This is Premier Issue of the CHOICE-NET REPORT. CHOICE-NET is a weekly update on reproductive rights issues distributed through the WELL gopher and other Internet channels. Please reprint, distribute and TAKE ACTION. Editor: Kathy Watkins, Administrative Director, California Abortion Rights Action League-North. email: dtv@well.sf.ca.us xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx THE CHOICE-NET REPORT For Week ending January 15, 1994 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx HEALTH CARE REFORM (HR3600 and S1757) Women could be the big losers in the health care debate now beginning in Congress. Women now covered by standard health insurance could actually lose coverage for reproductive health care. The plan is far too vague in its definitions. Between the draft plan and the actual bill delivered to Congress, the language that could possibly cover abortion services was changed from "pregnancy-related services" to "services for pregnant women. By failing to define "services for pregnant women, Clinton allows for the possibility that not only abortion, but some forms of contraception may be excluded from basic services. In a mind-boggling mess, the Health Care Plan has been submitted IN ITS ENTIRETY to THREE different Committees in the House. Each of these Committees (Energy & Commerce, Ways & Means, Education & Labor) will ultimately produce its own version of the legislation.The House Rules Committee will have the vital job of determining what pieces of what bill will ultimately be brought before the full House. (House Rules Cmtee Chair is Joe Moakley, Dem, MA - Phone #202-225-9486) California Congressman Pete Stark, Dem is chair of the House Health & Environment subcommittee of the Ways and Means Committee. His committee will most likely vote on the 1st draft plan in February. His phone # is 202-225-5065. In addition, there are three other plans circulating in the House. 1.Single Payer 2. Managed Competition which makes employer participation voluntary, and 3. an Incremental Change plan. In the Senate the issue of committee referral was postponed until the Senate reconvenes in late January. The Council of Catholic Bishops have mounted a multi-million-dollar lobbying campaign to make sure Congress excludes abortion and certain contraceptives. A national health care plan which discriminates against women is absolutely unacceptable. It is important that you express your concerns NOW, at the beginning of this debate. More updates on this issue next week. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx RU486 Sept. 9, 1993 a National Academy of Sciences reported that antiprogestins such as RU486 show considerable promise. The panel convened in January to examine all available information on antiprogestins. They said the European data on using the drugs as an abortion pill are good enough to be submitted to the FDA. RU486 is 96% effective in abortion use and has been used by more than 60,000 European women. The risks for RU486 should be compared to 1. continued pregnancy, 2. surgical abortion. Antiprogestins are also promising as contraceptives and in morning-after pills. Chairman of the committee is Dr. Leslie Z. Benet, professor of pharmacy at U.C. San Francisco. The Committee recommended that antiprogestins be aggressively studied for treatment of common pelvic disorders endometriosis and fibroid tumors as well as breast cancer and meningiomas (non-malignant but life threatening brain tumors) xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx CONTRACEPTIVES - NORPLANT Fifty women, represented by the law offices of Melivn Belli (San Francisco) have sued the makers of Norplant, Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories. According to the suit, women who have norplant devices experience fatigue, fever, headaches, migraines, mood swings, weight gain, vision problems, depression, hair loss, ovarian cysts. One theory for the problems is that the silicon capsules, manufactured by DOW chemical, cause too much of the synthetic hormone levonorgestrel to be released into a woman's system. Norplant is a birth control device, made of synthetic hormone encased in six silicon-coated bands, inserted into a woman's upper arm. 780,000 women in the U.S. have norplant implants. Norplant is enthusiastically endorsed by state welfare agencies and ordered as punishment for child abusers by judges. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx CHOICE-NET is a weekly update on reproductive rights issues distributed through the WELL gopher and other Internet channels. Please reprint, distribute and TAKE ACTION. Information Sources: California Abortion Rights Action League-North, Alan Guttmacher Institute, Reproductive Freedom News, Various Newspapers, Associated Press and UPI. Editor: Kathy Watkins, Administrative Director, California Abortion Rights Action League-North. email: dtv@well.sf.ca.us .