Migration Category: National Old Site

The South Dakota anti-abortion bill (HR 1171) that would have altered the definition of “justifiable homicide” to include killings aimed to prevent harm to an unborn child failed yesterday in the state’s House by an overwhelming vote of 61-4. Earlier this week the bill passed out of the state’s House Judiciary Committee by a vote of nine to three. Vicki Saporta, the president of the National Abortion Federation, told Mother Jones, “The bill in South Dakota is an invitation to murder abortion providers.”

Following the bill’s passage in committee, the language was amended to read, “the use of force by a pregnant woman for the protection of her unborn child is an affirmative defense to prosecutions for certain crimes.”

In the trial for the murder of abortion provider Dr. George Tiller, Judge Wilbert denied Scott Roeder the right to use a “justifiable homicide” defense. The Feminist Majority Foundation conducts the National Clinic Access Project (NCAP) which is the oldest and largest national clinic defense project in the nation. NCAP’s team of experts has been working diligently to stop anti-abortion extremists’ attacks against abortion providers who work to save women’s lives and health.

Watch Rachel Maddow Monday on MSNBC to see a report from Wichita on the aggressive harassment of Dr. Mila Means, who wants to give women the choice of safe, legal abortion services in Wichita once again. Maddow is repeatedly asking, “What kind of nation do you want to live in?”

Feminist Majority Foundation Legal Coordinator duVergne Gaines will be interviewed. Please check out the new Feminist Majority Foundation blog for a story on Wichita.

The House just voted 240 to 185 to pass the Pence Amendment.

Please see the FMF Press Release for more information.

Over thirty thousand state and local public workers and supporters rallied yesterday in Madison, WI to protest Governor Scott Walker’s (R) extreme anti-union bill that proposes to reduce state workers’ salaries and take away the right of unions to collectively bargain for salary benefits, hours, and working conditions (MSNBC). The bill would cut public workers’ wages between six and eight percent. The Republican-dominated state legislature’s budget committee passed the bill late last night.

Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority Foundation, responded, “It’s clear that right-wing Republicans are using the excuse of the budget to strip away the rights of public workers unions. Without unions, middle class and women workers, such as teachers, social workers, and nurses, are in grave jeopardy.”

The number of protestors has been increasing throughout the week, with 2,000 gathering on Monday and 15,000 on Tuesday. More are expected today. Forty percent of teachers called in sick yesterday in support of the protest.The second largest school district in Wisconsin closed yesterday for the second day in a row, as well as some two dozen other school districts.

Legislation that would limit public workers unions has also been introduced by Republican leadership in Maine, Alabama, Ohio, Arizona, and Missouri.

Following a lawsuit filed by Foliage Development Inc., Dr. Mila Means has agreed not to perform abortions in the office space that she leases from the company and stated that she will seek another space for her medical practice. Foliage Development claimed that by offering abortions, Dr. Means would create safety issues and a public nuisance due to the daily protests by anti-abortion groups.

Protestors have been gathering outside Dr. Means’ practice since December, when the Associated Press released a story that Dr. Means had been training to perform abortions at a Kansas City clinic. Last night, anti-abortion protestors demonstrated at Dr. Means’ home. Operation Rescue Wichita, the anti-abortion group that had plagued Dr. Tiller for seven years, had published her address on its website.

Abortion services have not been available to women in Wichita since Dr. George Tiller’s murder in May 2009.The Feminist Majority Foundation, which conducts oldest and largest national clinic defense project in the nation, had worked with Dr. Tiller and is helping besieged clinics in some 14 states. Harassment of abortion providers has increased since the election of a pro-choice President and Dr. Tiller’s assassination.

Rachel Maddow (MSNBC) will broadcast from Wichita on Monday. She is repeatedly asking, “What kind of nation do you want to live in?” Do we want to live in a nation that tolerates domestic terrorism and by force and prevents doctors from providing a constitutionally protected service that is vitally needed by women?

A survey released yesterday by the National Domestic Violence Hotline and the Family Violence Prevention Fund revealed that one in four women who agreed to answer questions after calling the hotline had experienced “reproductive coercion.” The Family Violence Prevention Fund defines “reproductive coercion” as “threats or acts of violence against a reproductive health or reproductive decision making.”

