Alison Tanner

Bio

Alison is a recent graduate of the University of California - Davis, where she studied political science and women's studies and served the student body as an ASUCD Senator. She is currently a legal assistant for the ACLU's Reproductive Freedom Project. Views expressed here are her own.
'Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' Season 1 Episode 7 Recap: A Night Of Secrets
By Alison Tanner
In Episode 7, we start to see the truly massive, bureaucratic, and morally grey side of S.H.I.E.L.D. as Agents Ward and Fitz are sent on a suicide mission. After saving Coulson from a Bond-esque torture scene, the team is called into the Hub,…
'Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' Season 1 Episode 6 Recap: Thor is About to Rock 'S.H.I.E.L.D.'
By Alison Tanner
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returned this week with a classic ghost story turned murder mystery. After a freak electrical storm, a Boy Scout troupe leader's corpse is somehow left levitating in the middle of the woods. As the body count rises,…
'Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' Season 1 Episode 5 Recap: Whose Side is Skye Really On?
By Alison Tanner
The episode opens on Chan, a street magician in Hong Kong with moderate pyrotechnic abilities. One immediately has to wonder why Chan hasn't used his powers to become the next David Blaine. As a street magician, gaining this talent seems like a…
'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' Season 1 Episode 4 Recap: "Seduce Him"
By Alison Tanner
In this week's episode of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the team must neutralize a rogue agent. The big conflict of the new series is secrecy versus openness. In episode 1, we saw the team try to maintain the secret identity of fledgling…
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Episode 3 Recap: The Origin Of Graviton
By Alison Tanner
In the pilot episode of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. we saw the origin of a potential superhero, Mike Henderson. But the Marvel Universe is not all rainbows and capes. In the third episode of the new series, the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are on a…
'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' Season 1 Episode 2 Recap: Skye is Good At Stuff, Too
By Alison Tanner
Last week, the series premiere of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. introduced us to a post-Avengers world in which the epic Battle of New York exposed superheroes — and villains. In this week's follow-up we get to see the team Agent Coulson has…
'Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' Premiere Review: Adapting to a World of Superheroes
By Alison Tanner
The highly anticipated first episode of the ABC show Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. debuted Tuesday night. As Agent Maria Hill explains, "The battle of New York was the end of the world. This is the new world." In the pilot, we meet the band of…
Marvel's 'Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.': 5 Things to Know Before the Premier
By Alison Tanner
ABC’s Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is this year’s most highly anticipated fall premiere.  Cult-icon screenwriter and director Joss Whedon (who, full disclosure, is my master now) will bring his record-smashing take on the Marvel Universe to the…
Trijicon is the New HobbyLobby: Gun Company the Latest to Challenge Obamacare
By Alison Tanner
Trijicon — a leading manufacturer of sights and rifle scopes for the U.S. military — and its owners, the Bindon family, have filed a challenge to the Affordable Care Act’s contraception coverage rule.  The ACA requires employers to provide health…
4 Biggest Threats to Women's Health That Will End Up At the Supreme Court
By Alison Tanner
Last week, noted Supreme Court analyst Jeffrey Toobin wrote a piece for The New Yorker predicting that the court will hear an abortion case next term. As Toobin notes, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of anti-abortion provisions…
Arizona Abortion Law: What Arizona's Failed Abortion Ban Means For Roe v. Wade
By Alison Tanner
On Monday the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the District Court of Arizona’s ruling and struck down the state’s ban on abortion procedures after 20 weeks of pregnancy. The doctors who brought the case claim the ban would force physicians…
"Know Your IX" is Holding Colleges Accountable For Covering Up Rape
By Alison Tanner
One woman in four is sexually assaulted during her time in college. Nine in ten college victims know their attackers.  Sexual assault is an all-too-prevalent problem on college campuses in the United States.  And far too many survivors do not know…
Eden Foods Lawsuit Against Birth Control Mandate Prompts Severe Social Media Backlash
By Alison Tanner
Plenty of folks with cans of Eden Foods’ organic black beans in their kitchen pantry were surprised to learn that the oldest independent organic food producer in the United States has teamed up with the Thomas More Law Center to file a lawsuit…
North Dakota Abortion Ban: Govenor Dalrymple Should Veto Frivolous, Costly Bills
By Alison Tanner
This week North Dakota’s legislature took the radical step of passing a "heartbeat ban" which would effectively ban abortion 5 to 7 weeks after a woman’s last menstrual period when a fetal heartbeat can usually be detected with a transvaginal…
The Surprising Reproductive Rights Issue For Millennials: Judge Appointments
By Alison Tanner
The state of Arkansas recently passed a ban on abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy, a clearly unconstitutional measure which will be challenged by reproductive justice advocates in the courts. As more states jump on the bandwagon and pass brazenly…
Arkansas 12-Week Abortion Ban is Clearly Unconstitutional
By Alison Tanner
On Wednesday, the Arkansas House joined the Arkansas Senate in overriding Governor Beebe’s veto of the “Human Heartbeat Protection Act," adopting the nation’s strictest restriction on access to abortion care. Governor Beebe and other critics have…
Clapper v. Amnesty International USA: Court Rules Against Challenges to Warrantless Wiretapping
By Alison Tanner
In Clapper v. Amnesty International USA, the Supreme Court heard oral argument not on the merits of the case, which challenges whether the federal government can constitutionally conduct warrantless, dragnet surveillance on the international phone…
3 Ways Washington Should Honor Aaron Swartz
By Alison Tanner
Last week, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy announced that the administration would move to make the results of publicly funded research freely available to the public within a year. After a “We the People” petition calling…
Does South Dakota Know How Ironic Its Proposed Abortion Laws Are?
By Alison Tanner
Two bills working their way through the South Dakota state legislature are completely contradictory: one wants to give women more time to think hard about their choices before having an abortion, while another wants to limit the amount of…
Republican Doug Cox Rips Oklahoma's Anti-Abortion Bill — Because He Actually Understands Medicine
By Alison Tanner
Many Republican politicians seem to think that they're qualified to make decisions on women's reproductive health care, but State Representative Doug Cox (R-Okla.) actually is. Cox spoke out last week against a proposed bill that would eliminate the…