Gotham Gazette

The Place for New York Policy and politics

Womens Health

Womens Health

  • With Trump in Office, New York Democrats Show Urgency, and Infighting, on Women's Rights

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    Cuomo in 2013, via The Governor's Office on flickr


    With President Donald Trump taking office and Congressional Republicans chipping away at the Affordable Care Act, including a provision that guarantees cost-free birth control, New York’s Democratic lawmakers are scrambling to fortify protections for women on the state level.

    Citing the threat of Trump’s administration, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Saturday that he has instructed the Department of Financial Services -- which regulates insurance companies -- to require commercial insurance

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  • 100 Years Later, Planned Parenthood of NYC is Still Growing to Meet New Yorkers’ Needs

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    PPNYC celebrates 100 years with First Lady McCray


    One hundred years ago, in 1916, Planned Parenthood of New York City (PPNYC) opened in Brownsville, Brooklyn as a small birth control clinic. Since then, PPNYC has grown to five health centers—one in each borough—and provides sexual and reproductive health care services and information to more than 64,000 New Yorkers each year, and reaches another 25,000 through our extensive sex education programs.

    Incredible gains have been made over the past century. PPNYC has been at the forefront of increasing access to birth

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  • City’s Menstrual Equity Laws Will Help Reduce Period Stigma

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    A City Hall rally in support of menstrual equity


    My period got me suspended from school. That should not happen to anyone. Yet in New York City and elsewhere, people who have periods—including transgender and gender-nonconforming people—still struggle to access menstrual products and the resources they need. This can hurt their ability to succeed academically, personally, and professionally.

    New York just made history when the City Council approved the nation’s first bills of their kind to provide free tampons and pads in all public schools, homeless

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  • Stand Against Racism, Protect Asian-American Women's Health

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    Council Member Chin, one of the authors (photo: William Alatriste)


    New York City has the opportunity to support Asian-Americans and women's health by opposing deceptively named, so-called "sex-selective abortion bans."

    These attacks on a woman's right to choose are wolves in sheep's clothing. At a glance, such bans might sound like laws meant to further women's rights. But they actually do just the opposite.

    The tragic reality of "son preference" has been a serious issue in some countries, such as India and China, where women do not

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