By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org To show how far we have come as a civilized society, and how far we still have to go, the organization Engender Health recently released a video (see below) on past types of rather frightening forms of contraception in honor of World Contraception Day (September 26). While there are many ways to
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org In this increasingly polarized country with a deeply partisan Congress, a divided Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in favor of corporate rights (aka corporate “personhood”) over a woman’s right to use the contraception of her choice. In the long-anticipated outcome of Burwell vs. Hobby Lobby, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that family-owned
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org The number of American teenagers getting pregnant is at an historic low.  While this is good news, the U.S. teen birth rate is still highest in the industrialized world. Rates of teen pregnancy, birth and abortion have declined dramatically in the United States since their peak in the early 1990s.  According
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org At the recent International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP), a big gathering of leaders and activists on family planning and reproductive health, there was a big effort to promote the role of men.  While it may seem obvious, men are sometimes missing from family planning. Certainly education and empowerment of women
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org Most Americans have heard about the glitches with the roll-out of the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare. But apparently many women haven’t heard that birth control is essentially available for free under health insurance plans.  According to the Phoenix Marketing Company, which has been tracking this topic, this is
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org The 2013 International Conference on Family Planning is in full swing in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, concentrated around the them of “Full Access, Full Choice.” The nearly 4,000 participants are energized around bringing family planning and reproductive rights to communities in need the world over.  Ethiopia, the second most-populous nation in Africa,
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org We live in interesting times, especially here in the United States.  ObamaCare is about to be implemented yet opponents continue to try and block it.  Contraceptive use and voluntary family planning services – something many take for granted – has become a point of contention too, and we are back to
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org Confronted with so much grim news 24/7 – severe droughts and floods, poverty, loss of biodiversity, and much, much more – people are understandably hungry for something positive. Fortunately, there are some dedicated organizations and government agencies working to improve peoples’ lives and natural environment via an approach linking issues that
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org The U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee recently introduced a bill that puts a ceiling on funding for family planning and reproductive health programs at $461 million; this is 23 percent, or $94 million below the current level (and $174 million less than President Obama’s budget request). The bill also calls
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org Last week, at the Women’s Policy Summit in Sacramento, promoting women’s issues took center stage for a day. An impressive array of California advocates, activists, legislators and others gathered for a conference dedicated to “Advancing Women’s Health, Wealth and Power”. One of the main themes of the day was healthcare –
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