By Farzana Paleker
An increase in the number of babies being born with microcephaly in Zika-affected areas of Brazil has sparked a heated debate over the country’s strict abortion laws. Abortions in Brazil are illegal except in instances of rape and in cases where fetuses are diagnosed with anencephaly, a condition resulting in an underdeveloped brain and an incomplete skull. The World Health Organization has declared the Zika virus infection an international public …

By Farzana Paleker
An uptick in the use of heroin (and the sharing of dirty needles) has resulted in a 50 percent increase in the number of cases of recurrent heart valve disease. This phenomenon has presented Florida heart surgeons with an ethical dilemma: continue to provide these patients with expensive treatment, or turn them away.
This increase, surgeons say, places a huge burden on the state: tax money is used to provide …

By Kaitlyn Schaeffer
Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Rene Tamjina-Pena’s latest documentary details the horrific story of several Mexican women who were sterilized in US hospitals during the 1960s and 1970s. No Mas Bebes depicts the women, often young, afraid, and unable to speak English, and explains how they ended up on operating tables despite a lack of complete consent (and in some cases despite a lack of any consent at all).
The documentary was released …