Tag Archives: Human reproduction

Entertainment

Planned Parenthood blasts Blonde as “anti-abortion propaganda”

Leave a comment

Planned Parenthood has joined the chorus of voices with nothing much positive to say about Netflix’s new Marilyn Monroe biopic Blonde, giving an interview today that blasts the film as “anti-abortion propaganda.”

This is per THR, which reached out to the reproductive rights organization for comment on Andrew Dominik’s new film, which stars Ana De Armas as a version of the legendary Hollywood star, and which depicts two illegal abortions as part of the web of trauma that led to Monroe’s death. (Including CGI talking fetuses that say things like, “You won’t hurt me this time, will you?”)

In response, Caren Spruch, Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s national director of arts and entertainment engagement, told THR that, “As film and TV shapes many people’s understanding of sexual and reproductive health, it’s critical these depictions accurately portray women’s real decisions and experiences. While abortion is safe, essential health care, anti-abortion zealots have long contributed to abortion stigma by using medically inaccurate descriptions of fetuses and pregnancy. Andrew Dominik’s new film, Blonde, bolsters their message with a CGI-talking fetus, depicted to look like a fully formed baby.”

Spruch added:

Planned Parenthood respects artistic license and freedom. However, false images only serve to reinforce misinformation and perpetuate stigma around sexual and reproductive health care. Every pregnancy outcome — especially abortion — should be portrayed sensitively, authentically and accurately in the media. We still have much work to do to ensure that everyone who has an abortion can see themselves onscreen. It is a shame that the creators of Blonde chose to contribute to anti-abortion propaganda and stigmatize people’s health care decisions instead.

Dominik has come under fire both for the content of the film itself—based on the book by Joyce Carol Oates—and for the press he’s given around it, in which he’s suggested a sort of baseline contempt for Monroe’s various films. Addressing the abortion issue in a recent interview with The Wrap, he suggested that the film is not anti-choice, and that unhappiness at its depiction of abortion was rooted in the Supreme Court’s recent overturn of Roe v. Wade. “No one would have given a shit about that if I’d made the movie in 2008, and probably no one’s going to care about it in four years’ time.”

Read original article here

Health

‘Covid Dick’ Is, Sadly, Real

Leave a comment

Photo: Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket (Getty Images)

It seems we can add sexual dysfunction to the long list of unexpected and unpleasant effects of the coronavirus. Thankfully, this doesn’t appear to be a common occurrence, and there are some potential remedies that those afflicted can try.

This week, the Slate-run sex advice podcast How to Do It discussed the harrowing tale of an anonymous letter writer who was suffering from what’s come to be known as “covid dick.” The writer, who identified as a heterosexual man in his 30s, said that he had gotten very sick and was hospitalized from covid-19 last July. After he was discharged, he began experiencing erectile dysfunction (ED). Though his symptoms did improve after seeing a doctor, the man reportedly was left with a glaring reminder of his ordeal. Describing himself as above average in penis size before covid-19, he said that his penis had now shrunk about 1.5 inches and that he had “become decidedly less than average.”

The podcast hosts, to their credit, also interviewed a pair of urologists who rightly noted that there’s a clear trail of evidence linking covid-19 to erectile or sexual dysfunction. A study this past November, for instance, found that men with covid-19 were about three times as likely to develop a new case of ED than those who didn’t catch covid-19. Some research has suggested that the risk may be nearly six times higher, yet other estimates are smaller, suggesting around a 20% increased risk. A small percentage of people with long covid, including women, have also reported sexual dysfunction as one of their symptoms. And sometimes, ED can indeed lead to shrinkage, especially if it’s caused by physical damage and scarring that causes the penis to stop becoming regularly erect.

There are a few theories as to how covid-19 can cause ED. The infection can possibly reach penile tissue and directly damage to the surrounding blood vessels. It may also be due to the indirect effects of infection on the immune system, which may trigger damaging inflammation. (An over-reacting immune system and blood vessel damage are also the prime suspects behind “covid toes.”) And the experience of hospitalization in severe cases can take a toll on the body, penis included. The risk of ED from blood vessel damage is probably greater in people who already have other relevant health conditions that can affect circulation, such as type 2 diabetes. Many cases of ED can also be chalked up to stress and anxiety, and covid survivors are unfortunately at higher risk of experiencing that as well.

That said, age is by far the largest risk factor for ED, with as much as 70% of men experiencing some level of it by their 70s. And while we don’t seem to have solid data on the actual prevalence of covid-related ED, it doesn’t appear to affect a huge proportion of men. The November study, for instance, found that slightly less than 5% of men in the sample were diagnosed with ED after covid-19.

As the Slate hosts note, there are readily available treatments for ED, such as the drug sildenafil (Viagra). And even a shrunken penis can be treated or prevented through what one urologist refers to as “penile rehab,” which can involve stretching exercises and/or penis-pumping devices. So not all hope is lost if you’re worried about the dreaded covid dick. And for the record, there’s no evidence at this time of a link between ED and getting vaccinated for covid-19.

Read original article here

US

South Dakota governor issues executive order restricting access to abortion medicine

Leave a comment

Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi NoemKristi Lynn NoemTexas law opens door for other states to pursue abortion restrictions House panel advances 8B defense bill House committee moves to block private funds for National Guard deployments MORE on Tuesday issued an executive order restricting abortion medications, requiring that they be picked up in person at a doctor’s office.

In April, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) lifted restrictions on sending abortion-inducing medications through the mail, determining that sending the medicine remotely through telemedicine did not increase risk.

