Purse Pads, Halakhic Infertility, Nail Polish for Periods, and More Weekend Links

httpv://youtu.be/Afoiq8ZB7aI
• What do menstruation & gender equality have in common? Check out this video from The Crimson Campaign to learn more, and how five minutes can change the world.
• Jezebel blogger Lindy West knows the difference and doesn’t care: It’s all vagina to me. (Cross-posted at xoJane, if you’re interested in reader comments.)
• There has been a great deal of national media coverage of Jodi Jaecks, a breast cancer survivor who had a double mastectomy and fought for the right to swim topless at her local Seattle pool. My favorite take on the story comes from Jill, Patriarchy Blamer extraordinaire (also a breast cancer survivor who bears the scars of a double mastectomy): “You know what’s shocking? One in seven women get breast cancer, and nobody’s ever seen a post-op chest.”
• Our friends at the Edith Stein Foundation have made the following article available on their website: Significant Risks of Oral Contraceptives (OCPs)Why This Drug Class Should Not Be Included in a Preventive Care Mandate [pdf], by Rebecca Peck, M.D., C.C.D., and Charles W. Norris, M.D., Linacre Quarterly, 79(1) (February 2012): 41–56. The article reviews medical studies that show HBC is associated with increased rates of cardiovascular disease, breast cancer, and human papillomavirus (HPV) or cervical cancer.
• Therese Shechter shared with us this article about solutions for halakhic infertility, the conundrum faced by Orthodox Jewish women with very short ovulation cycles. Orthodox women who are “halakhically infertile” cannot conceive because they adhere to Jewish laws about when they can and can’t have sex with their husbands. These women abstain from sex for five days during their periods and then another seven additional days, after which they visit a mikveh, or ritual bath, and rejoin their husbands.
• Nahida tells us more about why she wears nail polish when she’s menstruating.
• On Thursday, Planned Parenthood issued a statement in support of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision affirming the Constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, calling the health care legislation “the greatest advance in women’s health in a generation”. Yesterday, Sharon Lerner explained why women stand to gain the most from the health care decision.