Afternoon Roundup: New Jersey Says Yes to Family Planning for Uninsured!

Happy Holidays! Welcome to the last afternoon roundup of 2010! Birth control usage may prevent ovarian cancer; microbicides as HIV prevention as a top ten achievement for 2010; and the New Jersey Senate says yes to family planning access for all - even those who can't afford to pay.

Happy Holidays! Birth control usage may prevent ovarian cancer; microbicides as HIV prevention as a top ten achievement for 2010; and the New Jersey Senate says yes to family planning access for all – even those who can’t afford to pay.

  • The mother of an incarcerated woman in Florida is requesting her HIV positive daughter’s release. The jailed woman was arrested and convicted for assault on a police officer but, notes the Michigan Messenger, her crime seems to be related to her HIV status more than anything. The woman’s mother says her daughter is not being provided with adequate health care in prison.
  • Science Magazine has named a microbicide trial one of the top ten achievements in 2010. Funded in part by USAID, the HIV prevention research is considered a “game changing research breakthrough in public health.” 
  • H/T to the National Partnership for Women & Families for writing about the New Jersey Senate’s approval of a family planning bill which will expand access to uninsured women. The bill authorized $1.1 million in state money in order to access $15.1 million in federal matching dollars through the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services. It makes good economic sense, according to the National Partnership, “because providing access to family planning services through Medicaid is significantly more cost effective than paying for prenatal care or abortions.”