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Friday, 10 May 2013

In case you missed it - articles that caught our eye this week

Miscarriage - breaking the taboo

On the Grazia website, writer Jude Rogers explained why she felt she had to write about her recent experience of miscarriage:
"I want all women to feel like they can talk about things that have happened to them, without feeling they're doing something bold, edgy or dangerous. If my piece had any driving purpose behind it, I suppose, it was this: I want it to be normal to talk about normal things... I was also driven by something else. I found it odd that some friends didn't broach what had happened to me when they saw me, and I wanted them to... So if you know someone who has gone through what I have, do ask them how they are."
Rogers says that she has had an "overwhelming" response to the article, including from women who wanted to share their own experience. The Miscarriage Association is currently running a campaign to get more people talking about miscarriage. You can find out more information here.
Sexual health of prisoners
The first Commission into Sex in Prisons has found that denial over sexual relationships between inmates has lead to shocking neglect of their sexual health needs. The Commission has found that:
  • Managers at one prison claimed providing barrier protection was unnecessary as "none of its prisoners were homosexual."
  • At a different jail, an HIV-positive inmate was refused condoms despite the fact that he was having unprotected sex with another prisoner.
The Chair of the Commission said: “We know very little about sex in prison. No one knows how many people are sexually assaulted in prison every year, or whether some prisoners are having underage sex, perhaps putting their health or their partner’s health at risk.”
Abortion in Ireland
Pro-choice campaigners in Ireland could face jail for distributing information about how to access abortion services in the UK. In the face of new legislation which could result in 14 years in jail for women who have an illegal abortion and for those who help to procure it, campaigners have stepped up their activity to ensure that women in Ireland are aware of services abroad.
The "misogyny behind the states controls on women's reproductive rights" is examined in this article, with focus on the language used in the debates and the mistrust of women and their decisions:
"Why is Ireland so determined to deny women full rights over their reproductive health? The simple answer is fear. Like it or not there is a widespread belief that unless the powerful ability to become pregnant and have a child is controlled by the State, Pandora’s jar will open, unleashing all kinds of pestilences and chaos."
GPs conscientious objection
A Christian-run NHS GP surgery has been heavily criticised after warning female patients that some of the doctors refuse to prescribe the morning-after pill to patients on the grounds of conscientious objection. One woman who has left the practice as a result and told the Independent “I know the law allows doctors to do this but I don’t think it should.”

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