^3* „ ...*•.
Prisoners seek state-paid abortions
Inm ates in Colorado prisons file d
suit on W ednesday asking a fed era l
ju d g e to order the state to pay f o r
p rison ers' abortions an d seeking
an im m ediate abortion f o r a prison ­
er who is 20 weeks pregnant, ac­
cording to court docum ents.
The state would be imposing "cru­
el and unusual punishm ent” by forc­
G overnor
assigns urgent
tasks
G o v e r n o r J o h n K itz h a b e r ,
m eeting last week in Salem with
the nine newly appoin ted m em ­
bers o f a stre a m lin e d O regon
Health Council, asked f o r their
assistance in three areas:
* Advising him on health care
related com ponents of the G over­
nor’s budget, which will be subm it­
ted to the 1997 Legislature. C oun­
cil members were asked to review
policy issues and opportunities that
could occur if new resources be­
com e available in the 1997-99 bud­
get.
* Recom mending a set of broad
priorities for investing available
resources in strengthening and ex­
panding the Oregon Health Plan to
m ore low er-incom e O regonians
who don’t have health care now.
* Recom mending strategies for
building com m unity partnerships
to strengthen locally-based pro­
gram planning and service deliv­
ery.
"This O regon H ealth Council
serves by legislative mandate as
the primary health policy advisory
body to me, the Legislature and the
Health Plan A dm inistrator," said
Kitzhaber. “I know I’m asking a lot
of you this fall. There is a lot to do,
and not much time - I really appre­
ciate your help."
Alan Yordy, the Chief Execu­
tiv e O ffic e r o f M id -V a lle y
H ealthcare who chairs the C oun­
cil, will appoint the first of several
subcom m ittees next w eek. Each
will focus on a single, critical issue.
The first, on stabilizing and ex ­
pan d in g a c ce ss to the O reg o n
Health Plan, will include represen­
tation from providers, hospitals,
consumers, and em ployers. It will
report its findings back to the Coun­
cil within six weeks. A second sub­
com mittee on com munity partner­
ships will be formed in late Sep­
tember.
War against
osteoporosis
Adding calcium and vitamin I) to
thedietcouldhelpprevent osteoporosis
and colorectal cancer, leading causes
o f disability and death in postmeno­
pausal women, a new study hopes to
determine.
The W om en’s Health Initiative
(WHI), a long-term nationwide study
of American women, who will recruit
more than 45,0(X) postmenopausal
women who will receive either a com­
bined calcium and vitamin D pill or a
placebo.
■'There have been no studies focus­
ing on the long-term effects of calcium
supplementation in postmenopausal
women," said Mary Pat Bolton, lead
nutritionist for the WHI Clinical Cen­
ter at Baylor College of Medicine in
Houston.
’The WHI may provide definitive
answers on ways to prevent bone loss
and hip fractures later in life," he add­
ed.
WHI researchers hope the study
findings will ultimately decrease the
risk for osteoporosis, a disease that
depletes bone mass resulting in bone
weakness and brittleness.
Women most at risk are slim, small­
boned, and fair-complexioned. with a
family history of the disease
Up to half of all menopausal wom­
en will be affected by the disease,
according to Bolton, who believes a
lack of calcium early on is partly to
blame
"Calcium intake is crucial during
childhood, adolescence, and early adult­
hood to help women buikl the densest
bones possible to cany them thmugh
life," she said.
s
V
ing the inmate Io hear an unwanted
child, the lawsuit filed in federal court
in D enver said
The suit said the state of Colorado
is violating inm ates' constitutional
rights with its current policy of not
funding abortions unless a prisoner’s
life is in danger.
The inmates are represented by an
abortion rights group, the Centre for
Reproductive Law & Policy in New
York City, and by the A merican C iv­
il Liberties Union o f Colorado
A C L U le g a l d ir e c to r M ark
Silverstein told Reuters that the gov­
ernment has a heightened responsi­
bility to provide medical services to
women in prison because they can­
not earn money to pay for their own
health care.
Colorado Department of C orrec­
tions spokesw om an Liz M cDonough
said she was unaware of the lawsuit.
She also said she could not comment
until it had been reviewed by state
attorneys.
The inmate who wants a prompt
Newly
diagnosed
MS program
abortion faces increased medical risks
"every day the procedure is delayed”
because of her advanced stage ot
pregnancy, the lawsuit said.
Silverstein said he did not know
the circumstances of the pregnancy.
"W e had to rush into court" after
receiving a letter Friday from the
inmate, he said
The Motional Multiple Sclerosis
Society, Oregon Chapter, will be of­
fering an educational program to
promote understanding and knowl­
edge o f M Sfor people who have been
diagnosed with MS in the past two
years.
The Newly Diagnosed Series will
be held every Wednesday evening
during October 2nd to November 6th,
1996 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in
Portland.
For a registration form, contact the
Oregon Chapter at 1 (8(X)) 344-4867.
lhe deadline for registering is Septem­
ber 15th. 1996.
Health care professionals such as
physicians, nurses, social workers, oc­
cupational ami physical therapists will
be covering topics including fitness,
emotional health, family, employment,
medical and health/wellness.
Most people with MS are diag­
nosed with MS between the ages of 20
to 40, but llie unpredictable physical
and emotional effects can occur for the
rest of their lives.
Comparing the options
A m ong the m any benefits of m od­
ern m edicine is a wide range o f
contraceptive choices.
There are a num ber o f methods for
couples whether they want to post­
pone childbearing, d o n ’t want more
children, or are trying to prevent
S T D ’s (sexually transm itted diseas­
es).
