Canada's Universities Debate Abortion Several universities' student governments are engaging in debate over the funding of anti-choice political (i.e. non-religious) student groups. The student government of York University in Toronto has enacted a policy that denies funding of student groups dedicated solely to denying women reproductive rights. Gilary Massa, vice-president external of the York Federation of Students and champion of the new policy says:

You have to recognize that a woman has a choice over her own body. We think that these pro-life, these anti-choice groups, they're sexist in nature.... The way that they speak about women who decide to have abortions is demoralizing. They call them murderers, all of them do.... Is this an issue of free speech? No, this is an issue of women's rights.

Other students, some faculty and at least one journalist have expressed "disappointment" and "outrage" that the policy is being enacted during the summer while students are away from campus and also have concerns about the free speech implications of such a policy. Several other Canadian universities are engaging in similar debates. The anti-choice efforts on these campuses are reportedly being at least partly organized and funded by the Genocide Awareness Project.

Contraception Stuck in the Dark Ages LiveScience has a great a article on the state of birth control research and funding. Women choose to put up with side effects of hormonal birth control pills but they aren't necessarily happy about it:

A recent study by the non-profit Guttmacher Institute found that half of American women who don't want to be pregnant still aren't reliably using birth control, and even among those who are, four in 10 aren't satisfied with their current method.

Birth control methods have not changed dramatically in 30 years, owing to a lack of funding and general resistance to pioneering new methods of contraception.

Unacceptable Conviction Rates on Rape Cases (via Feministing)The Washington Post published an article yesterday examining the unbelieveably low 5.7% conviction rate for rape cases in Britain. The conviction rate was 33% in 1977.