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Faith Group Leaders Come Together To Support 'Wall Of Life'
Leaders of the major faith groups have put their support behind the Wall of Life, an interactive campaign launched today by NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT). The campaign - at http://www.walloflife.org.uk - aims to promote awareness of and support for organ donation to boost the number of people joining the NHS Organ Donor Register (ODR).
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Melanopsin And Sleep Modulation: A Bright Future For Light Therapy?
Light strongly influences human physiology and notably sleep regulation. An international team of scientists, including Patrice Bourgin from CNRS "Institut des neurosciences cellulaires et intçİgratives" in Strasbourg, has just published a detailed study in PlosBiology on the role of melanopsin, a molecule involved in mediating the effects of light on sleep. These scientists also revealed evidence of new interactions between the different mechanisms acting on the duration and quality of sleep and alertness.
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Blogs Comment On Health Care Reform Legislation, Congressional Funding For D.C., Other Topics
The following summarizes selected women"s health-related blog entries.~ "Just the Facts, Sir: The False Dichotomy of Catholics vs. "Pro-Choice" on Common Ground," Jodi Jacobson, RH Reality Check: In anticipation of the release of the White House"s "common ground" proposal to reduce the need for abortion and help prevent unintended pregnancies, "numerous members of the male pontificator commentariat are trying to spark anxiety by claiming Obama will have to make a choice between "the Catholic vote" and "the pro-choice community,"" Jacobson writes. However, "[n]othing could be further from the truth," she states, noting that Obama received the majority of the Catholic vote in the election and that a "majority of Catholic voters approve of [his] performance to date." There is "no danger" of Obama losing Catholic support "on this particular issue, as long as the administration makes clear its values and principles and goals and objectives, and as long as it sticks to the facts," Jacobson continues. She lists several steps that the White House should take with its proposal, including making it clear that the administration is "committed to evidence-based policies in public health" and that "the best way to reduce unintended pregnancies, and hence the need for abortion, is to provide universal access to prevention services." By focusing on evidence-based public health policies, the Obama administration "can, in the long run, actually bring profound change to this debate," Jacobson writes. She concludes that "evidence-based policies put into practice will achieve many of the goals we seek and take the air out of the ideological fight in which we have been engaged" (Jacobson, RH Reality Check, 7/2).~ "Is Denying Women Abortions the Price of Bipartisanship?" Igor Volsky, Think Progress" "The Wonk Room": Volsky writes that Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Republican colleagues on the Senate Finance Committee reportedly are pushing health care reform legislation that would require insurers participating in a new national health insurance exchange to exclude coverage for abortion services. According to Volsky, the committee"s version of the bill would be the only piece of health care reform legislation "that specifically prohibits -- takes away, rations, if you will -- a medical service." Meanwhile, health care reform legislation being considered by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and the House"s three committees that govern health care "leaves the coverage decisions -- the design of the so-called essential benefit packages" -- to the HHS secretary or an expert committee. Volsky notes that approximately one in three U.S. women will have an abortion by age 45 and that private insurers usually cover the procedure. He writes, "As Republicans often argue, Congress should leave benefits decisions to the medical professionals." He adds that "if denying abortion services to women is the price of bipartisanship, then perhaps winning those one or two Republican votes isn"t worth the price of jeopardizing women"s health and well-being" (Volsky, "The Wonk Room," Think Progress, 7/6).~ "House Moves To Lift Bans On Abortion Funding, Needle Exchange, Domestic Partnership and Medical Marijuana in D.C.," Choice Words: The fiscal year 2010 appropriations bill currently under review in the House "would lift a number of reproductive justice-related funding bans" in the District of Columbia, including a ban on using locally-raised funds for abortion, the blog entry states. "Access to abortion in D.C. has been severely limited by anti-choice Congresspeople playing politics with the district," the blog says, noting that Congress has "supreme authority" over the district"s funding. The bill also would end bans on using funds for certain other purposes, such as domestic partnership registration and benefits, according to the blog. The blog concludes that the "fight to lift these funding bans is just beginning" and is an "important first step towards protecting reproductiv
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Two Doctors Share Their Expectations For Health Reform

Two doctors with over 30 years of experience spoke with National Public Radio about how medicine has changed over their careers, and what they expect to see come out of the current health reform debate. Dr. Greg Darrow, a family physician from New Mexico who favors a single-payer system, said the demands of the business-side of his group practice often interfere with the quality of his care. "Leave me alone, I know what I do best, which is to take good care of people," Darrow said. Sometimes, patients interfere, too, by demanding care they may not need, a pattern he blames on direct marketing by pharmaceutical companies and newly available technologies. In one scenario, Darrow envisions himself recommending ice for a patient"s twisted knee, while the patient requests an MRI. Dr. George Knaysi, a cancer surgeon from Virginia, says he believes "most people feel health care is a right, not a privilege," but that the prospects of rationing in health reform make him uncomfortable with some reform proposals. He anticipates the creation of a government-run insurance plan, but adds, "I think there are too many people in this country who are middle class and upper-middle class who are not going to be willing to sit through long waiting lines." Rising costs - which Knaysi says haven"t kept pace with reimbursements - will eventually force the American health system to squeeze administrative costs and limit care options to remain sustainable. However, he anticipates a balancing act to accommodate patients who want to pay out of pocket for the most expensive treatments (Block, 6/30). This information was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at kaiserhealthnews.org. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


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