By Jennifer Weitz-Wolf for Ms. Magazine.
Broadcast version by Danielle Smith for Georgia News Connection reporting for the Ms. Magazine-Public News Service Collaboration

With Sen. Raphael Warnock's reelection in Georgia, any lingering conservative hopes for a red wave have been dashed. The 2022 midterms have made clear that abortion rights loom large for voters despite pundits' misplaced predictions of a singularly inflation-obsessed electorate. In the end, the inflation-fueled red wave, the Internet joked, was more akin to "mid-cycle spotting."

It isn't surprising that period humor was the go-to response. Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe. v. Wade last summer, the national discourse has been more frank than ever about the bloodiest of bodily functions.

To start, we've had to correct politicians' plain ignorance about menstrual cycles, including comments made by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who initially misstated that S.B.8's six-week ban on abortion "provides at least six weeks for a person to be able to get an abortion." (It does not. As commentators reminded the governor, a person is at least four weeks pregnant upon a first missed period, meaning they have two weeks at best to obtain an abortion.)

Since the Supreme Court's ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, more and more women have felt compelled to go public with myriad aspects of their own reproductive lives.

Miscarriage, for example, while a common occurrence, has long been something endured privately (for better or for worse). But now there's new urgency to shine light on the experience, and especially to flag the prevalence of abortion as a standard medical intervention for it, as well as for ectopic and unviable pregnancies. Celebrity Chrissy Teigen recently reflected on her 2020 pregnancy loss at 20 weeks: "Let's just call it what it was: It was an abortion. An abortion to save my life for a baby that had absolutely no chance."

Even menopause-among the most taboo of women's health topics-has been subject to public airing. Former First Lady Michelle Obama shared with People magazine her frustration with the lack of systemic support for a normal, inevitable health transition-one that can span the better part of a decade and comes with its own array of debilitating symptoms and challenges.

Perhaps one silver lining of Dobbs has been creating space for women to openly and deliberately trace the arc of their reproductive lives-in public. Back in 2018, a New York Times article entitled "Getting Real About Periods, Childbirth, Menopause and More" underscored the inherent interconnectedness of these milestones and expounded on the myriad ways "women's health issues and biological processes have long been shrouded in secrecy and shame. Who among us hasn't hidden our pad or tampon, lest we appear unattractive or messy? The result: We feel alone, often at a young age, when we are anything but."

Of course, the problem isn't just that we feel alone. We indeed have been left all alone, our bodies overlooked by the law and undermined by the courts. We're left to implore doctors to acknowledge our pain and to provide treatment. To suffer economic detriment or discrimination. To endure isolation and emotional upheaval. And even, quite literally, to fight to save our own lives.

The culture of secrecy and shame that surrounds women's reproductive health begets persistent silence. And, eventually, that silence results in an onslaught of personal harm-a cumulative cascade of inequities that go unaddressed throughout our lives and that amount to a less just, less equal, less humane society. This is the landscape that the Dobbs decision would have us inhabit.

But it doesn't have to be so. We can, and must, draw links to all reproductive markers in order to address the real-and for too long unspoken-health crises that American women face.

We've been heartened to see leaders in the private sector attempting to fill the breach. Corporate coalitions like Don't Ban Equality are not only helping companies include abortion access in their employee benefit programs, but contextualizing abortion within a broader array of reproductive care that includes miscarriage management, assisted fertility treatments, prenatal and postpartum support, contraception, menstrual health and menopause.

Although lawmakers have emphasized the need for legislation like the federal Women's Health Protection Act that would codify abortion rights, our policy goals must be more expansive. Our policymaking must simultaneously prioritize other critical aspects of reproductive health. This means supporting legislation like the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act, the Menopause Research Act and the Menstrual Equity For All Act, all of which focus on important-and underserved-aspects of reproductive health. The sum of all of these parts surely would create a stronger whole for women's lives and well-being.

As advocates, scholars and providers now work to reimagine and rebuild what meaningful reproductive care looks like in this country, we have an opportunity to be more holistic in addressing the full continuum of women's reproductive lives. Private sector interventions and public policy solutions must reflect those intersections. Period. Full stop.

Jennifer Weitz-Wolf wrote this article for Ms. Magazine.


get more stories like this via email

In the final days of the legislative session, Kentucky Senate lawmakers could consider the "Momnibus" bill, which would increase access to critical prenatal and post-birth care for new moms and babies.

House Bill 10 would extend the state's voluntary home-visitation program for expectant parents to when a child reachs age three, and would include lactation assistance and telehealth.

