RH Reality Check | Reproductive Health Information, News, Commentary and Community

The Sound of Silence: Where Is the Anti-Choice Outcry Over North Carolina's Forced Sterilization of Women of Color?

by Pamela Merritt

How We Can End Cervical Cancer

During this Cervical Cancer Awareness Month we take a look at how we can end this preventable disease...

Roe at 39: Fighting for our Rights

Find our coverage of the 39th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade here...

Kentucky Governor Firmly Rejects Hospital Merger with Catholic Health Initiatives

by Rev. Matthew Westfox & Carol Savkovich

A Setback in Texas, and the GOP Primary Heats Up

What's going on with the Texas ultrasound law? A representative of the Center for Reproductive Rights explains. More on the now three-way battle between Romney, Gingrich and Santorum.

Santorum: Marriage Only Exists for the Purpose of "Continuing Society"

Jan 27, 12:10pm

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This is an interview with Rick Santorum last April (2011), before his presidential campaigning began. Here, during an interview on gay rights, his socially conservative views on issues like gay marriage, DADT, DOMA, abortion and contraception all come together at one single core belief: that the institution of marriage exists for the purpose of reproduction alone.

Rick Santorum: A Baby Created Through Rape is a Gift

Jan 26, 10:41am

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GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum says that female rape victims who become pregnant through the ordeal should "make the best of a bad situation" and welcome their "horrible gift from God." He said that he would even urge his own daughter to have any child a rapist conceived in her.

Fox News on Birth Control Coverage: "Is [Obama] Provoking An Unnecessary War With America's Religious Leaders?"

Jan 25, 1:18pm

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By allowing birth control coverage, Obama is sparking an "unnecessary war" with religious leaders?! Something sounds awry. From the January 25 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends. [via Media Matters for America.]

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How Is Standing In A Driveway Not Impeding Access?

Jan 27, 9:53am

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by Robin Marty

Abortion

A judge in Colorado is determining whether an anti-choice protester has gone too far by standing in the driveway of a clinic when handing out leaflets.

Minnesota GOP Proposes Constitutional Amendment Banning Taxpayer Funding Of Abortion

Jan 27, 9:44am

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by Robin Marty

Abortion

Since last year's bill was unsuccessful, the party wants to put it on the ballot.

"Marching" Together, Online: Trust Women Week and the Silver Ribbon Campaign

Jan 27, 9:13am

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by On The Issues Magazine

Media

It's no secret that the United States is in the midst of a War on Women. During January 20-27, women and allies from around the country will come together to fight back -- online.

Another Example of How TRAP Laws Work

Jan 26, 12:11pm

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by Robin Marty

Abortion

More clinics in Illinois are spending large amounts of money to fix "safety issues" after inspections.

Australia's Only Clinic For Later Term Surgical Abortions Will No Longer Provide Services After 24 Weeks

Jan 26, 11:30am

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by Robin Marty

Abortion

Any Australian woman needing a later term abortion will now need to induce a pregnancy, and only under very strict circumstances.

Kentucky State Senator Reintroduces Mandatory Ultrasound Bill

Jan 26, 11:18am

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by Robin Marty

Abortion

Another failed bill comes popping back up for a second go.

Center for Reproductive Rights Asks For Ultrasound Rehearing

Jan 26, 11:04am

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by Robin Marty

Abortion

The group requests that the entire 5th Circuit Court of Appeals hear the case.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, Unmet Need for Contraception and Unsafe Abortion Are Widespread

Jan 25, 6:47am

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by IPPFWHR

Abortion

January 22nd marked the 39th anniversary of one of the most significant legal decisions of the 20th century, Roe v. Wade. This landmark ruling from the United States Supreme Court legalized abortion and changed the course of history for women in this country. Yet women in Latin America and the Caribbean continue to struggle for this basic reproductive right.

Please, Don't Eat The Fetuses

Jan 25, 12:40pm

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by Robin Marty

Abortion

An Oklahoma legislator wants to ban "aborted fetuses in food."

How Anti-Choice Write Off The "Abortion Is Safer Than Childbirth" Study

Jan 25, 12:26pm

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by Robin Marty

Abortion

After all, they say, it's not safer for the "baby."

Are You An "Enemy of Life"?

(Video)

Jan 25, 11:54am

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by Robin Marty

Abortion

One House Republican calls pro-choice advocates part of the "movement of death."

Who Needs Planned Parenthood When There's a "Care Center" Near?

Jan 25, 11:45am

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by Robin Marty

Abortion

Sometimes people need a reminder that there is more to reproductive health than caring for a pregnancy.

