I met Barbara Brenner in a book. In a collection of scholarly essays called Breast Cancer: Society Shapes an Epidemic, she wrote the final substantive chapter, which was about women creating a breast cancer movement. I had just begun my own investigation of breast cancer culture, industry and advocacy. I re-read Barbara’s words many times. [...]
Of course you’ve heard that actor/director Angelina Jolie went public this week with an op-ed piece in The New York Times about her decision to undergo a double mastectomy in the wake of finding out that she is positive for the BRCA1 genetic mutation, which dramatically increases her risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer. [...]
Last fall, researchers in Missouri caught the attention of public health experts and advocates across North America. Some 9,000 St. Louis women had been offered their choice of contraceptives for free in a study that has since been called an “Obamacare simulation.” Two years later, the teen pregnancy rate was at 6 per 1,000 instead [...]
Some of the world’s poorest countries are getting price cuts for vaccines that protect against 70 percent of all cervical cancers. The two companies involved, Merck and GlaxoSmithKline, announced recently that their vaccines (Gardasil and Cervarix) would be sold to those countries for $4.50 and $4.60, respectively. These prices are an improvement from the previous $13 per [...]
I’ve been a proponent of telling personal stories to make a political point for as long as I’ve worked in women’s health. I’ve seen firsthand how powerful a story can be. I’ve told my own stories and encouraged other women to tell theirs. But I’ve never seen a President introduced by someone who started by [...]
With states tightening up abortion laws, and the FDA still restricting emergency contraception, recent reproductive rights efforts have been less than encouraging. However, it was a step forward last year when President Obama signed the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act, which included a provision sponsored by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), that protects military women by providing [...]
UPDATE: The U.S. Justice Department announced today that it will appeal U.S. District Court Judge Edward Korman’s decision to make emergency contraception available to all ages without restrictions, and asked for a stay of his ruling. The implication is that the DOJ supports the FDA ruling that’s explained below. After U.S. District Judge Edward Korman ruled [...]
The Affordable Care Act requires that birth control be made available through health plans, in some cases without co-pays or deductibles. That’s prompted religious institutions to object to paying for care that’s not consistent with their values. But Boston College’s recent steps to stop free condom distribution doesn’t involve sponsoring birth control—it involves location. Boston [...]
You need former Ms. editor Letty Cottin Pogrebin‘s new book How to Be a Friend to a Friend Who’s Sick. Everyone needs this book. If you have a sick friend, if you are a sick friend, if your friend has a family member who is sick, here’s where to turn to learn how to help [...]
When it comes to women’s health, corporate interests and profits have been driving the agenda for far too long. There’s no better example than breast cancer, where companies make billions selling pink ribbon products in the name of the disease, and yet we have too little to show for this money. The commodification of breast [...]
