Women in America are taught to save – for a car, for emergencies, homes, and retirement.  What we end up learning the hard way is the need to save for maternity leave.  Thinking about having kids one day?  Ask about your employer’s maternity leave policy now!  It might happen that there isn’t one. I’ve spent [...]

When the New York Times recently asked “Are You as Fertile as You Look?” the question was rhetorical. The reporter suggested womenfolk are ignorant about their declining fertility because they confuse youthful looks with having youthful ovaries. It’s easy to judge women like the ones trotted out for this piece; in their late 30s through mid 40s, they [...]

Next week, Mississippi residents will get to vote on Proposition 26, the “Personhood Amendment.”  This would amend the Mississippi state constitution to include in its definition of “persons” all human beings from the moment of fertilization, cloning or functional equivalent thereof.  In Mississippi at least, the question of when does life begin would be answered [...]

October is a time of both fun and gore.   The buildup to Halloween entails stores brimming with spooky masks, big rubber snakes and spiders (if you happen to fear those things), thousands of calories of chocolate piled into small bags, and oversexualized costumes for children. Some of these are fun; some are not. Either way, [...]

Last week a friend of mine told me about a report stating 43% of Gen X women do not have children.  Knowing how many of my friends in Gen Y are putting off children for various reasons, I don’t find it hard to believe.  I understand it may shock many of the Baby Boomer generation, [...]

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending via conference call (thank you, Google Phone), the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) Roundtable on Women & the Economy. The purpose of the Roundtable was to formally present two very significant research studies put together by the IWPR and the Rockefeller Foundation, Women and Men Living [...]

On October 31st, the world’s population will reach 7 billion.   With this historical  milestone in sight,  UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) has issued a call-to-action to renew our commitment to work for a healthier, more sustainable world.   How women and girls become change-agents in their own lives and how we empower them is crucial to [...]

The argument remains: Do we, as women, still live in a male-dominated society? Or have we finally achieved a sense of equality? Perhaps this will be a debate that never ends, in a “chicken or egg” cul de sac in which each side can produce convincing and fact-based arguments, but no conclusion is really ever [...]

Good news for liberated ladies! Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) enacted new guidelines to provide a variety of free preventive services to women, effective on plan years starting on or after August 1, 2012. These reforms stem from the hotly contested Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. One [...]