reproductive health

The holidays are upon us! Going home or getting together with relatives for the holidays is always a stressful time, but if your family members are the type who regularly protest outside the local Planned Parenthood, you know that this holiday is going to be a doozy.  Read on, and bring some diplomacy and understanding to the table along with that pumpkin pie.

Married at 3, divorced at 8? Early marriage should not be an option for any young girl--no matter where she lives.

The fertility industry’s professional organization – the American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) – has said plainly that freezing women’s eggs remains an experimental procedure that should not be “marketed or offered as a means to defer reproductive aging.”

NY Times Magazine features yet another article questioning the morality of women who make their own decisions about their child-bearing.

It happens frequently when I meet someone new.  We each say what work we do, and then he or she says, “You are a man.  Why are you interested in family planning?” 

Any cut to Medicaid is a threat to reproductive healthcare.  During this political War on Women, it is not unreasonable to assume that the first thing on the chopping block will be reproductive health services and women’s health care.

My generation of feminists took abortion from the back alleys and made it legal for women; today’s generation of feminists will make it affordable, accessible and viable for <strong>all</strong> women – not just the privileged or the comfortably employed middle-classed, or those with supportive families, friends, or partners who support their right to have an option or make a decision to have an abortion.  To my fellow pre-Roe feminists, let’s pass the torch without fear or apprehension!

If budget negotiations lead to re-instatement of the Global Gag Rule, it will not reduce the deficit one penny. It will instead eviscerate family planning and force providers to choose between U.S. funding and serving women in need.

In addressing obstetric fistula, there is a tendency to emphasize the treatment side. But while fistula treatment is important, fistula prevention actually deals with the causes.

As Congress considers restrictions on and total elimination of federal funding for reproductive health serivces, two new public opinion polls released today indicate that the ultra-right lawmakers pushing for funding bans are far out of step with the majority of American voters.

Follow Jodi Jacobson on Twitter, @jljacobson