Happy New Year California and Oregon!!!

The Birth Control Pill Is Now Available Without a Prescription In Oregon and California

Oregon this week allowed women who are at least 18 to buy over-the-counter birth control pills. In March, California will become the second state to implement a similar policy.

Since Jan. 1, women in Oregon who are over the age of 18 are allowed to get birth control without a doctor’s prescription. The bill was signed into law on July 1 by Gov. Kate Brown.

At the pharmacy, women are required to fill out a health questionnaire that pharmacists will use to fill the prescription, KOIN reported.

California’s law is set to start in March and has some differences — notably there are no age restrictions.

Senators from Colorado and Washington have also introduced bills that are similar to Oregon’s new law.



Source: BuzzFeed

Korean Singers Mistaken for Prostitutes and Detained at Airport

Question: What does a prostitute look like and what specifically triggered security to detain them in hopes of preventing a "terrorist attack" and was detaining them sexist or [stereotypically] racist???

Kesha Johnson-Clark

K-Pop Band Oh My Girl Mistaken for Sex Workers and Detained at LAX

 

The eight members were travelling to America for an album cover shoot but were detained for 15 hours in customs. A statement from the group's record company, WM Entertainment, said authorities held them after going through their costumes and props.

"They seem to have mistaken them as sex workers," said a spokesman.
Oh My Girl, who formed in March, are thought to be back in South Korean capital Seoul after being released by officials at Los Angeles International Airport. WM Entertainment says it is taking legal advice in the US to find out whether the band's detention was legal.

The record company also said there might have been an issue with the type of visa the band members presented. They had also been booked to perform at a gala event in Los Angeles on Saturday.
It's unclear if they will try to return to America to complete their album cover shoot.

Oh My Girl (or OMG) brought their debut single Cupid out in April with a second mini-album and title track Closer released in October. The band members are all aged between 16 and 21.
South Korean pop music, known as K-pop, is dominated by girl and boy bands whose members are sometimes as young as 13 or 14 years old.

In 2012, the government clamped down on over-sexualised performances by threatening to give higher age ratings to films, music videos and TV shows which exaggerated the sexuality of younger singers and bands.


Source: BBC

UPDATE: California SB967

And we have great news...California legislature passes YES Means YES Sexual Consent Bill!!!

The Senate unanimously passed SB967 as states and universities across the U.S. are below pressure to alter how they manage rape allegations. The bill now goes to Gov. Jerry Brown, who has not indicated his stance on the bill. Sen. Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, stated his bill would start a paradigm shift in how California campuses avoid and investigate sexual assault. Rather than utilizing the refrain no signifies no,the definition of consent below the bill needs affirmative, unambiguous and conscious choice by each celebration to engage in sexual activity.

Advocates for victims of sexual assault supported the alter as a single that will supply consistency across campuses and challenge the notion that victims have to have resisted assault in order to have valid complaints. Some critics say the legislation is overreaching and sends universities into murky, unfamiliar legal waters. The bill would apply to all California post-secondary schools, public and private, that obtain state money for student economic aid. The California State University and University of California systems are backing the legislation after adopting comparable consent standards this year.

The bill also requires colleges and universities to adopt victim-centered sexual-assault response policies and implement complete applications to avoid assault. The bill passed the state Assembly on Monday by a 52-16 vote. The 23-campus Cal State University endorsed the legislation in an Aug. 25 letter to de Leon.
Read the full article here...



Source: Daily News

Yes Means Yes and No Means No

California Senate Bill 967

What Does It Mean???

This bill requires the governing boards of post-secondary institutions in the state to adopt policies concerning campus sexual violence, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking. The governing boards must adopt detailed and victim-centered sexual assault policies and protocols based on best practices and current professional standards including an affirmative consent standard in the determination of whether consent was given by a complainant. At a minimum, the policies and protocols must include: a policy statement on how the institution will protect the confidentiality of victims, an initial officer response to a report of sexual assault, a preliminary victim interview and followup interview, an interview with the accused, medical forensic examinations and coordination with the forensic examiner, participation of victim advocates, and procedures for anonymous reporting of sexual assault. The bill requires these governing boards to adopt certain sexual assault policies and protocols, and requires the governing boards, to the extent feasible, to enter into memoranda of understanding or other agreements with on-campus and community-based organizations to make services available to victims. The bill also requires the governing boards to implement comprehensive prevention programs addressing sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking. A comprehensive prevention program includes a range of prevention strategies, including, but not limited to, women’s empowerment programming, awareness raising campaigns, primary prevention, bystander intervention, and risk reduction.



Source: ALICE Law

New Birth Control Rules for Non-Profits

The new accommodation will allow religious nonprofits, such as Catholic schools and hospitals, to opt out of covering birth control by notifying the Department of Health and Human Services of their objections. HHS and the Department of Labor will then arrange for a third-party insurer to pay for and administer the coverage for the nonprofits' employees so that women still receive the contraceptive coverage guaranteed to them by the Affordable Care Act.

“Women across the country deserve access to recommended preventive services that are important to their health, no matter where they work,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell. “Today’s announcement reinforces our commitment to providing women with access to coverage for contraception, while respecting religious considerations raised by non-profit organizations and closely held for-profit companies."

The original accommodation required religious nonprofits to directly ask a third-party insurer to pay for and administer the contraception coverage if the nonprofit objected to covering it. But several nonprofits sued the administration over the rule, claiming that the act of filling out a form violated their religious beliefs by serving as a "permission slip" for its employees to use contraceptives.

The administration developed the new accommodation to pre-empt those lawsuits, which legal experts expected the Supreme Court to take up next year. The court already ruled in June against the administration's contraception coverage rule, which requires most employers to cover the full range of 20 contraceptives approved by the Food and Drug Administration at no out-of-pocket cost to women. The court decided that closely-held for-profit corporations like Hobby Lobby, a craft-supply store owned by a family of Christians, should be able to opt out of covering birth control for religious reasons.

Read the full article here...

A Victory for Planned Parenthood California

Last week Planned Parenthood Shasta Pacific announced that Gov. Jerry Brown signed the following healthcare legislation that will now be part of California law. This legislation would support maternity care services and ensure insurance plans provide the appropriate coverage. In addition, legislation for public health and preventive services for teens which also includes the HPV vaccine. AB499, SB222 and AB210 supporters have been working hard to make this announcement a reality since 2004 so huge congratulations are in order!!!

REMINDER: Planned Parenthood Shasta Pacific has combined the healthcare services that were previously provided by Planned Parenthood Golden Gate (PPGG). To find out more about more about the reproductive healthcare services, emergency contraception or to schedule an appointment at a center near you, call 1 800 230 PLAN today!!!