Health

Advice for Komen: Try Pink and Purple Ribbons

by Ben Atherton-Zeman · February 7, 2012 · no comments

The Susan G. Komen Foundation lost support from donors last week after the organization announced that it would cut funding to Planned Parenthood. Its apology on Friday was lauded by some, but viewed with skepticism by many others, who pointed out that Komen hadn’t actually promised to refund Planned Parenthood. The damage has been done to Komen’s image, especially within the women’s rights community. To restore its credibility, Komen needs to build more bridges with the feminist movement. An easy place ...Read More

Law

Score One For Marriage Rights–Federal Court Strikes Down Prop 8!

by Audrey Bilger · February 7, 2012 · 1 comment

Back in the good old days of 2008, same-sex marriage was legal in the Golden State of California for 143 days, and during that time 18,000 same-sex couples legally tied the knot. The existence of those 18,000 is why Proposition 8–which made same-sex marriage illegal later that year–is unconstitutional, according to today’s ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court. By a 2-1 vote, a court panel upheld the historic 2010 decision by Judge Vaughn Walker to strike down Prop 8 as unconstitutional. Since Prop 8 ...Read More

Education

10 Things You Need to Know About Native American Women

by Laura Paskus · February 5, 2012 · 6 comments

It’s no exaggeration to say that American Indian women are missing from most media coverage, history books and classroom discussions. But at least journalism students, instructors and state educators in Nebraska are doing something to help end America’s ignorance of Native women and the contributions they make to their communities, their tribes and to the nation as a whole. Last year, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Journalism and Mass Communications published the magazine, Native Daughters. With a ...Read More

Reproductive Rights

Abortion Is 14 Times Safer Than Childbirth (No Surprise)

by Carol King · February 3, 2012 · 5 comments

This week the world was stunned by the announcement that the much-lauded, seemingly apolitical and altruistic Susan G. Komen for the Cure cut off funding for breast cancer screenings for poor women at Planned Parenthood health centers. Even though Komen is now backing off the decision, the curtain has been pulled back to reveal the far reach of the anti-choice far right into every corner of American society. Komen’s story that the decision wasn’t a political one was a hard sell, especially after it was reported ...Read More

Reproductive Health

Just Another Business Decision for Komen

by Lori Baralt · February 1, 2012 · 11 comments

In the midst of the many attacks against Planned Parenthood and abortion rights over the past year, the news that Komen for the Cure was halting future funding of breast cancer screening and breast health education to Planned Parenthood affiliates has still managed to create shock waves in women’s health advocacy circles. Many feel hurt and torn: How could one women’s health organization turn its back on another? Although we all know abortion is a politically polarizing issue, Planned Parenthood has generally been ...Read More

Breast Cancer

Komen and the Dangers of Corporate-Funded Causes

by Mara Einstein · February 1, 2012 · 7 comments

Breast-cancer charity Susan G. Komen’s decision to pull funding from Planned Parenthood–an organization that provides subsidized breast cancer exams for lower-income women–leaves me scratching my head. Komen claims to be withholding funds because of new criteria barring it from providing grants to organizations that are under investigation by local, state or federal authorities. In and of itself, that is odd. What is stranger, however, is the 2011 hiring of Karen Handel–who was openly anti-Planned ...Read More

Ms.cellany

Black Herstory: Jamaica’s Other National Hero

by Janell Hobson · February 6, 2012 · 3 comments

On this day, the late Bob Marley would have turned 67 years old. In honor of the “soul rebel” who encouraged Jamaicans and the rest of the world to embrace a black consciousness and support liberation struggles, I invoke the memory of another Jamaican hero for ...Read More

HERvotes: 11 Doctors Explain Why All Employers Should Cover Birth Control

by Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health · February 6, 2012 · no comments

Some religious institutions are objecting to new federal rules requiring that they cover contraception for their employees in their health insurance policies. Below, Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health (PRCH) physicians remember patients whose stories show the ...Read More

HERvotes: Why Is the Washington Post Backing Bishops Over Women?

by Eleanor Smeal · February 3, 2012 · 2 comments

The Washington Post is supporting the Catholic Bishops by repeatedly (and one-sidedly) attacking the Obama administration’s decision to maintain contraception coverage for millions of women, without deductibles or copays, under the Affordable Care Act. The Bishops ...Read More

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