Women discuss health issues

Twenty Philadelphia women met at the Penn Women's Center last week to discuss women's health issues, particularly abortion, in observance of the National Women's Day of Action. The six-year-old national effort marks the anniversary of the death of Rosie Jimenez, the first woman to die of an illegal abortion after Congress passed the Hyde Amendment in 1978, wiping out federal funding for abortions. Overturning the amendment -- which has been passed by every Congress since -- has served as a rallying cry for many pro-choice women's organizations. During the event, women's groups at more than 300 schools across the country held programs and rallies to spotlight issues, like abortion and health care, that affect women. The Penn program featured a roundtable discussion about the health problems facing young women and the groups that provide support. The focus was primarily on young women and those from low-income families. The participants shared literature and personal stories and handed out condoms. The discussion focused on the need to reach more women and the progress of education about women's health. "In 20 years are we still going to be doing this?" asked Shawn Towey, a worker at the Women's Medical Fund of Philadelphia. "We have a network, but do we have a movement?" "We need to build grassroots support for health resource centers," said Leslie Anastasio, a spokesperson for the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League of Philadelphia. "[But] there needs to be a base of support for this to happen. Responding to such concerns, Litty Paxton, a School of Arts and Sciences graduate student, said women's organizations would be able to help the situation if their messages were not being contradicted by the media, which places an unhealthy emphasis on female sexuality at a young age. "You can keep doing your job, but if the TV keeps telling [little girls] that it's good to be sexy, then you're not going to make any progress," she said. "I mean, Ginger Spice was named U.N. Goodwill Ambassador for Reproductive Health," said Paxton, who is from England. "Give me a break -- they picked the only Spice Girl that posed nude to represent reproductive health." Other speakers expressed pain over the need to have so many groups that deal with women's reproductive and health issues. "I'd love it if we could go out of business because there was no one for us to treat anymore," Towey said, expressing a sentiment that most of the women in the room shared. The event was organized by College seniors Spring Moore and Tracy Tripp. Moore dealt with recruiting the groups to campus, while Tripp worked on securing food donations for the event.

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