"Family planning:" The wholly innocent term infuriates the pro-life community. To them, it connotes Big Government abortions, the movie Juno and everything that is "morally wrong" with women's reproductive health (apparently, there is a lot). Since the female health service organization Planned Parenthood is the epitomization of this catchy phrase, it goes without saying that the pro-lifers would try anything they can to shut it down. And that's exactly what has been been happening this weekend.More >>

It's Cardinal Timothy Dolan Week (no, really), and the conservative Catholic leader has certainly not let the eponymous 7-day shindig go to waste.

Dolan made the rounds in Albany on Monday, where he and other top Catholics made clear their anti-abortion and anti-pedophilia prosecution positions.

The church top honcho emphasized his opposition to the Reproductive Health Act, which basically makes state policy "up to date" with Roe V. Wade.

("America's Pope" said that the pedophilia measure, which would extend the statute of limitations for sexual abuse cases, would irreparably drain church coffers.)

If you were a little confused why New York -- a state with very pro-choice policies -- would still be debating abortion, not to worry.

Though the Empire state was the first in the union to decriminalize pregnancy terminations and remains one of the most pro-choice places in the U.S., reproductive health advocates want to fix a few legal loopholes that might undermine choice.

Runnin' Scared has put together a very brief guide explaining what this is about.

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And now for some good news and some bad news.

The good news: Virginia might not forcibly wand women's vaginas after all.

The bad news: Virginia had thought that forcibly wanding women's vaginas was a good idea in the first place.

Let's rewind a bit. Last week, Slate reported on a bill passed by the Virginia legislature that would require abortion-seeking women to undergo an ultrasound.

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Time for Plan B?

Nearly 1 million packs of birth control pills are getting recalled by Pfizer in the U.S., because a packaging screwup boosts your chances of pregnancy (via Time). Oy.

The pharmaceutical giant says that women with these sketchy scripts -- such as Lo/Ovral-28 tabs and Norgestrel and Estradiol pills, sold as Akrimax Rx -- should probably start using backup contraception if they don't want a kid. The expiration dates are from Jul. 31, 2013 to March 31, 2014.

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A group of relatively attractive young male protesters stood around reading Bible verses outside of the Planned Parenthood at Mott and Bleecker earlier today. (Our Robert Sietsema got a few photos.) Most of them are khaki-clad and youthful, a few held rosaries; many wore loafers or sneakers. All, minus the two priests with them, wore navy blue polo shirts bearing the name "Mission Corps." Yet, the anti-abortion Nazarene World Mission, whose website URL is MissionCorps.org (and whose HQ is in Kansas City), had no idea what we were talking about when we called.

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• Pima Community College, where Jared Loughner, alleged shooter of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and others, was enrolled, has released more than 8,500 pages of documents in compliance with an order from Pima County Superior Court. The documents show Loughner accusing his college of scamming him and claiming his freedom of speech was stolen, along with various accounts of bizarre behavior and outbursts. For example, a "Pilates instructor at the college said Loughner became 'very hostile' when he found out he was receiving a 'B.'" [CNN]

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Remember that anti-abortion billboard featuring a six-year-old girl and the comment "The most dangerous place for an African-American is in the womb"? It hung in Soho, to many people's discontent in February, until the ad agency pulled it after people called it offensive to women and minorities (and, apparently, workers in the restaurant below were harassed about it). At that time, we learned that Tricia Fraser, the mom of the little girl, had been unaware her daughter's image was being used for the ad. Now the New York Times reports that Fraser is suing Texas group Life Always, the folks behind the ad, calling "the billboard racist and the use of Ms. Fraser's daughter's image defamatory."

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Yesterday we wrote about the 9-week-old fetus "called to testify in court" as part of anti-abortion group Faith2Action's oh-so-dramatic effort to convince Ohio legislators to pass the so-called Heartbeat Bill, which would outlaw abortions after a fetus's first detectable heartbeat. If passed, the bill would have the honor of becoming the most restrictive abortion law in America. Roe v. Wade currently upholds the right to an abortion until the fetus is "viable, usually at 22 to 24 weeks."

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Janet Folger Porter, president of anti-abortion group Faith2Action, has called a 9-week-old fetus to testify before Ohio's House Health Committee in favor of legislation that would outlaw abortions after the first heartbeat can be medically detected. We have many questions about this.

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LIFE.com

With sparks flaring across the globe, from the Middle East to the Midwest and even our very own SoHo, what seems to be a moment for change is spreading rapidly. This weekend, New Yorkers will take to the streets in honor of two particularly relevant issues: women's health, and violence prevention.

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