Reproductive Rights Blog

Working Women

This morning the Today Show had a segment on working women, and a theory that women's hormones make them less competitive, and less aggressive in the workplace, than men.  The theory, apparently, explains why women take jobs that offer less material rewards, and more warm and fuzzies (e.g. teaching).   The research is explained in a book, The Sexual Paradox, which  discusses the idea that "women tend not to seek out the highest status or the most lucrative careers: They're reluctant to take jobs whose demands won't allow them the choice to focus on other aspects of their lives."

In the meantime, many law firms are boosting maternity leave to 18 weeks, says the ABA.

Tons of articles have been written about equality in the workplace, and equality in the home.  One that I have saved is one of many that states that regardless of income, wives still do more housework than their husbands.  Which is why as often as these types of article are published, there's another one telling men that if they want more sex, they should do more housework.

In any case, it's not just that women aren't equal in the workplace, it's that they may not want the same type of jobs.  We're seeing a backslide in numbers, "[k]ey indicators such as pay, board seats, and corporate-officer posts all reflect a leveling off or drop in recent years."  This article about sexism and the workplace suggests that perhaps we think that we've conquered sexism, so there's no reason to address it.  Additionally, many of the women who are powerful or top earners aren't incredibly feminine. 

My friend was in town this weekend and it was something we discussed - not only our professional lives, but how they fit into our personal goals.  We touched on the Presidential election, in the course of these discussions, and the general perception that sexism no longer exists.  If this was true, however, feminism wouldn't be seen so negatively, it would just seem passe.   So women who want the corner office are, according to the first article, less "feminine" and we see that women who succeed may, in fact, show less femininity, whether in manner or dress.  In the meantime, men have learned to capitalize on the positives of being feminine without the baggage, and are excelling in the workplace.  Oh, it makes me so glad I'm involved in the women's movement, however tangential.

News Round Up (Jan. 25) Roe v. Wade Day Edition

This week was not only MLK Day, but Roe v. Wade Day.  Additionally, I lost another family member to cancer.  In any case, there was a lot you should have read about:

Roe v. Wade Day/Abortion:
Frances Kissling (formerly of CFFC) and Kate Michelman (formerly of NARAL) wrote an op-ed in the LA Times about abortion, and, really, the shift in perception around abortion.  They say that one thing the pro-choice folks need to engage in is a discussion about the "challenges" of the movement, including the judgment of women for getting pregnant in the first place.

Saletan says that pro-choicers need to message abortion with the goal of zero, same as teen pregnancy.

We've already discussed that the abortion rate is dropping, there's a rise in the use of RU-486 for medical abortions.

A new movie, "Silent Choices" is about abortion and African Americans.  Good article, go read it.

Pictures from the "March for Life" in DC.

Reproducing:
Related to the LA Times op-ed, a study out about Indiana shows that about 80% of black babies are born to unwed mothers.  Single mothers have lower levels of education and higher rates of poverty than married mothers, although that doesn't necessarily include those older single moms.

Italy has ruled that it is now legal to do pre-implantation genetic diagnosis of embryos.  The ruling, applicable only to the Rome area, will be reviewed by a higher court.  Also, don't forget, that in Italy only 3 embryos can be implanted at a time. 

This type of diagnosis, however, is not foolproof.

Gender/Work:
We're learning that ancient Mayan sacrifices were of young boys, not girls.

Slate had a great series on economics and gender and all of that lovely Gary-Becker-type-stuff.  Included were articles on why Divorce is Good for Women and the Economics of Marriage.   The articles are actually excerpts from a new book that's now on my wishlist.  In Japan, the introduction of divorce means that men have to treat their wives with more respect.

So while feminism opened up options for a lot of women, there was an ensuing backlash against feminism, and now there's this embrace of everything under the sun as feminism.  Want to walk around with a dog collar being led by your boyfriend?  Who's to say that's not feminist?  Stripping?  Feminist.  Housewife?  Totally feminist (not by all).   I'm not about to make any statements about it right now, but it certainly seems to be a trend that the idea of "choice" whether related to feminism or abortion, is in the eye of the beholder.  I mean, is one's choice really off bounds for social comment?

