MTV surprised me

Hey Voxers!
Hope you're having a fabulous end of July.

So this evening I settled down to watch some tv and to my surprise the season finale of 16 and pregnant came on MTV. Now I know most of you are shaking your heads right now in disbelief that such a show even exists. It does and it's actually pretty good. Each episode follows one teenage girl through her pregnancy and for a couple of weeks after she gives birth and does a good job of accurately showing that pregnancy is a big deal and not something you just decide to do on a whim. You see just about everything in these episodes from the strain that the pregnancy is having on various relationships to the agony of labor. Anyways the season finale was a big reunion type thing with Dr. Drew presiding over it and looking back the these young womens' journeys and asking them questions about their experiences. What really struck me is the poise with which these young ladies carried themselves and took responsibilty for their actions. Universally all of them wound up pregnant because they didn't use birth control or didn't use it every time, but during the show they said that looking back and knowing what they know now they would have been much more vigilant about using condoms or the pill or whatever.

Moral of my post though is this show (at least the finale) should be required watching for middle and high schoolers...and though MTV may no longer play music and may produce such smut as the show based on Hot Chicks with Douchebags, it actually did a really great job with 16 and Pregnant and showing teen pregnancy from all sides and not glossing over anything.

Hope you all have a fabulous Friday and weekend!!

xo ~Tati

P.S. Pictures from tabling to come from this weekend!

Keep women's health a priority!!!

Gooooooood morning, VOXers!

So...I received a rather troubling e-mail a few days ago from PPFA (Planned Parenthood Federation of America) about an attack by anti-choice Sen Orrin Hatch on an amendment to the Senate HELP committee health care reform bill. This Women's Health Amendment, proposed by Sen. Barbara Mikulski and passed several days ago, will ensure coverage for preventive medical care like cancer screenings, contraception, pap tests, HIV screenings and other essential preventive medical services. The amendment ensures that women will be able to seek care, and have that care covered, from "essential community providers," a category under which Planned Parenthood falls....sounds great right? I mean, why would anyone NOT want essential preventive care included as a part of comprehensive health care reform? Wellll...Sen. Orrin Hatch, along with other Republicans in the Senate, have publicly attacked the amendment, accusing it of "forc[ing] private insurance companies to pay for abortions..." This accusation is false, and is an attempt to advance his anti-choice agenda with disregard to the need for the preventive medical services provided for in the Women's Health Amendment. The truth is, the amendment would do no such thing...it would not mandate coverage of abortion, but rather of medically appropriate and necessary preventive care. The preventive medical services included in this amendment that PP, and other "essential community providers" like it provide are an integral and vital component of health care for women. I am appalled that Sen. Hatch and others would attempt to advance his own political agenda in this way at the expense of women's health.

Click here to tell Senator Hatch you won't stand for it!

Alrighty, I hope you're all enjoying the GORGEOUS weather... I know I can't wait to get outside and soak up some sun :) And for all you Harry Potter fans out there...get excited! (And no, I am not ashamed to admit I'm still a big Harry Potter geek, even at this age...)

xoxo,

Sarah

Something I woke up to this morning

Hey there Voxers!
So this morning after waking up to the terrible sound of the alarm system coming from Scott Stadium, I found this link in my facebook inbox from Amber (former pres). I reallyyyy want one of the vulva puppets; it would be absolutely amazing for sexual arts and crafts and I would also probably keep it on my desk year round just to get a rise out of people.
One really shocking statistic that I read in the article though is that according to a 1996 study in Hong Kong, 78% of youth use porn and mass media as their main source of information about sex. My guess is that it's probably not much better in the US were 8+ years of abstinence only sexual education has only yielded a ridiculously high teen pregnancy rate and the staggering statistic that 1 in 4 teenage girls has an STD/STI. Maybe we need our own version of Kar Kar and Tak Tak in conjunction with age appropriate, medically accurate, comprehensive sexual education. Maybe that way we could empower young people with knowledge that could protect them from detrimental choices and their consequences and maybe I personally wouldn't go back to my high school and see another 5 senior girls pregnant (out of a 200 person class). Anyways I'm going to get off my soap box and do some actual work.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and if you're in Cville, have an awesome Midsummer's!!

xo,
Tati

Vox has a blog!!

Hey VOXers!!!

We've gone and created a blog for Vox. We'll use this as a way to keep you updated about Vox activities, events and current news and legislation regarding women's reproductive health.

Wishing you all a healthy, happy and fun summer!

--Tatiana and Sarah