Because I am a Woman
This blog is about sex-positivity, sex-ed, feminism, reproductive rights and activism.
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Thousands of Indians oppose Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP). Here dozens of women lie on the railroad tracks to oppose movement of any materials in and out of the dangerous plant.
(via fuckyeahfeminists)
New data highlight that bicyclists in the United States save at least $4.6 billion a year by riding instead of driving…
The average annual operating cost of a bicycle is $308, compared to $8,220 for the average car, and if American drivers replaced just one four-mile car trip with a bike each week for the entire year, it would save more than two billion gallons of gas, for a total savings of $7.3 billion a year, based on $4 a gallon for gas.
A quote from the Forbes article, ‘Pedaling to Prosperity: Biking Saves U.S. Riders Billions A Year’.
Related:
~ Bicycling Magazine’s new ranking of ‘America’s Top 50 Bike-Friendly Cities’.
(Photo credit: Bicycling Magazine)
Even though it’s legal for 17-year-olds [in the United States] to get the so-called morning-after pill, a new study shows that pharmacy employees often dole out the wrong information, telling the teens they’re not allowed to have the drug.
An undercover survey found that many of the pharmacies that told girls they were too young to get emergency contraception offered correct information when a doctor called seeking the pill for a 17-year-old patient, according to a report in the latest issue of the journal Pediatrics.
…
There was a huge disparity between the answers given to the teens and those offered to the physicians, with 19 percent of the 17-year-olds being told that they couldn’t get it under any circumstances, compared with only 3 percent of the physicians.
The next question was asked only by teen callers who had been told a 17-year-old could get the morning-after pill: “My friends said there is an age rule [regarding access without a prescription] — do you know what it is?”
Pharmacy employees answered that incorrectly 43 percent of the time.
Read the rest here.
We already knew that good sex and exercise have a beautiful friendship—and the term coregasm has been floating around since at least 2007—but a new study actually puts science behind the rumors of exercise-induced orgasms (which even have an nifty acronym—EIO. Try not to think of Old MacDonald). What, you’re on your way to the gym? Um, us too.
I know I had an ask about this a little while ago. I hope anon reads this!
As we noted in a “Get on Top” digest back in November, new guidelines recommend a Pap smear every 3 years instead of annually. Check out Jezebel’s post for more information on the new guidelines, or NPR’s coverage for even more detail.
Who do you talk to about your sexual health? This video is one of the many reasons we’re rather taken with Beforeplay.org. Osocio has a nice summary of what the campaign is doing to get Coloradans talking about birth control, pregnancy, and STIs, or you can always go straight to the source.
Another happy Friday. The Obama Administration announced today that it has found a way to ensure that U.S. women can get birth control through their health insurance without co-pays or deductibles while at the same time accommodating religious institutions that may object to contraception. Get the deets here from the President himself and then check out this New York Times article for a bit more context.
Americans are taking fewer risks when it comes to HIV, a Swedish study puts science behind the use of the pill for period pain, the journal Science recognizes a treatment to reduce the spread of HIV as the 2011 Breakthrough of the Year, a study revealing yet another reason why emergency contraception may be harder to get than it should be, evidence that the HPV vaccine does not actually make young women promiscuous, and more good news about birth control coverage under health reform.
pplm:
Via Feministing.
We don’t have teddy-bear-shaped IUDs yet, but there are a couple safe and effective options out there already.
More than 250 health professionals, advocates and parliamentarians from countries throughout Africa and other regions have gathered in Accra to address the issue of unsafe abortion, one of the continent’s biggest threats to women’s health.
While abortion is very safe in countries where it is legal and provided by trained medical professionals, clandestine abortion – the norm in most of Africa – can lead to death and serious injury. Approximately 26,000 African women die as a result of unsafe abortion every year. Another 1.7 million are hospitalised, and many others also suffer serious health complications, but never seek treatment.
Over 90% of African women of childbearing age live in countries with limited or no access to safe abortion procedures. According to the most recent data available, of the 5.6m abortions carried out in the region every year, only 100,000 are performed under safe conditions.
Here’s another way to think about that statistic: every year, about 5.5 million women in Africa risk their lives when they decide to terminate a pregnancy. Drinking bleach or inserting sharp objects into their cervix are only two of the horrifying methods they use. These are not risks any woman should be forced to take.
(via moreapologies)
