Getting health insurance through a Catholic organization is one way that some women aren't getting coverage for contraception, says Carol Roye in this excerpt from “A Woman's Right to Know.” Attacking birth control access is especially damaging for poor women.
Contraception and abortion need to be understood in a public health context. As access comes under heavier attack in this country we can expect higher maternal and infant mortality, more teen anemia and higher risks of child abuse and neglect.
The religious right's righteous condemnation of abortion began with anti-integration, anti-taxation efforts in the 1970s, says Carol Roye. Along the way it turned into the current assault on the needs of women and children.
An outbreak in surgeries to restore virginity have spurred Carol Roye, a registered nurse, to talk about what every woman-and every teen in particular-should know about the most fabled part of her reproductive anatomy.
If Democrats take back the White House, a U.S. restriction on overseas family planning aid should be lifted. Meantime, Carol Roye says, watch out for a domestic version of the “global gag rule” in the Bush administration's final days.