Special Coverage: Reproductive Justice and Gender

From the blogs

Jailtime For Pregnant Soldiers? The Army Has Made Getting Pregnant a Punishable Offense

Under a new policy enacted by Major Gen. Anthony Cucolo, troops expecting a baby face court martial and possible prison -- and so do the men who made them pregnant.

Georgia Republican Saxby Chambliss Has No Idea What Roe v. Wade Actually Says

by Jill Filipovic, Feministe

But that's not keeping him from making absurd claims about it.

Peggy Noonan Outdoes Herself, Blames America's Problems on "Adam Lamberts" of the World

by Liliana Segura, AlterNet

Don't be depressed about healthcare or the economy; the real threat to our country's future wears leather pants.

Mr. Equality Goes to Washington: D.C. Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage

by Amanda Terkel, Think Progress

D.C. is now the sixth state or region in the country where same-sex marriage is legal.

GOP Senators Appear On TV With anti-Gay Christian Martyrdom Advocate

by Bruce Wilson, AlterNet

Lou Engle has called for "martyrs" to stop abortion and gay marriage. And he predicts a second civil war.

Shocker: Women Don't Like Rush Limbaugh, Here's One Obvious Reason Why

by Amanda Terkel, Think Progress

Limbaugh was surprised when a recent poll showed few women hold a favorable opinion of him. Maybe he should listen to his own show.

Rightwing Fringe Welcome at Conservative Confab, Gay Republicans Not So Much

by Steve Benen, Washington Monthly

The bizarre John Birch Society has slowly been welcomed into the fold as conservatives have become more extreme.

This Week in God

by Steve Benen, Washington Monthly

A round-up!

Rick Warren declares he's not "conspiring" to "rid the world of homosexuals"

by Bruce Wilson, AlterNet

Warren's bizarre protest, in otherwise welcome statement criticizing Uganda's notorious "kill the gays" bill, raises further questions.

Rachel Maddow Takes on Man Who Claims He Can Make Her Straight

by Jan Frel, AlterNet

Richard Cohen's teachings have been debunked by essentially all national psychological associations, and related peer-reviewed assessments.

Men: Invisible Allies in the Struggle for Choice

Claire Keyes, RH Reality Check. December 21, 2009.
If we want supportive men's voices to balance the messages of violence and hatred, we need to reach out to men even more.

Women Soldiers Forced to Resort to Back-Alley Abortions: Why Are Their Reproductive Rights Denied?

Kathryn Joyce, Religion Dispatches. December 21, 2009.
Thanks to anti-abortion forces in Congress and other culture warriors, female soldiers are not protected by the Constitution they defend.

Health Care Reform Is Not Reform If It Denies Women Coverage

John Nichols, TheNation.com. December 19, 2009.
Sen. Harry Reid and the Senate Dems aren't winning any friends among the broad base of voters who support reproductive rights.

And They'll Call This Health-Care Reform: How Three Senators Are Extorting You For Their Big-Time Buddies

Robert Reich, Robert Reich's Blog. December 18, 2009.
Harry Reid will do anything to get sixty votes -- which means Lieberman, Nelson, and Snowe can use extortion on behalf of Big Insurance, Big Pharma, the AMA, and abortion foes.

"How Does Somebody Have a Baby in Jail Without Anybody Noticing?" The Awful Plight of Pregnant Prisoners

Rachel Roth, The Nation. December 14, 2009.
The lack of common sense and compassion with which imprisoned pregnant women are treated is chilling.

The Religious Right's Potty Paranoia

Stephanie Mencimer, Mother Jones Online. December 12, 2009.
Public restrooms: The final frontier of the right's war on queer folk?

There's More to Sex Than a Cum Shot to the Face: What Men Should Unlearn from Hardcore Porn

Vanessa Richmond, AlterNet. December 12, 2009.
No, porn does not turn men into crazed sex fiends. But it's clear that pornography has affected the way we view -- and have -- sex. Here's how to counter porn's effects.

Can Boob Jobs Serve the Public Good?

Alexandra Suich, The Nation. December 11, 2009.
A tax on plastic surgery may generate $6 billion in ten years. But feminist groups oppose it. Why?

Why Is the Federal Government Supporting Evangelism?

Eleanor J. Bader, RH Reality Check. December 9, 2009.
Why does Jerry Falwell's Liberty University, which teaches students to be "Champions for Christ," get tax-exempt status?

11 Dangerous Ingredients You Should Avoid at All Costs

Sarah Irani, EcoSalon. December 7, 2009.
Headaches, birth defects, allergies and even cancer can be caused by ingredients in common cosmetics. You don't need that junk to look good.

What Happened When an Anti-Choice Catholic Woman Needed an Abortion at Dr. Tiller's Clinic

Amanda Mueller, TruthOut.org. December 6, 2009.
The Andersons were devastated to learn their unborn child wouldn't live. Dr. Tiller showed them the compassion they so badly wished they had from their friends.

Going Undercover in the Crazy, Tragic World of Christian Gay-Conversion Therapy

Sena Christian, AlterNet. December 5, 2009.
Ted Cox posed as a gay man to infiltrate gay-to-straight therapy programs. What he found was equal parts shocking and tragic.

