“California stands for a woman’s right to choose,” affirmed Gov. Newsom as he signed Assembly Bill 260, a sweeping California law designed to protect reproductive care in the state. His message to the rest of the nation is unmistakable: when Washington turns its back on women, California will stand in their defense. Just months ago, […]
Tag: abortion
A Post-Mortem of the Youth Vote in 2024
This article is a follow-up to an earlier Berkeley Political Review article entitled “Blue Generation: Gen Z and the Democratic Party.” In the 2024 presidential election, Democratic candidate Kamala Harris underperformed President Joe Biden’s vote share in 2020 nationally by three percentage points. Harris’ underperformance is more striking when looking at individual states, even states […]
The Future of Alabama’s Reproductive Healthcare
Sitting in her daughter’s room, Alabama resident 35-year-old Kimberly expressed fears that time was running out for her to complete her family. In an ABC News interview, she lined up all of her medications and explained it was her fourth and final IVF treatment. Yet she was told to wait – a reality that many […]
France Constitutionally Protects Abortion in Monumental Vote by Legislators
In an era where reproductive rights are a hot-button issue in many countries, France has managed to explicitly codify abortion within its constitution—the most extensive protection of abortion and assertion of reproductive rights a nation has enacted in history. In response to an amalgamation of tension elsewhere over abortion, as well as persistent activism within […]
Data Collection in a Post-Roe World: A Need for National Security
Since the repeal of Roe v Wade in June of 2022, women seeking to maintain their bodily autonomy have had targets placed on their backs by regional and federal governments. As of September 2023, twenty-four states have banned and/or plan to ban abortion. These states have begun a witch-hunt persecution, incentivizing individuals to report women […]
In Defense of SCOTUS
Biden vs. Nebraska, 303 Creative LLC vs. Elenis, and, of course, Dobbs vs. Jackson are just a few of the new Supreme Court’s landmark decisions that have fundamentally changed the nation’s political landscape. To the dismay of progressives, SCOTUS has demonstrated an increasing willingness to strike down prior decisions rooted in judicial activism, in the […]
Following the Green Road of the Marea Verde: Colombia Decriminalizes Abortion
The Court Case On Feb. 21, Colombia’s Constitutional Court delivered a groundbreaking decision for reproductive rights. The country’s top court voted in a 5-4 ruling to decriminalize abortion for up to 24 weeks of pregnancy, delivering another victory for the Marea Verde, or Green Wave in Latin America—a movement that has caused landmark reforms that […]
Gilead May Not Be Far From Reality: The Case of Hungary
Katalin Novak, the newly elected Hungarian President, is all for women’s rights. In a manner of speaking. In a propaganda video shared in December 2020, back when she was Minister for Families, Novak encouraged women to have children and “bear the burdens of others.” She added that other women should not “believe that women have […]
Colombia’s Back-Breaking Battle for Reproductive Rights
Vibrant green banners ripple through the air, joined by cheers, chants and triumphant fists. Crowds of women publicly rejoice, embracing each other and jumping with joy. Some shed tears, overwhelmed by the magnitude of the moment. Over the past year, advocates for legal abortion in Latin America have greeted several success stories with emotion and […]
Unisex Contraception and a Pathway Towards Reproductive Equity
Back in the 60s, the pharmaceutical company G.D. Searle helped to develop the first hormonal contraceptive, Enovid, amidst a climate of scientific hesitance. While the complexities of reproductive physiology provided significant challenges to the conception of “the pill”, the Catholic Church, popular resentment and widespread cultural conservatism arguably provided a greater hurdle to the drug’s […]
Science and Philosophy: Friend and Foe to Abortion Debate
March 2021 was an eventful month for abortion in the news. On March 3, The New York Times published an opinion article outlining the political landscape around Roe vs. Wade versus heartbeat bans, one recently passed in South Carolina. No commentary from medical experts was included. Four days later, USA Today published an article titled, […]
When a Miscarriage is a Crime: El Salvador’s Humanitarian Crisis
“I’m afraid to die,” Beatriz told her doctor, Dr. Guillermo Ortiz, the Director of Obstetrics at El Salvador’s principal maternity hospital. Ortiz had just told Beatriz that her fetus was missing pieces of its brain and head and would not, under any circumstances, survive. Beatriz had lupus and kidney problems, and the pregnancy was killing […]
Trump and the White Evangelicals: Tension Between Morals and Politics
In Matthew 19:18, Jesus preaches, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY.” Donald Trump committed adultery when he had an affair with Marla Maples, while still married to his first wife Ivana Trump. Galatians 5:14 says, “For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” Donald Trump […]
Conflict in Lima: The Ongoing Fight between Peru’s President and Congress
In the Federalist Papers Nos. 10 and 51, James Madison defended the separation of powers among branches of government by noting: “Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.” Yet, while constitutional design must compel governments to limit themselves, constitutional design should not prevent the government from achieving anything of significance at all. In the Germany of […]
Unethical Yet Unsurprising: The GOP’s Latest Blow to Planned Parenthood
Were you to search for online testimonials of people who have received services from Planned Parenthood, you would find results overwhelmingly inspirational and hopeful, ranging from stories of women from strict religious families receiving birth control pills and becoming the first in their family to not become a teenage mother to college students getting STI […]
The Precarious Position of Planned Parenthood
2015 has been a year full of debate, controversy and headlines regarding Planned Parenthood (PP), but the nation was stunned on November 27th when a gunman attacked a PP clinic, killing three people and injuring nine others. A standoff between the shooter and police lasted five hours at the Colorado Springs clinic, ending with the […]
After Roe: The New Wave of Abortion Restrictions
Ann Richards, the late Democratic governor of Texas, once stated, “We’re not going to have the America that we want until we elect leaders who are going to tell the truth – not most days, but every day.” For Ms. Richards’ daughter, Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards, September 29th was not a good day for […]
2014 Midterms Recap: What You Need to Know
Though one of the biggest stories from the midterm election results on Tuesday was the Republicans gaining control of the Senate, there were other significant stories as well. Not only were pollsters incorrect in predicting how close certain Senate races would be, many of the gubernatorial races went the way of the Republicans as well […]
SCOTUS Sneak Peak: A Look at the Supreme Court’s 2014-2015 Term
Though the current Supreme Court term only started on October 6, the court has already issued orders on two controversial issues and started hearing oral arguments for many other important cases. Though the court struck down Wisconsin’s voter ID law for the upcoming midterm elections, they handed down emergency orders that upheld North Carolina’s and […]
The Hyde Amendment: Disproportionately Affecting Minority Women Since 1976
In 1976, just three years after the Supreme Court’s groundbreaking decision in Roe v. Wade, Republican congressman Henry Hyde attached a little-known amendment to a Health and Human Services appropriations bill that would shift the course of reproductive justice in the United States for decades to come. The Hyde Amendment banned the use of federal […]