Ophelia De’lonta, a transgender woman inmate housed in a men’s prison, is suing the state of Virginia for failing to provide her with adequate medical care. When the Virginia Department of Corrections denied De’Lonta’s request for genital surgery, she attempted self-castration. De’Lonta’s story is part of a much larger picture. It is all-too-common for prisons […]
Search Results for: health care
Weiner, Vitter, Spitzer, Ensign, Edwards, Tobias: One of These Is Not Like the Others
Watching the press conference held by Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) yesterday, my first reaction was, “What is it with these male politicians who think with their dicks and think the rest of us just fell off the turnip truck?” And a half hour into it, my second thought was, “Oy vey, please stop talking already.” […]
Celebrate “Griswold” By Asking Candidates Their Stand on Contraception
On June 7, 1965, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision for which millions of women (including me) are eternally grateful. Griswold v. Connecticut [PDF] struck down an 1879 law that prohibited the use of contraceptives and made it illegal to assist, abet or counsel someone about contraceptives. Griswold established a constitutional right to marital […]
After 25 Years of Paradox, A Changed Oprah Says Goodbye
When Beyonce launched into her latest faux girl-power anthem “Run the World (Girls)” to honor Oprah Winfrey on Monday afternoon, the moment crystallized what both the talk show and its hostess have been to television: 25 years of paradox. On the one hand, no one’s been a bigger proponent of real “girl power” than Oprah […]
Treatment Denied
Kathleen Prieskorn gasped in shock as her medical nightmare began. Still reeling from the heartbreak of an earlier miscarriage, Prieskorn was three months pregnant and working as a waitress when she felt a twinge, felt a trickle down her leg and realized she was miscarrying again. She rushed to her doctor’s office, “where I learned […]
How did we get to the point where 258 right-wing bishops—all (supposedly) celibate male clerics—are prohibiting doctors from practicing medicine and denying women essential reproductive care? The debacle starts with anti-choice legislation. The U.S. Congress started to pass “conscience clauses” pushed by the Roman Catholic Church and anti-abortion forces in the immediate wake of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in 1973. Today, these laws apply not only to physicians and nurses who oppose abortion, but to entire institutions whose “consciences” allow them to withhold medically indicated care.Even as recently as 2008, the George W. Bush administration issued sweeping regulations to give health-care workers the right to refuse to take part in any procedure that “violates” their religious beliefs. The Obama administration moved to reverse this policy in February (making it explicit that contraception is not covered by conscience provisions), but 47 states and the District of Columbia now allow individuals or entities to refuse women reproductive health services, information or referrals.
You don’t have to be a Catholic to end up at a Catholic hospital that refuses you lifesaving care. A Catholic facility might be the only one in your area, and when you expect treatment you may get dogma instead.“Religion in America should mean that the church runs the church,” says Barry Lynn, the executive director of Washington, D.C.-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State. “It shouldn’t mean the bishops are running your reproductive life.”
Photo of St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix by Serwaa Adu-Tutu.
Excerpted from the Spring 2011 issue of Ms. To read the full story and have this issue delivered straight to your door, join the Ms. community.
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A Mother’s Day Wish for the 7 Billionth Child
At this time last year, I wrote an article to commemorate two important events that were being celebrated on the same day: Mother’s Day and the 50th anniversary of “the Pill.” In that article, I described my mother’s childbearing experiences in Tunisia in the mid 1950s and how she would most certainly not be alive […]
Catholic Death Panels Coming to a Hospital Near You
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 […]
New Bill Will Help ERs Recognize Domestic Violence
One in four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime, and each year that abuse costs the U.S. health-care system an estimated $8.3 billion. In an effort to end widespread spousal abuse–and thus reduce health-care spending–Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) last week reintroduced the Violence Against Women Health Initiative Act (HR 1578), a bill to […]
Forget the Tea Cups, Think About the Women
Just when you thought there could be no more bad PR for the war in Afghanistan, a crippling 60 Minutes investigation about celebrated author and humanitarian Greg Mortenson’s best-selling works, Three Cups of Tea and Stones Into Schools, has cast doubts not only on the books themselves but on aid organizations in the region. Author […]
The “Art” of Exploiting Cambodian Sex Workers
Warning: Please be aware that clicking on many of the links in this post will lead to websites containing images that are NSFW and may be offensive and/or triggering. I consider myself fairly liberal when it comes to some of the most controversial 21st-century debates about sex. I’m not anti-pornography or sex work, as long […]