HERVotes Blog Carnival: Mississippi “Personhood” Amendment

Welcome to the fourth #HERVotes Blog Carnival! This time, we’re writing with an especially urgent focus. There’s an extremely dangerous constitutional amendment to the Mississippi state constitution on the November 8th ballot. It grants personhood and constitutional rights to a fertilized egg. Election day is just one week away. We must stop the outrageous movement [...]

Why I’m Glad My Miscarriage Wasn’t in Mississippi

I had a miscarriage in 1991. No one accused me of murder. No one arrested and jailed me on suspicion of abortion. No one charged me with endangering the miscarried fetus. If Initiative 26 to amend the Mississippi constitution passes next week, that won’t be true for the next woman who miscarries. She will be [...]

Hold the Sprinkles: National Pro-Life Cupcake Day Is Upon Us

Here at the Ms. Blog, we don’t usually turn down cupcakes. But over the next few days, we’ll be forgoing any of the tasty deserts handed out by the Cupcakes for Life movement. In case you didn’t see it on your calendar, this Sunday, October 9, is National Pro-Life Cupcakes Day, designed by folks against [...]

Gagging the Gag Rule for Good

In three years, one of the most volatile on-and-off-again relationships in American history will celebrate its 30th anniversary: that of the Global Gag Rule and U.S. global policy. But if Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) can convince her Senate colleagues, the gag rule might not live to receive its pearls. The rule (also known as the [...]

Ohio Vies with Virginia, Kansas and South Dakota For Most Anti-Choice State

Some days I wonder if it’s not bad for my mental health to spend so much time on reproductive rights. Today is one of those days. I’m tired, and I’m pissed off, and I’m sad (see broken heart, left). Tuesday, supporters and opponents of a “heartbeat bill” rallied outside of the Ohio statehouse to, well, [...]

Unions Provide the Route for a Secure Future to Women and Their Families

On September 7-10, the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) completed our 16th Biennial Convention, where we recommitted ourselves to those priorities that are so critical to working women and their families. The highest priority at our founding convention 37 years ago and now is JOBS! But when we talk about jobs we mean decent [...]

The Battle’s Not Over

Recent headlines have touted legal victories for feminists in the state-level war on reproductive rights. “Courts Put the Brakes on Agenda of G.O.P.,” announced the New York Times on Monday. “Judge Blocks Texas Forced Sonogram Bill,” enthused Feminists for Choice. But the sober reality is that courts have only partially struck down anti-choice laws, which [...]

Virginia Poised To “TRAP” Abortion Clinics

Imagine if, before she could stitch up your cut or extract a tooth, your doctor or dentist had to remodel her office to meet the same standards as a hospital. Most doctor’s offices don’t have five-foot-wide hallways, sinks with hands-free faucets, 250-square-foot operating rooms or exam rooms with a clear floor of 80 feet. Nor [...]

Texas Sonogram Law Is Half-Blocked

In what I’m calling a “half-win,” U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks has blocked certain parts of a law recently passed in Texas requiring doctors to perform pre-abortion sonograms. The law still requires the sonogram, but no longer requires doctors to describe the images to their patients or requires women to hear the descriptions since this, [...]

In a First, UN Holds Brazil Accountable for Maternal Death Under CEDAW

Nine years ago, 28-year-old Alyne da Silva Pimentel died needlessly from a difficult pregnancy after her care was both delayed and botched. A Brazilian of African descent, Pimentel lived in one of Rio de Janeiro’s poorest areas. When she delivered a stillborn pre-term fetus in her district’s local hospital, she languished without proper care until [...]

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