Migration Category: National Old Site

French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde officially announced her candidacy for the director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) late Tuesday at a special press conference in Paris. After the IMF’s director Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned last Sunday, the search for a new manager has led to speculation surrounding Lagarde’s potential bid, and she has quickly gained the support of the United Kingdom and major European figures. John Lipsky, acting managing director of the IMF, said she would “make an excellent leader” of the IMF.

Strauss-Kahn resigned last week as head of the IMF after being arrested and charged with sexual assault. Since his resignation, much controversy has emerged regarding the treatment of women within the IMF. The New York Times ran an article last week that received much attention, depicting the treatment of women at the IMF as a place in which sexual abuse, harassment, and gender discrimination are commonplace.

Some employees of the fund have voiced that placing a woman in charge at the IMF would be a welcome change, saying that it has largely been a male-dominated workplace. The IMF told CNN on Monday that it aims to increase the number of women in senior roles by 10% over the next three years.

Lagarde joins other possible candidates from Mexico, Brazil, and Kazakhstan, but remains the most likely candidate as the IMF has traditionally been led by Europeans. The selection process will be complete by June 30.

Yesterday Democrat Kathy Hochul defeated Republican Assemblywoman Jane Corwin in a special election in the 26th Congressional district of New York. Hochul captured 48 percent of the vote, while Corwin had 42 percent and independent Jack Davis had 9 percent. The district in western New York, held by Republicans since 1960, became vacant when Republican Congressman Chris Lee resigned after shirtless pictures of him appeared on Craigslist.

Hochul, a former Erie County clerk, stressed her opposition to the House Republican budget plan, written by Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI), which turn Medicare into a voucher program. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) stated, “Kathy Hochul’s victory tonight is a tribute to Democrats’ commitment to preserve and strengthen Medicare, create jobs, and grow our economy.”

During her campaign, Hochul pledged to work to improve women’s access to safe and adequate health services. Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, remarked, “New York voters made a clear stand against Speaker Boehner’s extreme and divisive anti-choice agenda by sending Kathy Hochul, a champion of the fundamental values of freedom and privacy, to Congress. Rep.-elect Hochul represents the district’s mainstream views, and she knows that voters want Washington focusing on creating jobs and protecting Medicare, not attacking a woman’s right to choose.”

In Nebraska, state Senators voted 38-9 yesterday on a bill banning the use of telemedicine to provide women with abortion services. The bill requires that a doctor be physically present with the patient when she takes mifepristone, also known as RU-486 or the abortion pill, to induce an abortion. The bill has already passed the Nebraska House and Governor Dave Heineman (R) is expected to sign it into law.

The bill aims to prevent Planned Parenthood of the Heartland from replicating its Iowa program, which enables mifepristone to be administered to patients while videoconferencing with their doctors in 16, in Nebraska. By using telemedicine, Planned Parenthood aims to provide women living in remote and rural areas of with greater access to abortion services.

Under current Iowa law, in order for a woman to receive mifepristone via videoconference, she must first go to her local Planned Parenthood and undergo the required physical exam, blood test, medical history report, ultrasound, and counseling session, all administered in-person by a nurse. Women must also watch an eight-minute video describing the procedure and all possible side effects. If the woman decides to continue with the process, the doctor then clicks a button on his computer that releases a drawer containing the medicine in front of the patient. Still in the company of the clinic nurse, the patient then takes the mifepristone with her doctor watching and receives the follow-up drug, misoprostol, to take later.

Yesterday the New Jersey Senate passed a bill by a vote of 26 to 13 that would restore $7.5 million to the state’s 58 women’s health clinics. Last year, Governor Chris Christie (R) cut all family planning funding from the state’s budget and vetoed the attempts of the state Senate and Assembly to restore it. The Senate bill will now move to the state Assembly for a vote.

Senator Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck), who is sponsoring the bill, stated that six clinics have closed since Governor Chris Christie (R) cut funding last year. Weinberg stated, “Either you are for underserved women having access to proper health care, primary care physicians and yes, birth control, (or you’re not). We are in the second decade of the 21st century. The fight over poor women’s access to birth control I thought was finished a few generations ago.”

Governor Christie said that he believes that Weinberg “is mischaracterizing women’s access to health care,” claiming that since women already have access to federally funded clinics, state funding is not necessary. Nevertheless, Christie announced that he would consider the bill as part of a larger budget deal.

A proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage will be decided by Minnesota voters next year after the Minnesota House on Saturday approved placing the amendment on the state ballot in November 2012. Minnesota already prohibits same-sex marriage, but backers say this amendment will prevent any legalization in the future. The amendment, if approved by voters, would define marriage as only between one man and one woman. The House voted mostly along party lines, with only four Republicans voting against it.

Opponents of the amendment say that the constitution should be used to expand rights, not limit them. Rep. Tina Liebling (D) called the amendment un-American, saying the civil rights of the gay minority should not be up to a vote by the straight majority. She predicted a long and divisive public debate in Minnesota leading up to November.

Saturday’s legislative debate drew hundreds of people to the Capitol in protest. Minnesota legislator John Kriesel (R), a veteran who lost his legs while fighting in Iraq, saluted a fellow gay soldier who lost his life there. He closed his emotional argument by saying, “This amendment is not what I fought for over there. Those people out there,” he said, referring to the protesters outside, “That’s what I fought for and I’m proud of it.”

The New Jersey state Senate is scheduled to vote today on a bill that would restore $7.5 to the state’s 58 women’s health clinics. Senator Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck), who is sponsoring the bill, stated that six clinics have closed since Governor Chris Christie (R) cut funding last year.

Governor Christie said that he believes that Weinberg “is mischaracterizing women’s access to health care,” claiming that since women already have access to federally funded clinics, state funding is not necessary. Nevertheless, Christie announced that he would consider the bill as part of a larger budget deal.

Planned Parenthood of Indiana has received thousands of dollars in donations after a bill signed early last week by Governor Mitch Daniels made Indiana the first state in the nation to cut state and federal funding for the organization. Over $50,000 has been donated by people in 44 states and countries such as Belgium and the United Kingdom.

The organization says it serves over 9,000 Medicaid patients at its 28 clinics in Indiana. Donations are expected to enable centers to serve Medicaid patients through the end of May.

Planned Parenthood of Indiana (PPIN) said in a statement that the donations are being used for pap tests, breast exams, STI testing and treatment, and birth control. Betty Cockrum, president of PPIN, said “Let’s be clear: this is a temporary fix, and these one-time donations will not continue indefinitely. We’re getting donations because people are outraged – as they should be.”

In addition to prohibiting the organization from receiving reimbursement from Medicaid for services provided to Medicaid patients, the bill bans abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy unless a woman’s life or health is substantially threatened. PPIN has filed an injunction stating that the legislation is unconstitutional and violates federal law, and is expected to be heard by the U.S. District Court in Indianapolis in June.

Studies released Thursday by the Guttmacher Institute and the Brookings Institution show that unintended pregnancies in the U.S. cost taxpayers roughly $11 billion per year. The Guttmacher Institute notes that this estimate is conservative, as it is only considers public insurance costs for pregnancy and first-year infant care. The studies also find that government programs could save billions by preventing unintended pregnancies.

The Guttmacher study found that 64% of births resulting from unintended pregnancies were to women enrolled in publicly funded health care programs, while only 35% of intended births were publicly funded. Adam Sonfield, one of the study’s authors, remarked, “At a time when policymakers everywhere are looking for ways to cut costs under Medicaid, these findings point clearly to a way to achieve that goal by expanding access to health care, not cutting it.”

Adam Thomas, an author of the Brookings Institution’s study, said “Like Sonfield and colleagues, we find that the potential public savings from preventing unintended pregnancy are enormous.” The Brookings study found that taxpayers could save about $5.6 billion annually through efforts to prevent those pregnancies.

The study comes at a time when a number of states are considering legislation to cut family planning. Earlier this month, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels signed a bill making Indiana the first state to defund Planned Parenthood. Lawmakers in Kansas and North Carolina are attempting to pass similar legislation.

On Tuesday, Yale University Dean Mary Miller announced that the university’s chapter of the Delta Kappa Epsilon (DKE) fraternity will be suspended after its pledged chanted “no means yes, yes means anal” at an initiation event last fall. DKE will be barred from holding any activities on Yale’s campus for five years. Former Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush are both former members of this DKE chapter.

Dean of Student Affairs Marichal Gentry filed an initial complaint to the Yale Executive Committee, claiming that the fraternity had engaged in “sexual harassment” and had “imperil[ed] the integrity and values of the University community.” Dean Miller indicated that Yale will also impose penalties on individual fraternities.

