By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org As the United States is recovering from the government shutdown and the still-ongoing battle over the Affordable Care Act, which was legally passed by Congress, it is worthwhile to note the state of healthcare as it applies to reproduction and the rights of women. The Guttmacher Institute recently came out with
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org The U.S. Energy Information Administration just released a report showing that the carbon dioxide pollution emitted by Americans dropped 3.8 percent in 2012. Though U.S. CO2 emissions in 2012 amounted to 368,000 pounds of pollution per second, this is the lowest level since 1994. Ryan Koronowski of Climate Progress wrote that
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Perhaps surprisingly, men often get overlooked in discussions on family planning, population growth, and empowerment. Yet men’s understanding and cooperation is essential in improving the state of families and communities, and for also reaching a stable world population.  The most recent UN (mid-range) projection on population growth is 9.6 billion people by 2050. The Need
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org The government of Ecuador, after failing to convince wealthy, industrialized countries to pay to leave oil in the ground, has now reversed course and approved drilling in Yasuní National Park, located in the Amazon rainforest. The revolutionary plan was originally hailed in 2007 as a potential model for a more sustainable/less
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org Perhaps more than almost anyone else, girls all over the world deserve a day of recognition.  This October 11th is International Day of the Girl, a special day intended to highlight an issue of global importance.  Girls, who are all too often ignored or devalued, could use some international support. The purpose
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org Poverty drives people to do some drastic things, and bearing a child for money is one of them. Commercial surrogacy is defined as when a woman is financially compensated beyond expenses associated with the pregnancy for carrying the child of another couple. India is home to a large number of surrogate mothers,
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org “We are going to create something that will explode beautifully into the world,” stated Osprey Orielle Lake, organizer of the first International Women’s Earth and Climate Initiative Summit.  She echoed the heartfelt sentiments of 100 women environmental leaders who gathered for the conference in late September and came from more than
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