Facts, myths, and blankety-blank lies about Planned Parenthood and the Susan G. Komen Foundation
As the furor over Komen’s de-funding of Planned Parenthood continues, more and more myths about PP, its mission, and the impact of this cruel and foolish decision are getting thrown around. Frequently, those myths get lost and go uncorrected in the presence of bigger and more ideological arguments.
That’s really not fair.
Alas, this is merely the tip of the bullshit iceberg. As the Komen debacle is nowhere near coming to an end, we can expect new and exciting myths and lies to arise, like the head of a Hydra, as others are debunked. To that end, watch this space, and by all means contribute your own debunkings in comments.
...read moreMore on Komen and Planned Parenthood
...read moreThe truth is that anti-Planned-Parenthood sentiments aren’t about abortion; they’re about hostility to women, and particularly to female sexuality. Abortion makes up 3% of its services. Cancer screening and prevention are 17%.
Dr. Erik Fleischman and Involuntary Sterilization
Via Femonomics, we find a really disturbing post from Dr. Erik Fleischman, an American doctor practicing in Tanzania who brags about participating in an involuntary sterilization, calling the doctor who performed the procedure a “hero.” After a pregnant patient’s heart stops beating on the operating table during a C-section (because they screwed up the epidural [...]
...read moreVote no on bullshit
On Tuesday, November 8, the people of Mississippi vote on Initiative 26–the “personhood amendment”–which declares that personhood begins at the moment of fertilization. It’s just as ridiculous as it sounds and has no basis in science or law–just in conservative morality and controlling women. So, y’know, same ol’. Initiative 26 adds just 35 words to [...]
...read more“Balka: Women, HIV, and Drug Use in Ukraine” short harm reduction documentary
Boosting the signal on this 35-minute documentary. (Note: If you’re unfamiliar with the subject matter, then I recommend reading the short discussion guide when you watch it.) Description: The fall of the Soviet Union led to a surge in injecting drug use and skyrocketing rates of HIV spread through shared injecting equipment. A documentary film [...]
...read moreBronze Bikinis for Beneficence
Well, Labor Day weekend is coming up, and if you live in Atlanta and don’t have room to fart in Midtown with the addition of 40,000 tourists dressed like stormtroopers, you know what that means: DragonCon. And if you’ve ever been one of those 40,000 tourists, pressed tit-to-bare-back with a chick in a bronze bikini [...]
...read moreKansas Should Serve as a Warning to Virginia Women
This is a guest post by Dr. James Kenley.
These regulations, which demanded precise sizes for janitorial closets, no-variance room temperatures, and other ridiculous requirements, were purportedly established to protect the health and safety of women, but in truth had one and only one purpose: to shut down the three existing abortion facilities in the state.
Fat and healthy – not an oxymoron.
Hey there! I know you’re all like “didn’t she say adieu (and spell it incorrectly, too) awhile ago?” Well, I did, but the delightful Powers That Be at Feministe are allowing me to another quick visit, in order to drop some new science on y’all. So I’m just going to leave this here (along with [...]
...read moreBanning Circumcision in San Francisco
There’s a proposed measure in San Francisco, California to ban the circumcising of boys under the age of 18. Various Jewish and Muslim groups and individuals have filed suit, asking the judge to remove the initiative from the November ballot. Supporters of the ban argue that circumcision is genital mutilation that shouldn’t be imposed on [...]
...read moreSome people deserve bad reputations.
Andrew Wakefield is one of them. He’s the guy who promoted faulty research that implicates vaccines in the onset of autism, and encouraged parents not to vaccinate their kids. As a result, diseases that were nearly eradicated have returned, and are putting kids at risk. Although Wakefield did not claim to have proved that the [...]
...read moreSimply Everything: An Interview with Imane Khachani
Last month, Women Deliver – a fantastic organisation dedicated to improving women’s and girls’ health and wellbeing globally – released the Women Deliver 100. It’s a list of inspiring people, well, delivering for girls and women in all kinds of areas: health, politics, the media, and so on. Out of all those people, there was [...]
...read moreRighteous Providers, Medical Pariahs?
When we talk about the stigma associated with abortion, the conversation is often about the experiences of women who choose the procedure. Sometimes we talk about abortion providers, specifically the harassment and violence they endure to courageously provide women with medical care. But what about the harassment abortion providers receive from within the medical community? [...]
...read more
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