A lot of people are working to alert the world to the long-simmering crisis of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo. But in a global context where the concerns of both African nations and women are hardly centered in media and government, how can the DRC's story be told to incite compassion in the massive proportions necessary for change? Click the pic.

In 1968, Catholic Church doctrine forbade the use of contraception. Forty years later, the Church's teachings are irrelevant at best to American Catholics, but outright dangerous for those living in the developing world. Click the pic.

Public health researchers and youth activists recently testified at the first-ever Congressional hearings on abstinence-only programs, offering convincing evidence that Congress should cut funding for ab-only and support scientifically-based comprehensive sexuality education.

• Ab-Only: Where Do We Go From Here?, James Wagoner
• Hearing Highlights Ab-Only Industry in Peril, William Smith
• Hearings Assess the "Only" in Ab-Only, Matthew Blake
• How Ab-Only Changed My Life: Testifying to Congress, Max Siegel
• Congress Holds Hearings on Abstinence-Only, Dr. John Santelli
• Committee Hears Impacts of Ab-Only, Cecile Richards

Abortion is one of the safest medical procedures performed. But anti-choicers won't listen to evidence -- they claim that abortion is unsafe. In states across the country, they've managed to pass a host of burdensome regulations, called TRAP laws, on abortion provision that make it nearly impossible for abortion clinics to stay open. Click the pic.

Mothers deserve celebration every day of the year! Our writers report on mothers' many challenges and mothers fighting back.

• Mothers Deserve More than One Day a Year, S. Seltzer
• Celebrating Courageous Acts of Motherhood, G. Dempsey
• "What if Your Mother Had Aborted You?", F. Kissling
• From Inside Prisons, Mothers Long for Their Children, C. Hall
• Too Poor to Parent?, G. Burroughs
• Motherhood Melee: An Interview with Amy Richards, L. Barcella
• The Best Gifts for Mother's Day Are Rights and Respect, M. Bloom
• The Politics of Motherhood, the Capacity for Choice, C. Austria
• New Moms in Africa Fight Postpartum Depression, M. Biriwasha
• Motherhood: Canada's New Glass Ceiling?, P. Pizarro

A new report from Catholics for Choice details a pattern of media manipulation by Bill Donohue and the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights -- making them neither religious, nor civil. Click the pic. Also be sure to listen to this week's RealityCast in which host Amanda Marcotte interviews David Nolan from Catholics for Choice, who sets things straight about Bill Donohue.

Both pro- and anti-choice activists are preparing the state legislative landscape on abortion for the next President and his or her Supreme Court nominees. The right's latest tactic is the ban-in-waiting -- a ban on abortion that springs into effect upon the reversal of Roe. Click the pic.

As new media tools gallop across income groups and geographical areas, so do sexual health educators' efforts to capitalize on them. In the near future, the buzz of phones or pings of a new e-mail may offer more than a social hello -- they will also provide vital, life-altering health information around the globe. Click the pic.

Join us and Americans for UNFPA for an online forum on global women's health in American politics. Anika Rahman, President of Americans for UNFPA, is following the discussion in the comments section and responding to your ideas on how to prioritize women’s health internationally.

By framing sexual health and justice debates as battles between purity and perversion, or virtue and vice, traditional media misses the progressive religious voices that speak out for ethics, morality and faith with respect for the dignity and decisions of all families and all individuals.