When I started writing this column back in February the across the United States, many states were reevaluating their legislation around reproductive health. We’re nearing the end of the year and yet issues surrounding reproductive health are continuing to pop up. Access to abortion, distribution of Plan B, and issues around birth control are still coming up across they country.

In New Jersey, students at Ramapo College are petitioning around the access to Plan B on their campus. They believe there should be less restrictions on how it is accessed to ensure students are able to gain access to the pill within the recommended 72 hours. Our friends at Jezebel then took a look at how easy it is to access Plan B on different college campuses. Read More »

Dear decision makers of the world, let women make their own decisions about their bodies, okay?

A new report from the United Nations says this, just in a lot more words. The UN Special Rapporteur on Health, Anand Grover, informed member states that states should be providing safe and legal abortion for all of their women, and that not doing so is messing with women’s rights.

His views are highly unpopular (surprise, surprise) within the UN. Many officials are going as far as to say Grover was overstepping his mandate as special rapporteur. In case you didn’t know what the heck a special rapporteur does, I’m here to inform you. They are appointed through the United Nations but operate independently to address human rights problems globally. They do research, write reports and make suggestions on how countries can improve their human rights. Read More »

There’s a lot going on when it comes to reproductive health these days. First Herman “anti-abortion but women should choose” Cain, found himself clarifying his stance on abortion. Then there’s been different state-issues on Crisis Pregnancy Centers.

In case you don’t have a background knowledge on Crisis Pregnancy Centers let me clear it up for you. A CPC, or pregnancy resource center (PRC), works to counsel women against have abortions. They’re non-profits, generally run by Christian organizations. In the United States there are about 4,000 of these centers, with about 20 states providing funding them. Read More »

Abortion and reproductive health have been in the news in a big way this past week:

The House in Arizona passed a bill to ban abortions performed on the basis of race or sex. This means women would have to justify the reason they want to have an abortion. This is especially problematic because a selective body could try and target a women’s race as the reason she wants an abortion rather than the fact that maybe she can’t afford to support a child at that stage in her life.

On Capitol Hill, Republican Congressman Pence is leading an attack against Planned Parenthood. He’s calling for the removal of funding for Title X, the national family planning program. Title X allows women to access birth control, cancer screenings, HIV testing and Planned Parenthood health centers. One in five American women makes at least one visit to Planned Parenthood during their lifetime, so this will affect women both at the moment and in the future. The reasoning behind the bill? To cut funding to an organization that provides abortion. It is already illegal to use government money to fund abortions, meaning this bill is really just cutting down on the center’s ability to dole out information on safe-sex, test people for STDs and help women (including college women!) get affordable birth control. Read More »

[The following post is courtesy of Vanessa Cullins, M.D., Vice President of Medical Affairs at Planned Parenthood. If anyone knows anything about the importance of testing and sexual health, it is Dr. Cullins.]

Here’s a disturbing tidbit:  A U.S. government study found that an average of 14 percent of college women become infected with a human papilloma virus (HPV) each year. At the end of a three-year study, 43 percent of college women were infected.  Why should you care?  Because in some cases HPV can lead to cancer. To avoid HPV infection, girls and women should be vaccinated with Gardasil, which prevents infection of the types of HPV that cause 70 percent of the cases of cervical cancer in the U.S.

Here’s another: An estimated 19 million Americans are infected with a new sexually transmitted disease (STD) each year and, by the age of 25, half of all sexually active young people will contract an STD. In fact, at least one in four teenage girls already has an STD.

Read More »