[Imc-radio] headlines

[Sarah Lazare]

hi all, here are two headlines for starters.  will send more.  sarah

Via ucimc.org:
On February 24th (Thurs.) of 2005, the Community Meeting on  Access to 
Emergency Contraception (EC) was held at the Illinois Disciples  Foundation 
(IDF) in Champaign, Illinois, during the evening. This meeting was  
sponsored by several women's groups and social service organizations in the  
area. The mediator of this event was Brooke Anderson, a staff member of  
Champaign County Health Care Consumers, and its keynote speaker was Destiny  
Lopez, Director of New York's Emergency Contraception Campaign. There were  
several other speakers at this event as well, including a woman who had a 
baby  because of her inability to obtain EC in a timely manner. About 150 
people  attended the community meeting at IDF; there was standing room only 
for late  arrivals. Beverages and desserts were available to the audience 
during the  meeting.

Speakers Annie Fehrenbacher and Mia Layne described EC to  the audience and 
how to obtain it locally. EC is available as a prescription  drug in the 
United States. The only drug that is currently available for this  purpose 
is called Plan B®, which was approved by the  Food & Drug Administration 
(FDA) in 1999. Plan B consists of specific  concentrated doses of a chemical 
that is found in ordinary birth control pills.  If Plan B is taken within 24 
hours after contraceptive failure or unprotected  sex, it can reduce the 
risk of pregnancy up to 95%. If Plan B is taken within  72 hours after 
either of the preceding situations, it can reduce the risk of  pregnancy up 
to 89%.

Plan B is not an aborticide and should not be  confused with the drug 
Mifepristone (formerly known as RU-486). Unlike  Mifepristone, which was 
approved by the FDA for early pregnancy termination in  2000, Plan B works 
like regular birth control pills to prevent pregnancy before  a pregnancy is 
established. Emergency contraception is typically used when: 1)  a condom 
breaks, 2) two or more birth control pills have been skipped, 3)  voluntary 
sex occurs without contraception, or 4) a woman is forced to have sex (e.g., 
rape). Women who are already pregnant should not use Plan B, nor should  it 
be used as a substitute for ordinary birth control pills.

Plan B is  considered a safe and effective emergency contraceptive. Some 
women may  experience side effects, including nausea, abdominal pain, breast 
tenderness,  or menstrual changes, but these side effects should be 
temporary as Plan B is  taken in only one or two doses. In Champaign County, 
Illinois, this emergency  contraceptive can be obtained through Planned 
Parenthood, one's family physician, or McKinley Health Center (for students 
at the University of  Illinois). It is available for free at McKinley Health 
Center, Monday thru  Saturday, when the university is in session.

The availability of Plan B  at local pharmacies is variable and its price 
ranges from $18.94 to $35.89. A recent survey of 21 pharmacies in Champaign 
County revealed 38% of them had  this emergency contraceptive in stock, 38% 
of them did not have it in stock but  were willing to order it, while 24% of 
them refused to carry it. At the time of  the survey, the pharmacies with 
Plan B in stock included CarleRX Express on  University, CarleRX Express on 
Cunningham, Christie Clinic on University, Osco Drug on Green, Osco Drug on 
Philo, Schnuck's on Vine, Walgreens on Philo, and  Walgreens on Springfield. 
The pharmacies that refuse to carry Plan B include  Meijer, Provena 
Covenant, Target Stores, Wal-Mart in Savoy, and Wal-Mart in  Champaign. 
Unfortunately, ordering an emergency contraceptive that isn't in  stock can 
reduce its effectiveness significantly because of the time delay.

Via us.indymedia.org
The 2005 Taco Bell Truth Tour kicked off from Immokalee, Florida on February 
28 and headed two different directions en route to Louisville, 
Kentucky--home of Yum! Brands corporate headquarters. Yum! is the parent 
company to Taco Bell which is itself one of the most profitable fast food 
chains in the world. Tomato pickers in Florida, organizing for better 
working conditions and wages for over a decade, have called a boycott 
against Taco Bell. Most tomato pickers in Florida are migrant workers and 
are vulnerable to exploitation. Aside from fighting for an increase in wages 
which have stagnated for over 25 years, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers 
have helped to uncover multiple cases of modern day slavery.
The CIW has targeted Taco Bell because they "directly profit from 
farmworkers’ sub-poverty wages and substandard working conditions — 
including sub-poverty annual wages, no right to overtime, no right to 
organize, a per bucket piece rate that hasn't changed significantly since 
1978, no sick leave, no health insurance, and no benefits whatsoever. Taco 
Bell pays artificially low prices for the tomatoes Immokalee farmworkers 
pick, and the extreme exploitation of farm labor in the production chain 
keeps these prices low." The two legs of the 2005 Truth Tour are due to 
converge in Louisville March 6th culminating March 12th with a National 
Convergence for Farmworker Justice! at Yum! Brands corporate headquarters.