Science:
The Pill has an extended effect on preventing ovarian cancer, the number one cause of gynecologic cancer deaths in the United States.  Apparently, this is leading folks in the U.K. to renew a call to make the Pill available over-the-counter.  Additionally, caffeine decreases the risk of ovarian cancer, while alcohol and tobacco use play no role in it.

As always, there's way more to blog about, but I have to get moving.  Have a great weekend!

And the animal story: Pigeons in Paris

News Round Up (Sep 14)

I'm moving this weekend!  It's chaos around here, and doing this news round up helps me clean out my inbox.  Which, you know, probably shouldn't be my first priority, but other cleaning involves getting up, and buying boxes and whatnot.  And I'm not moving until...tomorrow...Anyway, here goes:

Babies:
Now, I know we talked a while ago about this Russian day of procreation, and it's been all over the news this week!  Slate has a nice round up on what countries are doing with regards to procreation and population - what kind of economic or other policies can a government implement to encourage or discourage procreations?  The Beeb covered this a few months ago, which you may have read about on this blog.

In the U.S., high Latino birth rates are the main component of Latino population growth (rather than immigration).  "Nationally, Johnson calculates, there are seven Latino births for every death, compared with 1.3 white births for every death."

Gender:
The Post has a compelling piece about gender in South Asia.  This closely mirrors the recent Slate piece on how television is helping to empower women in rural India.  The Post story is about a girl in Bangladesh who is being pressured to get married at age 13.  She is the star of a TV show in which her character is urged to either drop out of school and work, or drop out of school and marry.  Gender issues in South Asia are incredibly complicated, and sex-selective abortions are rampant.  So rampant, in fact, that India banned the use of prenatal ultrasound for sex identification.  There are still lots of ads for that service, as anyone who's driven down a street in New Delhi can tell you.

A new report was released on sex trafficking (which does not just involve girls and women, but predominantly so) and how wide spread it is in the West.  Including the United States.  The full report is 172 pages of pdf goodness.

Gender discrimination suit alleges, among other things, that women were denied promotions and better accounts because they refused to take part in such "business activities" as visiting strip clubs.

And I know we just talked about this whole stay at home husband/gender roles thing, but here it is again, in New York Magazine.  "Well into feminism’s second generation, there are finally a significant number of women reaching parity with the men in their fields—not to mention surpassing them—and winning the salary, bonuses, and perks that signify their arrival...In 2001, for example, wives earned more than their spouses in almost a third of married households where the wife worked. Yet this proud professional achievement often seems to have unhappy consequences at home...Indeed, there’s little evidence to show that as women acquire financial muscle, relations between the sexes have evolved successfully to accommodate the new balance of power. Neither the newly liberated alpha women nor their shell-shocked beta spouses seem comfortable with the role reversal."  Just read the article

Science:
A clinic in the UK is offering half-price IVF if the women will donate half of their eggs for research.  Contraception (for less than 8 years) cuts cancer risk - we already knew that hormonal contraceptives protected against ovarian cancer.  South Africa recalls faulty condoms.  Ovary removal tied to dementia.

Law:
The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled this week that a doctor has no duty to tell an abortion patient that the fetus/embryo is a person.  If you read this story you'll see why terminology is so important (am I a broken record, or what?)  A nurse referred to "the baby" when the embryo was only 6 weeks.  Dictionaries define baby as birth to one year, although many refer to "the baby" when having an abortion.  It's a hard concept to grasp, I'll grant you that, but one that I think should be made clear.  In my old clinic we decided to use whatever terminology the woman was most comfortable with, and using the word "baby" always made me uncomfortable.  Regardless, informed consent is an important part of medical care, and I'm not sure the doctor's assertion that the fetus was "just blood" was an accurate statement either.  In any case, the plaintiff alleged that the doctor failed to inform her that the fetus was a human being with whom she had an existing relationship (why the doctor would be the one to tell her about her relationships is beyond me) and the court sided with the doctor.  This biased counseling thing is fairly widespread, and getting worse.

