Migration Category: National Old Site

On Monday, the North Dakota Senate approved an amendment to a sex education bill (HB 1229) that would require public schools to teach abstinence-only sex education. The bill passed in the Senate by a vote of 39 to 8 and will now move to the state House for a vote.

Last week, the North Dakota Senate Education Committee approved the bill, which would require that sex education programs provide “exposure of students to abstinence-based concepts” and “explain why abstinence from sexual activity until marriage provides safety from sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy, and other associated health issues.”

Comprehensive family planning services, like those funded by Title X, are based in science and are medically necessary (Feminist Campus). The federal government has wasted hundreds of millions of dollars since 1996 on abstinence-only education programs, which have proven ineffective at preventing unplanned pregnancy and the spread of STIs.

This morning the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (EDNA) was reintroduced in the House of Representatives by Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA). The bill would require that federal employment laws, which currently prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, religion, gender, national origin, age, and disability, also protect against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. EDNA would prohibit employers from firing or refusing to hire or promote employees on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation.

Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, stated, “We all share the challenges of today’s economic downturn, but our community also faces arbitrary discrimination in the workplace, simply because of who we are and who we love. Congress must pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and ensure that all Americans, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity, get a fair chance to succeed at work.”

Currently 21 states and Washington DC have laws banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and 12 states and DC protect for gender identity.

Today the US Supreme Court will hear Wal-Mart v. Dukes to determine whether over 1.6 million women who work or have worked for Wal-Mart can sue the retailer together as a single class. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled three times to allow the lawsuit to receive class-action status, but Wal-Mart claims that the female employees should not be considered a class because the company does not have a company-wide discrimination policy and each outlet store acts as an independent business.

Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority Foundation, stated, “Big financial interest have been bailed out with the concept of too big to fail. Now are we going to protect large companies that break the sex discrimination laws with the false premise too big to sue effectively? Without the ability to take major class action there would be no way for women to challenge large companies who cheat them systematically.”

If the Supreme Court upholds the case’s class-action status, the case would be the largest employment class-action suit in history. Plaintiffs in the case allege that Wal-Mart systematically discriminated through lower wages and fewer promotions for women employees; however, the Supreme Court will not, at this time, rule on whether Wal-Mart discriminated against its employees.

Terry O’Neill, president of the National Organization for Women (NOW), clarified, “For years, the Wal-Mart empire has been built upon miserly wages that were even more pitiful for women. The Wal-Mart executives who have profited from these practices should have the guts to face in court the women they cheated. They know that if they succeed in breaking up this class, most of the women will be unable to proceed on their own or in smaller groups.”

In early March, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), as well as 32 other organizations including the Feminist Majority Foundation, filed an amicus brief in the US Supreme Court in support of a class action suit against Wal-Mart for discriminating against its women employees in stores nationwide. The initial lawsuit was filed in 2001 by Betty Dukes, a former Wal-Mart employee, and six other plaintiffs who worked in 13 of the chain’s 3,400 US stores. The women are seeking what could be billions of dollars in punitive damages and back pay for gendered wage discrepancies for all female employees of Wal-Mart since 1998.

Republican Governor Bob McDonnell signed a bill requiring that clinics that perform first trimester abortions meet the Board of Health regulations on hospitals, which are far more stringent than the regulations on physician’s offices. The Virginia Senate and House voted to pass the bill in February.

Tarina Keene, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia, stated, “This is a distressing day for the women of Virginia and their access to safe, affordable reproductive health care in the Commonwealth. Through a legally questionable and ethically indefensible political gimmick, Gov. McDonnell has pushed through legislation that may result in politically motivated regulations of first trimester abortion providers that have nothing to do with medicine and everything to do with the legislature and governor’s personal ideology.”

The new regulations may cause as many as 17 of the state’s 21 women’s health clinics that perform abortions and provide necessary women’s reproductive health services, such as STI testing, cancer screenings, and family planning, to shut down as a result of the cost to implement the required changes. These regulations will significantly and unnecessarily increase the cost of early abortions and will make it more difficult to get an abortion in Virginia. Reproductive rights groups, including the Feminist Majority, the National Organization for Women, and the American Civil Liberties Union oppose the law, which restricts women’s access to reproductive health services.

