Bush Administration Pushes Through Last-Minute HHS Rule
December 18, 2008-- Just over a month from President George W. Bush's departure from office, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today issued a new regulation that will drastically hinder women's ability to get reproductive health services—including basic care such as contraception, counseling and information necessary to make decisions about their own health. The Center for Reproductive Rights strongly condemns the rule and calls on President-elect Obama to rescind it.
Click here to read the Center's response to the new regulation > >
Click here to learn more > >
Give the Gift of Choice, Make a Donation in Honor of Someone You Love
Honor your friends, family or heroes this holiday season by making a gift to advance women's dignity and reproductive freedom. Make a donation to the Center in the name of someone special. We will send them a note to let them know about your gift.
To make your gift online, click here (be sure to enter your honoree's name & contact in the Comments field) > >
To mail or fax your gift, click here > >
The Center Commemorates Human Rights Day
December 10, 2008-- On Human Rights Day, the Center for Reproductive Rights urges all governments to guarantee the human rights and freedoms that women need to live with dignity and to achieve a healthy and fulfilling life. Self-determination, autonomy, equality, and health are fundamental human rights that underpin the ability to make basic decisions about one's own life. Women cannot fully enjoy all their human rights if they can’t make their own decisions about their fertility, access family planning services and contraceptives, learn facts about reproduction, and obtain quality prenatal and obstetric care.
Learn more > >
Vote for Center President Nancy Northup!
December 8, 2008-- What should President-Elect Obama do on his first day in office? Center President Nancy Northup has some thoughts, and the Better World Campaign likes what she has to say: They have selected her as a semi-finalist in their contest to pick the best ideas. See Nancy's answer, and then vote to make her a finalist on On Day One's Website.
Vote here > >
Center Weighs in on Pregnancy Discrimination Supreme Court Case
December 8, 2008-- This Wednesday, December 10, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in the case, AT&T v. Hulteen. The case revolves around the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) which went into effect 30 years ago. Four women who entered the workforce and are now retiring are suing AT&T for discriminating against them in calculating their pensions. The women were given substanitally less leave for pregnancy than other disabilities. The Center for Reproductive Rights wrote a friend-of-the-court, supporting the women's claims.
Click here to read the friend-of-the-court brief > >
World AIDS Day 2008
December 1, 2008-- On World AIDS Day, the Center reiterates the importance of placing women's sexual and reproductive rights at the center of the fight against HIV/AIDS. Women living with HIV/AIDS still face a myriad of violations to their reproductive rights, which are often neglected in the programs and policies addressing the pandemic.
Find out more > >
International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
November 25, 2008-- Women who suffer violence are prevented from enjoying their most basic human rights, including their sexual and reproductive rights. On this year's International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the Center urges governments to end all forms of violence against women and girls.
Find out more > >
Women's Health Organizations Urge Oversight Agency to Hold Bush Administration Accountable
November 17, 2008-- Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), the Center for Reproductive Rights, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) today sent a letter to the U.S. Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) at the Office of Management and Budget urging OIRA to take its responsibilities seriously with respect to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). HHS is moving forward with a final regulation that will allow health care providers to withhold vital health care information and services from patients.
Click here to read the letter > >
Click here to read the press release > >
Indian Woman, Abandoned During Labor by Doctors, Sues State
November 13, 2008-- Salenta Singh suffered a debilitating injury after she went to a public hospital in Uttar Pradesh, India to give birth—and was left alone overnight while in labor. Now she is suing the government of Uttar Pradesh for violating her human rights.
Find out more > >
Show Your Support for Nancy Northup and Check Out (and Share) Her Blog on Huffington Post
November 13, 2008-- "Now that a pro-choice administration is about to move into the White House, it may be tempting to think that we no longer have to "worry" about women's reproductive rights. But we must resist that temptation and instead pledge to seize this moment...," says Nancy Northup in her new blog on Huffington Post today.
Click here to read the entire blog and share with your friends through social networking > >
The Center at the 2008 AWID International Forum
November 13, 2008-– Many of the most dramatic advances in reproductive rights have resulted from partnerships between local advocates and international ones such as the Center. At this year's AWID International Forum on Women's Rights and Development, the Center and its partners will share how their collaborations have created new opportunities for action and transformed politics and law worldwide.
