scientific evidence and to think broadly about treatment in the context of efficacy, effectiveness, and social justice. Public health professionals are also responsible for conveying scientific knowledge to the public so that informed discourse about treatment options may occur. This session will review the evidence about three topics related to unintended pregnancy: abstinence, abortion, and emergency contraception. Each topic will be presented by an expert who has reviewed the scientific evidence. Abstinence education will be discussed by a member of U.S. Representative Henry Waxman’s staff. Rep. Waxman recently released a report on the evidence that supports abstinence education funding and the quality of the information in abstinence curricula. Dr. Stanley Henshaw, from the Alan Guttmacher Institute, will evaluate recent research studies that implicate abortion in a wide range of negative mental health outcomes and discuss how findings are being manipulated and misreported in order to advance an anti-abortion political agenda. The final presentation, on emergency contraception, will be provided by Dr. Michael Greene. Dr. Greene is current member (and former chairperson) of an FDA panel on reproductive drugs. He will discuss the FDA rationale for its overwhelming recommendation of approval for over-the-counter access to emergency contraception.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session the participant will be able to: 1. Describe 2 types of misleading information in abstinence-only curricula as identified by the Waxman Report; 2. Identify ways in which some research studies distort mental health outcomes related to abortion; and 3. Describe the FDA rationale for its overwhelming recommendation of approval for over-the-counter access to emergency contraception.
Organizer(s):Marjorie R. Sable, DrPH, MSW
Wendy L. Hellerstedt, MPH, PhD
Presider(s):Marjorie R. Sable, DrPH, MSW
Discussant(s):S. Marie Harvey, DrPH
10:30 AMIntroduction
Wendy L. Hellerstedt, MPH, PhD
10:40 AMThe Waxman Report on Abstinence Education
Naomi Seiler, JD
11:00 AMManipulation and distortion of mental health outcomes of abortion  [ Recorded presentation ]
Stanley Henshaw, PhD
11:20 AMEmergency Contraception and the FDA  [ Recorded presentation ]
James Trussell, PhD
See individual abstracts for presenting author's disclosure statement and author's information.
Organized by:Maternal and Child Health
Endorsed by:APHA-Committee on Women's Rights; Community Health Planning and Policy Development; Population, Family Planning, and Reproductive Health; Public Health Education and Health Promotion; Public Health Nursing; Socialist Caucus; Women's Caucus

The 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition (December 10-14, 2005) of APHA