According to a new report, the United States has the highest first-day death rate in the industrialized world. Addressing this and related problems will require comprehensive efforts to reduce pervasive economic, social, and health disparities.

In the United States, an estimated 11,300 babies die each year on the day they are born, according to anew report from Save the Children. The United States has the highest first-day death rate in the industrialized world, and given its large population it has 50 percent more first-day deaths than all other industrialized countries combined. The alarming report has clear implications for U.S. policy, particularly the importance of investing in and expanding the reach of programs like Medicaid and Title X that make affordable pregnancy-related care and family planning services available to millions of women who are otherwise unable to obtain such care.

First-day deaths have many contributing factors, according to the report, including preterm, unplanned, and teen births. One in eight U.S. babies—a total of over half a million births each year—are born prematurely, and U.S. preterm births rank second only to Cyprus in the industrialized world. The report also notes that half of all U.S. pregnancies are unintended and that the U.S. adolescent birth rate is the highest among industrialized countries—with teenage mothers tending to be poorer, less educated, and receiving less prenatal care than older mothers.

How often do women falsely accuse men of rape? Often? Sometimes? Almost never? And, how often do women falsely accuse men of domestic violence? The actual numbers might surprise you.

In a recent report published by the United Kingdom’s Crown Prosecution Service, it was found that a mere 35 out of 5,651 or .6% women falsely accused men of rape, and only 6 women out of 111,891 or .005% falsely accused a man of domestic violence during the 17-month-long study.

Passing immigration reform that honored and included immigrant women would be a truly great Mother’s Day gift.

Mother’s Day is a time to reflect on all the great things moms do, and in the case of immigrant moms, we have a lot to reflect on. Immigrant mothers are vital to the health and strength of our economy and communities, and with immigration reform moving in Congress, these hardworking women may soon be able to step out of the shadows and into a better future.

Two bills that could radically change how teens access pregnancy terminations are nearly on their way to the governor for her approval.

An Oklahoma bill that would force parents to provide written documentation and have a valid ID to consent for their daughter or ward to have an abortion, and which would prohibit teens from seeking judicial bypass anywhere outside their county has received final approval from the state house. It now heads to Republican Gov. Mary Fallin’s desk for signature. Another bill, which would eliminate all judicial bypass except in cases when someone has been impregnated by a family member, is expected to be heard this week and will likely follow the same path.

If signed, the rules will make Oklahoma one of the most onerous states for teens seeking an abortion, making it difficult for youth from low-income families to terminate a pregnancy, even with parental consent. By requiring both a valid ID and notarized paperwork attesting to the relationship between teen and guardian, the bills add additional time and financial considerations to an already established 48-hour waiting period, potentially forcing some teens to delay getting an abortion or to continue the pregnancy.

Teens are quickly becoming the new battle ground for anti-choice lawmakers intent on using consent to cut off access to safe reproductive health care. A proposed bill in North Carolinatakes the before unseen step of requiring parental consent for all reproductive health care, including diagnosis and treatment of STIs, pregnancy confirmation and prenatal care, and pregnancy protection, all as a means of forcing teens into a government mandated parental relationship. That bill has been opposed by both health-care providers and reproductive rights advocates.

Recently, the Supreme Court heard arguments about the pledge, which would require that organizations receiving government money for overseas disease-prevention work adopt policies opposing prostitution and sex trafficking. What’s at stake?

What is at stake in this case? As the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) set out in a prior friend-of-the-court brief, the pledge has taken a concrete toll, visible in its impact on overseas health organizations which, unlike their U.S. counterparts, have been subject to the pledge requirement all along. A number of these programs have been defunded, shut down, or otherwise impeded by the pledge. The pledge has variously caused a condom shortage among sex workers in Mali, the withholding of safer sex information from young men in sex work in Cambodia, and the closure of community-based drop-in centers in Bangladesh, where sex workers had previously obtained condoms and health information, as well as respite and solidarity. If the Supreme Court sides with the government, and United States-based health organizations are also subject to the pledge, the human cost will undoubtedly climb.

The argument that access to sexual health care or information causes promiscuity is offensive to women and has been proven false time and again. Yet it seems unlikely that it we will end anytime soon.

The student argued that the school should focus less resources on developing a new mascot, and more on addressing the potentially frightening culture within the school’s athletic program. UConn’s athletics aren’t alone in that regard.

Nothing proves that someone is wrong about a misogynist culture on campus like sending rape threats.

On April 16, 2013 RH Reality Check hosted a fact-based call to help journalists and bloggers get a full picture of the Kermit Gosnell trial.

Click the link to listen or download the audio.

Learn about the research revealing how it’s related to hostile sexism and perpetuates gender inequality.

It is poor women, young women, women of color and immigrant women who bear the burden of these restrictions, particularly federal bans on funding for abortion care. These bans – such as the Hyde Amendment that affects Medicaid and the international Helms Amendment that affects our foreign aid – exacerbate the circumstances that lead women to facilities like Gosnell’s West Philadelphia clinic in the first place.