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.
2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012
Fortified foods: One inadequate step in the right direction
September/October 2004
This spring, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that 500 serious birth defects arc prevented each year thanks to a 1998 government rule requiring manufacturers to fortify cereal grain products with folic acid. Although about one-third fewer babies are now born with serious defects of the spine (spina bifida) or the brain (anencephaly) — from 2,000 to 1,500 — the CDC researchers aren't completely satisfied.
How one state removed barriers to Medicaid-funded abortions
September/October 2004
by Sue Frietsche, Women's Law Project
Better than talking?
September/October 2004
by Kate Steadman
Consider these staggering statistics: Nine tablets of Viagra are dispensed every second worldwide. Pfizer sold $850 million worth of the "little blue pill" in the first half of this year, with 16 million prescriptions written since 1998 — not including the many men obtaining the drug illegally.
Women's Health in the USA: We're (Not) Number One!
September/October 2004
by Cynthia Pearson, Executive Director
Can you tell I've been watching the Olympics? Like many other people, even though I'm not at all athletic I love watching the Olympics every four years. I get excited when I see an athlete do something incredible, and I really enjoy seeing so many women compete at the highest level. The jingoistic chants that spring up every once in a while aren't so enjoyable, but this year they've given food for thought.
Uninsured, exposed, and at risk, but not powerless
September/October 2004
by Lourdes A. Rivera
Holes riddle the patchwork quilt that is the American Health Care system,leaving nearly 16 million women exposed to the dangers of being uninsured.1 These dangers include a lower quality of care, preventable serious health problems, economic hardship and even death caused by their inability to access desperately needed health services.
Community Lifeguards of Black Women’s Health
September/October 2004
by Cheryl Taylor and C. LeBrane Tilton
Date Published:
Thu, September 02, 2004 Cosmetic Mutilation? Shameless Self-Confidence!
May/June 2004
by Adriane Fugh-Berman, M.D.
A friend of mine was informed recently by her nine-year- old daughter, "You know. Mom, you can fix those uneven breasts of yours with surgery." My friend, a physician, sat her daughter down and explained that unmatched sets were the norm, not the exception, and that these uneven breasts kept you alive as a baby, young lady, so have some respect for them.
Plan B Rejection Triggers Calls for Investigation
May/June 2004
by Amy Allina
In early May the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it would not approve Barr Pharmaceuticals application for overthecounter sales of Plan B, the company's emergency contraceptive product. With this decision, FDA rejected the recommendation of its own advisory committee, which voted overwhelmingly in December to approve nori-prescription distribution of Plan B. The decision also ran counter to the advice of FDA's professional medical staff who reviewed the application and recommended its approval.
Giving Birth in a Climate of Fear
May/June 2004
by Teresa Rust Smith
For some women, giving birth is a personally affirming and gratifying experience — a life-changing event, an accomplishment that instills a sense of agency and power. Unfortunately, too few women experience birth in this way Although a basic biological process, childbirth is invested with layers of social and cultural meaning. In the United States today, the cultural associations include a pervading sense of fear and shame about the female body and its functions.
Great Books, Good Health: NWHN's Summer Reading Roundup
May/June 2004
For NWHN's first-ever summer reading feature, we asked some of our favorite women's health writers to tell us what they've been reading and why they liked it. We hope you enjoy their mini reviews as much as we do.
Diagnosis: Difference
The Moral Authority Of Medicine
Abby L Wilkerson 1998; Cornell University Press 208 pages; $17.95
review by Sharon Batt
The Best Kept Secret We Should All Know About
March/April 2004 Women's Health Activist Newsletter
by Sarah Gutin
Last summer, on a weekend visit home from Washington, I was animatedly telling my parents how I had spent a recent night outside a WNBA game gathering signatures in favor of over-the-counter status for emergency contraception (EC), the morning-after pill.
My momentum was shattered when my mother — a highly educated and informed women's health advocate — said, "The morning-after pill— that's the abortion pill, right?"
Listening to Women
March/April 2004
by Cynthia Pearson, Executive Director
As we've worked on this issue, I've found myself reflecting on the role grassroots women's organizations play in shaping important discussions about the health care women need and deserve. NWHN's commitment is to work for a health care system that meets the needs of diverse women. We recognize that not all women need or want the same services, and that not all women experience the same service or technology in the same way. So how do we move forward?
