Portside

The Supreme Court protected the right of women and families to make their own choices. And it did so by reminding us that facts are real. Science is real. Evidence is real. And it can’t be willfully ignored or tarnished or fabricated to advance anti-choice ideology that erodes the constitutional right to reproductive health care.

Texas is just one of 19 states to receive a failing grade on reproductive health according to a new report from the Population Institute, a nonprofit that provides family planning education.

Two potentially sweeping Supreme Court cases set the stage for a seismic shift in the battle over abortion and contraception.

National discussion about access to reproductive healthcare remains a hot topic, like the most-recent campaign to defund Planned Parenthood based on a falsified video that is supposed to show that the organization is “selling baby parts.” High stakes and numerous hurdles that undocumented immigrants face to get basic care often remain out of the spotlight. there are literal borders set in place that prevent many immigrants from accessing federally funded clinics.

Reproductive care has always been a complex topic for people of color in the United States. Since the beginnings of colonization - through the horrors of slavery and the forced sterilization efforts of the last century - our ability to control whether or not we bring life into the world and how we are allowed to interact with our offspring once they are born has been either challenged or completely wrenched from our grasp.

The fact that a majority of representatives in Congress don’t accept abortion as an essential part of reproductive healthcare makes millions of Americans say, “Really? Is this still the conversation we’re having?” It's like we haven’t moved forward in 40 years—not since Congress passed the Hyde Amendment in 1976, banning Medicaid from covering the cost of abortions. Access to abortion and reproductive healthcare isn’t something that should be a luxury for the rich.

'Women do not lead single-issue lives,' says Ms. Foundation president on Women's Equality Day

A woman’s decision to donate her aborted fetus to medical research—and Planned Parenthood’s willingness to transfer the fetal material—is deeply commendable. No woman is eager to have an unwanted pregnancy, but if she decides to terminate it, Planned Parenthood can help turn her misfortune into a mitzvah. That is not an act of killing. It is an act of altruism.