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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