Believe it or not, having an abortion can be safer than childbirth. I know that for even the most pro-choice of us all that statement can seem pretty incredible, but a recent study in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology grounds the assertion in reality.

I am a proud, self-proclaimed progressive feminist. What that means is that every day, I advocate for the safety, health and advancement of women and girls worldwide. I challenge pre-determined gender roles and support the right of individuals to live according to their own definition. At a more basic level, however, I believe in equality of the sexes. You know, “anything you can do, I can do better,” and all that jazz. So you’d think I’d be appalled at any law that fundamentally treats women differently from men. Uneasy, yes. …

Whitney Houston once famously sang, “I believe the children are our future,” and as cheesy as that line may seem, it’s the plain truth. But what does it mean for our future if the children are poor, sickly, and uneducated? According to the Guttmacher Institute, birthrates — mostly unintended pregnancies — for women living in poverty are increasing while fertility rates among wealthier, more educated women are decreasing. This means that increasingly, America will be populated by those born into circumstances that statistically place them at risk. What, then, do we do about our …

August is coming to a close which, for me, almost always means back to school time. No, I’m not preparing to send any little ones off to class with a backpack full of Elmer’s glue and safety scissors. I’m the one downloading textbooks to my iPad and printing out syllabuses as I prepare to finish up my third degree. While I enjoy learning and the sense of embarking on a new journey that accompanies the beginning of each semester, I have to be on the defensive around this time of …

Take a minute to read this before you schedule your next bikini wax. While it might not cause you to alter your grooming routine, perhaps you’ll pause and think before baring your goods on the esthetician’s table.

It’s a simple fact of life just as natural as breathing: every 28 days or so, a post-pubescent female will shed her uterine lining if she has not become pregnant or otherwise caused her cycle to go on hiatus. Attitudes toward menstruation have varied throughout the years. In early Native and South American cultures, women retreated to “moon huts” together where they sat on mossy grass to soak up their blood and recycle it back into the earth. They meditated and made major community decisions while there. In ancient Rome …

How’s this for news? A recent study by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that when poor people have access to health insurance, they’re more likely to see doctors on a regular basis, get preventive screenings, access and take prescription medications, and have an overall positive outlook on their health. This might seem painfully obvious but our elected officials in Congress are presently considering the worthiness of providing health insurance to the poor through Medicaid, the state-administered federal health care program for low-income individuals. In the interest of resuscitating America’s economy and cutting …

When/if you get married*, do you plan to take your husband’s last name? I bet you’ve thought about it at least once … For some women, it’s about tradition and the idea of becoming bound as one with your spouse. For others, taking on your husband’s name feels like giving up much more than your personalized tote bags. What if you learned that the decision to keep or change your name post-nuptials had a real effect on your income potential? Would that affect your decision?

Prague, Rio de Janeiro, Berlin, London – all places I’m considering for a fabulous New Year’s vacation with the girls. With the first official day of summer this week, you’ve probably got more BBQs and bikinis on the brain than noisemakers and Auld Lang Syne, but you might want to start looking up flight deals once you hear how a vay-cay with your girls can help ease stress and improve your relationships.

I just got around to seeingBridesmaids this weekend and it was a riot. The movie was the second of the day’s double-header – I sawHangover 2 first – and was unquestionably the funnier film. When the movie ended and the nearly all-female audience started pouring out of the theater, I had two thoughts; I better beat it to the the ladies’ room because this line is going to be bonkers and was Bridesmaidsa feminist flick?