Pregnancy:
Low levels of Vitamin D tied to a higher risk of pre-eclampsia.  Smoking raises risk of miscarriage. 

And the animal story: Salmon spawn trout in genetic experiment.  As a picky grammar note, young fish are not called "babies."  I know it's a complicated point, that not everything has to be anthropomorphized, but let's try?

News Round Up (Aug. 2)

In absolutely no particular order?

As usual, there is an argument raging over whether or not abstinence only education works.  Ab-only money from the government goes to: (1)Texas, (2) Florida, (3) New York.

News flash: people have sex because it feels good.  The least common response given (although, I guess, it was given) was to spread an STI.  Lovely.

The UK has a bill called the Human  Tissues and Embryos bill, which allows for the creation of human-animal hybrid embryos.  I'm sure there's a whole lot of other stuff in there, but it's long.

Kos has a story on why abortion can't be de-politicized, mainly because we suck at framing the debate.

My mom wanted me to let you know that Pink Magazine has rated the top 8 companies for women, especially important in light of recent issues regarding wage discrimination.  Why women don't get paid more?  Maybe because they don't ask for it.  Speaking of, smart and cute is better than dumb and cute.  Also, obese girls are less likely to go to college.

You know there's that big push for circumcision becaues it reduces transmission of HIV?  Well, it turns out that circucision does not reduce sexual sensation for men. 

Washington State pharmacists are suing over a state regulation that, shockingly, requires them to dispense drugs.  Of course, it's the morning after pill, but since the pill is behind the counter, and has to be dispensed by a pharmacist, um, the pharmacists are going to have to DISPENSE THE PILLS.  Seriously, get another job if you don't want to hand out medication.  I, for example, never am asked for medication all day.  Not once.  Okay, maybe if someone has a headache.  But there are tons of jobs that don't requiring handing out pills.  Unfortunatly, "pharmacist" isn't one of them.

Tubal ligation denied to young women.  I'm still not sure I believe in PMDD, but now it, like restless leg syndrome, seems to have some sort of genetic component.

The UK version of Girl Scouts is adding a safe sex badge. 

Renovator find mummified baby in a wall from 1925.  Babies for sale in Bulgaria.

Inducing labor lowers the need for c-sections. 

Women taking accutane are still getting pregnant.  I took this drug many years ago, and I had to be on the pill, have monthly pregnancy tests, sign something saying I understood that I was not to get pregnant and that the fetus would be all messed up and I should probably have an abortion, AND, each pill had a cardboard picture over each foil blister pack with the profile of a pregnant woman and a big red line through it.

Oh my: induced...miscarriage? abortion?  "gloopity glop"?  In any case, it'll  be an interesting legal case, as the MD law being used to hold the woman has an exception for women whose behavior harms their own fetuses, as do most "fetal homicide" laws.  The woman also had two more dead fetuses in her house.

My friend at WACDTF let me know that there is some kind of mess about establishing an abortion clinic in Aurora, Illinois. 

The benefits of using oral contraceptives on ovarian cancer remain at least 20 years after their use.

And y'all know I just had to post the weekly animals on birth control story: pigeons in Hollywood.  This is not a new approach, but still, I have to post.

Economics

Economics, my old love.  Sometimes I wish I was Gary Becker, but I'm sure we all do, at some point or another.  Right?

Our Bodies, Our Blog sends us to an article on the value of a working mother.  Not the dollar value, but out societal value (which, we should note, are theoretically the same thing in a capitalist market-based economy).  Why, the article asks, are Americans so conflicted about working mothers? 

We talk a fair amount about the off-ramp, and opting out, but those are financially detrimental decisions.  And since most marriages don't work out, these choices leave women with little money, few marketable job skills and bad credit.

