This picture cracks me up. Pablo and I had a dinner party tonight - his parents and their friends came over to our apartment for a belated b-day celebration. Apparently he was too busy staring at the yummy tart to look up at the camera - while I'm gritting through my teeth "smile".

This weekend's been good. Went out friday night with the girls from work. Ended up in a limo with some really fun guys who took us to a swanky lounge. Free drinks. Saw Dave Matthews. Giggled. Went to another place, cut the line, danced till 4. 2nd limo. Huge loft in Tribeca. Cab ride home. Grilled cheese and fries from the diner downstairs. Came in at 5, woke Pablo up. And so it goes...

I'm going to put some more pics up when I get around to it - it's fun!!

So, Bill Frist has finally decided to admit what most of us have known - science is just as important as faith, and when advances in medical treatment for millions are being hindered by an ideological battle - something needs to happen. As a surgeon, you would think he would have had this conviction for a while, but better late than never. It's ludicrous to me, however, that anyone would think it is right to deprive medicine of amazing developments to preserve embryos that would be discarded anyway. And, while some may argue that life begins at conception, it sure doesn't begin in a petri dish.

Applause to the Nebraska District Court for finding that the insurance policy in place by Union Pacific Railroad was discrimnatory against women for refusing to cover contraceptives but coverred other drugs - including those that treat impotence. Good Job Nebraska!

Once again, politics before people... Gov. Romney of Massachusets has used his veto power to strike down a measure that would increase access to Emergency Contraception. While it won't necessarily affect the measure (it passed by veto-proof margins in both the house and senate) - Romney's action illustrated quite chillingly the trend of politicians turning away from women in their states in order to win conservative votes in the future. Perhaps Romney now thinks that conservatives will think he's "life" enough to run for president. If he's as "pro-life" now as he says he is in this Boston Globe Opinion piece, then how can he turn his back on the women of Massachusets who need access to EC? It's also a little disconcerting that his views have morphed so much since he became govenor - in the beginning he believed that women should have access to abortions, EC, etc - now little by little his beliefs have been chipped away. Makes you wonder who's doing the carving...

And, one little piece of this puzzle that continues to frusterate me beyond belief is this notion that EC is an "abortion pill." EC is nothing more than a highly concentrated dose of regular hormonal contraception - the birth control pill. And while yes, some extremists say that even birth control should be banned because it can prevent a fertilized egg from being implanted in the womb - mainstream America - conservatives and liberals alike, would rise up heavily against this extreme viewpoint. So, what's the double standard then? Why is birth control okay and EC not --- when they work the VERY SAME WAY. Neither causes a pregnancy to be terminated because a pregancy is (medically, scientifically) defined as beginning when the fertilized egg implants itself into the uterus - NOT at conception. And, more often than not, birth control pills and EC prevent an egg from being fertilized in the first place. So, again, I raise the question--- why is birth control not being attacked? My hunch is that it will be. Maybe not in the near future - but if the same people that have been carving away at Romney's mind reach others - reproductive rights as we know them will cease to exist.

I also think our society holds the belief that once you've screwed up - you're screwed. Taking birth control at least is a proactive, preventative measure (unless you're in an abstinence only classroom)- but when a woman needs EC - well, she must have been irresponsible - and should deal with the consequences.

A form of this bill is reaching NY Govenor Pataki's desk soon. And he, more than Romney - needs to convince the conservative base that he's not as moderate as he looks. I only hope that the women of NY look to Massachusets and learn a thing or two. We must speak up and demand our lives be counted...

After months of delay, the Senate approved Lester Crawford to head the Food and Drug Administration on Monday. The breakthrough came after Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt announced that the agency would make a decision by Sept. 1 on whether to give the emergency contraceptive pill known as "Plan B" over-the-counter status. That announcement prompted two Democratic senators--Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Patty Murray of Washington State--to lift a hold they had placed on the nominee to protest the agency's inaction on the decision.
"It is long past time that the American people had a decision on Plan B and the FDA has finally agreed to give women across the country what we have fought for from the beginning--a yes or no decision," Murray said in a release.

It's about time. The stall over at the FDA is unacceptable and a vote needs to happen. All those conservative republicans should understand - after all, that's what they demanded when they threatened to use the "nuclear option." Let's let science speak for itself. Let's take this issue out of the legislature - get the bill off Pataki's and others desks - and let it become medical fact. The FDA has voiced its opinion that Plan B should be made available over the counter - but has been cornered by politics. I only hope that they don't allow the same administration that pigeon holed them in the first place to back them into a corner again.

Ok. So, that last post was just a transfer from my old blog, the last entry I had written there is the first in this new space. I've been toying around with the idea of a meaningful blog for a while, and made a few unsuccessful attempts, but I think this is it. So, stay tuned, and feel free to leave me love!

Interesting - the "anti-prostitution pledge" that many foreign aid groups have been facing for years is now coming home.

I read Bush has authorized a change in the funding of domestic AIDS groups. Basically, the groups have to say they're "anti-prostitution" before they recieve their funding. Now, this might not sound like the worst thing on the surface, but if you look closer, it has the potential to unravel our rights as we know them. First of all, many of these groups give protistutes and other sex workers the only education they have about safe sex. Sex workers here and abroad need to know that it is their right to refuse sex without a condom, etc. By taking this funding away, the administration is going to take away much of the power from these women and also increase the prevelence of the disease. The administration says that it can't give money to groups that support the "exploitation of women and young girls" - now, barring the fact that not all sex workers are trafficked - some actually choose this profession - I find it highly ironic that this administration - who has turned many a blind eye on companies here and abroad who exploit their workers - forcing them to work long hours in sweatshops only to spend the night in hot, crowded dorms - can talk about about the exploitation of women.
On another, perhaps even scarier note, this restriction brings our one step closer to having a "domestic gag rule". The "global gag rule" was reinstated by the Bush administration on his first day of office, and basically says that no family planning organizations overseas can recieve US funding unless they agree not to perform ,or even mention, abortion as a choice - even if the funds are not used for abortions. This means that organizations are losing money that is used for contraception, pre-natal care, among other things. Many organizations have turned down US funding in order to keep their autonomy- but have suffered. This new restriction on AIDS non-goverment organization is different, because it not only applies to forigen organizations - but those on our own turf as well. How much longer until Bush brings the global gag rule home? Will the day come when domestic non-profits have thier mouths taped if they want to keep their funding? Will family planning clinics here have to choose between recieving their federal funding and denying women their right to know their options - or forgo millions of dollars to maintain their voice? It's a scary day here in our neighborhood when that happens...