Reproductive Rights

UNH Students Mark International Women's Day

By • Mar 8, 2017
Jason Moon for NHPR

Students at UNH held a demonstration Wednesday in observance of International Women’s Day.

A group of about 30 University of New Hampshire students gathered outside to hold a silent vigil for the estimated 47,000 people around the world that die every year because of unsafe abortions. That number comes from a World Health Organization estimate.

Rachel Sabol, a senior at UNH who attended the vigil, said the event was about showing solidarity for women everywhere.

An Update On The Abortion Debate

By • Mar 3, 2014
hmoloshok / Flickr Creative Commons

With two stubborn, diametrically opposed sides, the country’s abortion debate has moved very little in either direction since Roe v. Wade 40 years ago. While polls indicate most Americans do not support overturning the landmark supreme court decision to allow abortions, many do support some limitations on the procedure. And it’s in this direction that many state legislatures have swung recently, with a record number of restrictions passed since 2010.  While this trend is changing the landscape for abortion access in some parts of the country, New England continues to be an exception.

The Hazards Of An Unregulated Sperm Industry

By Virginia Prescott • Dec 10, 2013
Iqbal Osman via Flickr Creative Commons

In the new movie “Delivery Man,” Vince Vaughn discovers that his “donation” has been used hundreds of times without his knowledge. Far-fetched plot? Maybe not. The United States does not track sperm donations. We have no idea how many there are, how often they're donated, nor how many children are born from those donations. Rene Almeling is an assistant professor of sociology at Yale. She wrote an op-ed piece for the New York Times about “The Unregulated Sperm Industry.”

Feminist Spring

By Virginia Prescott • Jan 31, 2013

The increasing prominence of women’s issues on a global scale has a number of scholars and activists wondering if we are on the verge of a “Feminist Spring”.  Two years after seething political and social discontent exploded into protests that changed the landscape of the Middle East, mass movements are forming around women’s issues. From the streets of India to Steubenville, Ohio, protestors are marching against sexual violence against women. In Syria, Bahrain and Yemen, women are active members of the ongoing resistance. Here in the US, a record number of women are now in congress and running states as governor, and issues like reproductive health and gun control have activated formerly silent female voters. Sahar Khamis is assistant professor of communication at the University of Maryland. She’s written extensively about female activism in the Arab spring uprisings, and joins us for a read of where those struggles stand today.

Virginia Governor Backs Down From Ultrasound Bill

By • Feb 23, 2012

Several states are considering laws that would mandate an ultrasound before a woman has an abortion. Critics say the laws are unnecessary and intrusive, and the debate reached a fever pitch recently over a Virginia bill that would have required an invasive ultrasound procedure.