This is big -- see the breaking news below! And if you have a minute, please thank President Obama and Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius for standing strong with young women.

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Dear Advocate-

Moments ago, the Obama Administration announced the final rule on student health insurance plans.

And it's very good news.

Starting in August, student health plans will have to cover contraception. Young women across the country are now one step closer to accessing birth control.

In the past few months, the attacks on birth control itself, and against the millions of women who use contraception, have been vicious. Thank you for standing strong — and for your resilient mobilization on this critical issue.

Even though a small yet vocal minority continues to try to deny women access to birth control, we're glad to hear that the Administration stood strong with young women across the country with this decision.

Please take a minute to thank President Obama and Secretary Sebelius! Send your note TODAY!

Our work isn't over yet. As many of you know firsthand, or from student advocates like Sandra Fluke, some religious-affiliated colleges have refused to allow their student health plans to cover contraception. Thankfully, that's about to change — the only question is how soon.

And that is where we need your help.

Universities that do not currently offer contraception coverage can apply for a waiver giving them until August 2013 to start offering birth control coverage. Sadly, during this unnecessary delay, young people will be the ones to pay the price. In the coming weeks, Advocates for Youth will partner with students at religious-affiliated colleges to help educate university administrators about the importance of this new ruling — and to encourage schools not to apply for this waiver. It's about time we all started putting student health before politics.

Thank President Obama and Secretary Sebelius now for standing with young women!

Today's decision is the direct result of the long, hard work of activists like you. From thousands of letters to the Obama administration to the overwhelming response to our recent "Birth Control Valentine" photo campaign, this is your victory.

We have a long way to go, but I'm honored to work alongside you each and every day.

Congratulations!

Deb Hauser
President
Advocates for Youth

Nearly 300,000 women in the United States are infected with HIV/AIDS and they continue to face gaps in access to care. Women are the foundations of many families, but we often place the needs of others before our own. National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day asks individuals and organizations across the country to increase the overall knowledge of HIV/AIDS among women and girls and improve access to care. - Nancy C. Lee, M.D., Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health-Women’s Health

Editor's Note. This post is part of our International Women's Week Blogathon. Click here to learn more and get involved.

By: Lauren Kalina, Advocates for Youth Intern

Today is International Women’s Day! And what a beautiful day it is. The sun is shining, I have liked every Facebook status related to women that I have seen all day, and I just want to shout to the world, “I AM PROUD TO BE A WOMAN!”

Why shouldn’t I be? Women have come a long way! This morning I watched a video called “Bad Romance: Women’s Suffrage” It’s literally the story of the women’s suffrage movement set to Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance.” It was a good start to my International Women’s Day. It made me think about how hard the leaders of the Women’s party fought for our right to vote… and how easily, and unintentionally, I take it for granted.

Soaring on my high of womanhood, I then read an article in the New York Times entitled “Africa’s Girl Power,” which profiled an organization called Camfed, The Campaign for Female Education. Camfed invests in the education of remarkable young women in rural parts of Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Ghana and Malawi. By giving these women access to secondary and higher education, they become better equipped to make important decisions about their future such as when to marry and have children, and obtaining the career that they want.

Proud of the international impact that I just read about, I felt inspired to take advantage of the fantastic opportunity offered today by Kiva to make a trial donation, in honor of National Women’s Day, to an organization that supports women in developing countries. I decided to donate my free $25 to an organization in Tanzania called Bahati Group, which is asking for a loan to open a women’s clothing shop.

I can’t help but feel pride for being a woman today. However, I know that I cannot celebrate this day to the fullest extent when, around the world, women everywhere have their basic human rights breached on a daily basis.

I watched a film today called “From Fear to Freedom: Ending Violence against Women,” a new mini-documentary from the Women’s Learning Partnership, released today, specifically for International Women’s Day. It discussed the gender based violence that many women worldwide face constantly. As I heard statistics, such as “87% of Afghan women are victims of domestic violence,” and the stories of the women raped multiple times in the Democratic Republic of Congo as a tactic of war, I couldn’t help but ask: What happened to the cultures that used to idolize women and treat them with the respect that they deserved? I know I’ve learned about them in school. Some of the major Hindu deities are women. Ancient Greece and Rome venerated goddesses as well. Where did this respect go in modern culture?

More...

On Saturday, March 3, protestors met in Richmond, VA to show their anger at the mandatory ultrasound law. This law would require women in Virginia who are seeking abortion to obtain an ultrasound twenty four hours in advance of the procedure, and to have the doctor describe it to them in detail.

Antichoice lawmakers, and antichoice lobbyists, often test legislation in one or two states, see what they can and cannot get passed, figure out what kind of climate that law needs to be in to pass, and then have it exported to other states. This is what is happening all over right now, as the climate is right for these bills to pass. Last year roughly 80 laws which restricted abortion access were passed at the state level.

