Women's History Month Spotlight: Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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FRESH FROM THE FRESH FROM THE BODY SHOP VOLUME 3 ISSUE 2 MARCH 2015 Inside This Issue: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Profile 1 Reproductive Health & Wellness Program Sex Ed in the News Op-Ed 2 THIS ISSUE Endometriosis awareness 2 Women’s History Month: The second woman to serve on the US Supreme Court Team Member Spotlight 3 Endometriosis Awareness Month Women’s History Month Spotlight: Ruth Bader Ginsburg If you haven’t heard already, Ruth She is now in her eighties, having survived Obama. Bader Ginsburg was a little bit tipsy at this two bouts with cancer and a blocked ar- Her stance on abortion is clear. She year’s State of the Union address. Citing tery, and many have called for her to re- argues that women with the means to a dinner with the other justices before tire in her advanced age while there is a travel will always have access to abortions the speech that was just so good it need- Democrat in office. She has made it very in this country, but the restrictions that ed wine, the justice nodded off just a bit clear that she has no intentions of doing continuously come up are extremely during the speech. But if anyone has so, saying “And who do you think Obama problematic for poor women. She point- earned the privilege of being intoxicated could have nominated and got confirmed ed this out in a recent MSNBC interview, at the State of the Union, it is Ruth Bader that you’d rather see on a court?1.” stating that even before Roe v. Wade was Ginsburg. Elle Magazine recently had an Younger generations of women are recog- passed, there were four states that al- article entitled Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the nizing her unyielding passion for eliminat- lowed women first trimester termination Beyoncé of the Supreme Court and She ing gender based discrimination and wom- if they desired it. Any woman who could Knows It. It’s wild to imagine that Bader- en’s rights. As a lawyer she argued many afford to travel to one of these states Ginsburg was at one point known as “the cases before the Supreme Court. For ex- could certainly get an abortion even if Roe silent justice.” Clearly that is no longer ample, in a landmark gender equality case v. Wade were overturned, but the prob- the case — now she is fondly referred to in 1973 she successfully defended a female lem is for those women who don’t have 1 as the Notorious R.B.G. She apparently Air Force lieutenant who refused to com- the resources to travel. needed her clerks to fill her in on the ply with a mandate that she prove her Last year, her dissent written for the meaning of her new nickname, as she was husband’s reliance upon her before they Hobby Lobby decision was so popular that not familiar with the late rapper her fans could receive spousal benefits — wives of one man who turned it into a song be- were referencing. Have you ever heard men in the Air Force were automatically came an internet sensation. Ginsburg of a Supreme Court Justice having adoring granted benefits without this proof.2 argued that the male justices didn’t under- fans? There are t-shirts, coffee mugs, and Her dissent in the 2007 case Ledbet- stand what their decision truly meant for a blog dedicated to Notorious R.B.G. ter v. Goodyear led to the passage of the the women it would impact. In an inter- One of the bloggers explained, saying Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Ledbetter view, she explained with an analogy, ex- “The kind of raw excitement that sur- was a female manager for Goodyear Tire, plaining that we can move our arms until rounds her is palpable. There’s a counter- who after years of service with the com- “it hits the other fellow’s nose…It’s the intuitiveness. We have a particular vision pany, learned that she had been making of someone who’s a badass — a 350- significantly less money than men in the pound rapper (Notorious B.I.G.). And same position within the company. The she’s this tiny Jewish grandmother. She Court overturned the decision that she doesn’t look like our vision of power, but should receive back payment, stating that she’s so formidable, so unapologetic, and the statute of limitations (180 days) had a survivor in every sense of the word1.” expired because she did not report the People are even dressing their babies up lost income after each paycheck. The dis- as Ruth “Baby”-Ginsburg for Halloween. sent written by Ginsburg stated that she So where is all of this praise coming from? could not have complied with the statute As the second woman to ever be of limitations if she did not