Advertisement Erin Merryn, center, flanked by Senators David J. Valesky, left, and Jeffrey D. Klein, at the New York state senate discussing Erin’s Law in October 2011. New York State Senate Sanghee Park, Indiana University and Joel Vallett, Southern Utah University Policymaking, a process by which governments make decisions about how to address social issues, is shaped by various factors, such as the political climate, socioeconomic conditions and cultural and historical backgrounds. Some factors are obvious, others not. Often, policy is made by groups of people working together – advocate ..read more

Advertisement Misoprostol has a long history of safe and effective use. AP Photo/Allen G. Breed Jamie Rowen, UMass Amherst and Tami S. Rowen, University of California, San Francisco Louisiana’s governor signed a bill on May 24, 2024, that reclassifies two abortion pills, mifepristone and misoprostol, as “controlled, dangerous substances.” Both pills have a long history of safe and effective use in medication abortions as well as for treatment of miscarriages and other conditions. The law makes it illegal to possess either of the pills without a prescription. Surgical and medication abortion ..read more

Advertisement Madhumita Pandey, Sheffield Hallam University In 1782, a judge in England gave husbands the right to use violence on their wives as long as any implement used was not thicker than their thumb. This standard of measurement led to the coining of the term “rule of thumb”. Society has thankfully made enough progress to find such archaic ideas abhorrent. However, tens of thousands of women continue to be killed every year around the world just for being women. UN data shows that, on average, five women or girls are killed every hour by someone in their own family. Some countries a ..read more

Advertisement A group of men and women, including two soldiers, on a porch in Fort Verde, Ariz., in 1886. Buyenlarge/Getty Images Calvin Schermerhorn, Arizona State University Dora Juhl, a 15-year-old teenager, walked into Dr. Rosa Goodrich Boido’s obstetrical practice in Phoenix in January 1918. Juhl wanted to end her pregnancy. But abortion was illegal in Arizona. Boido, the city’s sole female physician, asked Juhl for US$100 – about $2,000 today – to perform the abortion. Juhl said she could pay $27 – her entire savings – but Boido explained the legal risks, including the prison time she ..read more

Advertisement Public shaming can help uphold online community norms. bo feng/iStock via Getty Images Jennifer Forestal, Loyola University Chicago “Cancel culture” has a bad reputation. There is growing anxiety over this practice of publicly shaming people online for violating social norms ranging from inappropriate jokes to controversial business practices. Online shaming can be a wildly disproportionate response that violates the privacy of the shamed while offering them no good way to defend themselves. These consequences lead some critics to claim that online shaming creates a “hate stor ..read more

Advertisement Pro-abortion rights demonstrators rally in Scottsdale, Ariz., on April 15, 2024. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images Dara E. Purvis, Penn State When the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to get an abortion in June 2022, Justice Clarence Thomas suggested that the court “should reconsider” other rights it currently recognizes – like the rights for same-sex couples to have sex and marry. If the Supreme Court overturns legal precedents on these and other issues, old state laws that haven’t been enforced, possibly for centuries, can suddenly spring back to life ..read more

Advertisement Many traditional Japanese foods are high in vitamins and minerals which may help to keep the brain healthy. Nishihama/ Shutterstock Giovanni Sala, University of Liverpool and Shu Zhang, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology Cognitive decline and dementia already affect more than 55 million people worldwide. This number is projected to skyrocket over the next few decades as the global population ages. There are certain risk factors of cognitive decline and dementia that we cannot change – such as having a genetic predisposition to these conditions. But other risk facto ..read more

Advertisement Marcia Zug, University of South Carolina “First comes love, then comes marriage” – so goes the classic children’s rhyme. But not everyone agrees. Increasingly, the idea that love is the most important reason to marry – or at least to stay married – is under attack. Republican pundits and lawmakers have been pushing back on the availability of no-fault divorce, challenging the idea that not being in love is a valid reason to end a marriage. Speaking as a professor of family law, I know such views aren’t new. Zsa Zsa Gabor once quipped, “Getting divorced just because you don’t l ..read more

Advertisement Spencer and Gabby Goidel hadn’t planned to become activists. Spencer and Gabby Goidel, CC BY-ND Spencer Goidel, Auburn University The day before the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos created and used for in vitro fertilization are children, my wife, Gabby, and I were greenlighted by our doctors to begin the IVF process. We live in Alabama. That Friday evening, Feb. 16, 2024, unaware of the ruling, Gabby started taking her stimulation medications, worth roughly US$4,000 in total. We didn’t hear about the decision until Sunday morning, Feb. 18. By then, she had tak ..read more

Advertisement Donald Trump supporters drive by a rally for Nikki Haley on Feb.1, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. Brandon Bell/Getty Images Tatishe Nteta, UMass Amherst; Adam Eichen, UMass Amherst, and Jesse Rhodes, UMass Amherst Following multiple defeats in the Republican presidential primary, including in her home state of South Carolina, Nikki Haley suspended her bid for the Republican presidential nomination on March 6, 2024. Barring unforeseen events, Donald Trump will be the GOP candidate in November’s election. Haley’s failure to pose a more serious challenge to Trump may be puzzling to some ..read more