Topic: reproductive health

5 Questions For Planned Parenthood On Funding, Abortion, and Contraceptive Access

Planned Parenthood has been at the center of some of the most important political debates in the past few months—over their funding, abortion services, and contraceptive access for women in the country at large. In the process, we’ve seen a lot of competing information about what they do and don’t offer, how they get their money, and how well they support women’s health. To clarify, we asked them to respond to some of the biggest criticisms of late—including the ones charged by former Planned Parenthood Director Abby Johnson—and clarify the facts. More »

Sandra Fluke: Contraceptive Access Is Key To Getting More Women In Politics

Sandra Fluke was among seven women on stage at New York City’s 92nd Street Y last night on a panel moderated by Chelsea Clinton. The event, called “Running in Heels: Where are the Women Candidates for 2012 and How Can We Get More Of Them?” led to a lot of talk about how women hold themselves back in the political arena, but Sandra Fluke broke rant to make an important point: That women also face a lack of support from public policies when it comes to success in politics—including challenges to contraceptive access. certain structural barriers that shouldn’t be discounted, and as much as women need to encourage each other to step up to leadership positions, we also need public policies to help us get there…like contraceptive access. More »

Meth Babies: Just One More Reason Equal Access To Reproductive Care Matters

One of the biggest arguments against providing equal and affordable access to women’s health care, including birth control, has consistently been that it’s just too expensive, and that it’s not the responsibility of the government. That if low-income women don’t want to have children, they shouldn’t have sex. And if they do have sex and get pregnant, there will be adoptive parents waiting with open arms. But those arguments doesn’t consider one giant, heartbreaking sector of the population who are being given the short end of the stick in about a million ways: children who are born to addicts of meth and other drugs, who are difficult to adopt, who are born with a landslide of problems, who, too often, are left in the care of unfit parents, and who are anything but inexpensive. More »

Study: IUDs Are Safer Than Your Doc Is Telling You

For decades, the intrauterine device (IUD) was a dirty word when it came to contraceptive, thanks in large part to problematic early versions, which lead to bacterial infection, sepsis, and other gnarly and painful complications. But these days, scientists have pretty much got IUDs down pat; they’re safe, they’re effective, and they’re ultra-practical. But according to a study by the CDC, many doctors are still nervous about the sperm-stopping whale tale, and they may be sending the wrong message to patients. More »

Infographic: The High Cost Of Birth Control

Probably one of the biggest and most damaging pieces of misinformation swirling around during this whole reproductive health debate is that birth control is inexpensive. And whether or not you think that it should be covered by insurance (like every other kind of medicine is), the fact remains that birth control, in all of its various forms, costs a lot of money. And that cost is, the majority of the time, absorbed by women–who already pay more for health insurance. More »

8 Things That Can Boost Or Wreck Your Fertility…Now Or Later

Whether you’re currently trying to get pregnant or don’t want a baby for at least another decade, the habits you cultivate now could affect how easily you conceive. Infertility, of course, has many causes, most of which are out of our control (or at least irreversible, like age). But personal habits, environmental exposures and other “lifestyle factors” also play a role. Check out the following 8 fertility factors that can boost or wreck you chances of getting pregnant. More »

Lawmakers Propose Anti-Abortion Bill Targeting Teens

Yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee passed a proposed bill which would make it illegal for anyone who is not a pregnant teen’s parent to transport her across state lines in order to get an abortion. At first glance, this may seem like a good idea–ideally, parents should be involved in such a major medical and ethical decision. But after reviewing it further, there are so many things wrong with this idea. More »

Patient’s Worst Nightmare: Abortion Clinic Dumps Private Medical Records In Street Recycling Bin

If you think having an abortion means your personal information will be kept private, you will be shocked to learn that the doctor at one abortion clinic just dumped over 1,000 private abortion records in a nearby public recycling bin–outside an elementary school, no less. More »

Why Former Planned Parenthood Director Abby Johnson Wants Them Defunded

When former Planned Parenthood director, Abby Johnson, was called into an exam room to assist with an abortion, she had no idea her stance as a pro-choice advocate was about to change. Having helped thousands of women get access to abortions during her eight-year tenure at Planned Parenthood and even undergoing two abortions herself, Johnson was radically swayed from being pro-choice to pro-life after seeing what happened during an ultrasound abortion.

While her goal was always to reduce the thousands of abortions that take place in the U.S. each day by offering women other options like birth control and adoption, Johnson now realizes that she was “brainwashed” into believing certain “lies” that Planned Parenthood taught her for so many years, and she went on to write a book about it: Unplanned, The Dramatic True Story of a Former Planned Parenthood Leader’s Eye-Opening Journey Across the Life Line.

To find out more, we talked with Johnson about the untruths she says this organization told her, other employees and millions of other women. More »

What We're Reading:

Blisstree Debates: Should Porn Actors Be Required To Wear Condoms?

399 days ago by Elizabeth Nolan Brown & Hanna Brooks Olsen
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Though we’re usually on the same page with most issues, the writers and editors at Blisstree don’t always see eye to eye on controversial matters–like the new law in L.A., which requires men appearing in porn movies to wear condoms in order to get a permit to film. Hanna thinks that it’s a good idea, if only in theory, while Elizabeth isn’t into laws that try to regular already self-regulating industries, like porn. Here, we’re going to let you in on our discussion. More »

I Am Pro-Choice, But I Wouldn’t Have An Abortion

I have always been pro-choice, and I can say with near certainly that I always will be. But my personal feelings about abortion haven’t always been so solid. There was a time when I believed I wouldn’t have to think twice about my choice, should I be faced with an unwanted pregnancy; now I’m pretty sure I could never have an abortion. But in debates over reproductive rights, there’s not a lot of understanding for women who share my views. More »

What Really Happens During A ‘Late-Term’ Abortion

“Late-term” abortions tend to be very controversial—and confusing: Many people have read or heard horror stories about what happens when a woman aborts a fetus that’s over 20 weeks. To get a medical perspective, we talked with Dr. Anne Davis, Associate Professor of Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology at Columbia University Medical Center and the medical director of Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health. More »

Hi, I’m A Slut (Or: I Use Birth Control For Non-Procreative Sex)

I’m going to say something, and for some people, it might be hard to read. But here it goes: I use birth control because I want to have non-procreative sex. More »

7 Lies Your Daughter May Be Told About Her Reproductive Health

We may live in the age of information, but getting fact-based information to kids about their sexual health has proved to be pretty difficult. For every school yard myth there is about pregnancy being evaded by jumping up and down or for being a virgin the first time around, there is usually some miscommunication about sex risks happening somewhere close by. Sometimes parents are the ones making these slip ups, but other times this misinformation is coming straight from the classroom or a doctor’s office.

New conversations surrounding the effects of the HPV vaccine and the impacts of abortion continue to resurface in hotly debated controversies surrounding birth control availability. And yet, all the while, your daughter is watching — getting misinformed from not only her teachers but her peers, as well as whatever anti-woman legislation that wants to see that she never get to decide sex on her own, factually-informed, terms. More »

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