The year was a frantic one in the fight over reproductive rights, but what was really remarkable was how anti-choicers quit pretending to simply love fetuses, and wage all-out war on women's non-abortion reproductive rights.
The war cry of the GOP (Grand Old Puritans) is that the HPV vaccine is a license for public fornication. This is how they rally their financial base. I get that, but the press doesn’t have to take the bait. It only becomes a story if the press makes it so.
Diseases such as diabetes and cancer cause tens of millions of deaths each year, many of which are premature. Once the burden of rich countries, these non-communicable diseases are increasingly affecting individuals in low- and middle-income countries where they impose heavy burdens on already fragile health systems. Among the most deadly—and preventable—of these diseases is cervical cancer.
Whether President Obama was compelled to weave the bubble gum narrative for political gain or because it truly reflects his thinking, the result is the same. Complex sexual health issues get overly simplified, society focuses on stigma more than solution, and young people are left with policy decisions that don't begin to match the weight of their lived experiences nor keep them "safe."
Who bears the brunt of the increasingly steep costs of “global weirding” as the world’s weather goes haywire? Women and their children. And who may be the key to stopping global warming, and to helping communities around the world adapt to the damage that has already been done? Yes, women too.
