science

Why is it, we wonder, that when it comes to decisions regarding women and pregnancy, science is so often ignored?

What’s at stake in the HHS decision around the IOM recommendations on contraception?  First, the health and rights of women who will benefit from easier access to contraception. And second, the IOM’s action draws attention to the extent to which contraception  has become yet another front in the nation’s unending culture war.

From the “guerrilla activists” trying to take down Planned Parenthood to the state and federal legislators (from both parties) further restricting women’s access to abortion, 2011 has seen more assaults on women’s most fundamental rights yet – even more even under the Bush years. There are 3 anti-abortion federal bills and more than 200 state level bills restricting access to abortion (and cutting funds for birth control, cancer screenings and other basic care for women into the attacks for good measure). Many of the state-level bills pose fundamental challenges to Roe v. Wade, paving the way for Supreme Court challenges down the line.  What we need is an outpouring of resistance to this assault on the humanity of women!

In his inaugural address, President Obama declared his administration would “restore science to its rightful place.”  American women are still waiting.

The history of menstruation, the political prejudices against scientific information on the HPV vaccine, and fighting against the Hyde Amendment, all on this week's podcast.

Follow Amanda Marcotte on Twitter, @amandamarcotte