The Arkansas Public Health and Safety Committee passed HB 1855, a bill requiring medical facilities that provide over ten non-surgical abortions per month to meet the standards of out-patient surgical centers and obtain a license from the state Health Department. The bill would require clinics to be equipped with defibrillators and ventilators and would impose new restrictions on hallway and parking lot dimensions. The bill will go the Arkansas House for a vote.

These regulations would impose unnecessary and onerous regulations on abortion providers and restrict women’s access to reproductive health services. Murry Newbern, director of community affairs at Planned Parenthood of Arkansas and Eastern Oklahoma, stated, “It’s a burden and it targets us specifically. This is just a tactic that people that want to reduce access to safe, legal abortion use make it more expensive.”

In Virginia, a similar bill passed into law in February that requires requiring clinics that perform first trimester abortions meet the Board of Health regulations on hospitals, which are far more stringent than the regulations on physician’s offices.

During a Women’s History Month program at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Former Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders espoused the benefits of comprehensive sex education for students in order to prevent unplanned pregnancy. Elders clarified, “If you can’t control your reproduction, you can’t control your life. If you don’t educate young people about their sexuality and how to protect themselves, you are setting yourself up to repeat the same thing.” Elders served as Surgeon General during Bill Clinton’s presidency.

Elders’ remarks came approximately a week after Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour signed a bill mandating that public school districts teach either abstinence-only or abstinence-plus sex education by June 30, 2012. In February 2010, the Mississippi state House passed a bill to allow “abstinence-plus” sex education to be offered in the state. The “abstinence-plus” curriculum focuses primarily on abstinence, but also includes information about contraceptives and condoms. The proposed legislation prohibits any schools from demonstrating proper condom use and requires boys and girls to be separated into different classes by gender during sexual education classes. Parental permission will be required for students to attend “abstinence-plus” classes.

Teen birth rates and rates of gonorrhea and chlamydia in Mississippi are among the highest in the US. A Department of Education survey on teen pregnancy indicated that 91 of 121 Mississippi public school districts either did not have a sex education policy, or did not know if one existed.

On Wednesday, the Idaho Senate voted to approve the Unborn Child Protection Act, a bill banning abortions after 20 weeks, unless the woman’s life is endangered, and making it a felony for abortion providers to conduct the procedure after 20 weeks. Last week, the Idaho Senate State Affairs Committee passed the bill by a vote of 7-2. The bill will now go to the state House of Representatives, where it is expected to pass, for a vote.

The Idaho Attorney General’s Office stated that under the Fourteenth Amendment, the Unborn Child Protection Act is unconstitutional “insofar as it proscribes some non-therapeutic abortions even before a fetus has reached viability.” Moreover, the American College of Gynecology refutes assertions made by Idaho’s Republican senators that fetuses can feel pain at 20 week, stating that there is “no legitimate evidence that fetuses can experience pain.”

The Idaho bill is modeled on a Nebraska law, signed in April 2010, which outlaws abortion after 20 weeks. Nebraska is also the first state to restrict access to abortion by requiring a doctor to screen women for any mental or physical problems before they perform the procedure.

The Colorado Senate passed a civil union bill (SB 127) yesterday by a vote of 23 to 12. The bill, introduced by Senator Pat Steadman (D) would allow same-sex couples to enter into civil unions and attain some of the same benefits enjoyed by married couples, such as the right to visit a partner in the hospital and the right to make decisions about the partner’s medical care. The bill would not, however, allow same sex couples to obtain marriage licenses. The bill will now go to the Colorado House of Representatives for a vote.

Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, stated, “Legislators in Colorado have taken an important action to advance equality for all Coloradans. We call on the Colorado House to swiftly follow the Senate’s lead on this crucial legislation.”

