‘Life And Death Issue’: Black Women Advocate For Renewed Focus On Reproductive Rights, Justice For Marginalized Groups
The Washington Post interviewed Monica Simpson, executive director of SisterSong, about its commitment to health-care reform that provides funding for “the full range of reproductive services,” including abortion, prenatal care, contraception and screening and treatment for cancer, STDs and HIV/AIDS. Public health news is on kidney stones, contaminated drinking water and cancer screenings, as well.
The Washington Post:
Why Black Women Issued A Public Demand For ’Reproductive Justice’ 25 Years Ago
Monica Simpson was a high school freshman in North Carolina when the ad [on reproductive freedom for African American women] was published. Today she is executive director of SisterSong, which was formed a few years after and took on the mantle of reproductive justice. Simpson joined the Atlanta-based organization in 2010 as a development coordinator. The organization, whose full name is SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, mostly does advocacy work, training community organizers, doing direct action and hosting regional and national conferences and discussions to give people the tools to advocate for themselves and their communities. Simpson talked to About US about the renewed attention to the reproductive justice movement. (Williams, 8/15)
KCUR:
Kidney Stones And Other Health Worries You Didn't Know Climate Change Would Bring To Kansas
The “Kidney Stone Belt” is a thing, and it’s coming for Kansas. Climate change is expanding that swath of America, currently in the south and southeast, that suffers much higher rates of this sometimes-excruciating renal complication. By 2050, the belt will include Kansas, according to a new review by the Kansas Health Institute. ...When temps rise, you sweat more and urinate less. That means more kidney stones and chronic kidney damage. Already, the health institute says, research shows more kidney failures happen during heat waves. (Llopis-Jepsen, 8/15)
PBS NewsHour:
Amid Newark’s Water Crisis, Questions About Why It’s Taking So Long To Resolve
In Newark, New Jersey, worries and anger over contaminated drinking water are growing by the day. High lead levels have been found at many of Newark’s homes, in a case echoing the 2014 water crisis in Flint, Michigan. City officials have distributed water filters, but now the EPA says they may not be enough. (Flanagan, 8/15)
Kansas City Star:
Navy & Air Force Pilots Push For Earlier Cancer Screenings
Former Air Force and Navy fighter pilots are calling on the military to begin cancer screenings for aviators as young as 30 because of an increase in deaths from the disease that they suspect may be tied to radiation emitted in the cockpit. (Copp, 8/15)
