On April 4, 2018, a mid-level New York appeals court ruled against Rinat Dray, reminding us of the enormous challenges women face when they seek redress for obstetric violence through the court system.
In this case Ms. Dray had gone to Staten Island University Hospital to deliver her third child.
On January 12, Mayor de Blasio's office announced that the city will be relocating the statue of Dr. J. Marion Sims (honored as the father of modern gynecology despite the fact that his medical experiments were performed on enslaved Black women) and take several additional steps to inform the public of the statue's historical context.
On Monday, December 4th four justices of the Appellate Division of New York Supreme Court heard arguments in the Dray case. Rinat Dray is a mother who is suing Staten Island University Hospital and doctors there because, pursuant to a secret (not disclosed to patients) hospital policy, they forced her to have cesarean surgery even though she clearly refused.
Join us for the 8th annual Take Root: Red State Perspective on Reproductive Justice conference, February 23rd-24th, 2018 in Norman, Oklahoma!
The activist potential of people in the red states has not been effectively encouraged, nurtured, or sustained.
Join NAPW at Revolution Books in New York City 10/5 to hear NAPW board member Dr. Khiara Bridges speak about her new book: The Poverty of Privacy Rights.
"Dr. Bridges' book exposes the deeply-rooted and systematic 'disenfranchisement of the rights to privacy' of poor pregnant women in the U.S. The book tells the hidden story of the dehumanizing government invasion of every corner of their lives.
Who is Dr. J. Marion Sims and what is a statue honoring someone who experimented on enslaved Black women doing in East Harlem, New York?
Controversies over statues memorializing racism (and sexism) are not limited to one region of the United States.
Who is Dr. J. Marion Sims and what is a statue honoring someone who experimented on enslaved Black women doing in East Harlem, New York?
Controversies over statues memorializing racism (and sexism) are not limited to one region of the United States.
Rinat Dray, was forced to have cesarean surgery over her express objections. With NAPW’s help, Ms. Dray obtained significant media coverage of her situation and filed a lawsuit against the hospital and two physicians. In its defense, the hospital argues that since a woman in New York can be prohibited from having an abortion after a certain point in her pregnancy, she may also be denied every other right including the right to bodily integrity and the right to refuse surgery.
On Tuesday, November 8th we hope that you will vote. When you do, please keep these facts in mind:
1. Women already face punishment for having and attempting to have abortions
On August 31, 2016, Purvi Patel finally walked out of the Indiana Women's Prison, after fighting a conviction and 20-year sentence for attempting to have an abortion.
Despite national and international developments that make many of us feel less than hopeful, NAPW has had a number of victories that remind us of the need to celebrate the accomplishments we have had.
