Chanel Dubofsky

helloflo.com

Here’s Why You Might Not Be Able To Find Emergency Contraception On The Shelf

Erin Matson was buying diapers for her infant daughter at her local Harris Teeter grocery store when she noticed something odd. On the shelf where the emergency contraception (EC) was supposed to be, there was a card in its place. The card, which Matson points out is the same size as the actual product, read: “To purchase this item, please take to the Pharmacy or to the Customer Service Desk in non-Pharmacy stores.”
To recap: emergency contraception is exactly what it sounds like – contracept...

modernfertility.com

Chemical pregnancies: The most common thing you've never heard of

The day before her period was due, Alexandra took a pregnancy test. She and her partner had been trying to get pregnant, so she was thrilled when the test revealed a strong positive. The next day, she took another one, just to be sure. It was still positive, but the pink line was slightly fainter. The day after that, Alexandra took one more test. The line was now barely visible. "Then, about five days after my period was due, I got a very, very heavy period,” she remembers. “My doctor said it...

Lilith

If You’re Scared About “Roe” Today, Welcome to the Struggle

Yesterday’s bombshell news that Justice Anthony Kennedy—a reliable pro-abortion rights vote—is retiring from the Supreme Court means that Roe v. Wade is truly, seriously imperiled. We could wake up within a few years to find abortion fully illegal in over 20 states.
Ironically, in recent months, right up until the Kennedy-related outpouring of fear we’re seeing at this very moment began, abortion rights advocates had noticed a growing fatigue around the issue. Buzzfeed published an opinion pi...

Lilith

Women Who Are Rabbis Experience Their Own Brand of Harassment

“I’ve been harassed. It’s happened to every female rabbi I know,” Rabbi Rebecca Sirbu said. “People have an overwhelming sense of discomfort with women rabbis, because they’re women.”And female rabbis face an additional burden of harassment because they are occupying a powerful position once permitted only to men. “People have to start seeing women as religious leaders and thinking about what that means,” Sirbu, director of Rabbi’s Without Borders, told me.
Even rabbinical students don’t esca...

helloflo.com

Teen Moms Suffer From Postpartum Depression Twice As Often As Older Moms – Here’s Why

In May of 2012, a study published in the journal Pediatrics revealed that girls who gave birth between the ages of 15 and 19 experienced postpartum depression (PPD) at twice the rate of older moms. That study, consisting of 6,4000 Canadian women, isn’t the only one – research published in 2014 also reported that there’s a connection between the age a person gives birth and their mental health.
The messages that we get about teen moms aren’t exactly subtle — they run the gambit of how difficul...

helloflo.com

Could You Get An Abortion From Your Doctor If You Needed One?

If you were seeking an abortion, where would you go? Would you be able to get one from your primary care physician or your OB/GYN? If you couldn’t get an abortion from either, how would you proceed?
Here is a scary fact: According to the Guttmacher Institute, in 2014, people seeking abortion in the US often had to drive between 180 and 330 miles to access the procedure. The number of clinics in the country has decreased from 851 in 2008 to 788 in 2014, and five states have only a single clini...

helloflo.com

In This State, Having A Miscarriage Could Land You In Jail

“Indiana is not a safe place to be pregnant,” said Shelly Dodson.
Dodson is the director of All-Options Pregnancy Resource Center in Bloomington, where folks can go for support in their decisions about pregnancy, including abortion, adoption, and parenting. In addition to having the the 4th highest maternal mortality rate in the country, which disproportionately impacts people of color, abortion laws make it very difficult to access abortion care in the state, and also cause those who have ha...

modernfertility.com

Do cell phones really impact sperm quality?

Let's just admit it: We are in deep, committed (probably co-dependent) relationships with our phones. There are many compelling reasons to limit our phone usage, from getting better sleep to preventing “tech neck.” And yes, actually making eye contact with strangers. There is also a claim that consistent exposure to mobile phone radiation could negatively impact sperm quality, potentially causing fertility issues in men. This theory has some so freaked out that a German company started manufa...

helloflo.com

What’s It Like To Wait More Than 72 Hours For An Abortion?

You’re pregnant and you don’t want to be. You know you want an abortion, and the clock is ticking – the longer you stay pregnant, the more expensive the procedure becomes, and the less likely it will be that you can obtain an abortion in the state where you live, if at all. You go to the doctor, confirm your pregnancy, and then you’re told that no, you can’t get an abortion today. You have to wait, and it’s going to be a while.
R, a teacher in New York City, was around 9 weeks pregnant when s...

heyalma.com

Single Jewish Women Have Some Superstitions About KitchenAids

I did not understand the significance of the KitchenAid mixer. We have one — it’s white, on the old side but still functional, and my housemates use it on occasion to make cookies. We got it from Craigslist, knowing that brand new mixers are super expensive — even without all the fancy attachments, the Quart Bowl-Lift Stand Mixer model is $700, before shipping, if you buy it online.
I was aware that this was a useful object, but I didn’t realize, or appreciate, the deep power with which it wa...

helloflo.com

Here’s What You Should Know About Getting Healthcare If You’re Undocumented

On January 11, 2018, the ACLU reported that yet another undocumented young woman was being denied access to an abortion. For those of you keeping track, this is the fourth time this has happened since the advent of the Trump administration. The profusion of these accounts is not only disturbing because, as Nikki Jacobson, a Los Angeles immigration lawyer put it, “they will find anyway to deny someone an abortion,” but because of the fear it spreads among undocumented folks looking to access a...

helloflo.com

Let’s Talk About Being Afraid of Pregnancy

Pregnancy is dangerous. If you weren’t already aware of the many things that can happen to both you and your fetus during both pregnancy and childbirth, don’t worry – you can remedy that with a quick Google search. (Also, maybe don’t do this, and talk to a doctor instead.) It’s not weird or wrong to be anxious about pregnancy, and it certainly isn’t uncommon, just as it’s not unheard of to hate being pregnant – it just isn’t talked about.

“To me the words pregnancy and fear are synonymous,” K...

helloflo.com

3 Months Later, Getting An Abortion in Puerto Rico Is Still Almost Impossible

Abortion is technically legal in Puerto Rico, if it’s performed by a physician adhering to requirements put forth by the US Department of Health, and if it’s being done in order to save the life and/or health of the mother. Unlike in many US states, there’s no parental consent law, and a Google search for “abortion puerto rico” will render actual clinics that provide abortions (as opposed to crisis pregnancy centers).

Before Hurricane Maria virtually destroyed Puerto Rico’s infrastructure in ...

helloflo.com

Here Are 5 Ways You Can Combat Abortion Stigma

Shame and stigma shouldn’t be able to stop people from getting health care.

Let’s start with a definition. Abortion stigma is the negative ideas assigned to folks who seek abortions, who have had them, and who provide them. These ideas include the notion that abortion is wrong, dangerous and dirty, that everyone who has an abortion regrets their decision, that abortion causes mental distress, those who perform abortions aren’t legitimate doctors, it’s unthinkable and immoral to have more than...

helloflo.com

Not Feeling Your Biological Clock Tick? You’re Not Alone

If you are a cis woman who doesn’t want to have kids, you know that those who are confounded by your choice, as well as those who are probably well meaning on some level, love to reference the biological clock. As in, “Oh, just wait until your biological clock starts ticking, then you’ll want one.”

The reality of reproductive time, i.e. fertility, has become the obsessive focus of media targeting women, particularly in the context of balancing family and work, creating much anxiety and prompt...