Find out more > >
Bringing Rights to Bear Anew: 2008 Update Completed
November 10, 2008-- The Center has completed updating one of its signature publications, Bringing Rights to Bear. Redesigned as a series of standalone briefing papers, Bringing Rights to Bear compiles and analyzes what UN treaty-monitoring bodies have been saying about reproductive rights.
Find out more > >
Center for Reproductive Rights Calls on President-Elect Obama to Restore U.S. as World Leader in Reproductive Rights
November 5, 2008-- Today the Center for Reproductive Rights called on President-elect Barack Obama to champion women’s reproductive freedom and equality and restore America's leadership on these issues. In a three-page letter, the Center urged the President-elect to adopt policies that would allow all women to get the safe and affordable reproductive healthcare they need. The Center also appealed to the new administration to join the growing number of countries and international courts recognizing that reproductive rights are central to a woman's right to human dignity, self-determination, equality and health.
Click here to read our press release > >
Click here to read the Center's letter to President-elect Obama > >
Women's Rights Defenders Seek Protection before Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
October 29, 2008-- The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is in a crucial position to bring overdue attention to the violations and abuses that women's human rights defenders face in the Americas, four rights organizations said today after a historic hearing that raised these issues before the commission for the first time.
Read the press release > >
Read the Center's blog on the hearing > >
Read the Center's submission on U.S. abortion providers as women's rights defenders > >
Lea el informe del Centro acerca de proveedores de servicios de aborto en Estados Unidos como defensores de los derechos de las mujeres > >
Abortion Restrictions Eased Worldwide
October 27, 2008--In the past ten years, 16 more countries have eased legal restrictions on abortion, according to a study released today in the Guttmacher Institute's International Family Planning Perspectives. Governments are also increasingly adopting measures to ensure that women can access abortion where it is legal. These changes have occurred against a backdrop of growing legal recognition that removing barriers to safe abortion services is a matter of human rights. The study was co-authored by Laura Katzive, deputy director of the Center's International Legal Program.
Click here to read the study and the Guttmacher Institute's press release > >
Click here to read the World's Abortion Laws factsheet (updated 10/20/08) > >
Click here to see the 2007 World's Abortion Laws Map > >
ReproWrites Tackles the Big Questions
October 22, 2008-–Why do we need public funding for family planning? How have human rights changed the abortion debate in Latin America? Are abortion providers also defenders of women's human rights? Find out in the newest issue of the Center's e-newsletter ReproWrites!
Click here to read the September/October issue of ReproWrites > >
Indian Activist Sues State for Neglecting Maternal Mortality
October 22, 2008-– A public health activist in India has taken the state of Madhya Pradesh to court over the staggering number of women in the state who die during pregnancy and childbirth. The Center has submitted a legal memorandum in support of the case, describing how international human rights law supports a woman's right to safe pregnancy.
Click here to read more > >
Hot Reproductive Health Issues: The Myths & the Truths
October 16, 2008-- Did you know that the U.S. teen birth rate is four times the European average? Or that more American women die from pregnancy-related complications than in most Western developed countries? Check out the Center's new compilation of "Hot Topics in Reproductive Rights and Health" and learn key facts about reproductive health in the U.S.; the myths and truths surrounding the issues; and how and whether the U.S. government is addressing your needs.
Click here to read "Reproductive Rights and Health: Hot Topics" > >
Because of, Not in Spite of, My Faith
October 14, 2008-– Center President Nancy Northup is a fierce advocate for reproductive rights—and a life-long Unitarian Universalist. Read her recent post on RH Reality Check about how her faith has called her to fight for social and reproductive justice.
Click here to read > >
Calling on All Policy-makers to Take Bold Action in Support of Women's Reproductive Health
July 23, 2008-- The Center for Reproductive Rights is calling on all policy-makers to demonstrate their commitment to women's health and self-determination. Our Center's Federal Policy Agenda on reproductive rights sets forth concrete and attainable goals to that end, including supporting comprehensive sex education; increasing access to high quality healthcare for all pregnant women; and protecting women's right to get an abortion.
Click here to learn more and read the Center's Federal Policy Agenda > >
