Reproductive Rights Blog

Uteruses, Again

Continuing my obsession with uteruses (two of them) a woman had two vaginas and two uteruses (called wombs in the story), and the doctors joined the vaginas, and she had two babies, one from each of her uteri. Amazing. Oh yeah, via slate.

Ovarian Cancer Test

The Journal "Cancer" published a study that tells us that women with ovarian cancer have distinct symptoms at least 6 months before they are usually diagnosed. The symptoms are the oh-so-rare abdominal swelling and pain. Women complaining of such symptoms had abdominal imaging, rather than pelvic imaging, which did not aid in diagnosis of ovarian cancer.

Now I'm no doctor, but I know that abdominal pain and swelling could be symptoms for lots and lots of diseases. And it kind of makes sense to at least start with abdominal tests, doesn't it? I guess I just don't see how this helps doctors or patients. I guess it raises awareness, but I'm not sure how much this helps. Anyone with more medical knowledge want to weigh in?

Portugal Abortion Vote Delayed

Portugal's high court has ruled that the scheduled vote to liberalize Portugal's abortion laws must be delayed. The current law states that "a woman can have an abortion only if her life is in danger, to protect her mental or physical health, or in cases of rape, incest or foetal impairment. They cannot be performed at all after the 12th week."

Abortion in Latin America

The LA Times covers the abortion movement in Latin America (as a follow up to the ongoing conversation on Colombia - by the way, the paper is almost done, and I'll go into it in pretty good detail within a week or two).

Some excerpts:

" In Mexico, for example, antiabortion activists have gone to the Supreme Court to stop a newly enacted law under which the "morning-after" pill would be made available widely in the country's 19,000 government hospitals and clinics. Catholic groups have excoriated President Vicente Fox for liberalizing use of the hormone-based drug, which can be taken after sex to prevent pregnancy.

"In Uruguay, a bill legalizing abortion that had been approved by the lower house was defeated in the Senate by just three votes last year. Backers of the legislation, including trade unions, women's groups, doctors associations and even some Protestant churches, have vowed to keep trying.

"Colombia's high court is expected to rule by the end of the year on a petition to slightly loosen the country's abortion laws. In August, the influential newsmagazine Semana put the issue on its cover, declaring, "It's time to decriminalize."

"In Brazil, a bill authorizing abortion on demand was introduced last month by a government minister after lengthy deliberations by a high-level commission. Supporters acknowledge that the bill's chances of approval are slim but hail its introduction as a step forward in turning the issue into a matter of civic debate rather than the preserve of religious dogma."

It's a great article. Lucky for us reprinted here and here (in case you're having problems accessing the LA Times site). AGI has good background on it.

More Single Women Having Babies

And not just teens, the survey shows...there is a rise in births to single women between 25 & 29. The birth rate for older women is increasing, in light of women's empahsis on their careers, according to one representative from the organization.

EC in UK

Broadsheet, the new Salon women's blog, reports that a study from the UK shows about 7% of women use EC, almost half of them citing condom failure.

Abortion Does Not Lead to Depression

While the anti-abortion lobby maintains that abortion causes depression, a new study finds that is not true.

"The latest study looked at US women who aborted or delivered an unwanted pregnancy.
"It showed that the women who opted for a termination reported less depression than those who chose to carry on with the unwanted pregnancy."

Fetus as evidence - abortion = obstruction of justice

Okay, this is kind of confusing. Here's the deal. A 14 year old was raped, and had an abortion, and now the social worker who helped her have the abortion is being charged for obstruction of justice. The evidence is missing.

Why couldn't they do DNA tests on the fetus after the abortion? That happens occassionally at our clinic...(via MediaGirl)

What is Pro-Life?

via The Hard Questions: What is Pro-Life?.

- Environmental Protection
- Opposing Weapons Sales
- Opposing Wars, especially in Iraq
- Supporting Medicinal Marijuana
- Assisted Suicide
and Women's Health Care

"It means ensuring quality health care, affordable housing and a living wage for all. Because those who are healthy, and fed, and properly sheltered and who have hope for the future make different choices about bearing children. And that means fewer abortions.

"It means guaranteeing the prenatal and postnatal care that every woman, regardless of income, needs to protect her health and that of her baby. Because it is not pro-life to oppose abortion while doing little to reduce the rate of infant mortality in the United States — seven per 1,000 live births — which is among the highest in the developed world.

"It means support not just for abstinence programs, but also for sex education and condom distribution to prevent unwanted pregnancies. The United States has the highest rate of teen pregnancy and teen births in the developed world, with 34 percent of women aged 15 to 19 becoming pregnant at least once, according to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. Fewer teen pregnancies would, of course, mean fewer abortions.

It means, with compassion and understanding, encouraging those who become pregnant to consider options besides abortion. Because those of us who dislike abortion, but who also believe it should remain safe and legal, know that it is not pro-life to intimidate, threaten or harass women, or to seek to use government to take control of their bodies."

Women's Sex Lives Affected by Weight & Education

I guess the weight thing isn't that surprising, but the education part surprised me: Women who are heavier and more educated are less satisfied sexually.

"Contrary to the researchers' expectations, university-educated women are more apt to have low sex drives -- 48 per cent compared to 31 per cent among high-school graduates. They are also less likely to have orgasms during intercourse.

"It may well be that highly educated women are different from less-educated women in many respects. Maybe they have higher standards . . . higher expectations and legitimately lower evaluations. They may be living much busier, much more stressful lives," said William Fisher, a professor of psychology and obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Western Ontario who is a co-author of the paper.

"Married women were more than twice as likely as singles to report low sex drives -- a finding the researchers expected -- although the number of children a woman had was not associated with dysfunction. Respondents who were heavier had lower sex drives and were less likely to have orgasms during intercourse.

"The paper is the first to correlate concerns about sexual function with lifestyle factors -- including method of contraception -- among an extensive sample of Canadian women of reproductive age, Prof. Fisher said. Women who relied on the birth-control pill or whose partners used condoms had higher levels of pain and infrequent orgasm during intercourse. And the study found that those who used no protection were more likely to report all three issues."