Bonnie Logsdon, a board-certified lactation consultant and birth doula, said many women have to return to work a few weeks after giving birth and often lack the tools or knowledge to have a positive lactation experience.

"They need access to those quality supplies," she stressed, "and they need someone who can teach them how to use the pump, which is again where that lactation support would come into play."

The Momnibus bill would add pregnancy to the list of qualifying life events, so pregnant people could get health-insurance coverage and begin prenatal care visits.

Kentucky has the second-highest maternal mortality rate in the nation, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The bill would also expand mental-health counseling through the Lifeline for Moms Psychiatry Access Program.

In Letcher County, Courtney Rhoades said she's had a complex pregnancy, and has struggled to cope with stress and maintaining her physical health. She noted it's critical that first-time moms like herself have a place to turn for support, where they don't feel judged.

"Then to be finding out we're having twins," Rhoades said, "I am really excited to know that there's these programs available that otherwise I didn't know about."

Renee Basham, executive director of Hope's Embrace, said communities increasingly are aware of the role doulas can play in pre- and post-natal care. She added many of her clients need assistance.

"A lot of the clients that we work with, some of them have support, a lot of them don't," said Basham. "Doulas are extra important in that role, because if we weren't there, they wouldn't have anybody with them as they gave birth."

House Bill 10 would open the door to more research on the role of doulas in the birth experience, and how their expertise is being used for care and to reduce disparities in the Commonwealth.


get more stories like this via email

Advocates for women veterans, who've experienced sexual trauma while serving in the military, are asking state lawmakers for much-needed funding.

Previous legislation backed the creation of two sexual trauma liaisons at community-based organizations in the state, but funding never came to fruition.

Executive Director of the Augusta-based Sisters-in-Arms Center, Rebecca Cornell du Houx, said lawmakers have a chance to help veteran survivors rebuild their lives.

"To have a consistent clinician there to provide that trauma treatment to the woman veteran in a place that they're safe," said Cornell du Houx, "I think, can really, really support their recovery."

Cornell du Houx said one in three women soldiers experience some form of sexual trauma while in the military but many incidents go unreported.

There are more than 10,000 women veterans currently living in Maine.

Women veterans are one of the fastest-growing sectors of the homeless population, and are four times more likely to become homeless than their male peers.

Researchers also now identify military sexual trauma as the biggest factor driving a more than 60% increase in suicide rates among women veterans since 2001.

Cornell du Houx said while group therapy is available to these veterans, state funding would provide for more formalized treatment - especially for those coming off active-duty.

"I think if people knew the stories of what had happened to these women while they were in the service, just really disheartening stories of assault," said Cornell du Houx, "I think that they wouldn't hesitate to fund a position so that they could get help."

Cornell du Houx said sexual trauma is most prevalent among lower-ranking seventeen and eighteen-year-olds, who are influenced to think that reporting an incident is a betrayal of a fellow soldier.

She said it's important to support those who have come forward, to advocate for themselves and others, and who took an oath to serve their country.





get more stories like this via email

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is sounding the alarm over the Supreme Court's decision to hear a case that could restrict access to the abortion pill mifepristone.

It is the first major case related to women's reproductive rights since the Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

On Tuesday, after hearing oral arguments, the Court seemed likely to preserve access to the medication.

Cortez Masto said the country has witnessed what she calls "the tragic consequences of abortion restrictions," which started with the country's highest court.

"This just goes to show you," said Cortez Masto, "far-right extremists are going to stop at nothing to restrict women's rights when it comes to their reproductive freedom - that is why we can't give up."

Cortez Masto contended mifepristone is safe and effective and is also critical for miscarriage care.

But the case presented to the Supreme Court by anti-abortion doctors claim the Food and Drug Administration acted too quickly in removing restrictions on the drug.

If the court rules in favor of the plaintiffs, mifepristone access could stop immediately in all states - including those where abortion is legal such as Nevada.

Critics of the drug say it carries significant side effects, include bacterial infections and prolonged, heavy menstrual bleeding.

While mifepristone may not be prohibited all together, restrictions on the pill could be reinstated.

Cortez Masto argued conservative groups never planned to stop with just repealing Roe v. Wade, but adds they are aiming to roll back women's rights all together.

"That is why we can't give up," said Cortez Masto. "We have to continue to use our voices and be advocates to fight for women's rights."

The Supreme Court could make a decision on the case in June.

In the Silver State, a coalition is working to get an amendment on the ballot this November to enshrine abortion rights in the Silver State's constitution.

get more stories like this via email