Weekly global roundup: Understanding rape in the Congo; Mobile phones prevent maternal deaths in Kenya; Ontario puts safeguards in place for sex workers; Teen pregnancy rises swiftly in Guatemala.
After praising the writers for an episode in which one of the main characters a chooses to terminate an unintended pregnancy, I was a little disappointed with the ongoing storyline in which her marriage is now in trouble and her husband blames her for "killing my baby." But in the bigger picture, even this can make sense.
Parents rightfully want to be involved in their teens’ lives, but if my daughter feels that she cannot talk to me at a big turning point in her life, it is most important that she have a trusted adult by her side. That is why I am so concerned about HR 2299, the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act of 2012.
In the motion, Planned Parenthood is attempting to force the prosecution to take into consideration standard care and best practice as viewed through the modern, professional lens of abortion care. This motion stands as a direct challenge to the anti-choice practice of habitually and flagrantly calling medical ideologues “experts” and pointing to two-bit, outdated, non-peer reviewed studies as “science”.
At the most basic level, human rights are not dependent on who "deserves" them: we have a right to access to abortion, health care, work, and freedom and movement because we are humans, not because we deserve it.
The Republicans seem to think they can erase the past four months and their “war on women,” but if history is any guide, this is wishful thinking. In fact, the historical record suggests we may be witnessing a reawakening of the reproductive rights movement.
Last March, a landmark maternal health petition was filed in Uganda, aimed at holding the government accountable for the deaths of two women in childbirth. It garnered global media attention at the time, yet five months into the process momentum has stalled. When will it be time to women to take the front seat?
For something we see and experience day in and day out, masculinity sure is a tricky business. In a collection of essays that span various countries and cultures, Global Masculinities and Manhood considers how communities around the world have been shaped by what it means to "be a man" -- and rebel against unhealthy gender expectations in order to make change.
