Mother's Day Wish: No More Needless Deaths

(NEWSER) - In this tough economy, requests for long-term contraceptives and abortions have spiked at family planning clinics, reports the Los Angeles Times. Planned Parenthood of LA County has seen its caseload jump 15% in just a year, and requests for IUDs nearly doubled in the first quarter compared to a year ago. A recent Gallup poll showed a correlation between finances and family planning. More»

Parodies the 'war on women' in new Funny or Die video

(NEWSER) - What’s this about the Republicans waging a War on Women? Some women actually want nothing more than for the GOP to get all up in their business, argues Kate Beckinsale in a new Funny or Die video that is quite liberal in its use of the word “vagina.” Beckinsale, joined by Judy Greer and Andrea Savage, insists that as a woman, there’s nothing she wants more than to have all those hard reproductive decisions made for her by male politicians. More»

Maureen Dowd thinks Republicans have a bout of 'mass misogyny'

(NEWSER) - On Saturday, Hillary Clinton took a resounding shot at Republicans. "Why extremists always focus on women remains a mystery to me," she said. "It doesn't matter what country they're in or what religion they claim. They want to control women." Clinton isn't supposed to get involved in domestic politics, "but this was a moment pregnant with possibility," writes Maureen Dowd of the New York Times . "The attempt by Republican men to wrestle American women back into chastity belts … has roused and riled Hillary." More»

Some officials, doctors concerned about women's access to care

(NEWSER) - As the Catholic Church and the Obama administration continue to grapple over birth control, a larger issue looms: Women may find themselves with less access to birth control, abortion, sterilization, and other procedures as Catholic medical centers increasingly merge with secular hospitals. About 20 mergers between larger, more financially secure Catholic-sponsored facilities and their smaller secular counterparts have been announced over the past three years, the New York Times reports; in 2010, about one-sixth of all hospital patients were admitted into Catholic facilities. At one Seattle hospital, that means no more elective abortions will be offered; in Illinois, a planned merger will mean that women must get tubal ligations elsewhere. More»

Congo women offer proof of benefits: Michael Gerson

(NEWSER) - The American debate over family planning may seem “like a culture war showdown.” But “close up, family planning is undeniably pro-life,” writes Michael Gerson in the Washington Post . To understand that, look to Bweremana, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where “the complications of childbirth are as dangerous as the militias in the countryside.” Frequent births pose a serious risk to the lives of mothers and children, but family planning can make a vast difference. For one thing, births spaced more than two years apart are much safer for both moms and kids. More»