Elisabeth Garber-Paul

RH Reality Check

Elisabeth Garber-Paul is a recent graduate from The New School’s Eugene Lang College, where she was the Editor in Chief of the New School Free Press. She now interns at The Nation magazine in New York, and has been published in OMMA, Media, and The Nation.

MTV: Teen Pregnancy Meets Reality Television

It’s a far cry from the days when pregnant teens were packed up and sent away. Just a few decades ago, early pregnancy was seen as a stain on a family that was often elaborately hidden. But when reality television meets teen pregnancy, have we gone too far?

Gender-Based Abortions: A Slippery Slope

The right to choose, to me, has always meant that a woman can have access to abortion for any reason she wants. Not just for circumstances of rape and incest, but for her own, personal reasons that she is at no obligation to disclose. Sometimes it’s the health of the mother, or the health of the fetus. But what if it’s for a more superficial reason—like the gender?

North Dakota’s Draconian New Laws

North Dakota's House Bill 1371 requires doctors to show an ultrasound to a pregnant woman before she is allowed to go through with the procedure. Infantilizing towards the woman? Sure. Assuming that a woman doesn’t have long conversations and ambivalent thoughts about making this hard decision? This is nothing new.

Abstinence for All?

Of course Bristol Palin is pro-abstinence. She got pregnant, and now her son if four months old. And she realizes that if she hadn't had sex, she wouldn't have to deal with this.

Strip-Searching at Schools

In 2003, Savana Redding, a 13-year-old honor student at Safford Middle School in Arizona, was suspected by school administrators of carrying and distributing illegal drugs after a fellow student alleged that she was guilty.

LA Rape Kits Left to Rot

As a Law and Order: SVU junkie of sorts, I always assumed that there would be a sassy female detective pestering the crime lab to ensure that any sexual offender would be tracked down and reprimanded for their crime, making sure that every bit of evidence is tested. But when it comes to the handling of rape kits, life doesn’t always imitate television.