Virginia Board of Health holds first public hearing on abortion-clinic regulations - Washington Post

Business, social media to prevent babies with HIV - USA TODAY

Despite Austin council vote, anti-choice advocates vow to fight CPC ... - The American Independent

CL - Abstinence only sex-ed causing high teen-pregnancy - Yall Politics

Will Inequality Finally Top the Agenda at Davos? - Huffington Post

Frank, first openly gay member of Congress, to marry partner - Gant Daily

Task force taking on infant issue - Rapid City Journal

Council approves new sign ordinance for pregnancy centers - YNN, Your News Now

DA reportedly doubts a rape accusation against the police commissioner's son - Capital New York

Roe v. Wade anniversary: Too many politicians still don't get it, 39 years later - OregonLive.com

OT Downtown: The New Face of HIV/AIDS - New York Press

Note how differently the by colleen on How Is Standing In A Driveway Not Impeding Access?

1 hour 17 min ago

You assume the anti-choice by purplemistydez on How Anti-Choice Write Off The "Abortion Is Safer Than Childbirth" Study

1 hour 49 min ago

Thank you for the great by purplemistydez on The Sound of Silence: Where Is the Anti-Choice Outcry Over North Carolina's Forced Sterilization of Women of Color?

2 hours 13 min ago

Covering Romney? Some Tips for Journalists Tracking Mitt's Changing Position on "Personhood"

Jan 27, 9:24am

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by Jason Salzman

Politics

Reporters are having a real hard time sorting out Mitt Romney's position on personhood. Here's a quick and easy way for journos to think about the issue, and Romney's evolving stance on it.

America: Whose "Moral Enterprise?"

Jan 26, 11:46am

comments (1)

by mycultlife

Faith and Ideology

The men who lobby against women's rights, partnered with candidates like Santorum who literally believe that "America is a moral enterprise" (in effect, America is a fundamentalist Christian moral enterprise) will do anything within their power to ensure that their personal religious beliefs make their way into the legislation that affects everyone, regardless of their beliefs.

How Have Politics Around Reproductive Rights Changed Since Roe?

(Audio)

Jan 26, 10:05am

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by Brady Swenson

Abortion

Jodi Jacobson and Merle Hoffman joined Rose Aguilar on her KALW radio show to discuss the the politics of and myriad legal challenges to a woman's right to privacy and choice.

Redefining Chutzpah: More Bad Ideas to Burden Women

Jan 23, 9:18pm

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by On The Issues Magazine

Abortion

What's chutzpah? Until December 2011, I would have deferred to the classic definition in Leo Rosten's The Joys of Yiddish: chutzpah is a man who kills his parents and then throws himself on the mercy of the court as a lonely orphan. But at the end of the year, Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) introduced a bill to teach the world the real meaning of chutzpah: the "Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act of 2011."

Being Pro-Choice is About Much More Than Just the Right to Abortion Care

Jan 23, 4:04pm

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by Danielle Zielinski

Human Rights

Abortion is far from the only choice a woman makes about her reproductive health. And if you really think about it, why wait to defend those reproductive health choices until she is at the door of an abortion clinic?

Women are Watching on Anniversary of Roe

Jan 23, 12:20pm

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by Cecile Richards

Abortion

On the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, women are watching, and they are angry at what they see.

Punish First, Educate Later: South Carolina Lawmakers' Approach to Teen Sexting is Backwards at Best

Jan 25, 2:12pm

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by Martha Kempner

Law and Policy

South Carolina lawmakers are set to look at laws that make sexting between minors a crime and they are not alone; 21 states took up sexting laws in 2011. But in their rush to address this issue, too many states are punishing first and asking questions later.

The Role of Community Health Centers in Reducing Cervical Cancer Inequities

Jan 23, 9:11pm

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by Amelia MacIntyre

Sexual Health

Cervical cancer incidence rates vividly demonstrate inequities in our health care systems and in health outcomes. Women in rural areas, the elderly, those with less formal education, and women of color, for example, experience disproportionately high rates of cervical cancer. Meanwhile, in rural communities, uninsured white women have some of the poorest access to routine screening of any patient population.

Gone Too Far? Reproductive Politics in the Time of Obama

(Updated)

Jan 23, 8:32am

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by On The Issues Magazine

Abortion

What about abortion gives it staying power as the central issue in domestic politics, even in the period of the worst economic situation since the Great Depression of the 1930s? This is a question well worth pursuing.

Anti-Abortion Harassment and Violence Still Stifle Access

Jan 23, 8:30am

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by On The Issues Magazine

Abortion

Although the clinic blockades of the 1980s and early 1990s, called "rescues" by anti-abortion activists, are fewer than they used to be thanks to 1994's Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act [FACE], the ever-present threat of violence remains a fact of life for providers.

Roe at 39: Celebrate Roe by Taking Action to Ensure Abortion Is Both Legal and Accessible

Jan 21, 11:06am

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by Amanda Dennis

Abortion

January 22, 2012, marks the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Reflecting on this, I am reminded of an interview with a woman who, when asked what she thought about the fact that Medicaid would not cover her abortion care said, “I wish women had a right [to Medicaid coverage of abortion]…. I think women should have that option…. There’s a lot of things to having a right to choose.”