Our Bodies Our Blog

Listen to Judy Norsigian Thursday on WBAI Radio

Interested in learning more about Our Bodies Ourselves and the beginning of a worldwide movement for women's health? Judy Norsigian, OBOS co-founder and executive director, is going to be on WBAI radio (99.5 FM in New York) this Thursday (Nov. 5) from 10 to 11a.m. EST. You can stream the ...

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Questions About Side Effects of Stopping Contraceptive Injections

ABC News has an interesting article up on the withdrawal symptoms some women are reporting after stopping Depo-Provera (medroxyprogesterone acetate), an quarterly injectable progesterone-only contraceptive method. An internet search on Depo withdrawal turns up multiple online postings, suggesting that some women are concerned about or report experiencing a number of symptoms, ...

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Achieving Global Reproductive Justice: Recommendations from the Frontlines

[caption id="attachment_9388" align="aligncenter" width="425" caption="Serra Sippel, CHANGE; Aziza Ahmed, Harvard School of Public Health; Grace Sedio, Bomme Isago Association (Botswana); Sergia Galván, Colectiva Mujer y Salud (Dominican Republic); Massachusetts Representative Kay Khan; Dr. Fisseha Mekonnen, Family Guidance Association of Ethiopia"][/caption] by Kimberly Whipkey, Center for Health and Gender Equity "At Colectiva Mujer ...

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Gail Collins on The Colbert Report

New York Times columnist Gail Collins appeared on The Colbert Report earlier this week to discuss her new book, "When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present." in 1960, women were prohibited from serving on juries and it was perfectly legal to not hire women ...

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Empowered Patients = ePatients

A new, freely available, open-access journal that launched this month reflects a position Our Bodies Ourselves has long held: Healthcare is better, and people are healthier and more empowered, when individuals are informed and can actively participate in their own care. The Journal of Participatory Medicine, launched at last week’s Connected ...

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The Definitive Breakdown of U.S. Health Care Myths and Facts

Those of you who are engaged in conversations with opponents to a public health insurance option might want to try pulling them away from Fox News for a moment and ask them to read Ellen Shaffer's new piece, "U.S Health Care: Myths and Facts." Schaffer is co-director of the Center for Policy Analysis, ...

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Revisiting Breast Cancer Screening Guidelines

A commentary in the current issue of the journal JAMA addresses breast and prostate cancer screening and the complexities and limitations of current screening approaches. The authors explain that while screening for the two diseases has increased, "the absolute numbers of more advanced disease have not decreased nearly as much ...

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A “Real” Sex Ed Story: A Teenager Recalls Lessons From “Our Whole Lives”

by Meg Young Our Bodies Ourselves intern The Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SEICUS) would like you to get REAL about sex education. SEICUS has declared October "Sex Ed Month of Action," and the organization is encouraging young people to raise awareness for the need for comprehensive sex ed ...

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The Futile Yet Persistent Search to Define and Determine Gender

Under the unfortunate headline, "Which Side Are You On?," the Washington Post has published an interesting article about the struggle to define gender and how that struggle has played out in legal cases around the country. The article discusses the now well-known story of 18-year-old South African runner Caster Semenya, "who has ...

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A Doctor’s Disclosure: Crossing a Line to Offer Compassionate Care

The matter of how much personal information to share with patients comes up frequently for practitioners, and there are times when it can be most helpful. But it is a difficult decision. In an essay online at WBUR public radio, Our Bodies Ourselves board member Anne Brewster, an internist who works ...

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