This post was originally published in the July 2004 edition of “Emma’s Journal”, the newsletter of the Women’s Health project.

While all of the recent press about Emergency Contraception (EC) has been about how the FDA declined to make this prescription over-the-counter, we have been having our own drama with EC. In late February of this year, we applied for a grant through the National Network of Abortion Funds (NNAF) to fund an EC advertising project. This project is to raise awareness of EC in the Hispanic communities of Eastern Iowa, specifically in West Liberty and Muscatine. We wanted to use the grant money to update information about EC, mainly the recent change of it now being effective up to 5 days after unprotected sex. We planned on putting up bilingual billboards about EC as well as newspaper and radio ads. Continue reading

This post was originally published in the June 2005 edition of “Emma’s Journal”, the newsletter of the Women’s Health project.

This spring was host to a long anticipated event that was celebrated by many. No, I’m not talking about the final installment of the Star Wars series. I’m referring to the April 22nd announcement that the Today Sponge was re-approved by the FDA and will soon be back on American shelves.

A long time ago, in an America that now may feel far, far away, the Today Sponge was the most popular over-the-counter, female birth control method on the market. Eleven years ago, this method was suddenly absent from American womens’ list of birth control choices, but now the makers of the Today sponge are planning a triumphant return. Continue reading

This post was originally published in the May 2006 edition of “Emma’s Journal”, the newsletter of the Women’s Health project.

The cover of the newly revised and updated 3rd edition of Fertility Awareness

The saga of the new edition of our Fertility Awareness booklets has been a long one. It started back in March of 2004, when we noticed that we were down to only our last few copies of the booklet. Thinking that it would be a project that would only take a couple of months, we decided that, rather than just reprinting the 1982 edition, we should go through the booklet, change things that may have become outdated, and possibly find some new and snazzy graphics. Little did we know that it wuld be two years beforewe could announce to the world that Fertility Awareness: A natural way to avoid or achieve pregnancy is now available for purchase. Continue reading