Five free booklets from the C on­
sum er Information Center give d e­
scriptions of the 12 forms of contra-
ception for both men and women
from the pill to natural family plan­
ning.
For each method, they also d e­
scribe to have children som e day,
birth control pills are the most popu­
lar and most effective form of contra­
ception. O ther choices are condom s,
the diaphragm, natural family plan­
n in g o r th e rh y th m m e th o d ,
spermicide foams and the sponges,
the implant (Norplant), the injection
(D epo-Provera) and the IUD.
The levels of effectiveness of these
methods range from a high of 99
percent to a low of 53 percent, de­
pending on the method used and how
careful and responsible the couple is.
For many people, the prevention
of S T D ’s including HIV, the virus
that causes AIDS, is the main factor
in choosing a contraceptive. Only
one form of birth control currently
av ailab le-th e latex condom for men-
-is considered highly effective in
helping protect against HIV and oth­
er S T D ’s.
To get all five booklets for free,
just send your name and address to
C o m p a rin g th e O p tio n s, P u eblo,
C o lo ra d o 81009. When you write,
you’ll also receive a free copy of the
C o n s u m e r In fo rm a tio n C a ta lo g
which lists more than 200 free and
low-cost federal consumer publica­
tions.
New survey claims to be positive
The resu lts o f a client satisfac­
tion su rvey o f th e health plan s p a r­
ticipating in th e O regon Health Plan
were relea sed jo in tly today in Salem
by the O ffice o f M edical A ssistance
P rogram s (O M A P ) a n d the H ealth
Plan A d m in istra to r’s Office.
D esigned to m easure particular
indicators o f client satisfaction, the
m ail-return survey o f 19,098 adult
medicaid m em bers is part o f an o n ­
going effo rt to track data on the
sta te ’s pioneering health care pro­
gram .
The results indicate that not only
is access better than it w as in 1994
before the O regon H ealth P lan ’s im ­
p le m en tatio n , o v erall sa tisfactio n
with health care is better.
Hersh C raw ford, O M A P director,
praised the participating plans for
their w illingness to be held account­
able for quality and noted that the
O regon Consum er Scorecard C on­
the plans on fo llo w up a c tio n ,”
Crawford added.
Vickie Gates, the Oregon Health
Plan administrator, also praised the
participating health plans for dra­
matically increasing access to prim a­
ry care and promoting quality, cost
effective care.”
D esp ite such p o sitiv e resu lts,
opposers and victims of unjust cir­
cum stances say there are still many
areas the health plans can work on.
sortium , made up of representatives
of governm ent, most of the health
plans participating in the Oregon
Health Plan, academ ics and consum ­
ers, provided ongoing technical as­
sistance to the project.
"The survey has given us a tool
that we and our partners can use to
continuously m onitor and improve
the Oregon Health Plan," Crawford
said.
"We will be working with each of
Advertise In
W h e | J o i ‘t l a n b
(0 b sew er
Call 503-288-0033
U.S. says more women getti ng tested
The proportion o f women a ged IS
to 4 4 who have been tested f o r the
A ID S virus rose by 60 percent b e­
tween 1991 a n d 1993, fe d e ra l health
officials said on Thursday.
T he Centres for D isease Control
and Prevention (C D C ) said that in a
1993 telephone survey o f 6,267 w om ­
en aged 18 to 4 4 ,3 1.8 percent said they
had been tested at least once for HIV.
In a 1991 survey o f 13 ,4 1 1 women
of the sam e age group, 18.8 percent
said they had been been tested.
“ Information about HIV testing has
gotten out there,” said Jacqueline W il­
son, a statistician with the C D C ’s Na-
tional Centre for Health Statistics.
In the 1993 survey, 4 6 .1 percent of
blacks, 39.7 percent of H ispanics and
27.9 percent of white w om en said they
had been tested for the HIV virus
which causes AIDS.
W omen who had not graduated from
high school or w ho lived in poverty
were more likely to have been tested,
the survey found. The C D C said this
was probably due to the availability of
HIV testing at public health clinics.
A bout 7,000 infants are born to
HIV-infected women in the United
States every year.
The C D C said treatm ent o f the
mother with thedrug AZT(z.idovudine)
may reduce the chances of a baby
becom ing infected with HIV.
W ithout treatment, HIV-infected
women have a 15 to 30 percent chance
o f infecting their baby during pregnan­
cy or delivery Medical treatment can
reduce this to about a I in 12 chance,
the CD C said.
W om en accounted for 19 percent
of the 73,380 AIDS cases reported in
1995.
The CDC said AIDS was the leading
cause of death among black women aged
25 to 44 and the third leading cause of
ileath among al I women in that age bracket
Photocopiers cause lung disease
P hotocopier du st can cause se­
rious lung disease, Austrian doctors
said Friday.
Christine A rm bruster and col­
leagues at the University o f V ienna
described the case of a man w ho evi­
dently developed two conditions from
the tiny metal particles in photocopier
toner.
In a letter to the Lancet medical
journal, they said a 39-ycar-old man
who did not smoke had suffered a
persistent dry cough for a year. He was
d ia g n o s e d w ith g ra n u lo m a to u s
pneumonitis, caused by breathing in
tin y p a rtic le s o f m e ta l, and
ly m p h a d en o p a th y . L y m p h ad en o -
pathy isasw ellingofthe lymph glands.
G l a m o u r S h o t s ®. H e a d a n d
S h o u ld er s abo ve t h e rest .
W e ig h t W a tc h e rs
^Diant ^Pontolillo
Losecar be I if m in
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