On Tuesday, Senator David Sokola (D) introduced a civil union in the Delaware state Senate. Currently, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Washington DC allow marriage of same-sex couples. Six states, California, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii allow same-sex couples to form civil unions or domestic partnerships, which carry some of the legal benefits of marriage.

South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard (R) signed an extreme anti-abortion bill into law Tuesday requiring that women undergo a 72 hour waiting period and mandatory counseling from a crisis pregnancy center (CPC) before obtaining an abortion. Sarah Stoesz, president of Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota, clarified that CPCs are “they’re not licensed, they’re not regulated, they’re not accredited and they’re openly ideological.” The law does not make exceptions for cases of rape or incest.

South Dakota is the first state in the country to mandate a 72 hour waiting period, although 25 states currently require a 24 hour waiting period. After the law takes effect July 1, women seeking abortions could have to make multiple trips to South Dakota’s only abortion provider in Sioux Falls. Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) stated that they would file a lawsuit against South Dakota.

Currently, there are an estimated 3,500 CPCs nationwide, most of which are affiliated with one or more national umbrella organizations. CPCs often pose as comprehensive health centers and offer “free” pregnancy tests. Some CPCs coerce and intimidate women out of considering abortion as an option, and do not offer women neutral or comprehensive medical advice. Often CPCs are run by anti-abortion zealots who are not licensed medical professionals.

Yesterday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decided to uphold a temporary stay on Proposition 8, which bans same-sex marriage in California. The Appeals Court denied a motion filed by the American Foundation for Equal Rights to set aside a stay on a Federal District Court decision until the 9th Circuit Court appeals process is completed.

In August 2010, Federal District Judge Vaughn Walker overturned a 6 to 1 ruling by the California Supreme Court in May 2009 that upheld the measure. In 2008, Proposition 8 was passed by voters in an electoral referendum.

Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California, stated, “Today’s ruling is a major setback for same-sex couples and their families who must continue living every day in legal limbo without the basic freedoms and protections guaranteed to them by our nation’s Constitution. Every day same-sex couples are denied the freedom to marry, their families suffer significant harm. We cannot stand idle as the courts continue to deny our basic humanity. We must demand our equality and speak out against this injustice.”

On Monday six current and former employees of Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals filed a $100 million lawsuit in a New Jersey federal court, alleging that Bayer AG had discriminated against its women employees. The plaintiffs in the case stated that Bayer denied them equal opportunities for promotion, equal pay, and pregnancy leave.

Katherine Kimpel, the women’s lawyer, told Dow Jones Newswires, “Bayer engages in systemic discrimination against its female employees – particularly those with family responsibilities- by paying them less than their counterparts, denying them promotions into better and higher paying positions, limiting their employment opportunities to lower and less desirable job classifications, and exposing them to different treatment and a hostile work environment.”

Bayer denies allegations that it discriminated on the basis of gender.

Yesterday Senator David Sokola (D) introduced a civil union in the Delaware state Senate. The bill would allow same-sex couples to enter into civil unions and attain some of the same benefits enjoyed by married couples, such as the right to visit a partner in the hospital and the right to make decisions about the partner’s medical care. The bill would not, however, allow same sex couples to obtain marriage licenses. Governor Jack Markell (D) announced his support for the bill.

Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, stated, “Today, members of the Delaware Senate have put forth a solid plan for providing critical benefits to same-sex couples and their children. Now is the time to treat all Delaware families with equality and we call on the Delaware legislature to swiftly pass the civil unions bill.”

Currently, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Washington DC allow marriage of same-sex couples. Six states, California, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii allow same-sex couples to form civil unions or domestic partnerships, which carry some of the legal benefits of marriage.

The Civil Rights Division of the US Department of Justice (DOJ) released its findings that the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) engaged in misconduct and violated the Constitution. Following an investigation dating back to May 2010, the DOJ found that members of the NOPD failed to properly investigate accusations of sexual assault and domestic violence.

Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority Foundation, stated, “These findings unfortunately are reminiscent of the sex bias findings of the 1991 Christopher Commission regarding the Los Angeles Police Department. For violence against women to truly be reduced police violence must be eradicated.”

