Colorado’s Family Planning Initiative (CFPI), which offers teenagers and poor women free and low-cost intrauterine devices (IUDs) and implants and has significantly reduced the state’s teen pregnancy and abortion rates, may soon disappear. The CFPI’s private grant is set to run out this year, and Colorado state representatives have eliminated the program’s funding by voting […]
Supreme Court Decides: Obamacare Lives
In a momentous victory, the U.S. Supreme Court today upheld the Affordable Care Act, also known as “Obamacare,” and protected access to health insurance for millions of families and individuals.
China’s Maternal Mortality Rate Has Decreased Dramatically
The National Health and Family Planning Commission released a report this month showing that China’s maternal death rate has dropped by over seventy-five percent in the past twenty-five years.
New Nigerian Law Forbids Bans Genital Mutilation
Despite the progressive action, many say that it will take years for FGM practices to cease due its cultural pervasiveness.
High School Student Wins International Award for Creating HIV Test
Nicole Ticea, a teen from Vancouver, Canada, won a top prize at the Intel International and Engineering Fair, the world’s largest high school science research competition for her invention of a simple and low-cost HIV test. Ticea, who is just 16, created a simple and inexpensive HIV test that can be sold over-the-counter at very […]
Pregnant Women Left Vulnerable After Devastating Nepal Earthquake
About 14,000 women are expected to give birth in the coming weeks, and thousands of them are at risk of complications that require emergency care.
Obama Administration Clarifies ACA Birth Control Benefit After Reports of Conflicting Policies
The Obama administration announced yesterday in new guidance to health insurance companies that insurers are obligated to cover all forms of birth control under the Affordable Care Act.
It’s Been a Month: Purvi Patel is Still in Prison for a Miscarriage
Purvi Patel, a 33-year-old Indian-American who was convicted in Indiana for what she continually asserts was a miscarriage, has now been in prison for more than 30 days.
North Carolina House Passes 72-Hour Abortion Waiting Period
The North Carolina state House last week passed a 72-hour waiting period for women seeking abortion care.
Human Rights Group Seeks Pardon for Salvadoran Women Imprisoned for Miscarriages
Human rights groups are calling for the pardon of 15 women imprisoned in El Salvador for suffering a miscarriage.
Senate Passes Compromise Bill Increasing Federal Funding for Abstinence-Only Sex Education
The Senate overwhelmingly approved of HR 2 on Tuesday, a $200 billion package that included an enormous increase of federal funding for abstinence-only-until-marriage curricula.
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Malta Passes Law to Ban ‘Normalization’ Surgery on Intersex Infants, Allow Self-Determination of Gender
The new law also allows people to change their gender identity on documents by simply filing an affidavit with a notary, which ends the requirement for surgery in order to legally identify as a gender other than the one assigned at birth.
Supreme Court Hears Crucial Affordable Care Act Case
The outcome of King could have potentially devastating effects for over 9 million people who could lose health insurance coverage if the Court determines that they are not eligible for tax credits.
Irish Women Speak Out Against Brutal Childbirth Operations
Between 1942 and 1990 in Ireland, more than 1,500 pregnant women in childbirth endured an operation that involves breaking the pelvis or having their pubic bone sawed through. Others claim their wombs were removed entirely.
Egyptian Court Sentences Doctor In Female Genital Mutilation Case
This is the first time a doctor has been convicted in Egypt of this crime.
House Cancels Abortion Ban After GOP Congresswomen Drop Support
House Republicans cancelled plans to vote on a 20-week ban on abortion after Republican Congresswomen removed their names publicly as co-sponsors of the bill. The vote on the unconstitutional 20-week ban had originally been scheduled for today, the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, but instead was pulled late last night after Republican House representatives Rene […]
Clinically Dead Pregnant Irish Woman Taken Off Life Support
The court’s decision to take the pregnant woman off life support was in line with her family’s wishes.
DC City Council Unanimously Approves Reproductive Health Anti-Discrimination Bill
Wednesday, the Washington, DC City Council unanimously passed a bill that will prohibit employer interference in the reproductive health decisions of their employees. The Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Amendment Act of 2014 was first introduced by DC Councilmember David Grosso (I-At Large), just ahead of the Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of for-profit retail chain Hobby Lobby this […]
New Jersey is Inching Closer to Mandatory Paid Sick Leave Statewide
The Assembly Budget Committee of the New Jersey state legislature approved a paid sick leave bill Monday by a 6-4 vote.