With the relatively recent decisions in Obergefell v. Hodges and Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, sexuality has of late been a hot-button issue for the Supreme Court. However, the subject is not new ground. The debate over what protections, if any, the Constitution and statutory law afford LGBT persons has carried on through the legal system for decades. I propose that sexuality and sexual orientation discrimination should be viewed as akin to race and racial ... continue reading...
How Paid Parental Leave Benefits Men, Too
In the public debate, paid parental leave is often framed as a women’s issue. Advocates of paid leave repeatedly point to research that shows how paid leave policies boost female employment figures and decrease turnover at work among women. To make the case for parental leave stronger, the benefits for children (such as lower high school dropout rates and reduced infant mortality) are also frequently cited. But in practice, paid parental leave is, or least should be, just as much of a men’s ... continue reading...
The Irish Approach to Reproductive Rights: Centering Personal Narrative
At a time when Roe v. Wade is deeply imperiled in the United States and reactionary conservatism is growing across Europe, Ireland offers a different path forward. In 2015, Ireland became the first country in the world to legalize gay marriage by popular vote. This year, the country voted by an overwhelming margin–66% to 33%–to legalize abortion. This is not to say that Ireland is immune from the problems which have plagued other Western democracies. It, too, has had to confront the ... continue reading...
The Use of Child Protective Services and Court Orders to Enforce Medical Compliance in the Labor and Delivery Room: How Threats of Legal Action Limit Reproductive Choice
The Use of Child Protective Services and Court Orders to Enforce Medical Compliance in the Labor and Delivery Room: How Threats of Legal Action Limit Reproductive Choice by Alexa Richardson Competent adults have a legally recognized right to complete control over health decisions that involve their bodily autonomy.[1] However, when patients make decisions during labor and delivery that diverge from what their provider believes is best, some doctors, nurses, and hospitals threaten to report the ... continue reading...
A Patient Struggles to be Heard
A Patient Struggles to be Heard by Ann Tweedy [Full PDF of Essay] When I received a call from a nurse notifying me that I had breast cancer, my first sensation was shock. I was at work at the time, and the call came in a day earlier than I had expected. The nurse sounded apologetic, her voice strained yet matter-of-fact. I heard her words—“both biopsies came out positive for invasive lobular carcinoma”—and tried to absorb the reality that I had cancer. But it was as if my being was ... continue reading...