Yale University is also currently under federal investigation for violating Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sexual discrimination, violence, and harassment, based on the claims filed by 16 Yale students claiming that the university is a sexually hostile environment.

The report of the Senate Select Committee on Ethics which found that former Nevada Senator John Ensign violated Senate ethics, rules and federal law, also revealed that Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) was involved in the cover-up of Ensign’s affair. The report, released last week, raises questions about whether Senator Coburn violated Senate rules and law by possibly aiding Ensign in covering up his sexual relationship with Cindy Hamilton, Ensign’s former employee and the wife of his former Chief of Staff.

In October 2009, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), which filed the initial complaint against Ensign, also filed a complaint to the Ethics Committee against Senator Coburn for his possible role in the scandal. During a November 2009 interview, Coburn, an ob-gyn, claimed that he acted as a medical doctor and a church deacon in aiding Ensign, making his conversations privileged.

Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW, stated, “Although CREW filed a complaint against Sen. Coburn regarding his role, the committee did not comment on the clear inconsistencies between Sen. Coburn’s version of events and those of other witnesses. CREW hopes the Ethics Committee will release its report as to Sen. Coburn’s conduct as it did with the report on Sen. Ensign. This is all the more necessary given that Sen. Coburn is still in office.”

Both Senators Ensign and Coburn were residents at C-Street, a right wing so-called religious organization where several Republican leaders were revealed to be in sexual scandals.

Send a letter: release the findings on Coburn!

On Monday, Senator John Boozman (R-AR) introduced a bill that would require that the parents of minors seeking abortion services be notified by certified mail and that doctors wait at least four days before performing an abortion. Doctors who do not abide by the requirement could be fined up to $1 million and have to serve up to 10 years in prison.

Senator Boozman stated that although some states have parental notification laws, a federal parental notification law would prevent minors from crossing state lines to obtain abortion services. Such parental consent laws are extremely harmful to young girls, especially victims of abuse.

Dorothy Parvaz, 39, an Iranian-born US citizen and Al-Jazeera reporter who went missing while covering the uprisings against Syrian President Bashar Assad, was released after begin detained in Syria and deported and held in Tehran for 19 days. Parvaz arrived in Qatar yesterday and will soon fly to Vancouver BC to reunite with her fiance and family.

A spokesman from Al-Jazeera stated, “I’m delighted to let you know that Dorothy Parvaz has been released and is safe and well and back with us in Doha. She has been in contact with her family, and we are with her now to find out more about her ordeal over the last nineteen days.”

Parvaz attended the University of British Columbia and earned a masters from the University of Arizona. She has completed fellowships in journalism from both Harvard and Cambridge.

Yesterday, the Iowa Senate voted along party lines 26-23 to pass a bill that seeks to prohibit Dr. LeRoy Carhart from opening a clinic in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The bill mandates that clinics offering abortion services after 20 weeks, which would include Dr. Carhart’s proposed clinic, be located near a hospital with an intensive care unit. Since there is not a hospital in Council Bluffs that meets the standards specified in the bill, Dr. Carhart’s clinic would not be able to open there if the bill passes. The bill will now go to the Iowa House of Representatives, where it likely will not pass.

In November, Dr. LeRoy Carhart of Bellevue, Nebraska announced plans to open three new comprehensive reproductive health clinics in Maryland, Iowa, and Indiana. Dr. Carhart began practicing at the Reproductive Health Services clinic in Germantown, Maryland in December. The clinics will offer comprehensive family planning, male sexual health care, education programs, and abortion services, including specialized care in late abortion cases. Carhart cites current Nebraska law, which prohibits abortions after 20 weeks gestation, as the reason he must travel beyond his home state to provide this specialized care.

Currently, Iowa law allows women to have an abortion after 24 weeks if her life is endangered.

Yesterday Kansas Governor Sam Brownback (R) signed SB 36, a bill requiring that abortion clinics in Kansas be inspected two times per year, one of which must be unannounced. The bill would also prohibit the clinics from prescribing mifepristone, also known as RU-486 or the abortion pill, remotely through telemedicine. The law will go into effect July 1.

The bill authorizes the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to regulate buildings and equipment for the clinics and issue licenses annually to clinics performing abortions. If the clinics do not comply with the established standards, the Department can then issue fines and file lawsuits to have the clinics closed.

