Women's Health

Planned Parenthood To Missouri Lawmakers: End The "Campaign Against Women's Health"

The Missouri legislative session ended last week and one of the many successes the state GOP is celebrating is the passage of a bill to add restrictions to the "abortion pill." It's one of several Republican initiatives that Planned Parenthood is now slamming in the aftermath of the session. It's no ... More >>

Missouri Catholic Conference on Anti-Abortion Bill, Rape Victims: "Those Are Difficult Cases"

One of the more controversial proposals at the Missouri legislature this year is a GOP bill that would allow doctors to refuse to perform procedures that "violate his or her conscience or principles." Critics, like Planned Parenthood, say this is "denial of care" legislation that could prevent rape ... More >>

Abortion: Could GOP Bill Prevent Rape Victims From Accessing Emergency Contraception?

A bill that got its first round of approval yesterday in the Missouri House says that anyone providing medical services can't be required to perform procedures that "violate his or her conscience or principles." At the center of this bill is a debate around abortion. But would the proposal block acc ... More >>

Couple Sues Doctors For Decapitating Their Baby During Labor

Hey, buddy. How are you? Havin' a bad day? Well, if so, you may want to mosey on down the internet trail and skip this post. Because this is the worst story we've heard in a really, really, really long time. Here's what happened to a young St. Louis couple and their unborn baby, according to a law ... More >>

BREAKING: Birth Control Leads to Fewer Abortions. Also, Sky is Blue

Here's some absolutely shocking news for all you abstinence supporters and abortion fighters out there: Women who use birth control have fewer unplanned pregnancies and fewer abortions than women who don't. Common sense might have told you that, but now it's been scientifically proven by researchers ... More >>

Toxie

8 p.m. Sunday, September 9. The Firebird, 2706 Olive Street.

Natural Birth Effort Holds St. Louis Rally; Dozens Demonstrate at Mercy Medical

It's known locally as the "Baby Factory" for the number of women who choose to have their children there. Yesterday morning Mercy Hospital St. Louis (known until last year as St. John's Mercy Medical) was also ground zero for a rally intended to raise awareness about modern-day delivery practices. S ... More >>

Todd Akin: Ban Morning-After Pill "Totally For Everyone"

Updated with statement from Planned Parenthood representatives. The media has gone nuts this week over Congressman Todd Akin's far-right positions, as he prepares to take on Senator Claire McCaskill in November. Buzzfeed says he supported a right-wing militia in the 1990's. The Hill notes that he v ... More >>

Greetings, Sun

Gov. Nixon Vetoes SB 749

In a decision anxiously awaited by both pro-life and reproductive rights groups, Governor Jay Nixon vetoed Senate Bill 749 today. The bill would have made it possible for any "employer, health plan provider, health plan sponsor, health care provider, or any other person or entity" to refuse to prov ... More >>

Arty, Soft-Core Childbirth Photo Has a Place, but a Food Blog Ain't It

It takes a lot to make Gut Check lose our lunch. We've had to report some rather icky things in the past, from spicy rolls garnished with semen to, ahem, tainted asparagus. We even ate brains, just to prove we ain't scared. And sure, our weekly meeting was entirely consumed by a conversation about ... More >>

Want to Avoid Breast Cancer? Stop Drinking

image viaThis may not be such a good idea after all.​A new study out of Washington University Medical School shows that women with a family history of breast cancer have a greater risk of developing the disease themselves the more they drink. That's right: Not only do you have to get felt up r ... More >>

Dancin' in the Streets About Birth Control, Bollywood-Style

Dancing birth control pack? Check.​By now, surely you've heard that the Department of Health and Human Services has determined that birth control is basic preventive health care and is required to be provided without a co-pay by health insurers. (You've probably also heard about the moronic compar ... More >>

Vitamin D Can Ease Pain of Breast Cancer Treatment, Wash U Finds

​Vitamin D is enjoying a serious moment in the sun lately, if you'll pardon the pun. The vitamin, which we produce naturally when we're exposed to sunshine, has been shown to be crucial in maintaining bone health and immune function. It may help keep hair and eyes healthy. And mushrooms that have ... More >>

Wash. U. Docs Find Underlying Cause of Ovarian Cancer

image viaThis is ovarian cancer. It ain't pretty.​It's old news that cancer is caused by mutations in otherwise healthy cells. But where are those mutations? That's what the researchers at Washington University's Genome Institute have been trying to figure out. Earlier this year, a team sequen ... More >>

Expectant Dads Need Prenatal Care, Says University of Missouri Researcher

Pregnancy: Not as easy as it seems.​No doubt about it, pregnancy is a bitch. The nausea. The stress. The hormones. It' also tough on the mothers we're told. But, it's the fathers-to-be who most often suffer silently, according to new research out from University of Missouri. "Too often, men are tr ... More >>

Wash. U. Receives $6.5 Million From Komen Foundation to Find Cure for Breast Cancer

image viaDr. William Gillanders​Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the world's largest breast cancer organization, announced yesterday that it would give a $6.5 million grant to researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine who proposed using genome sequencing to develop personalized v ... More >>

