Tag: Maternal Health

Rape: A Weapon of Choice in War

Mathilde, a mother of six, lived a quiet life in her village in Rwanda. One day as she went to the field towards her crops, she saw two men approach her. She ran when she recognized that they were wearing the insignia of the FDLR, a militia group, on their clothing. As she fled, she …

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The Need for Planned Parenthood’s Crucial Services

In wake of last week’s decision – and subsequent reversal of that decision – by Susan G. Komen For the Cure to end grant funding to Planned Parenthood Federation’s (PPFA) cancer screening initiatives, I thought it would be interesting to explain in detail the work that is carried out by Planned Parenthood Federation.  You may …

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The Ways Economic Inequality is Making Us Sick

Last week I was on my way to a meeting while listening to my favorite show on public radio. I arrived at my location, parked and just as I was going to get out of the car, I heard the commentator discuss how economic inequality was making the world sick. I didn’t have time to …

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Free Contraception for All

World Breastfeeding Week was kicked off Monday with the passing of a historical extension of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), announced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the Obama Administration.  The guidelines of this heavily-debated policy expands on last year’s passed reforms in healthcare regarding free-of-charge preventative services such as …

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A Closer Look at the MDGs

In September 2000, the United Nations established eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in hopes of improving social and economic conditions in the world’s poorest countries. The MDGs have caused governments around the world to rally together in a global partnership to make significant progress in some of the most challenging areas in the developing world. The …

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Pro-Woman or Pro-Disability?

When I was a freshman in high school, I had a tense conversation with my biology teacher that has always stuck with me. As a class, we had been learning the basics of genetics, and examining some of the ethical issues surrounding prenatal screening for congenital disorders. Our teacher was an enthusiastic supporter of screening, …

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Unlock the Forgotten

A few months ago, CNN journalists David McKenzie and David Formanek covered the horrific conditions that mental patients in an asylum in Mathari, Kenya face in their documentary “Locked Up and Forgotten.” At Mathari Hospital, patients are injected by tranquilizers, raped by other patients, and locked inside the hospital. They consider themselves to be inmates …

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Female Genital Mutilation

Female genital mutilation (FGM), also know as female circumcision or genital cutting, is a procedure performed for non-medical reasons that is classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) in four different types: Type I – Partial or complete removal of the clitoris and the clitoral hood. Type II – Partial or complete removal of the …

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Ratifying CEDAW, Part II

On Tuesday I posted about the history of CEDAW ratification in the United States and some of the arguments made against it, and wrote about how there is a new campaign pushing for it in the US as soon as possible. There are, of course, arguments in both directions for its ratification or not, but …

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Antibiotic Resistance

An Analysis into the Latest Threat Humanity Faces One of the leading causes for the rise of average life expectancy in the 20th century was the development of effective antibiotics. Antibiotics are defined as any compound that either kills or severely impedes the growth of bacteria. Penicillin and other antibiotics were termed ‘wonder drugs’ and …

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