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Our Perspectives:How to get involved in sexual assault awareness month

Submitted by merenberg on April 3rd, 2017

April is sexual assault awareness month – a month dedicated to connecting with survivors, raising public awareness, and educating individuals and the community on how to prevent sexual violence. Ending sexual assault is closely connected to protecting reproductive rights. Violence committed against women violates women’s rights, limits women’s freedom, and threatens women’s physical, mental, and reproductive health.  Sexual assault awareness is important in our fight to support women’s reproductive health and rights.

MEDIA RELEASE: Women Want Answers from Senator Cassidy About the Future of Their Health Care at Town Hall

Submitted by merenberg on February 21st, 2017

Women Want Answers from Senator Cassidy About the Future of Their Health Care at Town Hall

 

New Orleans, Louisiana - Advocates for women’s health will attend a town hall with Senator Bill Cassidy to push him to address women’s health care in his new proposal. Senator Cassidy supports the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and has introduced a replacement which failsto ensure coverage for preventative health care services for women.

Our Perspective: Where do young people go to find sexual health education?

Submitted by merenberg on February 20th, 2017

When you think of porn, education probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. However, with laws in place that prohibit schools from teaching comprehensive sex education, adolescents are forced to take matters into their own hands and ask their trusty friend Google. Given the fact that almost every teenager has access to the internet, and that roughly 30% of the internet is made up from pornography, it is not surprising that a recent study found that around 60% of adolescents look to porn to answer their sex-related questions.

Our Perspective: What Supreme Court Nominee Gorsuch Means for Abortion Rights

Submitted by merenberg on February 13th, 2017

President Donald Trump made it clear: “I will appoint [Supreme Court] judges that will be pro-life,” Trump promised on the campaign trail. Vice President Mike Pence doubled down on Trump’s promise during a speech on Jan. 19 at the March for Life Demonstration in D.C.. But, as the first weeks of Trump’s presidency have shown, you can’t always take Trump’s words as truth. Trump nominated judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court on Jan. 31.  So the question stands: did Trump keep his promise and nominate an anti- abortion Supreme Court nominee?

Shackling Pregnant Women in Louisiana Prisons: Part 1

Submitted by Torrie Thibodeaux on February 10th, 2017

If you can, imagine the many healthcare needs women have based purely on their biology. In our lifetime as women, we deal with menstrual cycles, many of will encounter pregnancy and birth, then later menopause, and so on. We reach stages in our lives where we are need to have gynecological check-ups, mammograms and pap smears. These are not rare or extreme situations; these are average health care experiences that come with being a woman. Moreover, these needs do not change once a woman is incarcerated. The difference is that incarcerated women depend on the state to provide them with the adequate health care and the state is not only responsible for, but is required to fulfill those needs[1].

Late last year, I began my work with Lift Louisiana as a legal research associate to conduct research and analyze policies related to healthcare access for incarcerated women, including the use of restraints (or shackles) on pregnant inmates.

EACH Woman is Reintroduced

Submitted by merenberg on February 7th, 2017

Representatives Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) reintroduced the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance (EACH Woman) Act this week, along with more than 100 other members of Congress. The EACH Woman Act would ensure every woman, regardless of her income, insurance, or zip code, has coverage for all pregnancy-related care – including abortion. 

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