More Than A Magazine, A Movement
Nursing mothers need to pump regularly or they can be exposed to certain health risks, but U.S. airports have long lacked dedicated spaces for breastfeeding.
Fortunately, that will change with the recent passage of The Friendly Airports for Mothers Improvement Act. The legislation, introduced by Sen. Tammy Duckworth, requires small airports to have designated lactation spaces by 2023.
In this edition of the Weekly Pulse: Thanksgiving could become a “massive superspreader event”; experts grow “more and more concerned” as Trump stalls transition of power; a global rundown on the state of reproductive health and rights; and, a look at how school reopenings have been prioritized in Europe.
COVID-19 has left no one untouched, but it has had an especially pernicious impact on girls—most particularly those from already marginalized communities.
From a dramatic rise in sex trafficking in Malawi, to spiraling rates of sexual violence in India, from subversive restrictions on access to abortion in the U.S. to an increase in teen pregnancy and female genital mutilation in Kenya, it is clear that COVID-19 is an existential threat to gender equality.
Nearly 800,000 Louisianans (38 percent of voters) voted “No” and over 1.2 million Louisianans (62 percent) voted “Yes” on Amendment 1, a change to the state constitution that could open the possibility for the state to criminalize abortion, should Roe v. Wade be overturned. Even after election results came in, many are still not sure what the amendment even meant.
So, what just happened in Louisiana?
In honor of #ThxBirthControl Day, Ms. magazine sat down with Dr. Gillian Sealy, Dr. Megan Stubbs and Dr. Staci Tanouye to chat about birth control, why it matters, how it can be used for much more than controlling pregnancy, and more.
On Thanks, Birth Control Day, we give thanks for the many opportunities birth control has and continues to make possible for women, families and society since the Supreme Court made it legal for married women in 1965 and all women in 1972.
Until we start treating health care as a human right, we’ll continue to struggle to achieve equality and reproductive freedom.
November’s elections saw trans candidates make unprecedented gains in statehouses across the country. But despite this, several statehouses are setting out to deny the rights of transgender people in their 2021 sessions.
Telemedicine abortion startups are springing up across the country after a federal court in July temporarily suspended FDA restrictions on distribution of the abortion pill during the pandemic. In total, people in 19 states and Washington D.C. now have legal access to telemedicine abortion from a doctor within their state.
“This is a very safe early option. You can have a telemedicine appointment with a doctor in the comfort of your home and you get something mailed to your home. … To have that ability to be able to take care of yourself at home, I think that’s just an amazing service. And it should continue to be an option.”
Sexual and reproductive health advocates need to hold the Biden-Harris administration and congressional lawmakers accountable to undo the harms of the last four years, push for progressive and equitable policies, and make 2021 a turning point for sexual and reproductive health, rights and justice.
Here’s how.
