Reproductive health care is a disability justice issue. Check out four papers on disability and reproductive rights created with the National Partnership for Women & Families here: https://nationalpartnership.org/report/access-autonomy-dignity

This resource from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has accurate and up-to-date info on access to and coverage of reproductive health care, rights, and resources.

Earlier today, I served as the “young woman’s voice” in a panel of local experts at a Girl Scouts speaking event. One question for the panel was something to the effect of, “Should parents read their daughter’s texts or monitor her online activity for bad language and inappropriate content?”

I…

Apparently people are rediscovering this post somehow and I think that’s pretty cool! Having experienced similar violations of trust in my youth, this is an important issue to me, so I want to add my personal story:

Around age 13, I tried to express to my mother that I thought I might have clinical depression, and she snapped at me “not to joke about things like that.” I stopped telling my mother when I felt depressed.

Around age 15, I caught my mother reading my diary. She confessed that any time she saw me write in my diary, she would sneak into my room and read it, because I only wrote when I was upset. I stopped keeping a diary.

Around age 18, I had an emotional breakdown while on vacation because I didn’t want to go to college. I ended up seeing a therapist for - surprise surprise - depression.

Around age 21, I spoke on this panel with my mother in the audience, and afterwards I mentioned the diary incident to her with respect to this particular Q&A. Her eyes welled up, and she said, “You know I read those because I was worried you were depressed and going to hurt yourself, right?”

TL;DR: When you invade your child’s privacy, you communicate three things:

Information about almost every issue that you think you have to snoop for can probably be obtained by communicating with and listening to your child.

Part of me is really excited to see that the original post got 200 notes because holy crap 200 notes, and part of me is really saddened that something so negative has resonated with so many people.

If you’re considering telling/asking an adopted person any of the following, or anything similar to such:

May I make a small suggestion?

Ew. Gross! Also, people say “you could have been aborted” when they find out I’m pro-choice and like … Yeah? My mom probably would have had a better life with less children? And I don’t care because I wouldn’t have existed so I wouldn’t have feelings? And my existence isn’t integral to the planet?

(Image description: a square image with a dark red background and a white border, bold white text in the center of the image reads “Autistic Transmasculine people have the right to bodily autonomy and power over our own futures.”)

(source)

"menstruation is punishment for original sin" is a fairly common doctrine (altho in my experience it's usually more implicit than just baldly stated like that)

anyway this implies that of all the animal kingdom, humans are not UNIQUE in sinning, but are joined by bats, the elephant shrew, and the spiny mouse species Acomys cahirinus. (according to my 5 seconds on wikipedia at least)

"People shouldn't post about how the contraceptive pill can be prescribed for non-contraceptive reasons because it's sex negative" feels like a take that can only come from people who don't realise just how young some people end up being prescribed the pill

Like, fine, you, person in your twenties, might be comfortable being like "this is the pill I take to fuck without getting pregnant", but I don't think it's sex negative for a thirteen-year-old who has been prescribed it for debilitating period pain to not want to have to hide their medication from their classmates on an overnight school trip because their classmates think that the only reason anyone would take it is that they're sexually active

Also, maybe more importantly than social perceptions, many people who are 13-18 may not have access to people who will let them know that you can use estrogen and progestin / progestin pills or hormonal IUDS to stop/lighten periods.

The number of young people menstruating right now who don't know that there is a viable option to not be menstruating is staggering. There's an option to Just Not Deal With That and many young people haven't been told about it or been offered that chance.

So for those young people, yes, birth control can lighten or stop periods. The birth control pill can do this, IUDs can do this, implants can do this and injections can do this. Birth control pills you take every day, injections you get usually every 3 months, and IUDs/implants require a doctor to insert an IUD into your vaginal canal or an implant into your arm. Not everyone has their period stopped, but a lot of people do and of those that don't have it stopped they usually have it lightened. Talk to a doctor about what's right for you. Planned parenthood is super helpful for accessing birth control if you have one nearby, if not, most doctors should prescribe birth control on request barring major health concerns.

Throwing out there that IUD insertion has a reputation for being extremely painful but the New York Times ran an article just this week about actual pain management options you can and should raise with your doctor before the procedure if they’re too lazy to offer the information themselves.

A sperm donor baby via c-section breaks every rule of how human reproduction has worked for our entire history.

There’s something intensely unhealthy going on when parents discourage age-appropriate independence. A 13 year old should probably be allowed to go see a film with their friends most of the time. A 16 year old should probably be allowed to drive/ride a bus/bike to a friend’s house most of the time. An 18 year old should probably be allowed to travel overnight with their friends most of the time. A 20+ year old should be allowed to come and go as they please, with some common-sense “Let’s talk this ‘move to Finland’ plan of your over before you follow through on it” exceptions.

Parents should want their children to enjoy going out and doing things on their own and with their friends. They should be delighted that their child wants to have a life of their own. A rich, fulfilling life outside the home and distinct from parents and family is important, and parents should want their child to have that.

LGBTQIA+ inclusive education is a human right.

(Image description: a blue square with the words “Teach LGBTQ history” and a red square with the words “Teach Queer History”.)

(Image description: four images each with a different colored background and white text in the center. 1) “teach lgbtqia books”, 2) “teach queer books”, 3) “read lgbtqia books”, and 4) “read queer books”)

You can be sex positive and sex averse. Sex positivity supports making your own choices, even if it's to not have sex, and having whatever boundaries around sex feels right for you.

What I mean when I say "toxic monogamy culture"

This is excellent

I’m literally gonna reblog this on every single tumblr I have

Not wanting sex isn’t a sex negative position. Sex positivity is about respecting people’s choices for their own bodies and sex life, and that includes choosing to have no sex at all.

wanting to not have sex indefinitely is a reasonable boundary

wanting to not have sex ever is a reasonable boundary

wanting to not have sex after initially expressing an interest in sex is a reasonable boundary

wanting to not have sex is always a reasonable boundary