A Bit of Good News for Your Weekend...

via cirkusprincesse @ flickr In a nice reversal of policy under the Bush administration, the Pentagon announced that emergency contraception will now be available on military bases worldwide. I admit I was surprised to learn that this was a policy yet to be instituted, as Plan B and the generic Next...

An Endangered What Now?...

Anti-abortion groups Georgia Right to Life and the Radiance Foundation have partnered to erect 65 billboards like this one across Georgia, and plan to put up 15 more. The billboard features a black baby’s face and copy that reads “Black children are an endangered species.” Their website...

Guilty!...

It took a Kansas jury only thirty-seven minutes to convict Scott Roeder of first degree murder in the cold-blooded murder of Dr. George Tiller. Thanks to those twelve jurors for recognizing the truth of these words: “He claims justification,” Kim Parker, a prosecutor said, calling on jurors...

You Can Put Down Your Champagne Now...

As usual, if you want to get anything done in America, step one is to sacrifice the mental and physical health of women by making it an Abortion Issue.  So although HR 218 passed about forty minutes ago, it passed with an amendment which prohibits any insurance company receiving federal funds from covering...

STD Tests–Now a High School Near Y...

Yesterday’s Washington Post reported some good news. The District of Columbia’s school system will now offer free STD testing in all high schools. A pilot program last year at eight high schools in D.C. found that 13 percent of about 3,000 students tested positive for an STD, mostly gonorrhea...

Do You Have Your Permission Slip?...

A reader tipped us off to this story, about an Ohio State Representative, John Adams (a Republican), who has introduced a bill that would require women to get the consent of the father before having an abortion. Now, as Becky Sharper pointed out to me, this would not stand up to a court challenge, being...

Warning: Not Having A C-Section Is Child...

Recently I’ve been caterwauling rather loudly about the medical establishment and its seemingly endless need to dictate to women what we should and shouldn’t do with our uteri. Now the judiciary’s teamed up with them, as described in the latest post from from Lisa Belkin’s excellent...

Reproductive Rights Matter At Every Age...

There was much discussion this week of the death of Maria del Carmen Brousada, who three years ago gave birth to twins at the age of 66. News of her death–and the fact that her two children were left without a mother–was carried in nearly every major newspaper and news service. Ms. Brousada’s...

The Health Care Debate Meets the Culture...

Today, the Senate health committee approved legislation expanding insurance coverage to nearly all Americans, becoming the first congressional panel to make a move on President Obama’s health care plan. House Democrats released their proposal for health care overhaul yesterday. Truth be told,...

“Stop the Slavery of Babies!”...

I'm still not sure how you get these in utero. Via Mushroom and Rooster @ Flickr. That would be a quote taken from a comment to this article, from a blog at US News and World Report.  It was too good not to share.  If you’re brave, you’ll also find racist fearmongering about the rise...

“Choice” is Not the Opposite...

Via Jeremy Brooks @ Flickr. I didn’t read it until a little while ago, but Frances Kissling, former president of Catholics for a Free Choice, has written an op-ed piece for Salon entitled “Can we ever say a woman can’t choose?”, which appeared online yesterday.   I read it...

Sex-Selection Among Americans of Chinese...

The preference for males among some Asian-American immigrants has resulted in significant deviations in the proportion of baby boys to baby girls, according to research conducted by professors Lena Edlund and Douglas Almond of Columbia University. More boys than girls are born in the United States, by...