Lauren Nelson is an advocate and aspiring ally focused on intersectional justice. When she's not gabbing on social media or chasing after her precocious seven year old, you'll find her researching and writing extensively on the subjects of politics, policy, culture, neurodiversity, and faith for The Friendly Atheist and Rethink the Rant.
For as long as contraception has been a thing, the Religious Right has tried to vilify it. First, they said it was an affront to God’s Plans. When they realized that argument wasn’t working, they shifted to saying it would increase promiscuity. When that was shown to be incorrect, they pivoted to insisting on abstinence-only sex education (for the sake of the kids). Those programs have since been proven ineffective, but proponents continue to proclaim the curriculum necessary. Well, hate to be the bearer of bad news, you crazy fundamentalists, but you are once again wrong. (Did I say hate? Just kidding. I meant love.) It turns out that providing access to free birth control significantly lowers teen pregnancy and abortion rates: Read more
Bowling Green, Kentucky is a small town known for a few things. It’s where Western Kentucky University is located. It’s the former home of filmmaker John Carpenter. It has a pretty cool Corvette museum. It also, as recent developments have demonstrated, is host to a news organization that has completely abandoned the concept of journalistic integrity. The Bowling Green Daily News published the following announcement on its website yesterday: Read more
As the Religious Right freaks out about their rights to freedom of speech and religion being trampled, an odd proving ground has emerged: bakeries. As joyous same-sex couples began to plan their nuptials over the past several years, they’ve found themselves running into unmitigated bigotry during their attempts to procure extravagant confections, with bakers denying them service over opposition to their “sinful” ways. One such case has played out in Oregon, where it’s illegal to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. Read more
The Religious Right is officially in a full blown hissy fit. They’re distraught, traumatized by the fact that — despite their best efforts to codify their bigoted beliefs into law — same sex couples will now enjoy all the same legal rights and obligations associated with state recognized marriage. The world hasn’t ended in the way they predicted, of course. But now their concern has become far more personal. What will this changing social landscape mean for them? Their answer… Read more
In Mexico City, in 1951, yams changed the world of contraception forever. A chemist by the name of Dr. Carl Djerassi had found a way to synthesize the hormones they contained. While it would take another decade of testing before his work would reach its intended market, he had created a combination that gave birth to what we now know as The Pill. Decades have passed since oral contraception first went mainstream. Since then, scientific advances have given us even more options in terms of hormonal contraception, from implants to rings to patches. There’s certainly been a fair amount of opposition along the way, particularly from the Religious Right, who feel such measures interfere with God’s plan. Now, a new argument has emerged: hormonal contraception is anti-woman. And the woman pushing it is none other than Ricki Lake. Read more