The momentum is continuing this year with the ultrasound laws. Antichoice advocates frame the ultrasound as a harmless procedure, and use faux-feminist empowerment language to sell it. Often this language is paternalistic and has an underlying assumption that women do not know what abortion is, don’t think about it, and are not aware of what pregnancy is. They try to fame it as “A Woman’s Right To Know,” or making sure women are able to give “informed consent,” and ensuring that women have “all the facts.” Right to know what? That she is terminating a pregnancy? They underlying assumption is that women just walk into abortion clinics without really knowing what they are there for. It’s insulting to women, and to the people who trust them. 60% of women seeking abortion have given birth at least once. They know what pregnancy is.

The Virginia ultrasound law was imported from Texas, where it is in effect, but still being held up in court on challenges. The specific language of the bill, at first, required that the best possible picture for the ultrasound be obtained. For women in their first trimester (when most abortions occur), this would mean they would have to be subjected to an invasive transvaginal ultrasound, instead of the transabdominal (the “jelly on the belly” ultrasound that most people think of), and that the image be described to them in detail by their doctor. The language of the bill was modified so that the transvaginal would be optional, but an ultrasound of some sort would still be required.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, as well as the National Abortion Federation, both agree that it is medically unnecessary for a woman seeking a first trimester abortion receive an ultrasound, unless the physician has cause to believe that there might be complications, or if the pregnancy cannot be accurately dated using the woman’s last menstrual period or other measures.

More...

 As many of you may have heard by now, ultra-conservative radio show host Rush Limbaugh has come under harsh criticism for his especially misogynist, inaccurate, and creepy comments about Sandra Fluke, the graduate student from Georgetown University who was denied a seat on the all-male panel at last month’s congressional hearing on birth control. Fortunately, she did eventually get her day to speak, though not as an official part of the hearing. House Democrats on the committee (not being able to call their own hearing because they are in the minority) organized a forum for her to share her testimony. She provided poignant information on why access to cost-free birth control is such an important and necessary part of women’s health, and shared stories to personalize her message, showing that policy decisions are not abstract but fundamentally effect real women, their partners, and their families.

Rush Limbaugh’s response included the following:

What does it say about the college co-ed Susan [Sandra] Fluke…who goes before a congressional committee and says that she must be paid to have sex? What does that make her? It makes her a slut, right? Makes her a prostitute.

Ms. Fluke and the rest of you femi-Nazis, here’s the deal. If we are going to ay for your contraceptives, and thus pay for you to have sex, we want something for it. And I’ll tell you what it is. We want you to post the videos online so we can all watch.

More...

UPDATE, Feb. 15: And now we're at more than 500 photos! A HUGE thank you to everyone who submitted a valentine!

UPDATE, 4:30pm: We've received more than 300 photos so far — and we still have to upload a lot more. Check out the photostream below!

Hundreds of you have already shared the Birth Control 4 Us campaign on Facebook, Twitter, and elsewhere...keep your messages and photos coming!

A special thanks to all those who have delivered valentine tweets and pictures to their Members of Congress. Here's a snapshot of all of the grassroots activism so far:

Want to get involved? Here's how:

• Click here to download and print your valentines (or make your own!)
• Take a picture of yourself holding your valentine
• Post it on our Facebook Page or email your photo to bc4us2012@gmail.com
• Tweet these pictures to ".@SpeakerBoehner" and your Senators and make sure to include the hashtag #bc4us. To find your Senators on Twitter, click here.

This week alone, you've sent more than 3,500 letters to President Obama and Congress asking them to fight back against attacks on birth control insurance coverage. And they have heard you loud and clear.

This morning, President Obama reaffirmed that women will be able to access no-copay birth control. If your employer has decided not to provide contraceptive coverage on religious grounds, insurance companies will be required to provide no-copay birth control coverage to you directly. While the Catholic Health Association has already come out in support of this solution, Republicans in Congress are only increasing their efforts to roll back birth control access.

Today's announcement is a clear victory for women's health, but the fight is far from over. It's going to be tough, but you have the power to make politicians in Washington back down from their continuing attacks on birth control. We all need to step up to the plate on this one.

That is why, during the week of Valentine's Day, we're asking you to help show support for birth control on your campus or in your community by joining the Birth Control for Us campaign and creating a Valentine's Day uproar! 

TAKE ACTION: "Twitter Storm" Congress with #BC4US valentines.

• Step 1: Click here to download and print your valentines (or make your own!)
• Step 2: Take a picture of yourself holding your valentine
• Step 3: Post them on our Facebook Page or email them to bc4us2012@gmail.com (*)
• Step 4: Tweet these pictures to ".@SpeakerBoehner" and your Senators and make sure to include the hashtag #bc4us. To find your Senators on Twitter, click here.

Here's a handy infographic and timeline about social conservatives' ever-ambitious War on Contraception. Help us spread the word — post this on your Facebook profile and elsewhere!

Click the preview below to see the image in full: