The sole function of the clitoris is female orgasm. Is that why it’s ignored by medical science? | Women | The Guardian

Medical textbooks are full of anatomical pictures of the penis, but the clitoris barely rates a mention. Many medical professionals are uncomfortable even talking about it.

The first comprehensive anatomical study of the clitoris was led by O’Connell and published in 1998. A subsequent study in 2005 examined it under MRI. It was not, O’Connell discovered, just a small nub of erectile tissue, described in some texts as the “poor homologue” of the penis. Instead it was an otherworldly shape, with the nerve-rich glans merely the external protrusion of an organ that extended beneath the pubic bone and wrapped around the vaginal opening, with bulbs that become engorged when aroused. It looked like an orchid. It was beautiful.

In 2016, O’Connell co-authored a paper that found, based on a series of macroscopic anatomical dissections, that there was no evidence of erectile tissue in the vaginal wall – in other words, that the G-spot did not exist. (O’Connell has stressed there was more work to be done on the subject, including mapping the urethra.) To date, the only known erectile tissue in the area is the clitoris, leading to the working theory that the G-spot is just the engorged bulbs of an aroused clitoris felt through the vaginal wall.

Source: The sole function of the clitoris is female orgasm. Is that why it’s ignored by medical science? | Women | The Guardian

SA Liberal ministers school Liberal Senator for ‘baselessly attacking’ their abortion reform

Two senior South Australian Liberal MPs have responded to a federal Liberal senator, who attacked their push for abortion reform in the state as “brutal” and “unconscionable”.

South Australian Deputy Premier and Attorney-General Vickie Chapman, and Minister for Human Services Michelle Lensink, have co-authored a damning response to Senator Alex Antic, saying he does not understand the history or principles of the Liberal Party, and that his attack on their abortion reform is insulting to women.

Without mincing words, Chapman and Lensink replied that, “the question now is not whether termination should be lawful. That was settled over 50 years ago. The correct question is how do we bring the law in line with medical advances and allow for best clinical care.”

“You write of the Liberal Party [you] know – it is unfortunate as a Liberal Party representative that you do not know the Party’s history and further that you believe the membership to be comprised solely of views that align with your own,” they wrote.

“You state we are not a Party of the radical Left. Nor are we a Party of the extreme Right that is beholden to sectional interests.

Source: SA Liberal ministers school Liberal Senator for ‘baselessly attacking’ their abortion reform

Court rules man cannot be listed as child’s mother

A national court in France has ruled that a man who fathered a child with his wife six years ago cannot now be listed as the child’s mother.

The French news agency RFI reported transgender activists are outraged over the decision.

In the highest court in France, the Court of Cassation in Paris, the judges concluded that “Claire,” the biological father to three children with his wife, isn’t a “mother.”

[L]awyer, Anne-Marie Le Pourhiet, explained that to decide any other way would be to “to transform that child’s personal history into fiction, in the name of adult desire.”

Source: Court rules man cannot be listed as child’s mother

Judge Rules Australian Guideline for Treatment of ‘Transgender’ Youth Unlawful

AU — Sydney. The guideline used by all major Australian children’s hospital gender clinics for gaining informed consent before prescribing sex-hormones to children is unlawful, according to a ruling this month by a family court in Sydney.

In this case, the mother opposes hormonal and surgical intervention; the child lives with his father, who supports it. “Any treating medical practitioner seeing an adolescent under the age of 18 is not at liberty to initiate (puberty blockers, opposite sex hormones or trans surgery) without first ascertaining whether or not a child’s parents or legal guardians consent to the proposed treatment,” Judge Watts said.
Hormonal treatment — puberty blockers to stop natural hormones followed by hormones to encourage opposite-sex external characteristics — has the potential to make young people infertile, incapable of orgasm, and has unknown long-term effects on mental and physical health.

Coronavirus Victoria: Record number of women seek mental health help amid COVID-19 pandemic

Victorian women are seeking mental health support at record levels as the coronavirus pandemic drives up stress, anxiety and depression among those bearing the brunt of caring responsibilities.

Social isolation, the stress of home schooling and caring for elderly relatives, and economic worries are affecting women of all ages during the coronavirus pandemic.

Source: Coronavirus Victoria: Record number of women seek mental health help amid COVID-19 pandemic

STATEMENT: Whistleblower Report of Hysterectomies in ICE Detention Is Emblematic of Widespread Reproductive Coercion and Abuses of Women’s Rights

Washington, D.C. — In a complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General, a nurse at the Irwin County Detention Center, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility operated by the private corporation LaSalle Corrections, details gross human rights abuses in the facility. The complaint includes allegations of medical neglect, dangerous practices in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, and startling claims of coerced, mass hysterectomies.

Reports of mass hysterectomies and medical neglect in ICE detention are horrifying but sadly not surprising. The United States has a long and sordid history of reproductive coercion and forced sterilization, particularly targeting Black, Latina, and Native American women as well as women with disabilities and incarcerated women. These racist, eugenicist practices are often sanctioned by U.S. law, which to this day allows for the sterilization of anyone deemed “unfit.” Furthermore, abuses of women’s health and rights in immigration detention are nothing new. Detention facilities routinely deny adequate health care and inflict abuse and neglect, from lack of maternal health care to limits on reproductive autonomy to sexual abuse. The Trump administration has gone to great lengths to deny reproductive freedom to people in immigration custody, including rolling back the presumption that pregnant women generally should not be detained and taking steps to deny young women the right to an abortion.

Source: STATEMENT: Whistleblower Report of Hysterectomies in ICE Detention Is Emblematic of Widespread Reproductive Coercion and Abuses of Women’s Rights – Center for American Progress

Male Parent Wins Battle in Legal Fight to be Recognized as Biological Mother of Child

BR — Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. On August 18, a Brazilian court ruled that a male parent and his former female partner should both be legally recognized as biological mothers to their child.

One male Facebook commenter pointed out that a man fighting to be legally recognized as ‘mother’ on a birth certificate that is a child’s, not even his own, is an example of “narcissism without limits.” Several Facebook commenters agreed that it is an example of “legal deceit” that harms the child’s right to know and to have accurate records.
Calls by transgender advocates to abandon the traditional definition of ‘mother’ and redefine the word to include male individuals have been seen this year in France, Brazil and India.

Source: Male Parent Wins Battle in Legal Fight to be Recognized as Biological Mother of Child | Women Are Human

‘Distress and fear’: poverty looms for a million Australian children once coronavirus supplement slashed

Terese Edwards, the chief executive of the National Council of Single Mothers and Their Children, said the $550-a-fortnight supplement had been “life-altering” and its reduction was causing “distress and fear”.

She pointed to a survey of 600 single mothers conducted by the organisation that found the income boost had reduced stress for 88% of respondents because they could now afford to pay their bills.

Toni Wren, the executive director of Anti-Poverty Week, said government data showed about 1.1 million children lived in families receiving the supplement in July.

That included 500,000 children whose parents were receiving the jobseeker payment.

“Our main concern is that now it is one-in-five Australian children whose parents are receiving that payment,” Wren said.

Source: ‘Distress and fear’: poverty looms for a million Australian children once coronavirus supplement slashed | Australia news | The Guardian

California politician Buffy Wicks held her newborn while casting a deciding vote on family leave bill

Wicks, a Democrat in the California State Assembly, was on maternity leave when some key pieces of legislation regarding family leave and affordable housing came up, that she desperately wanted to see passed.

Wicks had given birth to her immunocompromised daughter, Elly, at the end of July, and had applied to the House Speaker, Anthony Rendon, to vote remotely. The request was denied.

Having recently given birth to a baby with jaundice wasn’t deemed a sufficient reason for casting a vote remotely, a privilege that had been granted to other COVID-19 “high-risk” members.

“My daughter’s immune system is basically nonexistent,” Wicks said. “But I was told that maternity leave didn’t qualify for in-proxy voting.”

House Speaker Anthony Rendon, a fellow Democrat, was forced to apologise to Wicks for not considering her situation fully.

Source: California politician Buffy Wicks held her newborn while casting a deciding vote on family leave bill

A powerful coalition backs high quality, affordable early education & care

Leaders, parents, workers, educators and community organisations are joining forces to call for a universally accessible early education system.

The campaign is supported by Goodstart Early Learning, Early Childhood Australia, ARACY, The Mitchell Institute, the ACTU, The United Workers Union, The Australia Institute, The Parenthood, Chief Executive Women, The Centre for Social Impact, The Smith Family, ACOSS and more.

By global standards the cost of childcare in Australia is prohibitively expensive. Combined with our tax system it actively disincentivises women from working beyond three days a week.

Source: A powerful coalition backs high quality, affordable early education & care