At a meeting in Berlin last week, delegates met to review the 15 years since the signing of the ICPD Plan of Action. Significant shortfalls exist, but some progress has been made.
Americans view U.S. assistance for global women's heath programs as important, but not necessary to our own interests but these issues must form a core part of our foreign policy as much as oil, war and trade. The next administration can change that.
Neither Presidential candidate has yet pledged to restore funding to UNFPA. Both should -- because when women are healthy, more economically stable and better able to participate in society, society evolves to benefit all of us.
When authorities removed 413 children in danger of sexual abuse from the Yearning for Zion ranch this month, it became clear that here in the US, child marriage is a result of brainwashing and indoctrination.
How can we trigger passion for social justice in young people? Nothing touches people like personal connection. That's why last year Americans for UNFPA started the Student Award for the Health and Dignity of Women.
We don't view teen pregnancies as a travesty when the teen is not American. And why not? Consider this fact: Pregnancy is the leading cause of death for girls aged 15-19 worldwide.
At the dawn of a new year, women around the world still rely on crucial funds from UNFPA for health care and family planning. But our current administration continues to withhold the money.
No matter what the framers intended, we now follow a system of government that is heavily weighed toward the executive branch. So more than ever we need a President who understands the importance of global women's health.
Where would the world be without the Universal Declaration of Human Rights? What body would have the moral authority to set the standard for nations everywhere? The answer: The United Nations.
Societies are living, evolving entities just like the people who comprise them. And when one or a few decide to change things - if they are very passionate, persistent and, one might argue, extraordinary - societies do change.
I'm a transgendered sex worker, and I want to not get killed for who I am or what I do. As our death count rises, I beg that you consider your prejudices around gender, and let us live in peace. I'm literally begging for my life.
In examining rooms, we see women in terrible pain, but their suffering doesn’t count in Stupak/Pitts world. By banishing abortion from the reform bill, the amendment punishes women who need to end unwanted or unhealthy pregnancies.
With the Stupak amendment literally and symbolically stripping women of equal status, the movie "Precious" presents, in grim detail, the way race, class and bias render a woman's body simultaneously invisible and subject to abuse.
Form-based ethics teach the Christian to ask the question “Am I allowed to do this?” Content-based ethics teach the Christian to ask “Am I truly loving the person or persons with whom I am doing this, including myself?”
I agree with Jim Wallis that the truth has become a casualty in this war--because both Jim and the Catholic Bishops have twisted it. And if Jim Wallis and his conservative allies have their way, women will become another casualty.
Two new studies show what many have already argued: Implementation of the Stupak-Pitts Amendment would likely result in the almost total loss of coverage for abortion care, including in situations where life and health are at risk.
A federal employee--barred by the Hyde Amendment from insurance coverage for abortion--incurs costs of $9000.00 to end a pregnancy in which the fetus is missing major portions of its brain, skull, and scalp.
If motherhood is "the only life sentence without chance at parole you can get without committing a crime," low-income motherhood is infinitely harder still. Still, we judge these mothers and make their lives harder, as we force them into it.
The US goes out of its way to deny poor women access to services--including abortion. Meanwhile, Ethiopia, one of the poorest countries in Africa has liberalized its abortion laws and pays for abortion care for women who need it.
A new report, released by Political Research Associates, connects the dots between U.S. conservatives, African churches and a growing homophobia - with frightening results.
After attacking James Dobson and Mitt Romney for not being anti-abortion enough, American Right to Life has set its sights on a new high profile target: ex-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
In 140 characters, Penelope Trunk started a controversy around how women should react to a miscarriage. Is it best to suffer in silence? Are you ever allowed to be grateful? And above all, are you EVER allowed to discuss abortion?
New statistics released by the National Coalition of STD Directors and the Centers for Disease Control show the public health burden of STDs in the U.S. is worsening at the same time the resources needed to fight them continues to shrink.
In all the fuss over Stupak-Pitts, the fact that both houses of Congress removed mandated coverage not only for contraception, but also STD counseling and pelvic exams went largely unnoticed.
Form-based ethics teach the Christian to ask the question “Am I allowed to do this?” Content-based ethics teach the Christian to ask “Am I truly loving the person or persons with whom I am doing this, including myself?”
Rep. Diana DeGette releases a statement on the Senate bill's exclusion of the anti-choice Stupak Amendment language and her vision for moving forward with health care reform.
