Pamela Merritt blogs as Shark-Fu at AngryBlackBitch.com. Merritt studied Anthropology at Bard College at Simon’s Rock and Brandeis University. Merritt works as an Online Organizer and New Media Specialist in Missouri, a proud mentor through Big Sisters, and teaches at several shelters in St. Louis. Pamela Merritt is a member of the Women’s Health Leadership Network at the Center for American Progress and is a founding member of the Trust Black Women Partnership. She is a staff writer for RH RealityCheck, a contributor to Feministing.com and Shakespeare's Sister, and a featured contributor on National Public Radio’s (NPR) “Tell Me More” with Michel Martin. Merritt’s writing has been published in the Chicago Sun-Times, The Guardian UK, and Salon. In 2008 AngryBlackBitch.com was named one of the world’s 50 most powerful blogs by The Guardian UK.
Two-thirds of hysterectomies in the United States may be unnecessary. But less-invasive alternatives require either money or solid insurance coverage.
How would AIDS service organizations in American cities respond if they had to sign the anti-prostitution pledge required of PEPFAR grantees? What impact would that pledge have on Americans at risk for HIV infection?
Menopause is a natural stage of a woman’s reproductive life, a condition women go through as they grow older. Knowing the facts and having resources will help women prepare for, rather than dread, that change.
There’s a whole lot of inaccuracy wrapped up in the so-called pharmacy protection bill being considered in Missouri. The bill not only seeks to protect pharmacies from legal action resulting from the refusal to sell a drug they can’t sell — it also reclassifies emergency contraception as an abortifacient.
The promise of universal health care coverage appears to be within America’s grasp. But health care reform must address barriers to access beyond coverage to be truly universal.
Google “black genocide” and a multitude of web sites indicting Planned Parenthood and other health providers for perpetrating genocide on black people fill the computer screen. It’s tempting to scoff at such claims as the delusional ranting of the lunatic fringe, but that wouldn’t be wise.