Margie Moore, Director of the Center for Women and Policing, stated “Unfortunately, this is policing at its worse. The degrading impact on women and all people in the community who reported violent crimes and were improperly investigated can never be repaired. It is hoped that with DOJ mandating certain training and procedures that the faith in the police and women who report crimes of violence to them can be restored. Without an unbiased police force and leadership there can be no true justice for women. NOPD should take this time to examine their recruitment procedures and establish protocols that will weed out those who care not for upholding the constitution.”

The Department of Justice report stated, “We find that NOPD has systematically misclassified large numbers of possible sexual assaults, resulting in a sweeping failure to properly investigate many potential cases of rape, attempted rape, and other sex crimes….The documentation we reviewed was replete with stereotypical assumptions and judgments about sex crimes and victims of sex crimes, including misguided commentary about the victims’ perceived credibility sexual history, or delay in contacting the police.”

Carol Tracy, executive director of the Women’s Law Project, clarified, “This is a long overdue acknowledgment of gender bias in police practice and we hope police departments throughout the United States will begin self-audits of their practices.”

DOJ investigators also found that the NOPD and discriminated against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people, used excessive force, and failed to offer adequate services to non-English speakers.

US District Court Judge Deborah Chasanow issued an opinion stating that Montgomery County, MD can no longer require crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) to post signs encouraging women who may be pregnant to seek the attention of a licensed medical practitioner. Judge Chasanow upheld the portion of the law stating that CPCs must display signs in their waiting rooms stating, “The Center does not have a licensed medical professional on staff.”

Centro Tepeyac Women’s Center, a CPC in Silver Spring, MD, filed the lawsuit against the county alleging that law violates the First Amendment. The Montgomery County Council is expected to meet this week about whether it will appeal the ruling.

Currently, there are an estimated 3,500 CPCs nationwide, most of which are affiliated with one or more national umbrella organizations. CPCs often pose as comprehensive health centers and offer “free” pregnancy tests. Some CPCs coerce and intimidate women out of considering abortion as an option, and do not offer women neutral or comprehensive medical advice. Often CPCs are run by anti-abortion zealots who are not licensed medical professionals.

Judge Maryann Sumi of the Dane County Circuit Court in Madison issued a decision last Friday temporarily blocking an anti-union law stripping bargaining rights from public workers from going into effect in Wisconsin. Republican Governor Scott Walker signed the bill last week. However, Judge Sumi’s decision prohibits Wisconsin Secretary of State Doug La Follette from publishing the law, which is necessary for it to go into effect.

Judge Sumi announced her plans to conduct a full hearing on the lawsuit accusing Wisconsin’s Republican lawmakers of violating state law in order to get the bill passed. On March 9, Wisconsin Republican senators broke Senate rules and Wisconsin law and voted in conference committee to take away collective bargaining rights of public workers. In the absence of the 14 Democratic senators who fled the state in a strategy the make Governor Scott Walker (R) negotiate. The Republican senators voted in conference to strip the House bill of its spending measures to bypass the Senate 60 percent quorum. Then the Republican Senators voted 18-1, with only Republicans voting to pass the law.

Over the past three weeks, tens of thousands of protestors have been gathering daily in Madison, WI to protest the anti-union bill.

Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour signed a bill mandating that public school districts teach either abstinence-only or abstinence-plus sex education by June 30, 2012.

In February 2010, The Mississippi state House passed a bill to allow “abstinence-plus” sex education to be offered in the state. The “abstinence-plus” curriculum focuses primarily on abstinence, but also includes information about contraceptives and condoms. The proposed legislation prohibits any schools from demonstrating proper condom use and requires boys and girls to be separated into different classes by gender during sexual education classes. Parental permission will be required for students to attend “abstinence-plus” classes.

Teen birth rates and rates of gonorrhea and chlamydia in Mississippi are among the highest in the US. A Department of Education survey on teen pregnancy indicated that 91 of 121 Mississippi public school districts either did not have a sex education policy, or did not know if one existed.

