Elizabeth Westley's blog

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Global EC: The Path to Access

By Elizabeth Westley, International Consortium for Emergency Contraception

August 23, 2007 - 7:00am

Emergency Contraception was conceptualized internationally, born abroad, piloted around the world and currently marketed through a combination of both international and domestic agencies. Elizabeth Westley takes us on a worldly journey through EC's beginnings, recent challenges and future.

1 Pregnant, Jailed and Denied Care

By Amie Newman on Nov 24, 2009 - 8:00am | comments (1)

Bethany Cajúne, pregnant and in a substance abuse recovery program, was jailed for 19 days for traffic violations. But officials repeatedly denied her a drug necessary to her recovery, putting her health and the life of her fetus at risk.

Mr. Stupak: Here’s a Senate Speech You’ll Need To Hear

By Rebecca Sive on Nov 23, 2009 - 8:00am | comments (2)

No one reading this has forgotten that the House passed a healthcare “reform” bill that includes the Stupak Amendment. Here's a speech Congressman Stupak needs to hear.

Anti-choice Groups Denounce Nevada "Egg-As-Person" Amendment

By Wendy Norris on Nov 23, 2009 - 8:00am | comments (7)

In a strange twist, Nevada anti-choice groups, complaining that the wording of a "personhood" amendment to establish civil rights for fertilized eggs is too vague, are on the same side as Planned Parenthood and ACLU.

2 Today is the Transgender Day of Remembrance

By Tara Sawyer on Nov 20, 2009 - 6:59am | comments (2)

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.

The Real Victims of Stupak-Pitts

By Dr. Suzanne Poppema on Nov 20, 2009 - 7:00am | comments (51)

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.

Precious, Stupak, and the Erasure of Women's Lives

By Sarah Seltzer on Nov 20, 2009 - 7:00am | comments

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.

3 Get Real! I'm Becoming a Christian: How Can I Reconcile My Faith With My Sex Life?

By Heather Corinna on Nov 20, 2009 - 7:00am | comments (11)

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?”

Truth Is Indeed One of the First Casualties of War

By Jon O'Brien on Nov 19, 2009 - 9:37am | comments

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 Analyses Show Women Have "Much at Stake" Under Stupak Amendment

By Jodi Jacobson on Nov 19, 2009 - 7:00am | comments (10)

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.

4 A Federal Employee Expresses Outrage on Stupak

By Carole Joffe on Nov 19, 2009 - 7:00am | comments (84)

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.

Motherhood in America: Some Apples for Your Pie

By Anat Shenker on Nov 19, 2009 - 7:00am | comments (3)

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.

Who Pays For These Abortions?

By Kirsten Sherk on Nov 18, 2009 - 7:00am | comments (4)

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.

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Former Kansas Atty General Chief of Staff Under Investigation for Ethics Violations in Tiller Case

Jodi Jacobson, Senior Political Editor
Nov 23 2009 - 4:47pm | comments (1)

The Wichita Eagle reports today that Eric Rucker, former top assistant to Kansas State Attorney General Phil Kline, faces a formal ethics complaint that he made misleading comments before the Kansas Supreme Court in attempts to prosecute Dr. George Tiller for violations of Kansas law for which Tiller was repeatedly found innocent.
In 180 Degree Shift, Roeder's Attorney Protests Efforts by Prosecutors to Ban "Necessity Defense."

Jodi Jacobson, Senior Political Editor
Nov 23 2009 - 4:41pm | comments (2)

After vociferously denying a "necessity defense" could be mounted in the case of Scott Roeder, the man accused of shooting Kansas doctor George Tiller in May, the public defender representing Roeder is fighting prosecutors' efforts to ban the so-called necessity defense from his trial.
Connie Shultz: Reproductive Health Is Not A "Social Issue"

Jodi Jacobson, Senior Political Editor
Nov 23 2009 - 4:10pm | comments

"When has a medical procedure exclusive to men ever been held to a vote on a floor of the United States Congress?" asks Connie Shulz. "Oh, wait, just remembered: Never."

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Standing Up For Women’s Rights

by LeahStern
Nov 19 2009 - 11:31pm | comments
VIDEO Take Women's Health Forward: Stop Stupak!

by PlannedParenthoodAdvocate, Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota Action Fund
Nov 18 2009 - 5:43pm | comments
Senator Maria Cantwell: Champion for Reproductive Justice

by Alison Cole
Nov 14 2009 - 3:05pm | comments

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Transgender Day of Remembrance

by Melissa Ditmore
Nov 20 2009 - 11:14am | comments (1)
Standing Up For Women’s Rights

by LeahStern
Nov 19 2009 - 11:31pm | comments
State of World Population 2009 by the U.N. Population Fund

by Jane Roberts, 34 Million Friends of UNFPA
Nov 18 2009 - 7:50pm | comments

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