by Kelly Blanchard, Ibis Reproductive Health Contraception is a critical preventive health care tool for women and families. Contraception allows women (and their partners) to plan their pregnancies and avoid pregnancy when they don’t want to have a baby, and planned pregnancies are healthier for women and children. Women with planned pregnancies are more likely […]
Vaccinating the Public Against Health Care Misinformation
by Lisa Bennett, NOW Communications Director A factually-challenged email is making the rounds, scaring people into thinking that Medicare premiums are going to start rising next year due to provisions in the 2010 health care reform law. My well-meaning aunt forwarded this email to friends and family, not wanting them to get caught off guard […]
It’s In The Law: Breaking Down What’s In It For You in the New Health Care Law
by Thao Nguyen, National Women’s Law Center Greater protections against insurance company abuses: NO MORE RESCISSIONS: Insurance companies are prohibited from dropping your coverage if you become sick. NO MORE LIFETIME LIMITS: Insurance companies are prohibited from limiting the amount of money they will pay for your benefits over your lifetime. NO MORE ANNUAL CAPS: […]
African Women Need Contraception AND HIV Prevention
A study published on Monday called into question the benefits of injectable hormones, the most popular form of contraception used in Southern and Eastern Africa, and identified a link between the contraception and HIV transmission. The study appeared in a front page, above the fold article in Tuesday’s New York Times, attracting attention to the […]
Breast Cancer Death Rate Declines Greater for Higher-Income Women
A new study conducted by the American Cancer Society revealed that deaths resulting from breast cancer have been steadily decreasing for more affluent women in the US since 1990. By contrast, lower-income women have not experienced the same rate of decline and were 7 percent more likely to die from breast cancer than their more […]
Virginia Adopts Strictest Regulations on Abortion Providers in Nation
The Virginia Board of Health voted Thursday 12-1 to adopt unnecessary and punitive regulations of first-trimester abortion clinics requiring architectural renovations to change clinics into hospitals and change government oversight. Under the regulations, state authorities can enter a clinic to inspect at any time without notice to examine patient medical records, gather a list of […]
Hundreds Gather to Protest VA’s Anti-Abortion TRAP laws
By Campus Organizer Sarah Shanks. This post was originally posted on the Feminist Campus Blog. In Virginia, abortion clinics might begin closing at an alarming rate due to legislation requiring they be regulated like hospitals. In March, Governor McDonnell signed SB 924, a bill that classifies women’s health centers in the state as a category […]
Think You’re Covered? Think Again
By Alicia Gay, ACLU If you were faced with the decision of having an abortion, would your health insurance cover it? This is a question that many women have probably never considered. It’s a health care procedure that most people just don’t plan ahead for. Well, if you happen to be covered under your employer’s […]
Fox News’ Megyn Kelly Gets It Right: ‘The United States Is In The Dark Ages When It Comes To Maternity Leave’
By Pat Garofalo Fox News’ Megyn Kelly returned to work after three months of maternity leave, and during her first show, she pummeled shock radio host Mike Gallagher, who back in May called Kelly’s maternity leave “a racket” that was “unbelievable.” Kelly not only took Gallagher to task for poo-pooing the notion that women should […]
Voice Your Support for Teen Birth Control Access!
By Jessica Stites It’s been a refreshing week of sanity around birth control. First the Institute of Medicine announced that birth control should count as “preventive care” and be covered by insurance at no cost. And now, in response to a Good Morning America segment on the “debate” about whether mothers should let their teen […]
A Preventive Health Care Game-Changer for Women
By Kari Paul In a huge victory for women’s health, an Institute of Medicine (IOM) report today advised that birth control and seven other women’s health services should be considered “preventive care” and be covered by health insurance with no co-pay. The institute’s recommendations for no-cost coverage also include yearly preventative-care visits; lactation counseling and […]
A Beating for a Phone: Women Struggle to Access Mobile Technology
People are always shocked to learn how widespread and easily available mobile technology is in “developing nations” like Bangladesh, Kenya, and Afghanistan. When my husband visited my city of birth, Dhaka, last year he could not believe how many people had cell phones in a country where more than half of the population cannot access […]
US Assistance to Global Health Programs: The Battle Continues
The recent hostile budget process targeted women’s health programs globally as much as it did domestically. International family planning was targeted for a 40% cut and UNFPA funding eliminated in the House majority proposals alongside a total elimination of Title X and Planned Parenthood funding. The final amount approved for FY 2011 by Congress for […]
New Kansas Regulations May Wipe Abortion Providers Off the Map
Will Kansas become the first state in the nation without an abortion provider? The once-unthinkable could happen by Friday when a host of new state regulations takes effect. These detailed rules govern everything from the minimum size of the janitors’ closets to which drugs sit on the stockroom shelves. Clearly, these are the kinds of […]
Virginity Tests: Time to Let Gender Out of Revolution’s Closet
There is no doubt that the recent revolution in Egypt got the wheels of the Arab Spring rolling. But just as quickly as women flooded the corners of Tahrir Square and the streets of Cairo in the hopes of a democratic Egypt, their voices were sidelined. This is not uncommon. Even in conservative countries, we […]
North Carolina Defunds Planned Parenthood
By Amanda Litman, 6/15/2011 Today, North Carolina’s Republican-led Congress voted to override Democratic Governor Beverly “Bev” Perdue’s veto of the $19.7 billion, two-year state budget–making North Carolina the third state to defund Planned Parenthood. In one short sentence at the end of the budget, Republican lawmakers have banned the North Carolina government from making any […]
Midwives: Women Saving Women
Today, May 5, 2011 is International Day of the Midwife, which was spearheaded by the International Confederation of Midwives in 1992. It’s been said over and over, but it bears repeating. ONE WOMAN DIES EVERY MINUTE OF EVERY DAY DUE TO COMPLICATIONS OF CHILDBIRTH. That’s approximately 529,000 women each year, with another 10 MILLION more […]
Day Three: Live-Blogging Women Deliver!
It’s Day 3 of the three-day international conference Women Deliver 2010 in Washington, D.C., and Ms. Bloggers are still on the scene. The conference intends to hammer home the point that maternal and reproductive health is a global priority. Want to do something to help? You can click here to urge President Obama to keep the U.S.’s […]
Day Two of Women Deliver: Ellie Smeal, Rachel Leigh Cook, Ali Larter
At Day 2 of the three-day international conference Women Deliver 2010 in Washington, D.C., Ms. Bloggers are there on the scene. The conference intends to hammer home the point that maternal and reproductive health is a global priority. Want to do something to help? You can click here to urge President Obama to keep the […]
Day One of Women Deliver: Melinda Gates, Ban-Ki Moon, Hillary Clinton
The three-day international conference Women Deliver 2010 opened in Washington, D.C., Monday morning, and the Ms. Blog was there on the scene. The conference intends to hammer home the point that maternal and reproductive health is a global priority. Want to do something to help? You can click here to urge President Obama to keep […]
