Health

Catholic Death Panels Coming to a Hospital Near You

PUBLISHED 4/29/2011 by

When you have a medical emergency, you want to get to the nearest hospital–fast. But if you’re a pregnant woman with a medical emergency, the nearest hospital may refuse to treat you if it’s Catholic-run. The medical personnel may have to let you die, because the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops–or as I’ve begun to […]

My Big Fat Feminist Pregnancy

PUBLISHED 4/21/2011 by

What has been feminist about my pregnancy? For starters, being in control of my fertility and being able to decide the timing of it. Because such a large part of my job focuses on U.S. foreign policy on global reproductive health and rights, the importance of women being able to access birth control and be […]

The Results Are In: No Pap Smears at Walgreens

PUBLISHED 4/18/2011 by

Over the weekend, women around the country took it upon themselves to find out if, like Fox & Friends said, Planned Parenthood isn’t really necessary because pap smears and breast exams are readily available at Walgreens. Curious to see what happened? Watch the video below: The verdict is: No, you cannot get a pap smear […]

Pap Smear, Please!

PUBLISHED 4/14/2011 by

If you happened to be watching Fox News on Saturday afternoon–it is, after all, a “reputable” place for news and commentary–you might have heard this stellar conversation between Fox & Friends hosts Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade: Doocy: And the thing about it that was audacious was the fact that he [Sen. Harry Reid] was […]

Indiana Joins the War Against Women

PUBLISHED 4/12/2011 by

Last year, Indiana governor Mitch Daniels suggested that we might be better off calling a “truce” on “social issues,” by which he means abortion, gay marriage and even global warming. Until economic conflict is resolved, he said in Weekly Standard cover story, “we’re going to just have to agree to get along for a little while.” […]

Operation Rescue Targets Maryland Clinic

PUBLISHED 4/6/2011 by

Anti-abortion groups Operation Rescue of Wichita, KS, and the Maryland Coalition for Life have leased an office space directly across a parking lot from an abortion clinic in Germantown, MD, in order to set up a so-called crisis pregnancy center (CPC). Dr. LeRoy Carhart, who became a prime target of Operation Rescue protests following the […]

Click! A Chubby Ballerina Gets Wise

PUBLISHED 4/1/2011 by

I was maybe 8 or 9, my chubby self stuffed into a brand new pink leotard and tights. I was not happy in this outfit, largely because my little body did not “fit” the ballet-body type–a fact my older brother’s very tall, very thin girlfriend pointed out regularly. When I got out of the car, […]

Anorexia, 138 Years Ago

PUBLISHED 3/31/2011 by

On the final day of Women’s History Month, let’ s take a moment to remember Miss A, the first woman medically diagnosed with anorexia, and the pioneering doctor who used her case to challenge the era’s prevailing presumption that eating disorders were simply a mark of an hysterical woman. On October 24, 1873, esteemed English […]

I Have Big Thighs

PUBLISHED 3/30/2011 by

Surfing Flickr, I ran across a photo taken surreptitiously of a woman sitting in a subway. Her above-the-knee skirt is slightly parted to reveal her large thighs. It was posted with the following commentary: Just wanted to point out that mini dresses really aren’t flattering – especially on…larger women. The buttons were straining, and if […]