Sore spot.

On New Year's Day, an arsonist in Pensacola, Florida, burned down the American Family Planning clinic to protest the fact that the clinic provides abortion services. The clinic has been the victim of hundreds of anti-choice protests and demonstrations over the years. The fire completely destroyed the building and leaves the community with few alternatives for safe and reliable reproductive health care.

Women aren't alone in their uphill battle to obtain emergency contraception (EC), A man in Mesquite, Texas tried to purchase EC for his wife while she was at home caring for their two children. Despite showing his government-issued identification as proof that he was over 17 and allowed to purchase the drug, the pharmacist refused to sell EC to him. The pharmacist claimed that he needed to see the wife's identification as well, and maintained that this was to prevent rapists and pedophiles from getting EC and forcing their victims to take it. The husband was unable to purchase the EC, despite pulling up the law about EC purchase on his smart phone.

Last year saw its fair share of problems that weighed heavily on voters' minds, including the job market, the economy, and international conflicts. Despite these myriad, serious problems, state and Federal legislators focused their efforts on restricting women's reproductive rights. In fact, 2011 set the record for the highest number of attacks on women's reproductive rights and health: an astonishing 1,100 reproductive health restrictions were introduced in state legislatures in 2011, compared to 950 restrictive efforts introduced in 2010 (135 provisions were enacted). Let's hope that, in 2012, legislators focus on tackling the country's real problems rather than attacking a woman's right to choose what is best for her family.