I know you care about the opinions of a man who, in 1977, gave a Quaalude and champagne to a 13-year-old girl before he raped her. This weekend, filmmaker Roman Polanski said that the birth control pill has “masculinized” women and taken the “romance” out of our lives. You know, the romance of yore, like giving drugs and alcohol to 8th grade girls. Keep reading »
Tag Archives: birth control
Women Don ’60s “Mad Men” Costumes To Protest North Carolina Birth Control Refusal Bill
- North Carolina’s state house is set to debate a bill that would allow employers to refuse coverage of employees’ birth control. In protest, a bunch of women dressed up in ’60s-era “Mad Men” garb and sat in the audience! [RH Reality Check, Huffington Post]
- A bakery in Oregon is refusing to provide a cake to lesbian brides. Oh this again?. [Raw Story]
- The White House is taking proactive steps to lower the wage gap between male and female federal workers. [AL.com]
- The director of the Pentagon’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response office said that sexism needs to be taken as seriously as racism within the military. Hear, hear! [USA Today]
- Meanwhile, a soldier who was to set up a sexual assault prevention program in Texas has been arrested for “abusive sexual contact.” Facepalm. [Talking Points Memo] Keep reading »
Your Slutty Behavior Is Killing Flowers (Or Something?)
You probably didn’t know that by taking the birth control pill, you are directly contributing to lethal experimentation, euthanasia, poverty, and crime. Well, this flower/weed graphic discovered by feminist blogger Jessica Valenti on One More Soul, a Christian website promoting chastity until opposite-sex marriage, will set you straight. Only through chastity will you have a strong family life. Anything else that sounds remotely fun is SEXUAL CHAOS!
Well. I happen to like dandelions. So … [Feministing]
West Virginia Student Katelyn Campbell Stands Up To School’s Abstinence-Only Sex Ed
Meet Katelyn Campbell, a high school student council vice president, Wellesley College-bound senior, and sex education rabble-rouser who is filing an injunction against her principal for threats he made after she boycotted and spoke out against an abstinence-only sex-ed assembly at her school.
According to ThinkProgress.org, Principal George Aulenbacher at George Washington High School in West Virginia threatened to call up Wellesley College to complain that Campbell had “bad character” because she refused to attend the abstinence assembly and filed a complaint with the ACLU because the public school event was hosted by a conservative religious organization.
Keep reading »
France Will Now Reimburse The Cost Of Abortions, Provide Free Contraception To Teen Girls
Our Favorite Republican
... says male legislators "shouldn't even vote" on abortion bills. Read More »
ND "Fetal Heartbeat" Law
North Dakota governor signs law banning abortions after fetal heartbeat. Read More »
Beginning yesterday, France will provide access to free birth control for teenaged girls ages 15 to 18 without parental notification, as well as reimburse the cost of abortions to all women over age 18.
Pinch me. Am I dreaming? It’s not still April Fools’ Day, right? Keep reading »
Boston College Halts Condom Distribution
- Boston College students are facing possible discipline for distributing condoms both on- and off-campus. The school, a Jesuit college, no longer wants birth control distributed on its campus because it doesn’t align with Catholic teachings. [Boston Globe, Feminist.org]
- Five ways to make the “Lean In” movement more inclusive of low-income women. [xoJane]
- Mississippi’s governor nominated Teri Herring, who worked for the anti-abortion Pro-Life America Network, to the state’s Board of Health. [Feminist.org]
- What do we think of this new PSA aimed at teen girls to discourage them for sending sexy “selfies”? [AdRants] Keep reading »
A Pill You Only Take When You Know You’re Getting Laid?
While there are many positive side effects from taking a once-daily birth control pill — no more heavy periods, no more acne, less intense menstrual cramps — the main purpose, as the name suggests, is to prevent pregnancies. It is just one of many forms of contraception used by those who are not ready to have children.
Yet those on the Pill can attest that the potential for human error is high. The Pill’s effectiveness is reduced if a dose is skipped or even taken outside a specific margin of time. The Guttmacher Institute reports that 54 percent of women who have had abortions say they’ve used some form of contraception (usually the Pill or a condom), and of once-daily pill users who had abortions, 76 percent said they used them inconsistently. At last, there might be hope for the fair-weather BC pill user! Keep reading »
Oklahoma Republican Says Birth Control “Poisons Women’s Bodies” (FYI, It Doesn’t)
- Oklahoma State Senate Clark Jolley, a Republican (duh), introduced a bill that would allow an employer to refuse to cover birth control in their health care plans for any reason, based on the idea, and I quote, that birth control “poisons women’s bodies.” Maybe condoms — WHICH ARE ALSO A FORM OF BIRTH CONTROL, BUT FOR MEN — have been squeezing his dick too tight and are cutting off blood flow to his brain? [Think Progress]
- Homophobic school teacher Diana Medley has been suspended after lobbying for an LGBTQ-free prom. [Feministing]
- Arkansas’s House of Representatives has advanced a bill banning abortion after 12 weeks, except in cases of rape, incest or the health of the mother is at risk. The original version of this bill would have banned abortion as soon as a fetal heartbeat is detectable, around roughly six weeks of pregnancy. [Salon]
- House Republicans introduced their own version of the Violence Against Women Act that strips protections for LGBTQ victims. EYE ROLL. [Think Progress] Keep reading »
Pregnant Mexican Girl Is Older Than Previously Thought, Outfitted With Birth Control From Doctors
- Recently it was reported that a nine-year-old girl had given birth in Mexico. Now her parents are claiming she is 12- or 13-years-old, which is still horrific, and that she was impregnated by her 44-year-old stepfather, not a 17-year-old neighbor as originally reported. But perhaps what’s most offensive about this story is that doctors at the hospital where the girl delivered a baby via C-section is that they inserted an
IUDthe birth control implant “to avoid another pregnancy.” The way this story is phrased by ABC News: “Doctor Raymundo Serrano, chief of gynecology at Zoquipan Hospital, and his team decided to insert a contraceptive implant to avoid another pregnancy.” He and his team decided? That should be the girl’s decision and only hers. Also, nothing against teens having access to birth control, but in this case the girl was not sexually active with her 44-year-old stepfather — she was raped by him. What are doctors suggesting here? We can’t just goputting IUDs ingiving birth control all young women so that they don’t get impregnated if they are raped. (Thank you to commenter @ReginaRey for the link.) [Update: This post has been corrected — the IUD is inserted in the uterus, while the birth control implant, which is what these doctors used, is implanted in the skin.] [ABC News] - In happier news, Illinois’ state Senate has advanced the same-sex marriage bill! It is now headed to the Illinois House of Representatives. [Queerty]
The Soapbox: Your Arguments Against Our Permanent Birth Control Are B.S.
This essay was published with permission from Gender-Focus.
My spouse and I are seeking permanent birth control, and the entire process has been difficult. At this point, we are sick to death of unsolicited advice on the subject (Pro-tip: If someone you don’t know says they’re not judging you, they are judging you.) Everyone’s heart is in the right place, I can only assume. People think they are telling us new information that will keep us from making what they perceive to be a mistake. I get that they’re trying to help. But we continually find ourselves defending this very personal decision to total strangers. So to keep myself from screaming, I’m going to outline why the condescension disguised as concern is totally unfounded. Trust us. We’ve thought it through. Keep reading »