In her executive order, Noem dictated that abortion-inducing medications such as mifepristone may be dispensed to a woman by a physician licensed in South Dakota only after an in-person examination. Data on the number of chemical abortions performed and any complications as well as information to indicate if the woman was “coerced or sex trafficked and forced to take the pills” will also be collected, per Noem’s order.

Her oder also says that no manufacturers, suppliers or physicians will supply abortion medications via telemedicine or mail service. They also cannot be provided in any school or on state grounds, including colleges and universities, with the South Dakota Republican claiming that the “abortion industry” is targeting young women.

Noem directed the South Dakota Department of Health to “develop an abortion clinic license specific to the pharmaceutical nature of medical abortion in keeping with South Dakota’s existing surgical abortion clinic licensing requirements.”

Noem noted that the FDA is expected to lift further restrictions on abortion medications beginning Nov. 1 and wrote, “The result is likely to be an increase in chemical abortions and resulting complications.”

“South Dakota is a state that values life and prioritizes women’s health and safety above politics by basing public policy on science and data rather than political talking points,” Noem wrote in her order.

This move comes shortly after Texas passed a ban on abortions past six weeks, before most women even know that they’re pregnant. It is considered to be the most restrictive abortion law in the U.S., allowing individuals to sue anyone who “aids or abets” an abortion after six weeks for up to $10,000 and legal fees.

The new law has been highly criticized for its extreme effects, with President BidenJoe BidenSpotlight turns to GOP’s McCarthy in Jan. 6 probe Biden visits union hall to mark Labor Day Biden approves disaster funds for NJ, NY after Ida flooding MORE calling it “almost un-American.”

“I respect people who … don’t support Roe v. Wade. I respect their views. I respect those who believe life begins at the moment of conception and all. I respect that, don’t agree, but I respect that. Not going to impose that on people,” Biden said to reporters last week.



Read original article here

Technology

Maneater, Killing Floor Boss Supports Texas Anti-Abortion Law

Leave a comment

Photo: Sergio Flores (Getty Images)

According to a tweet posted yesterday by John Gibson, the president of Tripwire Interactive—the studio behind Maneater and Killing Floor—he is “proud” that the U.S. Supreme Court allowed a new Texas anti-abortion law to stand earlier this week.

The controversial law bans abortion after six weeks and goes so far as to allow private citizens to sue abortion providers or anyone even suspected of helping a woman end a pregnancy. This essentially creates a bounty system targetting abortion-seekers and enforced by random residents of Texas.

Tripwire president John Gibson’s September 4 tweet, via his personal Twitter account, explained that he was “proud” of the Supreme Court’s recent decision to refrain from blocking Texas Senate Bill 8. The bill, which became law at midnight on Wednesday, September 1, bans abortions in the Lone Star State after six weeks.

However, the state’s police and elected officials will not be its enforcers. Instead, that duty will fall to private citizens, who are now empowered to bring lawsuits against any person or group that they believe is facilitating someone getting an abortion. This could even include people who merely drive a patient to a clinic, help them enter by pushing a wheelchair, or hold their hand for comfort. Any Texas citizen can now sue them for $10,000.

G/O Media may get a commission

Texas has effectively created a surveillance system operated by private citizens, the sole purpose of which is to prevent women from safely accessing abortions. While abortions will still be legal within the first six weeks, a majority of women don’t yet realize they’re pregnant by then. As Jezebel notes, “Though patients in Texas are still guaranteed the right to an abortion by Roe v. Wade, after Tuesday it will be theoretical at best.”

Clearly this is an evil, misogynistic law that will hurt thousands of women and other folks with uteruses who lack the resources to travel outside of Texas to access safe abortions. Desperate women will face the unimaginable choice of attempting to access potentially dangerous, unsafe procedures away from prying eyes or to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term against their will. It’s an unthinkably awful law made legal only through the Supreme Court’s increasing abuse of the so-called shadow docket to rule on extremely consequential cases.

Yet Tripwire Interactive president John Gibson is happy about it all. In his tweet, he also described himself as a “pro-life game developer.” He felt this was very important to share with the world. Mr. Gibson also mentions he doesn’t “get political” very often. He clearly decided to make an exception to share a little excitement over this law designed to hurt women by stripping them of basic human rights.

Kotaku has reached out to Tripwire Interactive about Gibson’s tweet supporting the controversial anti-abortion law.

Reactions to the tweet came quickly as it spread across social media, with numerous video game devs, writers, designers, and fans dunking on Gibson’s troubling tweet. Many also expressed disappointment that Gibson’s statement will undoubtedly lead to greater stress for the folks who work under him at Tripwire and now have to deal with this shit. Plus, it can’t feel good to know that your boss is fine with Texas women losing the right to control their own bodies. Some people have sworn to stop playing existing and future Tripwire games, going so far as to block the publisher on their Steam accounts.

Update: September 5, 6:04 p.m. ET: Shipwright Studios, a self-described “co-development” studio, announced it is canceling all contracts with Tripwire Interactive as a direct result of Gibson’s tweet. The company had previously worked alongside Tripwire to help the studio develop Maneater and Chivalry II.

“We cannot in good conscience continue to work with Tripwire under the current leadership structure,” said Shipwright in a statement posted on Twitter. “We will begin the cancellation of our existing contracts effective immediately.”

Original story follows:

If you want to help women pay for safe abortions, you can donate to the Lilith Fund, Jane’s Due Process, or the Texas Equal Access Fund. These groups help women in the state afford abortions, provide support and resources for them, and other useful services. With the shocking passage of Texas Senate Bill 8, support from organizations like these has become even more important for Texas women, who face an uncertain future in a state that now denies them control over their very bodies.

 



Read original article here