Peter Brownlie, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and mid-Missouri, clarified that that SB 36 would “make the services more expensive and more difficult to obtain or more difficult to provide.”

In April, Governor Brownback signed a bill requiring that medical providers obtain a written and notarized indication of consent from both parents prior to offering abortion services to minors.

Representative Louise Slaughter (D-NY), Ranking Member of the House Rules Committee, introduced provisions to the National Defense Authorization to address the issue of sexual assault in the military late last week. If passed, the bill would create confidentiality policies for victims of sexual assault, increase trainings on sexual assault, and create an easier process for sexual assault victims and offenders to be relocated from their current base.

Representative Slaughter explained, “As America fights two wars, our women and men in battle can be worlds away and if they find themselves the victims of sexual assault, in theatre or at home, it must be recognized and the assailant must be brought to justice. Sadly this is almost never the reality. We have a duty to protect our men and women in uniform from the tragedy that is sexual assault in the military.”

Anu Bhagwati, executive director of Service Women’s Action Network (SWAN) and a former military Marine Corps Captain, clarified, “Provisions in this bill would protect services members who experience sexual assault by providing for confidential communications between victims and their advocates, expedited humanitarian transfers and reassignments so victims aren’t forced to work alongside or even share living quarters with their rapists, and a hotline for service members to report rapes or suspected rapes.”

In February, attorney Susan Burke filed a lawsuit in the Eastern Virginia federal court against former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates for failing to prevent, investigate, and prosecute the sexual assault and rape of the 17 plaintiffs. The plaintiffs in the case are veteran and active-duty service members from the Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, and Reserves who were sexually assaulted, raped, or harassed by active duty military members. Burke stated in Ms. magazine’s Spring 2010 article by Natalie Wilson, “Culture of Rape,” “You shouldn’t have to be raped in order to sign up and serve your country.”

According to a 2003 study by the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, at least one-third of all women veterans have experienced rape or sexual assault during their service, and thirty percent of military women experience domestic violence. Moreover, rape occurs in the military nearly twice as often as in the civilian world. Members of the US House of Representatives, including Susan Davis (D-CA), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Louise Slaughter (D-NY), and former Congresswoman Jane Harman (D-CA) have pressed the military to address sexualized violence, working on task forces and proposing legislation.

Following a 22 month investigation, the Senate Select Committee on Ethics, chaired by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Vice Chair Johnny Isakson (R-GA), released a report yesterday, supported unanimously by the bipartisan committee of three Democrats and three Republicans, that former Nevada Senator John Ensign violated Senate rules, broke federal law, made false statements to the Federal Election Commission, and engaged in sex discrimination. According to the report, “there is substantial credible evidence that Senator Ensign discriminated on the basis of sex and engaged in improper conduct reflecting upon the Senate by terminating the Hamptons’ [Douglas Hampton, Ensign’s Chief of Staff, and his wife Cindy] employment because of the [sexual] affair” with Cindy.

Moreover, the Ethics Committee found that Ensign attempted to thwart the Ethics Committee’s preliminary inquiry, demonstrated improper conduct, and violated laws governing campaign finances. The Ethics Committee investigation also revealed anti-women’s rights and so-called pro-family Senator Tom Coburn’s (R-OK) involvement and collaboration in the cover-up of Ensign’s affair. Both Senators Ensign and Coburn were residents at C-Street, a right wing so-called religious organization where several Republican leaders were revealed to be in sexual scandals.

Eleanor Smeal, President of Feminist Majority, stated, “Once again anti-women’s rights Senators who posed as pro-family legislators are revealed to be harmful hypocrites. The Ethics Committee should investigate if Senator Coburn violated Senate rules or laws in collaborating in the cover-up.”

The investigation began in June 2009 after Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), filed a complaint to the Ethics Committee alleging that Ensign had engaged in sexual harassment and employment discrimination by using his political power to hide his affair with one of his employees who was also the wife his Chief of Staff. According to the report, Cindy Hampton tried repeatedly to stop the affair but Ensign, using his power as the sole financial support for her family, relentlessly pursued her. Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW, stated, “It is encouraging to see the Senate Ethics Committee agrees with what CREW has said from the beginning: Senator John Ensign broke the law and he should be prosecuted. Throughout the entire ordeal, Senator Ensign insisted that he did nothing wrong; what a surprise, he lied again.”

