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By hgerber • 15 years ago

I write letters

Cross posted from my own blog.
Hat tip to Shakesville for the title idea.
Apparently, Talk of the Nation canceled their planned guest for today, who was supposed to be Dr. Rachel Phelps, medical director of Planned Parenthood of Syracuse, NY. They supposedly canceled her because they could not get someone to come on the show and represent the position that all abortion is immoral.
Dear TOTN,
I was disappointed to hear that today’s scheduled show with Dr. Rachel Phelps was canceled. I am a member of Medical Students for Choice. I have had the opportunity to hear her speak twice. She is a wonderful speaker. She presents evidence based information and reasonable discussion of ethics when it comes to the varied, nuanced issues for both providers and patients involving abortion.
By hgerber • 15 years ago

Mothers in Medicine

Crossposted from my own blog.
We held a fantastic event at our medical school Wednesday night. We were a little disappointed in the student turn out, but otherwise, it was wonderful. We had a panel of eight female physicians speaking about being a woman in medicine. Seven of the eight are mothers, so there was a lot of discussion about pregnancy, babies and family. I was happy with the diversity of our panel. We had one Chinese doctor, a few hispanics, a lesbian (who humorously advised us to wait until menopause and then let our partner carry the baby), a few Jewish doctors, and only two WASPs like me. Unfortunately, the two black doctors (I don’t like the term ...

Crossposted from my own blog.
We held a fantastic event at our medical school Wednesday night. We were a little disappointed in the student turn out, but otherwise, it was wonderful. We had a panel of ...
By hgerber • 15 years ago

Abortion and religion

Crossposted from my own blog.
Well, if that isn’t a heavy title, I don’t know what is. As my mom would say, "Scares me, and I’m fearless." And she would be scared of that title. She identifies as Christian and "pro-life", and introduced me to the reproductive rights discussion by handing me a book about Jerry Falwell’s home for unwed mothers and a teen bible with an addendum about why abortion was wrong.
Many supporters of reproductive rights, like me , have been in a tizzy about Senator McCain’s use of "air quotes" when disdainfully discussing the "health" of the mother being a included as a clause in legislation restricting access to abortion.
But, some people at ...

Crossposted from my own blog.
Well, if that isn’t a heavy title, I don’t know what is. As my mom would say, "Scares me, and I’m fearless." And she would be scared of that title. She ...
By hgerber • 15 years ago

My Dream Obama Cabinet

Cross posted from my blog.
OK, who’s a big wonk? Anyone else checking election maps several times a day? How many fact checking sites have you been to recently?
Anyone else have a dream cabinet?
Secretary of Agriculture: Willie Nelson
Secretary of the Interior: Al Gore
Secretary of Defense: Wesley Clark
Secretary of Labor: Robert Reich
Secretary of State: Jimmy Carter
Press Secretary: Rachel Maddow
Surgeon General: Dr. Gloria Wilderbraithwaite
OK, help me out with the rest. I should be studying, and there should be more women and people of color on my list. Cynthia McKinney could be supervisor of elections. Is that a federal position? I don’t think so.

Cross posted from my blog.
OK, who’s a big wonk? Anyone else checking election maps several times a day? How many fact checking sites have you been to recently?
Anyone else have a ...
By hgerber • 15 years ago

Obama supports infanticide?

Cross posted from my own blog:
I hate it when graphic, difficult medical situations are manipulated by anti-choice wing nuts to tug at the heart strings of people who would otherwise be a good fit for a democratic vote, based on their soft heartedness. Some classmates of mine seem to be concerned that Obama supports “infanticide.”
You can read all about the bill he opposed here at factcheck.org, but in a nutshell, it was one of those anti-choice bills that try to take isolated incidents in medicine and define the entire abortion debate with their gross misrepresentations and disgusting insistence on playing some sort of “what’s grosser than gross?” contest with women’s rights and medical ethics. If first ...

Cross posted from my own blog:
I hate it when graphic, difficult medical situations are manipulated by anti-choice wing nuts to tug at the heart strings of people who would otherwise be a good fit for ...
By hgerber • 15 years ago

Breastfeeding and feminism

*Squeal!*

I am such a nerd. I love a good email Table of Contents alert.

One of the first things I did when I got accepted to medical school was access the library website and check out the journal access. EBSCO! Wheeeeee!

Well, I have been signed up to get free access articles from BioMed Central since before that. One open access journal that is one of my favorites is The International Breastfeeding Journal . This week they have several interesting articles, including:

Breastfeeding and feminism: A focus on reproductive health, rights and justice . Miriam H Labbok1, Paige Hall Smith, Emily C Taylor. 

Women’s liberation and the rhetoric of "choice" in infant feeding debates , Bernice L Hausman.

*Squeal!*

I am such a nerd. I love a good email Table of Contents alert.

One of the first things I did when I got accepted to medical school was access the library website and check out the journal ...
By hgerber • 15 years ago

Head silently exploding

I have had more than one person ask me what I thought of the recent proprosed rule from the Department of Health and Human Services.

Trust me, I have been following the story. Many of the blogs I subscribe to have been addressing it: feministing (they get the best photo accompaniment award), feministe, women’s health news, and RH reality check. Many of these sites have more than one post on the subject, and many have excellent link lists of other posts or news articles on the subject.

I have actually been silently seething about this for quite a while. I forget where I heard or read about the head of the HHS family planning department, ...

I have had more than one person ask me what I thought of the recent proprosed rule from the Department of Health and Human Services.

Trust me, I have been following the story. Many of the ...

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