How Our Health System Screws Over Women

Barbara J. Berg, AlterNet. December 3, 2009.
It's time to tell to tell the medical establishment and our elected officials to stop playing Russian roulette with women's lives.

Ehrenreich: The Pink-Ribbon Breast Cancer Cult

Barbara Ehrenreich, Tomdispatch.com. December 2, 2009.
What feminists don't need, no matter how many "races for the cure" they run, is a ladies’ auxiliary to the cancer-industrial complex.

Have Women's Lives Improved Globally?

Laura Liswood, Women's Media Center. November 30, 2009.
The World Economic Forum reported some major progress in the lives of women and girls in some surprising places.

My Baby Would Have Died Under the Stupak Amendment

Tiffany Campbell, RH Reality Check. November 30, 2009.
The selective termination that saved my baby's life would not be covered under the Stupak-Pitts Amendment.

47,000 Women Could Die As a Result of the New Mammogram Guidelines

George Lakoff, AlterNet. November 25, 2009.
Cost-benefit analysis can kill. Scaling back on mammograms, as a government task force suggested, could result in 47,000 unnecessary deaths.

Why Can't We Look Away From Sarah Palin?

Vanessa Richmond, AlterNet. November 24, 2009.
She's an incompetent has-been. Yet she keeps getting our attention. Is it that she embodies a set of contradictions that many women grapple with?

Why the New Breast Cancer Guidelines Are Racist

Devona Walker, The Loop. November 23, 2009.
Black women get breast cancer at younger ages, but the new breast-cancer guidelines entirely ignore that fact. This is the very definition of institutionalized racism.

When Sex Hurts, and No One Can Tell You Why: The Mysterious Condition Called Vulvodynia

Carey Purcell, AlterNet. November 22, 2009.
Imagine a choice between no intercourse or sex with unbearable pain. Then imagine that no doctor knows how to fix it. That's the world occupied by women with vulvodynia.

Hey Guys, Don't Want Kids? A Vasectomy Is Probably the Way to Go

Anna Clark, RH Reality Check. November 20, 2009.
Historically, the burden of family planning has almost always fallen on women. Isn't it about time for that to change?

Do Yearly Mammograms Save Women's Lives?

Naomi Freundlich, Health Beat. November 19, 2009.
Controversial new recommendations on breast cancer prevention have caused a stir in the women's health community. But do yearly mammograms really change death rates?

Is House Health Care Bill a Threat to Our Constitution?

Barry W. Lynn, Americans United for Separation of Church and State. November 18, 2009.
The House health-care bill isn't just a threat to women's rights; with the Stupak amendment, it's a breach of the Constitution.

Anti-Abortion Group to Protest Palin

Stephanie Mencimer, Mother Jones Online. November 18, 2009.
To liberals, she epitomizes the anti-choice far right of the GOP. But to American Right to Life, Sarah Palin is not pure enough.

U.S. Christian Right Activists Pushing Death Penalty for Homosexuals in Poor African State

Christi van der Westhuizen, IPS News. November 18, 2009.
Some believe a slew of new, homophobic laws are an attempt to preserve Uganda's shaky patriarchy.

Catholic Bishops Put Sex Obsession Ahead of Mission to the Sick and the Poor

Adele M. Stan, AlterNet. November 16, 2009.
First they threatened to take down health-care reform over abortion coverage. Now they're threatening services to the sick and poor of Washington, D.C., over same-sex marriage.

What Should a Feminist Man Look Like?

Courtney E. Martin, The American Prospect. November 14, 2009.
Many young men reject the trappings of traditional, sexist masculinity. But what's the alternative?

The Democratic Party: Whose Team Is It, Anyway?

Katha Pollitt, The Nation. November 14, 2009.
In the wake of the passage by Democrats of a radical anti-abortion measure, Democratic women are asking, "Whose party is this?"

Why the Catholic Bishops Who Pushed Through the Stupak Amendment Are Hypocrites

Jon O'Brien and Nancy Keenan, AlterNet. November 13, 2009.
The same language the bishops thought too weak to truly ban public funding for abortion maintains their charities' own access to public money.

How Abstinence-Only Programs Perpetuate Dangerous Stereotypes

Martha Kempner, RH Reality Check. November 12, 2009.
It's bad enough the media teaches my daughter harmful gender stereotypes. Does she have to get it at school, too?

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Coverage concerning women's rights, reproductive health and education, gender, race, sexuality and more.

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Rebecca Project for Human Rights

Raising the voices of vulnerable families by advocating reform of child welfare, criminal justice, and substance abuse policies that impact the lives of women and girls.

NFPRHA

Family planning services are critical to reducing the need for abortion and providing much-needed health care for low-income communities. Nearly 90 percent of the voting public favors family planning, yet the government routinely underfunds it. Find out how the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association is fighting to keep those services available, and learn how you can help.

ACRJ

The control and regulation of bodies, gender and sexuality is reproductive oppression. Asian Communities for Reproductive Justice organizes to increase the well-being of our families and communities through collective action. Learn more at reproductivejustice.org.