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Malia Politzer is the executive editor of piqd.com, and an award-winning long-form journalist based out of Spain. She specializes in reporting on migration, international development, human rights issues and investigative reporting.
Originally from California, she's lived in China, Spain, Mexico and India, and reported from various countries in Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Her primary beats relate to immigration, economics and international development. She has published articles in Huffington Post Highline, The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, Vogue India, Mint, Far Eastern Economic Review, Foreign Policy, Reason Magazine, and the Phoenix New Times. She is also a regular contributor to Devex.
Her Huffington Post Highline series, "The 21st Century Gold Rush" won awards from the National Association of Magazine Editors, Overseas Press Club, and American Society of Newspaper Editors. She's also won multiple awards for feature writing in India and the United States.
Her reporting has been supported by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, The Institute For Current World Affairs, and the Global Migration Grant.
Degrees include a BA from Hampshire College and MS from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where was a Stabile Fellow at the Center for Investigative Journalism.
The “Abortion Pill Reversal” And Its Impact On The Reproductive Rights Debate In The US
For anyone who values women’s reproductive rights, this article is a fascinating read. Ruth Graham writes in detail about a new reproductive option for women: A shot of high-dosage progesterone that (if taken soon enough) might be able to reverse a medical abortion.
As a feminist, I support anything that increases a woman’s ability to make an informed choice: At face value, the “abortion pill reversal” does exactly that, by allowing women to reverse their decision. But Graham’s article looks beyond the science (which is still not 100% conclusive), to the rhetorical fallout the new pill has had on the ongoing political war between pro-choice and pro-life advocates over women’s reproductive decisions.
On one hand, the “abortion pill reversal” allows women the opportunity to change their minds. On the other, it provides fuel to the political narrative already pushed by anti-abortion activists that women who have abortions “don’t have the knowledge they need”, often regret their decisions, and if they only “new better” they’d make a different choice. For some women, this might be true. But the percentage, according to Graham’s research, is “vanishingly small”.
It’s also not 100% certain that the progesterone shots actually work: Medical abortions are two-step procedures. The first pill cuts progesterone to the fetus, and the second is meant to induce the womb to expel it. It’s possible that women who only took the first dose, and not the second, could have brought their fetus to term anyway.
That hasn’t stopped pro-life legislators from introducing bills that would require doctors to inform women procuring the abortion pill that they can change their minds after their first dose. (Something I don’t necessarily object to: After all, isn’t more information generally better?) But ultimately, Graham points out that: “Just raising the question of uncertainty and regret affects the abortion pill’s reputation.” Regardless of your politics, it’s worth a read.
I am constantly amazed by the public discourse about abortion...whatever happened to birth control (pregnancy prevention) so that abortion need never come into the equation? I learned about birth control in high school in the '70's. Has the entire health and education system forgotten about this option?