Newsletter
Newsletter The Women’s Health Activist® is a bimonthly publication of the National Women’s Health Network. We’d like to hear from you. Please e-mail questions or comments to editor@nwhn.org.
Excuse Me, Is that a Metal-on-Metal Device You’re Wearing?
January/February 2012
By Charlea T. Massion, MD & Adriane Fugh-Berman, MD
Hip replacement, a surgical procedure where the hip joint is replaced by a prosthetic device, is usually done to relieve severe pain and mobility problems in a natural joint damaged by arthritis or trauma. Usually, both the “ball” (i.e., femoral head) and “socket” (i.e., acetabulum) are replaced, with excellent results. Unsuccessful hip replacement, however, can result in more pain and an inability to walk at all. And, devices with a metal ball and socket (metal-on-metal, or MoM) can cause other problems, some of which are extremely dangerous. Astonishingly, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allows some types of joint replacement devices to be used without any clinical studies on safety or efficacy.
Young Feminists: A Dependent Adult
January/February 2012
By Jacqueline Plunkett
It was October of my freshman year at Penn State University, and I awoke in a panic. The pain seared across my lower back and wrapped around my hips. I tried to get out of my bed and found that the pain was so intense that any time I moved my legs, I felt as though I was being stabbed in the back. I yelled across the room to wake my roommate. She called my brother, a senior at Penn State at the time, and he immediately picked me up at my dorm and took me to the hospital.
G-Spot and Sore Spots
January/February 2012
G-Spots
This Halloween, an offensive costume called “Anna Rexia” was marketed on the Internet and in costume stores. It included a skeleton-print, skin-tight dress with a measuring-tape belt. One website raved, “Make no bones about it — this dress will spark some conversations!” Yes, it did! In response, Spark, a movement committed to ending the sexualization of girls, launched a petition on www.change.org asking Halloween Store to remove the costume from both its online store AND its shelves in Memphis, TN. Within five hours of the petition’s launch, the vendor promised to remove the costume from the Internet and storeroom shelves.
The Spiral of Women’s Health Activism
January/February 2012
A report from the Global Symposium Celebrating 40 Years of Our Bodies, Ourselves
Feminist Health Community Turns Out in Full-Force to Honor Susan Hester & Fushena Cruickshank at NWHN Fundraiser
January/February 2012
On Tuesday, November 1, more than 130 people packed Busboys & Poets in Washington, D.C. for the National Women’s Health Network’s annual fall fundraiser. This year’s theme was 35 Years: Standing Strong, in celebration of the culmination of our 35th year as an organization. For the fourth consecutive year, we also presented two deserving activists with the Barbara Seaman Award for Activism in Women’s Health.
Politics & Women’s Health: Navigating the Year Ahead
January/February 2012
By Cynthia Pearson
I’ve been thinking a lot about weather lately — bad weather. A big storm can make getting around difficult, disrupt our plans, and delay our arrival at our intended destination. Doesn’t that sound like what we’ve experienced recently with the politics of women’s health? Last fall, we thought we were on our way to a long-anticipated destination: the end of unjustified age restrictions on over-the-counter access to Emergency Contraception (EC). Then, a big storm blew through DC and, when it was over, the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) decision to remove the age limit had been overruled and our arrival at our desired destination delayed, once again.
Making It Personal: The 1 in 3 Campaign Aims to Change the Abortion Debate
January/February 2012
by Debra Hauser
The Congressional debate over abortion in the Affordable Care Act and the set-back to abortion coverage that the resulting law imposed was a wake-up call for the reproductive rights movement. Not only did the movement fail to block the addition of anti-choice restrictions to health care reform, but it also failed at key points during the legislative battle to fight those restrictions in a way that challenged the injustice and devastating health impact women have suffered already as a result of existing restrictions on federal funding for abortion care. As pro-choice Congressional leaders attempted to fight off new restrictions on abortion access, they described the prohibition on federal funding for abortion as the status quo, accepted that the Affordable Care Act would not change that, and in the end, voted for a bill that denied access to abortion for many women – particularly poor women and younger women. Why were movement leaders so unable to shape the debate in a way that allowed them to speak about the importance of access to abortion and the unfairness of denying it to the most vulnerable and underserved women?
Young Feminist: Women in Medicine
November/December 2011
By Vida Rostami
In August, I boxed up my belongings, traveled 700 miles, unpacked my belongings, took on a huge debt, met about 100 new people, received a white coat — and braced myself for the four years of my journey as a medical student. The process included a week of orientation filled with activities designed to help us adapt to our new role as medical students. Thus far, all of my experiences have been thrilling… especially the student organizations fair held a few days ago. I made a beeline for the Medical Students for Choice group. With eagerness, I talked with the group leaders, learned about the functions they organize, and quickly signed up to be my class representative. I then made my way to the American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) and the Obstetrics-Gynecology Interest Group.
Snapshots
November/December 2011
A study conducted for six Iowa-basedPlanned Parenthood of the Heartland clinics measured the effectiveness and acceptability of several different kinds of medical abortion procedures using RU486. Researchers followed 450 women who had an abortion between 2008 and 2009. Half of the women had a medical abortion and an in-person physician office visit; the other half had a medical abortion and a telemedicine visit, in which the woman spoke to her doctor via video tele-conferencingequipment. The study found that women who had the telemedicine visit for their medical abortion were just as likely to have a successful abortion as did women who had an in-person physician’s visit. Among the women, 91% of all clients were “very satisfied” with their abortion experience, although telemedicine clients were more likely than in-person clients to say they would recommend the services to a friend. For women who live in areas with limited access to abortion services, or who have difficulty traveling or taking time off work, a telemedically-supervised medical abortion can help overcome barriers to reproductive healthcare.
The Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, August 2011
No Bones About It: Calcium is Confusing
November/December 2011
By Rachel Walden
For decades, women have heard: “Make sure to get enough calcium; maybe even take a daily calcium supplement!” Calcium is key to building and maintaining strong bones and, for women, there is particular focus on preventing osteoporosis and broken bones (especially broken hips), making us a key audience for companies selling calcium supplements. The real story on calcium is not quite so simple, however, and scientists are still trying to sort out the good and bad of both dietary calcium and calcium supplementation.
Osteoporosis: Its Time to Stop Screening and Treating Healthy Women
November/December 2011
By Cindy Pearson
She said what?
November/December 2011
By Cindy Pearson
Sometimes I have trouble writing a column that I know won’t be read for a few weeks. I struggle to write something that will seem relevant, even though I can’t predict what will be happening in the future. This time, it’s easy to predict one thing that will be happening when you read this column: presidential candidates will be saying crazy things about health care.
No to Co-Pays, Yes to Listening to Women!
September/October 2011
By Cynthia Pearson
How many times have you stood at the pharmacist’s counter and felt that “ouch” when you find out what your co-pay will be? Or been told that you’ll have to pay the full cost of an exam because you haven’t met your annual deductible, and then decided to put off your check-up because you couldn’t afford it?