Following the Senate vote to approve another short-term spending measure yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced that an amendment to defund Planned Parenthood will not be included in the Continuing resolution budget deal for 2011. Senator Reid cited a list of amendments in the House-approved Continuing Resolution to fund the federal government that he disapproves of and stated, “Those that I focused on are not only no, but hell no” (National Partnership for Women and Families).

In February, House Republicans, led by Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), voted for a Continuing Resolution that prohibited any federal funds from going to Planned Parenthood, even in reimbursement for services rendered. In spite of Republican claims that the Pence amendment would prohibit taxpayer funding of abortions, such spending is already prohibited. The Continuing Resolution would also eliminate all of Title X funding, the only federal family planning program dedicated solely to reproductive health. Title X provides reproductive health services to millions of women yearly. Title X funds some 4,500 clinics, including community health centers, public health clinics and about 900 Planned Parenthood clinics.

Planned Parenthood health centers across the country conduct over one million cervical cancer screenings and 830,000 breast exams yearly. Its clinics also provide contraception, basic health care, including family planning, cancer screenings, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, to approximately 2.5 million women per year.

On Wednesday, the Idaho Senate State Affairs Committee voted 7-2 to approve a bill banning abortions after 20 weeks, unless the woman’s life is endangered. The bill will go to the state Senate for a vote.

Steven Olsen, the chief of the Idaho attorney general’s civil litigation division, stated that the bill is “unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution insofar as it proscribes some non-therapeutic abortions even before a fetus has reached viability.” Moreover, the American College of Gynecology disputes assertions made by Idaho’s Republican senators that fetuses can feel pain at 20 week, stating that there is “no legitimate evidence that fetuses can experience pain.”

In April 2010, Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman signed a bill outlawing abortion after 20 weeks. Prior to the passage of the new law, Nebraska law restricted abortion after viability, which occurs on a case-by-case basis, but is generally accepted to be between 22 and 24 weeks. Nebraska is also the first state to restrict access to abortion by requiring a doctor to screen women for any mental or physical problems before they perform the procedure.

On Tuesday, the Illinois Agriculture Committee voted 13-0 to approve a bill requiring abortion clinics to be retrofitted to comply with the standards for outpatient surgery centers. The bill, sponsored by Darlene Senger (R-Naperville), would require clinics to be equipped with defibrillators and ventilators and would impose new restrictions on hallway and parking lot dimensions.

Abortion-rights activists attended the Committee vote wearing shirts and buttons saying, “Women are not livestock.” Colleen Connell, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Illinois, clarified, “The voters of Illinois do not endorse this radical agenda. Voters recently rejected a gubernatorial candidate with a solid, anti-abortion record because they want the state’s leadership to focus on fixing the budget and creating jobs.”

These regulations will significantly and unnecessarily increase the cost of abortions and will make it more difficult to get an abortion in Illinois. According to the ACLU of Illinois, abortion services are currently not available in over 90 percent of the counties in Illinois. Reproductive rights groups, including the Feminist Majority, the National Partnership for Women and Families, and the American Civil Liberties Union oppose the bill, which would impose unnecessary and onerous regulations on abortion providers and restrict women’s access to reproductive health services.

Yesterday a bill passed 80-39 in the Florida House of Representatives that would end the tenure system for new teachers and base their job security and salaries on their students’ performance on achievement tests. The bill has already passed in the state Senate and will now go to Republican Governor Rick Scott to be signed.

Andy Ford, president of the Florida Education Association, stated, “There’s no research evidence that this legislation will help our children in public schools. We’ve looked closely at plenty of scientifically sound, peer reviewed research out there that shows this is the wrong approach to take to implement performance pay and to revamp evaluations.”

The bill would allow currently employed teachers to remain in the tenure system but would require that newly hired teachers work under one-year contracts and reapply for their jobs annually. Starting in 2014, the teachers’ contracts would be renewed based on evaluations of their students’ achievement on standardized tests. House Democrats criticized the bill, saying that it would discourage Florida teachers, who already have the lowest overall salaries in the country, and would give money to testing companies.