It’s a moment we rarely see – those for and against a woman’s right to choose how and when she’ll become a parent are agreeing on something. Both sides are peeved at the Obama Administration for its treatment of the Food and Drug Administration’s recommendation that Plan B One-Stepemergency contraception (aka the “morning after pill”) be made available over-the-counter to individuals under the age of 17. Both sides are accusing President Obama of playing politics to appeal to conservatives as we approach the 2012 election.

I need a late pass. I was supposed to write this post on March 10, joining a number of bloggers and the Red Pump Project in observance of National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. I must admit that my procrastination along with a weeklong stay in Austin, TX for South by Southwest pushed back the publish date of this post. Nevertheless, here I am with my 2011 NWGHAAD post. Better late than never.
This is the third year I’m joining up with the Red Pump Project to write about …

Christine O’Donnell opposes comprehensive, evidence-based sex ed. She’s unclear about whether separation of church and state is a cornerstone of the first amendment. She believes in cross-bred mice with human brains. She believes that victims of rape or incest should be forced to carry their attacker’s child to term. She’s also, unfortunately, not a witch. There are SO many reasons to dislike Christine O’Donnell and many more reasons not to vote her into the United States Senate. I find all of Sarah Palin’s “Mama Grizzly” endorsements to be ridiculous but …

Right now, congressional negotiations over the final details of the health care reform bill are going on behind closed doors — and Congressman Bart Stupak is still insisting that the final bill include his total ban on private health insurance coverage for abortion.
Yes, one man is holding health care reform hostage. His goal: dictating the kind of health insurance coverage tens of millions of women will receive under reform.  - Planned Parenthood Action Fund
I don’t know about you, but this just is not right. I don’t believe this is what …

Sexting is the act of sending provocative or nude photos primarily via mobile phone. That’s your basic topless shot in the bathroom mirror and the faceless crotch pic in your inbox. Let me say that I hate the word “sexting.” I feel like it’s one of those words that sparks all kinds of inquiries and studies into the mind of the American teenager. Parents, educators, social workers, and others who have even the most remote connection to young people all want to know about the latest phenomenon taking over teens’ …

If you separate your cardboard, glass, and plastic from the rest of your trash, you may be supporting the downfall of America as we know it! You might just be a Communist!
Before I explain why you’re chipping away at capitalism and the American Way with every Coke can that tumbles into a blue bin, let me start with the inspiration for this post. Through my daily work, I came across the Twitter profile of TradConMom. A self-proclaimed “traditional conservative mom of 3; a patriot; a cake decorator, a devout Catholic, …

I’m pretty disgusted right about now. I was asleep, knocked out due to my sickness and woke up at midnight to find that the House had passed a health care reform bill (HR 3962). Sounds good at first, especially since we have been trying to get SOME form of legislation moving through the process. Unfortunately, this is not what I was hoping for. I get the feeling that most people had/have no idea that today, in what felt like a backdoor sneak move, Representative Bart Stupak put forth an amendment …

I’ve been watching the Sundance Channel’s miniseries Brick City about the struggle of Newark, New Jersey’s mayor and residents to live in the city and bring it out of crime, poverty and despair into the city of progress and hope it once was. According to the Sundance Channel,
Created and directed by the award-winning filmmakers Mark Benjamin and Marc Levin, BRICK CITY, is a five-part documentary series that fans out around the city of Newark, New Jersey to capture the daily drama of a community striving to become a better, safer, …

That’s the question posed to me after I shared a post about the impending closing of Philadelphia’s public library system. I assume the thought behind the inquiry was that no one really uses libraries anymore so what’s the big deal? I say that public libraries are still a big deal to many people and I am one of them.
When is the last time you used the services of a public library? Was it back when you were still trying to understand the Dewey Decimal System and the card catalog? For …