Catholic Church Continues Fight Against Women’s and LGBT Rights
The Catholic church acknowledged Monday that they have no plans to revise their stance on birth control or same-sex marriage despite falling flat with voters this year. This comes alongside complaints filed last week with the Internal Revenue Service that allege that many bishops and religious organizations violated requirements that they be non-partisan during this...
No Copay Day and You
American women should be celebrating today because an important provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is going into effect. Birth control will officially be available to women with no copay, as will breast exams, breast-feeding support, domestic violence counseling, HPV testing, and many other services. These preventative services will save women a huge sum...
Know Your Benefits Under Obamacare
Just yesterday, one of my friends paid $35 for her monthly co-pay for her birth control prescription. And she has good insurance – yikes! But that was yesterday. Starting today, because of the Affordable Care Act (or Obamacare), every new health insurance policy must include FDA-approved contraceptives without any co-pays or deductibles. And that’s not...
Fortnight of Failure? Catholic Bishops Fail to Rally Support
Since the end of last month, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops have been busy rallying up their base to come out and defend their “religious liberty.” A series of events, spanning over two weeks and dubbed the ‘Fortnight of Freedom,” were planned and publicized to parishes and diocese across the US in an attempt to...
Supreme Court Health-Care Decision is Historical Advance for Women
The Feminist Majority Foundation and Ms. magazine are elated that the Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act–the most important advance for women in nearly 40 years. Feminists are determined to protect the gains of the Affordable Care Act, which will protect the lives and health of millions of women and...
Rio Disappoints on Women’s Rights
I could go on. But if you’ve seen any of the news on the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development, you know it did not live up to the hype. Ask anyone from any sector--oceans, food security, education, energy--and they will all express disappointment. But for those of us advancing the sexual and reproductive rights...
“Where Are the Women?”
by Ali Tweedt, FMF Intern Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney’s (D-NY) now-infamous words have gone viral paired with a picture of last Thursday’s all-male panel at the hearing on contraception coverage by religious institutions. The hearing, “Lines Crossed: Separation of Church and State. Has the Obama Administration Trampled on Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Conscience?” was...
HERvotes Blog Carnival: No Religious Exemption for Birth Control Coverage
Despite enormous pressure from the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Obama Administration recently decided not to broaden the religious exemption for contraceptive coverage under the Preventive Care package of the Affordable Care Act. This demand for additional exemptions, would have denied millions of American women contraceptive coverage, including students, teachers, nurses, social workers, and...
Seven Things You (and the Media) Need to Know about Birth Control
by Jacqueline M., Planned Parenthood Action Fund We were thrilled with President Obama’s decision a few weeks ago to protect access to birth control for women who work at religiously affiliated universities, hospitals, or institutions. By not further expanding a refusal clause to the birth control coverage benefit under the Affordable Care Act, he is...
One more time…
by Jill Morrison, National Women’s Law Center Abortion. [uh-bawr-shuhn] Contraception. [kon-truh-sep-shuhn] These are not the same. Yet I’ve repeatedly seen claims that the HHS decision on contraceptive coverage requires religious employers to cover “abortifacients.” Clearly, those opposed to the preventive services rule know they are on shaky ground when it comes to rallying their troops against...
VICTORY: Health & Human Services Decides in Favor of Women’s Health
This afternoon, US Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and the Obama administration released their decision not to broaden the exemption for birth control without copay. In August, HHS ruled that a host of women’s preventive health care services – including all FDA approved contraceptive methods – will be covered under...
Obama’s Deeply Paternalistic Statement on Plan B Decision
by Jon Walker This post originally appeared on Firedoglake. This is a pure expression of male paternalism regarding women being able to make their own reproductive decisions. From USA Today: President Obama said today that “as the father of two daughters,” he supports his health secretary’s decision to block over-the-counter sales of the Plan B...
