Tag: Medical Sexism

Rep. Carolyn Maloney Pushes Corporations for Better Birth Control Coverage

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), as chair of the U.S. House of Representatives Oversight Committee, sent letters to the top insurance companies and their pharmacy benefit managers requesting information on their activities related to birth control coverage as required under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

“I am deeply troubled by reports that health plans and issuers may not be fully complying with the ACA’s requirement to cover contraceptives at no cost, potentially depriving patients access to critically important reproductive health care,” Maloney said.

Unborn Who? Pregnancy Discrimination at COVID Vaccine Sites Signals How Expanded Conscience Rights Prioritize Control, Not Life

Women throughout the country reported showing up to their vaccine appointments only to be subjected to off-cuff, discriminatory treatment by professionals providing the vaccine, even as evidence mounted that the COVID-19 vaccine was safe and recommended for pregnant women, while COVID-19 was proving particularly dangerous in pregnancy, increasing the rate of severe complications including stillbirth. Some providers singled pregnant women out, requiring doctor’s notes; others refused to vaccinate them altogether.

As individual rights to deny medical care on religious or moral grounds expand, no one is safe from discrimination in medical care—not even the “unborn.” We should all understand our right to be free from gender-based discrimination in medical settings.

The Trailblazer Who Ensured Women With Breast Cancer Had a Choice

When Babette Rosmond published her book The Invisible Worm 50 years ago, it was a daring act of courage and a call to arms to all women with breast cancer, beseeching them to ask their doctors about treatment options instead of passively accepting a radical mastectomy.

The book was funny, as Rosmond manages to weave her dog’s sex life and her love of the Beatles into the story of her cancer. But it was serious as well. A patient—especially a woman—questioning male surgeons was revolutionary for the time. The Invisible Worm, she stated, was not solely about a lumpectomy but rather personal choice.

Cancer and COVID: Avoiding Delays In Treatment and Research Saves Lives and Families

Cancer and COVID: Avoiding Delays In Treatment and Research Saves Lives and Families—Including Mine

Decreased screening rates and fear of COVID has delayed cancer diagnoses for many, delaying treatment and possibly worsening outcomes for cancer patients. Pandemic related reduction of cancer research and treatment threatens to derail future efforts to find more effective detection and treatment methods. Similar to COVID-19, the disparities have disproportionately impacted communities of color.

Bengali Women File Class-Action Sexual Assault Lawsuit Against N.Y. Doctor: “Like an Andrew Cuomo of Jackson Heights”

On August 13, four Bengali women from the Jackson Heights neighborhood of Queens, N.Y., filed a class-action lawsuit against Dr. Ferdous Khandker, alleging decades of sexual assault and harassment of dozens of women and girls under the auspices of providing medical care. The women sought out attorney Susan Crumiller, who calls her firm “the feminist litigation firm.”

On the day the class-action lawsuit against Khandker was filed, Ms. spoke with Susan Crumiller to learn more about how the case and what’s at stake.