Does Living Longer Really Mean Living Better?

A new study done by the World Health Organization (WHO) determined that despite the fact that on average women live 6-8 years long then men, women are still being denied the chance to live life to their fullest potential due to the lack of essential health care (lame!).

Although women often seek medical attention more then men, there are still obstacles standing in their way, such as failure to get adequate treatment. An article from CommonDreams.org noted, “Women generally live longer than men, but their lives are not necessarily healthy or happy” and that “the obstacles that stand in the way of better health for women are not primarily technical or medical in nature. They are social and political.” Better access to health care is not simply about overcoming economic struggles and money issues; it is about changing social and political norms within a society.

Unfortunately, many health care systems are not fully capable when dealing with women’s issues despite the fact that women make up half the population. WHO estimated that “99 percent of the estimated 500,000 women who die every year giving birth are in developing countries where medical supplies and skilled workers are in short supply.”

Unequal access to health care is wrong and detrimental to women around the world. The lack of access to quality health care are denying women the change to live life to their fullest potential, who knows with quality health care women might be able to outlive men 10-15 years!

Photo Credit: takimabibelot on flickr.com

I love healthy, living Michigan women: How about you?

Early October, I told you about the Guttmacher Institute's shocking abortion research. To sum it up, the study states "restricting the availability of legal abortions does not appear to reduce the number of women trying to end unwanted pregnancies...Abortion occurs in roughly equal rates in regions where it is legal and regions where it is highly restricted or illegal."

The difference is in the quality of the procedure. Because of the poorer conditions and health risks that go along with illegal abortions, 700,000 women die each year from the procedure and 5 million are left with medical complications after the fact!! (Remember: these numbers include American women too.)

So, after a report proving that banning abortion kills, State Representative Jim Slezak (D) (and his 22 other co-signers) have recently proposed an amendment to outlaw abortion in his state of Michigan. It's tied to a human rights legislation that guarantees each person the right to life, which sure, I'll go along with, until it goes on to defines "person" as a human being who's life begins at the time of conception.

As the omniscient feminists that we are (and the fact that we can read studies like the aforementioned one,) we know that this will only create health risks and consequential deaths for the women in Michigan (and not actually bring down the number of those having abortions, like right-to-lifers would like us to believe.)

We encourage you to keep an eye out for legislation like this in your area, so that we can best protect the women in this country (especially if you are one of the many Michigan feminists out there!)

photo credit: AnnArbor on flickr.com

The Gates Show Us Living Proof

Here at the Feminist Majority Foundation, we think every day of how to make issues of global health accessible, relatable and probably most difficult, human for our student groups across the country. Usually people think there is nothing they can do to make a difference. Even if the connection is made between how important US investments to global health are, more often than not, we never see the human faces US sponsored programs impact on the ground.

Well, the Gates are trying to change all that. Bill and Melinda Gates have just launched "The Living Proof Project: U.S. Investments In Global Health Are Working." Take a few minutes and watch their "Why We Are Impatient Optimists" webcast. Join the global health movement today, and as Gandhi would say, start being the change you want to see in the world.