pap smears

Testing at home for HPV, Montana guts family planning program, Tennessee will reimburse vaginal and C-section births at the same rate, nineteen Senators sign letter supporting Planned Parenthood, and Dillard's department store is sponsoring a fashion show to benefit Heroic Media, who is raising money for more racist billboards.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell falls temporarily - and with it the hopes of a repeal of the military abortion ban; the U.S. fails on almost all measurable goals for improving women's health; Afghan women get a hand from the UN and a new report and more.

An expanded Medicaid provision in health care reform may increase access to birth control. Predictably, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is screaming that this is actually "dismissive of women."

The Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is the most commonly diagnosed sexually transmitted infection (STI) in the United States.  Approximately 75 percent of all sexually active individuals will contract HPV at some time in their lives.  There are many different strains of HPV, some more dangerous than others.  Here is what you need to know.

Since tomorrow, May 5, is the International Day of the Midwife, I thought it fitting to take a moment to both acknowledge the day and why it's so important to me to link discussions about midwifery and childbirth to the broader reproductive and sexual health and rights movement in the U.S.