Because I am a Woman
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I wrote this post last year, but all of this information is still relevant! Check out the updated links to tell Congress to take action!
Often, when I tell people about how I organize around reproductive rights and the environment, they don’t get it. People just don’t see the connection. It gets even murkier when I start prodding them to ditch their toxic shampoo to support choice, or to sign a petition for Planned Parenthood about BPA.
So what IS the connection? Its simple: toxins in your shower products, cosmetics, plastics, and food products can take away your choice. Choice doesn’t just mean the right not to have a child, but also your right to be able to have one if you do choose to. These toxic chemicals directly impact that choice by hindering fertility, and your ability to conceive if you do want children.
In the United States, the toxins we put into our products not only adversely impact the environment but also our own bodies. According to The Guttmacher Institute, 2000 new chemicals are introduced in products each year and very few are well researched for potential negative side effects. We simply do not yet know how they may impact us. What we do know is that common toxins such as BPA, parabens, and phthalates can lead to sexual dysfunction, infertility, early puberty, and other health problems. In all likelihood, many of these 2000 new chemicals have similar impacts on our bodies. That means that these toxins can take away your ability to have a child when and if you choose to do so. This means they take away your choice.
Now is the time to do something about it. Tell Congress to pass the Safe Chemicals Act and start regulating the chemicals in our products. Check out the products you use on the Skin Deep Database, a website that will tell you whether or not your products are toxic or not. If they are, try making your own or switching to something healthier! It may not be as convenient, but your health will thank you for it!
Want to learn more? Check out the Sustainable Sex portion of my blog and take a look at the resource section for more ways to learn about and get involved in these issues.
You can also head on over to the Reproductive Health and Technologies Toxic Zombie page where you can find an online toolkit to get involved with these issues. This kit has printable posters, event ideas, a social media guide, and even ways you can green your dorm room!
Happy Earth Day!
(via catsartandstuff)
Hey everyone! I’ve been helping out with this research and advocacy project called Sexual Health Rankings™. Using data from the Guttmacher Institute, the CDC, Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, the HRC, and much, much more, it is the most complete measure of Americans’ sexual health ever created, and the first state-by-state comparison of overall sexual health.
Similar to how students receive report cards to determine their progress and their progress in relation to their peers, thus allowing their educators to determine where there are deficits and where there are successes, Sexual Health Rankings™ ranks each state (and the District of Columbia) on a composite of 26 indicators (from access to abortion and marriage equality to STI rates). This valuable tool can be used by educators and policy makers as a catalyst for positive change.
I encourage you all to check it out! There is an interactive map that allows you to examine the data on a national and individual state level. There is also a discussion forum for users to discuss the project (whether it’s things they’ve learned, ways they plan on using the data, how this data could be used, or areas for improvement). There is an advocacy page full of resources for folks looking for more info on various topics.
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Full url: http://sexualhealthrankings.com
State lawmakers will reconvene to kick off their new sessions this week, and Republican legislators are already gearing up for the new abortion restrictions they hope to introduce this year.
2012 was a banner year for attacks on reproductive freedom — according to the Guttmacher Institute, 19 states passed 42 different abortion restrictions last year, second only to the record-breaking 92 anti-abortion provisions enacted in 2011 — and anti-choice lawmakers show no sign of letting up in the new year. Even though November’s election results demonstrated that voters rejected far-right anti-abortion ideology, state legislators in the following states are moving forward with their attempts to continue restricting women’s right to choose:
– VIRGINIA: In the last days of 2012, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) quietly approved controversial health clinic rules intended to target abortion doctors and limit women’s access to reproductive services — and Republican lawmakers are prepared to further McDonnell’s anti-abortion agenda in the first days of the new year. Del. Bob Marshall (R), the legislature’s most ardent anti-choice crusader, is planning to introduce a measure to impose additional burdens to abortion access under the guise of preventing “sex-selective abortions,” as well as a provision requiring insurers to offer plans that don’t include contraceptive coverage. According to the Washington Post, another Republican lawmaker in Virginia is gearing up for a bill that would “eliminate state funding for abortions for low-income women who learn of gross fetal deformities.”
– WISCONSIN: Legislators in Wisconsin enacted three different pieces of anti-abortion legislation last year, but that’s not enough for Republicans in the state. They’re already working on a forced ultrasound bill that would attempt to shame women out of choosing to have an abortion procedure. And the anti-abortion group Wisconsin Right to Life plan to pressure lawmakers to take up legislation to ban abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy and prevent public employees from using their health insurance to cover abortion services.
– INDIANA: Two anti-abortion state lawmakers in Indiana have already authored SB 101, which would require doctors to present women with biased information about the dangers of medical abortion procedures, for consideration in the new session. The Courier-Journal reports that doctors would need to provide mentally competent women with a printed packet entitled “A Woman’s Right to Know,” which would include “detailed color photos showing the development of fetuses at two-week intervals and information regarding adoption” as well as “the risks of aborting the pregnancy versus the risks of carrying it to term.”
– TEXAS: Officials in Texas have already succeeded in defunding the Planned Parenthood clinics in their state, a policy that went into effect on the first day of 2013 and is currently forcing thousands of low-income women to find new doctors. And Gov. Rick Perry (R) — who has acknowledged that his ultimate “goal” is outlawing all access to abortion — won’t stop there. Perry is also championing a “fetal pain” bill that would ban abortions at just 20 weeks of gestation, based on the scientifically contested idea that fetuses can feel pain at that point. Similar measures in Georgia and Arizona are currently being contested in court.
So not only did anti-choice lawmakers succeed in defunding Planned Parenthood, but they also provided a faulty list for replacement providers?
It takes but a second to replace women’s health with sexual or reproductive health. It’s really that easy… and then you aren’t erasing our trans sisters.
Yes, yes, yes.
If there was any doubt that the move to de-fund local Planned Parenthood clinics is about nothing but ideology, one county commissioner removed it when he proposed refusing to continue a $5000.00 grant to the local affiliate to support needed health services for women.
Just because.
Via The Post Independent:
“This is one that I just have to take a stand on,” Commission Chairman John Martin said in calling into question a continued Planned Parenthood grant that was recommended by the county’s Human Services Commission.
“They’re a big national organization, and I think they have enough outside resources without using money that could benefit some of the local organizations whose budgets are smaller,” Martin said. “I understand they do a good job … this is not an insult. I just think they need to stand on their own.”
According to the report, every other grant requested was financed, to a total of over $400,000.
Martin, a Republican, already made news last year for supporting the idea of opening the meetings with a prayer, according to the Colorado Independent. The prayer proposal was pitched by fellow commissioner Mike Samson, who provided the other vote to refuse funding. Commissioner Tom Jankovsky was the sole vote to continue to provide the funds, despite Jankovsky’s opposition to the grant during a six-member review prior to the vote.
John Stroud reports that the $5000.00, which was approximately 5 percent of the health center’s local budget, will be kept on reserve by the commission for “additional human service grant requests” that might come in during 2013.
