Virginia Approves TRAP Laws
The Virginia Board of Health, in a vote of 11 to 2 gave final approval to new regulations on abortion clinics. Opponents of the laws claim that these new regulations will force most of Virginia’s 20 abortion clinics to close. During the hearings, the board listened to arguments from roughly 30 people on either side...
Obama Nominates First Woman to Head Secret Service
Yesterday, President Obama announced that he will appoint Julia Pierson to direct the Secret Service. Pierson will be the first woman to lead the Secret Service in United States history. President Obama in a statement, described Pierson, “Julia is eminently qualified to lead the agency that not only safeguards Americans at major events and secures...
Ryan Budget Attacks Affordable Care Act, Medicare, And Domestic Programs
Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI), Chair of the House Budget Committee, released a 2013 budget yesterday that attacks multiple advances made since President Obama first took office in 2009. The Ryan budget would repeal the 2010 Affordable Care Act, which prohibits insurance companies from classifying being a woman as a pre-existing medical condition and eliminated co-pays...
Bill to Repeal Death Penalty Passes MD Senate Committee
Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley’s bill to abolish the death penalty has passed in the state Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee on a 6 to 5 vote. The bill will now move to the Senate floor, where it is expected to pass. Twenty-six of the Maryland Senate’s forty-seven members have pledged to support the bill. Senator Brian...
VAWA Could Brought Up In House Next Week
The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) could be brought up in the House of Representatives as early as next week. According to news reports, House Republican leadership are poised to bring VAWA to the floor for discussion. As of now it is unclear if they will bring the inclusive version passed by the Senate...
IL Same-Sex Marriage Bill Advances to House
The Illinois state Senate voted 32 to 21 in favor of a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage on Thursday. The law would redefine marriage as the legal union of two people, not specifically a man and a woman. It would also convert civil unions to marriages within a year’s time. Religious institutions and individuals...
President Obama Issues State of the Union Address
In his first State of the Union message since his reelection, President Obama urged quick passage of legislation the women’s movement has supported for many years. This legislation includes: passage by the House of the Senate’s Violence against Women Reauthorization, for Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act (which was filibustered in the Senate by...
IN Community Calls for “Traditional” Prom Banning Gay Students
Students, parents, and faculty at Sullivan High School in Sullivan, Indiana, are rallying to create a “traditional” prom that would exclude gay students. The group met last Sunday at Sullivan First Christian Church to plan and created a Facebook invite-only group to discuss the event. The group has since been taken down, though screenshots of...
Family Medical Leave Act Turns Twenty
Today marks the twentieth anniversary of the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which grants job-protected sick leave to those who are recovering or taking care of someone recovering from an illness or those who have had a new child. The FMLA was signed into law on February 5, 1993 by President Bill Clinton and is...
FDA Will Not Challenge Plan B Vending Machine
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will not take action against a Pennsylvania college that has a vending machine in the student health center that dispense the morning-after pill. Shippensburg University began dispensing Plan-B, the brand name for an emergency contraceptive pill that can be taken up to 72 hours after unprotected sex, in a...
Paul Ryan Co-Sponsors House Personhood Bill
Conservative Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI), along with 16 other representatives, have co-sponsored the “Sanctity of Human Life Act,” which would give full person rights to a human embryo. The “Sanctity of Human Life Act” was originally introduced in 2011 by Representative Paul Broun (R-GA). Brounreintroduced the bill early in the new congressional session. The bill establishes that “the...
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We’re excited because Working Assets/CREDO has selected the Feminist Majority Foundation as one of the 40 organizations to receive donations in 2013 from the funds it raised this year. BUT we need your help because the amount each of the 40 groups receives depends on the number of votes we get. Please vote for us...
