Book Review: The Lie That Binds
by Margaret Sparrow All eyes are now on the US with the prospect that Roe.v. Wade will be overturned by a decision of the Supreme Court, 49 years after it was passed. How and why has this come about? This book is not the latest word on the topic...
Watch What They Do
by Terry Bellamak This week in the USA, someone leaked a Supreme Court majority decision that reverses Roe v Wade, the decision that establishes a constitutional right to an abortion. Now Americans are incandescent with outrage at the dumpster fire...
The Long Game
by Terry Bellamak To see what the world would look like if anti-abortion types had their way, look no farther than the USA. Like Oklahoma, which just passed a bill making all abortions illegal except to save the life of the mother. The governor is...
Why we need to fight abortion stigma
by Katie Lavers Medical science has improved lives. Vaccinations can prevent disease. They have been in New Zealand since the 1860’s, with smallpox vaccines being first in line. In the 1940’s and 50’s more widespread vaccination programmes began....
A Testing Time Part 3 – Hormone Pregnancy Tests
by Margaret Sparrow From 1942 another type of pregnancy test was developed, not using hCG but two other hormones, oestrogen (or a synthetic oestrogen) and progesterone (or a synthetic progestogen). Either taken orally or injected, various...
Endo Shouldn’t Be Like This
by Rimu Bhooi It's Endometriosis Awareness Month, and I'm sitting in bed, recovering from a concoction of medications in my system - Morphine, Sevredol, Bisacodyl, Ondansetron, Pregabalin, Panadol, Norethisterone, Nortriptyline, Omeprazole,...
The Right to Choose is not Enough: A Cautionary Tale
by Tracy Morison Abortion on request has been legal for more than 25 years in South Africa. Yet, despite the country’s highly liberal laws, every year pregnant women[1] die needlessly due to complications from unsafe, illegal abortions. These...
A Testing Time Part 2: Modern Pregnancy Tests
by Margaret Sparrow Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG), is a pretty special hormone excreted by the placenta to maintain a pregnancy. It can be detected in blood at low levels and also less sensitively (but more conveniently) in urine, especially...
Pro-choice Motherhood
by Julie Fairey When I first contemplated becoming a mother I worried. I worried about all sorts of things; would I be any good at it, would I hate it, would I be able to get pregnant at all. And I worried that it would change my attitude to...
Missouri Says You Must Die
by Terry Bellamak The state of Missouri says if you have an ectopic pregnancy you must die. Missouri House Bill 2810, if it passes, would make aborting an ectopic pregnancy a felony. The health practitioners who do so would be felons after...