In October of 1972, Dr. Mary Calderone, the Executive Director of SIECUS New York, wrote to correct Ann Landers on her assertion that birth control is only effective if “you hold the pill between your knees at all times”
Dr. Calderone writes:
Dear Ann Landers: You, of all people, could have done a lot better with that answer to those teen-agers from Tennessee who wanted to know if birth control pills are 100 percent effective. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I read your reply—“Yes, if you hold the pill between your knees at all times”
Those girls said they were 15 and 16 years of age, and this is certainly old enough to be told the facts. I’m sure you know the pill comes as close to being 100 percent foolproof as any birth control device we know of. It is usually harmless but because it can produce side effects in some people it should be prescribed by a physician.
"The Center for American Women in Politics conducted a study on the impact of women in elected office. They found regardless of party affiliation, women’s presence in state legislatures has made a difference in the following areas:
“The extent to which legislators consider how legislation will affect women as a group.”
“Expenditure priorities for the state.”
“And the number of bills passed dealing specifically with the problems faced by women.”
All three of these differences impact the daily lives of women and families in our state." An editorial piece in today’s edition of the Fargo Forum details the dismal number of women in elected office in the state of North Dakota.
Fargo, ND- The Fargo-Moorhead League will be hosting a Women’s Equality Day Pub Crawl downtown Fargo on Thursday, August 25, 2011, from 7 pm – 10 pm, in connection with the North Dakota Women’s Network’s statewide recognition of Women’s Equality Day scheduled for Saturday, August 27, 2011, to mark and measure how far the women’s movement has progressed and to elevate consciousness of the continuing struggle towards greater equality.
Community leader and longtime Fargo resident Melissa Sobolik will host the event. Attendees will create postcards with drawings or statements describing their own vision for women’s equality which later will be publicly displayed.
Recently on Talk of the Nation, host, Neal Conan, facilitated an interesting discussion with Lauren Dolgen, the creator of the hit MTV shows 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom, and Sarah Brown, CEO of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. The discussion focused around critiques of these teen pregnancy reality shows. Some critics argue that the shows glamorize teen parenthood, while supporters of the shows say that the reality shows accurately depict how challenging teen parenthood can be.
Parents are the strongest influence in their children’s lives when it comes to the choices they make about sexual behavior. That’s according to a study released by Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota. The study points to a model called Parent-Child Connectedness that reinforces to the important role that parents play in these choices that children make. The report reiterates to parents they can be the best influence in controlling some of the worse outcomes of too early sexual behavior.
In a historic move for women’s reproductive and preventive health, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced new guidelines Monday requiring health insurance companies to cover women’s preventive health services, including birth control. The rules take effect Aug. 1, 2012.
“This is a tremendous step forward for women and families,” said Sarah Stoesz, president and CEO on Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota. “Not since the Comstock Laws, which banned information about contraceptives, were overturned in 1965 has there been a more significant development regarding contraceptives and preventive women’s health.”
