Project 2025’s endorsement of fertility awareness-based methods—which are less effective than other birth control methods—would require nothing short of a national campaign in menstrual and cervical mucus literacy. Among the […]
Category: Health
Is ‘The Good Doctor’ the New ‘Rain Man’?
After seven long seasons, The Good Doctor aired its final episode this summer. For a series that has been a large point of contention among the Autistic community, for better or for worse, the show has cemented itself a seemingly permanent spot in the conversation about Autistic media representation and, more broadly, how Autism is seen by the general public.
I am Autistic, and I polled several fellow Autistic thought leaders and experts, and it’s official: The Autistic community mostly rejects the show, mainly for its oversimplified and flawed representation of Autism.
Gun Violence Is Higher in Republican-Led Sates. We Need Red Flag Laws Across the U.S.
The deadliest school shooting in Georgia’s history last month shows a shocking reality: People in Republican-led states face a significantly higher risk of gun violence than those in blue states.
Vice President Harris’ gun violence prevention agenda, centered around red flag laws, could potentially save more lives in red states where such measures are often lacking.
The Size of Discrimination: Racism and Bias in the Fight Against the ‘Obesity Epidemic’
The thread of social stigmatizing and racism has long woven through the fabrics of science and medicine. Sarah Baartman, an indigenous South African woman born in 1789, was subjected to profound cruelties, specifically associated with her body size and shape—placed at first in a cage alongside a rhinoceros, and later in circuses and so-called “freak-shows” throughout Europe under the name Hottentot Venus.
To this day, women experience weight discrimination at significantly higher rates than male peers.
‘The Chronicler, the Microphone, the Billboard’: Jessica Valenti’s ‘Abortion’ Book Arms Us to Face the Violence of Abortion Bans
In her recently released book, Abortion: Our Bodies, Their Lies and The Truths We Use to Win, Jessica Valenti details the future. But, her gift is not prophecy, but clarity of facts. She is clear that the question of abortion access is a question of personal autonomy. She is clear that conservatives are carefully crafting a world where women who have the audacity to want sex on their own terms must be punished by a pregnancy. She is clear that conservatives want to take personhood from a person with a uterus and assign it to the embryo or fetus within it.
As Valenti writes, it is those who would “force children to give birth … make devastated women carry dead and dying fetuses, and make women raped by men prove their attacks really happened before receiving health care” that are the problem.
Do You Remember the First Time You Voted?
The first year I could vote, the choices for president were Republican Sen. Barry Goldwater or the incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson. LBJ won—the largest landslide in U.S. history. Voting for him as a first-time voter felt consequential.
This year, I’ll be voting with two very special first-time voters: my twin granddaughters, in the swing state of Georgia. Our daughters’ and granddaughters’ future is in danger.
‘That’s My Dad!’: Helping Men Find Purpose in an Angry World
Young men in the U.S. are in an existential crisis, and from even the most casual browsing of their online spaces, their anger and loneliness are obvious. For these male biological challenges, we need empathy and understanding. For the social constructions of masculinity, the way we raise boys and socialize men, we need a bold, new social project. As grandiose as it may sound, men are seeking purpose.
Republicans in House Races Are Moderating Their Words on Abortion—But Not Always Their Policies
In Pennsylvania, Republican Ryan Mackenzie touted his “100 percent pro-life voting record” as recently as May before removing it from his website.
In Michigan, where Rep. Hillary Scholten is the only Democrat to win the seat since the early 1990s, her Republican opponent, Paul Hudson, has said he does not support a federal abortion ban—yet is endorsed by Citizens for Traditional Values, a conservative group that wants to overturn the will of the voters and restore a 1931 abortion ban.
In competitive U.S. House races from coast to coast, Republicans are distancing themselves—rhetorically—from their party’s hardline anti-abortion stances. In most cases, the policies they say they support or oppose now are undercut by their records and past stances.
‘Now I Can Share My Story With Pride’: Thai Feminist Organization Collects Abortion Stories After Procedure Is Legalized
Abortions are sought by a wide range of people for many different reasons. There is no single story. Telling stories of then and now shows how critical abortion has been and continues to be for women and girls. (Share your abortion story by emailing myabortionstory@msmagazine.com.)
In this edition of Our Abortion Stories, Thai women share their own abortion stories along with their advocacy work with the queer feminist organization, Tamtang.
Telehealth Can Reduce Chaos and Confusion in Reproductive Care—Especially in States With Abortion Bans
Telehealth is driving access to abortion care in increasingly restricted environments. It also has the potential to revolutionize OB-GYN care, expanding access to services like prenatal checkups and postpartum care for millions—especially those in maternity care deserts.
We know telehealth is safe, effective and in demand … so why are some states creating significant barriers to care, or even eliminating telehealth completely?