Senator Boxer indicated that had Ensign not resigned in early May, he might have been one of the first senators to be expelled from the Senate in 150 years. The Ethics Committee referred the case to the Federal Election Committee and the Justice Department for a criminal investigation. This was the first time in 20 years that special counsel was appointed by the Senate Ethics Committee to conduct an investigation of a senator.

Ensign received a 0 percent rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America and a 100 percent rating from National Right to Life Committee, indicating his consistent anti-abortion and anti-family planning voting record. The NAACP rated Ensign 7 percent for his anti-affirmative action stance, and the Active Retirement Association (ARA) rated Ensign 20 percent, due to his anti-senior voting record. Ensign has consistently voted against women’s rights issues, including the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act. He also voted against a bill to expand the Children’s Health Insurance Program and is against raising the minimum wage to $7.25. Moreover, Ensign supported the privatization of Social Security.

Yesterday, the Ugandan Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee issued a report recommending passage for the Anti-Homosexuality or “Kill a Gay” Bill, which calls for the death penalty in cases of “aggravated homosexuality,” for engaging in same sex relations with someone who is HIV positive, and life imprisonment for having sex with someone of the same sex. The bill would also would make same-sex marriage and officiating at such a ceremony criminal offenses. The report is scheduled to be resented before the Ugandan parliament today.

The Anti-Homosexuality Bill went before the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee on Friday and was originally scheduled for a vote on Wednesday but was dropped from the Parliament’s agenda following condemnation from the President, the Secretary of State, members of Congress, and human rights groups. David Bahati, a member of the Ugandan Parliament and one of the leaders of the Family or Fellowship of C Street fame (see Jeff Sharlet’s latest book on C Street), first introduced the bill in 2009.

Homosexuality is illegal in most African countries with the exception of South Africa, which recognizes gay marriage, but even there, anti-gay practices such as “corrective rapes” on lesbians, are commonplace.

The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act was re-introduced in the Senate yesterday by Senators Richard Durbin, Harry Reid, Robert Menendez, and 30 others. The DREAM Act would allow undocumented young people to apply for legal status upon joining the military or attending college for two years.

President Obama gave a speech on immigration on Tuesday in El Paso, Texas, in which he urged Congress to pass the DREAM Act. Last fall, the DREAM Act passed the House but failed to pass the Senate. The bill was first introduced in 2001 by Senator Durbin, and today is supported by the Obama administration, the Departments of Homeland Security, Justice, Education, and Defense.

Another immigration bill has been introduced in the House which requires employers to use a system called E-Verify when hiring workers to make sure that they are allowed to work in the United States. Senate Majority leader Harry Reid says that if this legislation passes, the Senate may be able to attach the DREAM Act to the bill.

Each year, 65,000 undocumented students graduate from high school in the U.S. but are ineligible for college. Earlier this month, twenty-two U.S. Senators in a letter called on the President to use his executive authority to grant “deferred action”-a stay from deportation-to DREAM Act-eligible students.

Obama remarked in his speech Tuesday that he would not use his executive powers to stop deportations of undocumented people. The American Immigration Council has urged the administration to stop claiming that its hands are tied on immigration reform, saying, “It is time for the Administration to more clearly define a vision for what its legacy on immigration will be, then take action to ensure that vision is reflected in its interpretation and implementation of immigration law.”

A study published in the American Journal of Public Health revealed that in the Democratic Republic of Congo, women are raped at a rate 26 times higher than the rate of 16,000 rapes yearly reported by the United Nations (UN). The national study, conducted by Amber Peterman of the International Food Policy Research Institute, Tia Palermo of Stony Brook University and Caryn Bredenkamp of the World Bank, found that approximately 400,000 women were raped between 2006 and 2007. This amounts to roughly 48 women raped per hour.

Margot Wallstrom, Special Representative of the Secretary General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, clarified that the UN figures are conservative because the Security Council is only permitted to report cases of rape verified by the organization. Lisa Shannon, founder of Run for Congo Women and A Thousand Sisters, told The Daily Beast, “I was overwhelmed but I wasn’t shocked. We’ve known for a long time that the numbers coming out of Congo were vastly underreported.”

The Democratic Republic of Congo has been named the “rape capital of the world” by the United Nations. The United Nations has condemned the lack of civilian protection provided by Congolese police, military, and UN stabilization forces in the area. Since the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo began in 1998, millions of women have been raped.