By Juan Forero

The New York Times, December 3, 2005

PAMPLONA, Colombia – In this tradition-bound Roman Catholic town one day in April, two young women did what many here consider unthinkable: pregnant and scared, they took a cheap ulcer medication known to induce abortions. When the drug left them bleeding, they were treated at a local emergency room—then promptly arrested.

The New York Times, March 5, 2005

Editorial

At a moment when the United States should be leading the world on advancing women's equality, the Bush administration chose instead to alienate government ministers and 6,000 other delegates at an important United Nations conference on that issue with a burst of anti-abortion zealotry this week.

>>Available in PDF from WWHR's website

Summary: By Dr. Sherifa Zuhur (publishedby Women for Women's Human Rights-New Ways, February 2005). Examinesthe common aspects of criminal laws in the Middle East and North Africarelated to sexuality and provides a historical perspective on theamalgamation of tribal, religious, colonial laws and their impact onmodern codes. Providing a thematic comparative study of constructs ofhonor, adultery, honor crimes, rape, sexual abuse, abortion, maritalrape, homosexuality, sex work, FGM and similar issues, the articleexplores how human rights violations in the domain of sexuality arelegitimized by law in the region and how oppression of sexuality inperpetrated by the existing penal systems. The article is both a uniqueresource and a powerful advocacy tool for ongoing reform initiatives inthe region (76 pages).

>>Available in PDF

Summary: By Cynthia Steele, Vice President, Programs, IWHC; and Susana Chiarotti, Director, Instituto de Genero, Derecho y Desarollo, Rosario, Argentina (Reproductive Health Matters, Vol. 12 No. 24 Supplement, November 2004, pp. 39-46). 

Science, Vol 305, Issue 5680, 17, 2 July 2004

By Adrienne Germain

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decision in May 2004 not to allow over-the-counter sales of the morning-after pill, Plan B, is but one troubling example of the increasing impact of politics and ideology on science and health policy. The agency's ruling, contrary to recommendations from an external advisory panel and its own scientific staff, is indicative of the growing gap between common sense and U.S. policies affecting the well-being of women and girls worldwide.

>>Available in Word and PDF

Newsweek, May 10, 2004

By Kati Marton

Women suffer countless disadvantages compared with men. Even after decades of progress, we make up two thirds of the world's 880 million illiterate adults, and up to 70 percent of its poorest citizens. But health remains the cruelest of all inequalities. Click here to read the full text of the article.