‘I can’t think of a time when it was worse’: US abortion doctors speak out

Curtis and Glenna Boyd have worked in US abortion clinics ever since Roe v Wade made the practice legal in 1973. Forty years on, restricted rights mean they have to practise under FBI protection. Karen McVeigh reports

Dalai Lama enlightens and enraptures contemplative scientists in Boston

James Kingsland: Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, was given a rapturous reception by mindfulness researchers, but tactfully avoided the controversial question of applications in the military

Gambian campaigner returns home to stop female gential mutilation

Jaha Dukureh heads for The Gambia after 10 years in the US where she led a Guardian backed campaign against FGM

Guardian campaigner meets White House officials in bid to end FGM

Jaha Dukureh launched campaign with NGO Equality Now to highlight the issue of female genital mutilation in the US

Skinny jeans: destroyer of iPhones, enemy of sperm and threat to our world

Not only do tight pants bend shoddy cellphones, they are anti-wallet, poor for cycling and no good for those with knobbly knees

Beyond GDP: US states have adopted genuine progress indicators

From Vermont to Hawaii, the GPI is becoming more popular. How can states use it to inform policy and economic development strategies?

Republicans are still trying to destroy Obamacare, and they’re still losing

Scott Lemieux: Conservatives want to protect your right to an avoidable death due to a lack of health insurance. It’s the principle of the thing

Criminalising pregnant women who drink is a ploy to restrict their freedom

Rebecca Schiller: If the UK apes the US and punishes pregnant women, we will be heading towards a dystopia akin to that in The Handmaid’s Tale

FGM: two young women who woke up world and forced politicians to act

Fahma Mohamed in UK and Jaha Dukureh in US have led global debate on female genital mutilation and movement to end it

Conservative judges are ganging up to steal your affordable healthcare

Scott Lemieux: Want evidence that Republicans have allies on the bench? Look no further than the Bush appointees who hate Obamacare