Missouri Gets Top Grades in Denying Women Healthcare

Are we headed back to this?​Thanks to Roe v. Wade, the law of the land in this country is that abortion is legal. However, plenty of states are enacting laws that chip away at a woman's right to have the procedure. And in a piece yesterday on AlterNet.org, Amanda Marcotte ranked the ten worst stat ... More >>

Wash. U. Doctors Decode Breast Cancer DNA -- And Discover It's Way More Complicated Than They Thought

image viaAll forms of breast cancer are not the same.​As any woman -- or any casual viewer of boob-centric photos, including Riverfront Times slide shows -- knows, all breasts are not alike. This, it turns out, is also true genetically, and, unfortunately, for breast cancer. After spending se ... More >>

More Restrictions on Reproductive Health Move Forward in the House

Not if the pharmacist doesn't want you to have them.​Today in Jefferson City, Missouri representatives added language to a bill that places more hurdles in front of women seeking legal abortions, in addition to fettering their access to emergency contraception.The bill, HCS HB 28, first came befor ... More >>

Missouri Legislature Targets Midwives

The Missouri Medical Association is trying to stop midwives -- again.​Four years ago, the Missouri Legislature decriminalized midwifery -- making it legal for a woman who's certified by one of two national midwives' organizations to deliver babies here.But the state's physicians don't like the com ... More >>

Florissant Woman Gives Birth in Bathroom; Didn't Know She Was Pregnant

Jane Calvin went to the bathroom this week and out plopped a five-pound, 12-ounce baby girl. The new mother tells Fox 2 she didn't know she was pregnant because she stopped having menstrual cycles a year ago and early menopause runs in her family. Still, one wonders: How could she possibly not know ... More >>

Janae Helgerson: Owner of Mid-West Egg Donation Indicted for Fraud

Feds allege she promised thousands of dollars to egg donors but didn't pay.​An Idaho woman has been indicted on charges of defrauding egg donors in the St. Louis area and elsewhere. Her alleged victims had eggs harvested from their bodies and didn't receive the cash they'd been promised.Janae Helg ... More >>

Melissa Etheridge

8 p.m. Thursday, August 12. Roberts Orpheum Theater, 416 North Ninth Street.

St. Louis Zoo Elephant Miscarries, Fuels Criticism of Pachyderm Exhibit

One might say the same about the zoo's track record with elephants.​The St. Louis Zoo yesterday announced that one of its Asian elephants, Ellie, miscarried her 9-month-old fetus this week. Elephant pregnancies generally last 22 months. Zoo officials said they were not all that surprised by the mi ... More >>

Sex and the City struggles to stay forever young

From the Labs: New Research at Wash. U.

Image sourceThey're talking! They're happy! We should be more like them!​Happy People Have Better Conversations Than You Do: Apparently Jean-Paul Sartre was wrong: Hell is not other people. The happiest people, a new study from Washington University and the University of Arizona shows, are the ... More >>

Save the Beavers! (Translation: Fight Violence Against Women!)

courtesy Save the Beavers​For the second year in a row, a group of Saint Louis University students will be organizing a Save the Beavers benefit party. And, uh, yeah, it's just what it sounds like: raising money for organization that protect women from violence, particularly rape."'Beaver' is a co ... More >>

St. Louis Rally and March From Philly to D.C. to Honor Fallen Activist, Melanie Shouse

melaniesmarch.com​A group of Pennsylvanians plan to march to Washington D.C. over the next week in honor of Melanie Shouse, a St. Louis activist who lost her battle to breast cancer last month.Shouse, a longtime advocate for health care reform, was mentioned in a speech President Barack Obama deli ... More >>

Breast Intentions: Unbeatable! arrives with a provocative theme and a noble message. But where does it go from there?

FoodWire: Dine Out for the Cure Tonight

Tonight is Dine out for the Cure, sponsored by the St. Louis Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Participating restaurants will donate a portion of their proceeds to fight breast cancer. The list of participating restaurants is available, as a PDF file, here.

Feelin' Hot, Hot, Hot

Ch-ch-ch-changes

RFT readers agree: There's no birthplace like home

We're Working on Our Fitness

Be our witness

Bulls on Parade

Party with Cause

PINK: A Benefit

Local motion

Capsule Reviews

Dennis Brown and Paul Friswold suss out local theater

Life Support

A stealth bill has legalized midwifery in Missouri — for now.

MO Midwifery Bill Lives

Ride, Ride, Ride

Let yourself ride

Pretty in Pink

And full, too

Beemer Me Up

Drive for the cure

Distaff Meeting

Where does women's health intersect with contemporary art? All over St. Louis.

Gyno-mite!

Inside Out Loud puts art and women's health issues in dialogue with one another -- and achieves amazing results

Now You See It

Susan Miller's My Left Breast riffs on loss of all kinds

Standard of Care

When a childbirth went terribly wrong, the blame game began. Dodging responsibility was everybody's first order of business.

IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE ST. LOUIS

Jobs are leaving, the tax base is shrinking and the population is dropping. North County is feeling the squeeze.

WHEN PRO-LIFE MEANS MORE ABORTIONS

The Doctor is Out

Sickened by the shift to managed care, more physicians are claiming disability, moving into administration or leaving medicine altogether