As anyone with a basic understanding of economic theory can tell you, the opportunity cost of children rises as women become more educated.  This one of the approaches to stemming fertility (and poverty) among the poor in developing countries, not to mention that education decreases infant mortality.  In many developed countries this economic reality has created a potential social and financial crisis, in that there is a population decline.  The BBC covered this issue (as did this blog) a little over a year ago.

The Economist argues that the government needs to plan societal benefits (as is retirement ages) in order to address this obvious social trend.  Others might argue that the state should step in and try to encourage people to have children.  And so the role of government in relation to our economic and reproductive choices takes center stage on a fairly macro scale.  I'm not talking about your ability to walk into a clinic here, I'm talking about large, societal policies that may encourage or discourage people from having children, and affect the timing thereof.  And this I find fascinating.

News Round Up (Jul. 23)

Alright, there is a lot coming through my little inbox and in the papers.  Here's what you should know:

Babies & Such:

Bag of baby girls' bones (fetuses & newborns) found in India.  Newborn girl found in trash can behind Denny's in Anaheim.

Children of wealthy working parents are more likely to be obese.

If the baby is presenting in a breech position before childbirth, a c-section may not be necessary.

Health:

Smoking brings early menopause, as if you needed more proof that smoking is bad for you. 

The EU has approved GSK's new cervical cancer vaccine (Cervarix) for use in the EU.  US trial of microbicide underway.  US trials of Cervarix show high rates of efficacy.

Election News:

Ron Paul is anti-choice.  Mit Romney used to be pro-choice, now he's anti-choice.  I still kinda like Richardson - and he's really reaching out to women! Guiliani supports making abortion a state issue - which means overturning Roe.

Other:

Kos has an article on the lack of access to quality abortion care.  I think the article is a nice introduction to what most of you already know - I appreciate the post, but I would have liked a little more in-depth analysis or some concrete suggestions.  Kos also has a longer article on the history and politicization of abortion in the U.S.  Ms. Magazine is doing an appeal to fund investigations into deaths from illegal abortions in Kenya.  Creepy news about the anti-choicers in Kansas & the Operation Rescue gang.  Portugal abortion law takes effect.

Condom taste-test winner announced (you won't guess what the flavor is).

Funding for ab-only education at risk (which is good).  No chastity rings allowed in UK school that banned jewelry as part of its uniform policy.  Guttmacher emailed before the Post published that teen sex rates have stopped falling.

EU gender pay gap steady. "Women still earn 15% less than men on average, compared with 17% in 1995, despite being better educated."

More on egg donation in the US.

And the animal story of the week: STD vaccines (chlamydia) for koalas.

News Round Up (May 30)

So I still owe you a post about CEDAW, and that is coming.  Friday, I promise!  In the meantime, there's a whole bunch of stuff you should know about.

The LA Times has a story about how Merck really screwed up pushing so hard for the HPV Vaccine to be covered.  Speaking of, the NCI released new data on the vaccine, and it looks good (although I can't read this one, apparently maybe pregnant women shouldn't get the vaccine).  But, um, the good news is that if you have herpes, you might not get the plague!

Support staff is improperly doing the work of midwives, and putting women & babies in the UK at risk.  Some women, "freebirthers," do the whole thing on their own.

A challenge to Mexico City's new law allowing first trimester abortions will be heard by the Supreme Court.  Poland continues to protect abortion to some extent, and decides not to roll back rights.

Interesting frozen embryo case proceeding - so far there's no federal precedent, but embryos are treated as property.  And a surrogate in FL won't give up the baby.  Eric Rudolph is an ass, even from behind bars.

Brazil is handing out contraceptives; on the other hand, a woman in Montana received this note when she went to fill her prescription (from a company that took out this ad).  Also, our government here in the US has included ab-only education its 5 year strategic plan, even though 90% of parents in California support comprehensive sex-ed.  Hey, did you know there's an Abstinence Day and a National Abstinence Education Association?  Seriously though, how much do we have to beat this dead horse? 

Schools for pregnant girls in NY are being shut down, according to this article, for very good reason (hint: geometry = quilt-making)!   Speaking of shady dealings, Keroack fudged his credentials for his job with the US government overseeing the ab-only b.s.

