Health

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 […]

Health

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 […]

Global

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 of women, Rio+20 has been particularly disappointing.

Health Politics 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 […]

Reproductive Rights

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 […]

Uncategorized

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 […]

Health Reproductive Rights

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 […]

Health

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 […]

Health

Conscience Clause: Preserving Morality or Creating Immorality?

by Elizabeth Beaulac, Outreach Intern, National Women’s Law Center August brought with it a victory for women’s health. It was announced that all new health insurance plans would be required to coverage preventive services such as contraceptive coverage. However, in not so great news, the mandate included language that would allow religious employers to deny […]

Womens Rights

Should Catholic Bishops Have The Right To Control Your Life?

By Janet Hill, Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW), National CLUW Vice President (United Steelworkers) Catholic bishops are pressuring the Obama administration to dilute the rule proposed by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to allow women access to birth control without paying out of pocket. There is a narrow exemption that allows religious […]

Uncategorized

Women’s Basic Health Coverage Is Not For Sale

by Miri Cypers, Jewish Women International Nearly one week after the defeat of the Mississippi “personhood initiative,” when the state of women’s reproductive rights in our country seemed like it could not be any more threatened, various news outlets have published an incredibly troubling story that requires our immediate attention. This Monday, the New York […]

Uncategorized

HERVotes Blog Carnival: Women v. the Bishops

by Kim Gandy, Feminist Majority Foundation Welcome to the sixth #HERvotes blog carnival on the effort by the Catholic bishops to allow some institutions to refuse, under the Affordable Care Act, birth control coverage without co-pays to students and employees of  hospitals, universities, and other institutions, or other religious affiliated or connected institutions such as […]

Global Health Reproductive Rights Womens Rights

Does China Have the Solution for the Population Crisis? Not Even Close

by Meghan Yee On October 31, the world population reached 7 billion. According to one Chinese demographer, however, if not for China’s one-child policy, the world population would have hit that number five years ago. China has the largest population on earth with 1.4 billion people. However, since 1979, the National Population and Family Planning […]

Abortion Ms. Magazine Reproductive Rights

The Real Story of Margaret Sanger

By Ellen Chesler Birth control pioneer Margaret Sanger is back in the news this week thanks to GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain, who claimed on national television that Planned Parenthood, the visionary global movement she founded nearly a century ago, is really about one thing only: “preventing black babies from being born.” Cain’s outrageous and […]

Health Reproductive Rights Take Action Womens Rights

Reflections on a Population Surging Beyond 7 Billion

6,998,460,833: the world’s current population, according to an estimate by Population Action International (PAI). In anticipation of October 31st, the day the world’s population is predicated to reach 7 billion, I’ve sat at my desk transfixed by PAI’s scrolling ticker, documenting the rapidly increasing population as it approaches a number troubling to reproductive rights activists, […]

Health Womens Rights

What Does Seven Billion Mean for Women?

The UN has projected that the world’s population will reach 7 billion today, a scary milestone amidst increasing global political and economic instability. More people will only place increased pressure on our environment, on the world’s habitats, forests, and resources such as water. But how does investing in women’s rights tie into slowing the world’s […]

Health

No Copay for Birth Control? A Great First Step Towards Truly Universal Access

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 […]