The news this week that the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation, after years of pressure from political groups, will end its support of lifesaving breast cancer screening at Planned Parenthood health centers comes as a blow to women across America. It is a tremendous disappointment to all of...

On the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, women are watching, and they are angry at what they see.

On January 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed every woman's right to make her own medical decisions without government interference. At the time, the Supreme...

Women won in Washington this week. The Obama administration's decision to protect the birth control coverage benefit that is part of health care reform will have a real and direct impact on millions of Americans--who will now have insurance that covers birth control without deductibles or co-pays. This will save...

In a country where nearly half of all pregnancies are unplanned, effective birth control isn't just a convenience -- it's an urgent health need that too many women are still unable to meet. We've seen some promising signs of progress recently, including a government decision to require new health plans...

Co-authored with Eli Pariser

This week, blogs erupted with news that Siri had a "blind spot" when it comes to women's health. Ask Siri, Apple's latest app, a voice-activated personal assistant, where to get an abortion or where to find emergency contraception, and it typically replies, "Sorry, I...

There's not a lot we agree on in this country. And yet, there is one topic around which there is practically universal agreement: the right of women to access birth control.

That's right -- 99% of women in the U.S. who have been sexually active have used birth control. It's...

Today, all eyes are on Mississippi as the state's "personhood" amendment is put before the voters. And by the time the polls close tonight, let's hope common sense will prevail.

This dangerous measure is an example of government gone too far. If passed, the amendment would...

Republican leaders in Congress just don't get it. At a time when Americans want government focused on jobs and helping families weather the toughest economy in recent memory, they have submitted a budget that guts the nation's birth control funding and eliminates access to cancer screenings for millions of women....

I used to think of Roe v Wade as the turning point in the struggle for women's rights and health. By recognizing reproductive rights as constitutional rights, the 1973 Supreme Court decision promised women in the United States would never return to the days of back-alley health care. And we...

A young woman named Gabby -- a fellow Texan -- wrote to me from her home in Austin to tell me that she recently had to choose between paying for her birth control and getting her car repaired. Actually, for Gabby, there was no choice at all. Without the car,...

Chances are you've never heard of Estelle Griswold. But she radically changed the lives of women in America. Forty-six years ago today, her courage secured a basic right that many of us take for granted today: the right to use birth control to plan and time our pregnancies and to...

Governor Mitch Daniels' recent decision to pass on a presidential run should serve as a warning to all Republican leaders.

Governor Daniels said that his wife and daughters had "veto power" over the decision. But that verbal nod to both family and women was starkly at odds with the anti-women,...

The greatest nation on earth nearly had to turn off the lights last week. Please take note of the reason. It wasn't because of terrorism. It wasn't the aftermath of a tsunami or an earthquake. And it certainly was not -- despite some claims -- because of a financial crisis....

A year ago this week, President Obama signed into law the Affordable Care Act, the greatest advance this country has seen in women's health care in 45 years. And women across this country are speaking out about how this bill will improve the lives of millions of women and girls....

Richard Nixon may not be the first name most people associate with women's health and reproductive rights. But as House Republicans ramp up their unprecedented assault on women this week, I'm starting to think of the Nixon era as an age of enlightenment. The Title X Family Planning -program, which...

On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Roe v. Wade, ruling that the right to privacy in the U.S. Constitution protects the right of a woman to choose whether to continue a pregnancy to term or to have an abortion. That decision ended the long...

In the wake of the tragic shooting last week in Arizona, President Obama called on all Americans to speak to one another "in a way that heals, not a way that wounds." These words echo the physicians' credo -- "first do no harm." I welcome the president's call for healing...

In the aftermath of the election, the circular firing squad within the Democratic Party has dominated this week's news. As with any disaster, blaming those who are not responsible is a given -- and the pack mentality begins.

One of the folks targeted during and after the election is the...

Thanks to a series of media reports over the past few months, Americans have been learning about the grave situation facing women in Guanajuato, Mexico, where women are jailed if they are suspected of having had an abortion.

Just a few hours from Mexico City, the state of Guanajuato...

On the six-month anniversary of the passage of the new health care law, much of America is either scratching its head or spewing bile. Us? We're celebrating. Yes, celebrating. Today the first new provisions of the Affordable Care Act go into effect and millions of women and families now have...