A woman has twins at the age of 60 and is the oldest person in the US to do so.  People like to donate sperm anonymously; the inability to do so has led to a shortage of sperm.  Donor eggs are hard to gather, and can be very expensive.  The NYT points out that paying for eggs may raise some ethical issues.

The Thai "condom king" won a Gates Award.  A movie about abortion in Romania won a Palme D'Or at Cannes (is this movie the anti-"Knocked Up?").

Two articles about masculinity/the beta males as the ones who win.  American Idol Jordin Sparks is anti-choice.

On the opt-in thing, my friend sent me these two articles.  Irresponsible blogger I am, I haven't read them yet.  And on a personal note, stop being an ass to your single friends!  Speaking of single, it was not very nice of me to mention to my newest beau that older fathers have children with specific medical problems, like schizophrenia and autism.  But it's still true.

And lastly, the requisite animal contraception article: Kangaroos!

Things that Aren't News

So this isn't at all shocking (especially if you know that HPV not only causes cervical, but anal and penile cancers) but oral sex can lead to throat cancer.   Seriously, we knew this already, right?

The Pope doesn't like abortion.

A group of women - Moms Rising - is making the personal political (again).

Some people don't like comprehensive sex ed, even when disease is an issue.

People use genetic screening to make decisions, like having abortions.  These decisions could even be complicated or difficult.

There are health benefits to educating girls.

News Round Up (Apr. 24)

Domestic:

Freedom of Choice Act (S.1173 & H.R. 1964) have been introduced.  See if your members are co-sponsors.  Then, participate in the Feminist Majority Foundation's Call in Day, tomorrow, April 25.  Call the Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask for your members.

The G.O.P. wasn't always staunchly anti-choice.  In fact, one of the co-chairs of the party was an outspoken abortion & women's rights advocate. 

Gonorrhea is going drug-resistant.  As usual: wait to have sex, get tested, and use protection.

Work:

Gender pay gap seen from year one.  "Even after controlling for hours, occupation, parenthood, and other factors known to affect earnings, the research indicates that one-quarter of the pay gap remains unexplained and is likely due to sex discrimination."  The study apparently (on p.38, which I haven't gotten to yet) takes into account the fact that women often seek lower-paid jobs in the non-profit sector or those with increased work flexibility due to child-rearing demands.  Mainstream press coverage around.  Well done, AAUW.

Slate covers a new study that shows that maybe women don't work more than men (housework & market work, combined)?  At least not in developed countries.

Science:

Saletan covers something we already knew (but which continues to be legislated) that abortion does not cause breast cancer.  Stop making it part of informed consent.  He also talks about the continuous cycling Pill, see previous post. [Ed. if you're still confused, check out the Well-Timed Period]

Ab-only education still doesn't work (.pdf).  The Christian Science Monitor says that abstience should be a part of comprehensive sex-ed, which I think is what most people have been arguing for. 

Merck is applying for expanded use for Gardasil, arguing it protects against vaginal & vulvar cancer as well.  Still no mention of penile or anal cancers.  Glaxo's vaccine, Cervarix, works for 5.5 years.  Speaking of HPV vaccines, Roche & Transgene are partnering on developing a vaccine.

Frozen sperm + Frozen egg = baby!  This is news, especially since non-fertilized eggs don't store well.  Between that and the fact that we can create sperm cells from bone stem cells...maybe we are headed for a future without men.

International:

Mexico City's legislature is considering legalizing abortion.  Some people are protesting this proposed change.

A woman was too smart to be harassed, says a Spanish judge (thanks Brian!).

***

Fucked up story of the week: Dad impregnates daughter repeatedly, she carries to term, he has her throw the babies down the air shaft.

Get To Work

My flight to Boston was fabulous - a whole hour of nothing but writing!  I finished Get to Work on the way to the airport, and have reviewed the book in the attached document.  Seriously, best flight ever!  Read my review: Download get_to_work.pdf