There’s a sense—not always spoken, but implied—that a person in prison deserves to be there, and therefore doesn’t deserve health care, preventative or otherwise.
Reader diary posted by Anna Clark, RH Reality Check
July 6, 2009 - 10:20am
Only four states have policies that bar the shackling of pregnant women in prisons, jails, and detention centers.
With nearly unanimous legislative support for the Anti-Shackling Bill,
New York looks like its on the verge of becoming the fifth state to
restrict a practice that is considered torture by the United
Nations--but only if Governor Dave Paterson allows it into law. Urge Governor Paterson to sign the bill at the Anti-Shackling Rally on July 9.
The Michigan Department of Corrections has prevented HIV-infected prisoners from working in food service positions since at least 1999. But the Michigan Department of Civil Rights argues that the policy violates non-discrimination statutes.
The Supreme Court opened its new term with some good news for women: it rejected an appeal from the state of Missouri, which had hoped for one more chance to defend its unconstitutional policy banning abortions for women in the prison system.
The majority of women in prison are mothers of minor children, and women are the fastest-growing prison population in the country. We need to recognize and treat with compassion the humanity of these mothers.
A report released today by the New York Civil Liberties Union discovers that access to reproductive health care services for women in New York jails is unregulated and lacks minimum standards.
In a bit of poetic timing, a federal court of appeals issued a new decision upholding women's rights on the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. The case, Roe v. Crawford, concerns the near total ban on abortion access implemented by the Missouri prison system in 2005.
Where is the reproductive rights community in the over-incarceration of mothers and the almost systematic severance in the mother and child relationship as a result of maternal incarceration?
Surviving a sexual assault and then navigating the health care system to receive adequate counseling and reproductive medical attention is daunting enough for those who walk freely on the outside. For women in prison, these hurdles can seem insurmountable.
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.