know she was- appointed to the Supreme Court, and one n’t being paid fairly. She called on Con- of three women currently serving (the gress to correct the mistake the Court highest number in history), RBG is the had made, and it became the first piece of leader of the current liberal dissent vote. legislation signed into law by President Continued on pg 3 FRESH FROM THE BODY SHOP VOLUME 3 ISSUE 2 Page 2 The question of prescribing abortion pills OP-ED over these channels has been an ongoing Endometriosis awareness debate, and currently only Idaho and Mon- Sexual health in the news tana allow this practice.7 Lawmakers are trying to pass a bill in Idaho that would ban March is national Endometriosis aware- Within the political realm, the topics of this practice, and during Dr. Julie Madsen’s ness month. It is estimated that around 5 abortion, rape, contraception, and reproductive testimony against the bill, she brought up the million women experiencing symptoms suffer health in general have led to many discussions fact that telemedicine can be helpful, citing from this condition in the US, with more who (and many laughable clips) over the past few are asymptomatic, and the most common the ability to have patients swallow a small 8 years. Politics and discussion of a woman’s camera in pill form to diagnose digestive symptom is lower abdominal pain. This condi- control over her body don’t tend to mix well, issues. This is where the problem arose. tion causes the cells that normally line the and there have been a few stand out examples Barbieri then asked Dr. Madsen, “Can this uterus to grow outside of the uterus, including of political figures being completely misin- same procedure then be done in a pregnan- on the fallopian tubes, ovaries, abdominal wall, formed about how the human body works, cy? Swallowing a camera and helping the inside the vagina, on the cervix, and on the how hormones work, and motivations for tak- doctor determine what the situation is?” Dr. outside of the uterus. While intense or chron- ing control of our own reproductive life plan- Madsen replied, “It cannot be done in preg- ic pain is the most common symptom, endo- ning. nancy, simply because when you swallow a metriosis can cause digestive issues, infertility, The first came after Georgetown Law pill it will not end up in the vagina7.” That’s extreme pain during and after sex, and for- student Sandra Fluke’s testimony before an right. In 2015, a state representative asked if mation of scar tissue capable of binding organs unofficial Congressional hearing on the availabil- a remote gynecological exam could be per- together. These endometrial cells behave just ity of contraception. Talk radio host Rush formed by swallowing a camera. If one of as those inside the uterus do, which means Limbaugh referred to her on air as a “slut” and our lawmakers is taking literally the old say- they cause extra bleeding during the menstrual a “prostitute.” He went on in insinuate that ing that babies “grow in mom’s tummy,” I cycle in places where bleeding does not usually she was having so much sex that she needed to can’t imagine what our school children be- occur. take more birth control pills.5 If you have been lieve. Controlling endometriosis is important for reading with us since the beginning of this Many states are simply preventing basic quality of life, but there is no cure. Doctors newsletter, you know that is absolutely not sexual health education, and others may not will often use extended or continuous cycle how birth control works. Pills don’t work that be requiring accurate information. Many hormonal birth control pills or hormonal IUDs way, IUDs don’t work that way, Depo doesn’t sexuality education tactics used in schools to both protect against pregnancy and to pre- work that way. There is no conflation between include fear mongering (I know mine did) and vent painful bleeding associated with having a frequency of use of hormonal birth control and completely avoid discussion of what healthy monthly menstrual cycle. These options can the amount of sex one has. Nor is it any of relationships look like, how to protect your- either eliminate periods completely or reduce Rush Limbaugh’s business. Or anyone else’s for self from unintended pregnancy, and what it bleeding to a few times a year. There are hor- that matter, but I digress. means to understand your anatomy. A pro- mone therapies available for women who are The next example involves Todd Akin (R- fessor who writes for Reproductive Health attempting to get pregnant that cause a tempo- Mo.), a former congressman running for the Reality Check pointed out that she was rary menopause, but make getting pregnant U.S.