This has been quite a week! On Tuesday the Senate voted on the Paycheck Fairness Act (unfortunately opponents blocked the bill on a procedural vote) and on Thursday Judy Waxman, our VP of Health and Reproductive Rights, spoke on a panel at a White House town hall on women’s health. For your end-of-the-week reading we’ve got stories on new research on how emergency contraception works, a new book from ROC United, and an inspirational story of how teen athlete Meghan Vogel helped an opponent in need. Let’s get to it!
This has been quite a week! On Tuesday the Senate voted on the Paycheck Fairness Act (unfortunately opponents blocked the bill on a procedural vote) and on Thursday Judy Waxman, our VP of Health and Reproductive Rights, spoke on a panel at a White House town hall on women’s health. For your end-of-the-week reading we’ve got stories on new research on how emergency contraception works, a new book from ROC United, and an inspirational story of how teen athlete Meghan Vogel helped an opponent in need. Let’s get to it!
New research out this week shows that emergency contraception pills don’t work the way we think they do – and the way they really work should help squash some anti-abortion qualms about them.
Countless sources – including the NIH and Mayo Clinic, not to mention the boxes of emergency contraception pills themselves – say that these pills work by blocking a fertilized egg from implanting in a woman’s uterus. But research published by the New York Times on Tuesday shows that emergency contraception pills actually delay ovulation, which is the release of eggs from the ovaries before they become fertilized.
The argument on the anti-choice and anti-contraception side of the aisle is that emergency contraception pills are an abortifacient because they block fertilized eggs (which in the eyes of many, if not all, of these anti- groups are considered people) from implanting in a uterus. Whether this new research demonstrating how emergency contraception pills are not abortion-inducing drugs will halt opponents from falsely characterizing emergency contraception as such is yet to be seen.
This week our friends at ROC United have a trailer out to promote a new book by their director, Saru Jayaraman, Behind the Kitchen Door. We’ve embedded the trailer below so you can watch it right here. Behind the Kitchen Door “educates consumers on the moral, political, and economic implications of eating out,” – including the federal subminimum wage for tipped workers (aka the tipped minimum wage), which has been stalled at $2.13 since 1991.
Behind the Kitchen Door will be released on February 13, 2013 – with the date (2/13) serving as a nod to the tipped minimum wage and the need to increase it.
On Saturday June 2, teen distance runner Meghan Vogel demonstrated an outstanding act of kindness and leadership. Vogel, winner of the Ohio state title for the 1,600-meter race, helped opponent Arden McMath to her feet after she collapsed in the 3,200-meter race only meters from the finish line. They finished the race together in 14th and 15th place.
Meghan Vogel’s inspiring story is an example of the extraordinary leadership exhibited by many women on and off the athletic field. Women’s sports opportunities are opportunities for women’s personal growth and professional success.
We have Title IX to thank for providing women and girls with countless more opportunities to succeed in sports and life alike than they would have had otherwise. I hope you join us next week in celebrating Title IX’s upcoming 40th Anniversary. Read more about Title IX.
Also of interest this week:
A sea change in transgender rights
Janet Jackson to Produce Transgender Documentary, ‘Truth’
Argentina Abortion Right for Rape Victims Approved by Supreme Court
Mapping the Glass Ceiling
One mother’s heartwarming advice for her daughter
That’s all for this week! What have you been reading? Let us know by sharing a link in the comments or emailing it to us at djackson(at)nwlc(dot)org.