The women in the survey indicated that their partner had pressured them not to take birth control, sabotaged their method of contraception, or forced them to engage in unprotected sex. The study was based the responses of 3,169 women between the ages of 13 and 55 who called the hotline between August and September 2010.

Esta Soler, president of the Family Violence Prevention Fund, clarified, “Birth control sabotage is a serious form of control that leads to unintended pregnancy and sexual transmitted infections. While there is a cultural assumption that some women use pregnancy as a way to trap their partner in a relationship, this survey shows that men who are abusive will sabotage their partner’s birth control and pressure them to become pregnant as a way to trap or control their partner.”

On Monday, a subcommittee of the Iowa House Human Resources Committee passed an extreme anti-abortion bill (HF 153), introduced by Representative Kim Pearson (R-Pleasant Hill), that would ban abortions in Iowa even in cases of rape and incest. If passed, the bill, which defines life as beginning at conception would reverse Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion, in the state of Iowa.

Representative Beth Wessel-Kroeschell (D-Ames) criticized the bill stating, “I believe contraception would be illegal under this bill. There are consequences when we pass legislation.”

The bill will now go to the Iowa House Human Resources Committee for a vote. The Committee is also currently considering a bill that would restrict late abortions; however the bill has not received enough votes to move to the House for a vote.

A press conference was held this morning to announce a lawsuit filed by attorney Susan Burke 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.

Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority Foundation, Anuradha Bhagwati, Executive Director of Service Women’s Action Network and a former Captain in the Marines, and Keith Rohman, President of Public Interest Investigators, spoke in support of the survivors and were joined by three of the plaintiffs in the case.

Smeal explained that 95 percent of rapes and assaults are committed by serial rapists and repeat offenders and that the military system of inadequately dealing with these crimes leads only to more crime. It must be changed so that perpetrators are punished, not promoted. Smeal asserted, “There are no winners here. This lawsuit is necessary because all else has failed and it is necessary to change this pattern. We will prevail because there is no question that this injures the victims, their families, the military, and all of us. It will take time but we will and must prevail.”

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 Jane Harman (D-CA) have pressed the military to address sexualized violence, working on task forces and proposing legislation.

Bhagwati stated, “It is time to finally acknowledge that the military judicial system is broken when it comes to case of rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment, and that an alternative system must be created to guarantee accountability and justice for these crimes. American youth should not sacrifice their right to bodily integrity when they step forward to serve our nation. They bravely and honorably volunteer to wear the uniform with the understanding that they may make the ultimate sacrifice. That is enough to ask of them.”

In South Dakota, an extreme anti-abortion bill (HR 1171) that would alter the definition of “justifiable homicide” to include killings aimed to prevent harm to an unborn child passed out of the state’s House Judiciary Committee by a vote of nine to three. Vicki Saporta, the president of the National Abortion Federation, told Mother Jones, “The bill in South Dakota is an invitation to murder abortion providers.”

Following the bill’s passage in committee, the language was amended and now reads, “the use of force by a pregnant woman for the protection of her unborn child is an affirmative defense to prosecutions for certain crimes.” Kristin Aschenbrenner, a lobbyist for the South Dakota Advocacy Network for Women, clarified, “They always intended this to be a fetal personhood bill, they just tried to cloak it as a self-defense bill. They’re still trying to cloak it, but they amended it right away making their intent clear.”

In the trial for the murder of abortion provider Dr. George Tiller, Judge Wilbert denied Scott Roeder the right to use a “justifiable homicide” defense. The Feminist Majority Foundation conducts the National Clinic Access Project (NCAP) which is the oldest and largest national clinic defense project in the nation. NCAP’s team of experts has been working diligently to stop anti-abortion attacks against abortion providers who works to save women’s lives and health.

Today President Obama released his 2012 Budget, which poses a direct contrast to the massive cuts to programs that benefit women and girls proposed by House Republican in the Continuing Resolution (CR) for funding FY 2011. The proposed budget would decrease funding for the Department of Defense by $78 billion over the next five years, a striking contrast to the House Republican’s proposed increase of $8.1 billion for FY 2011.

Unlike the Republican’s proposal to eliminate the Title X domestic family planning program, President Obama’s budget allocates $327 for Title X Family Planning Programs, an $11 million increase from 2010 enacted funding. In addition, Obama’s 2012 budget would support 9.6 million women in the Women Infant Child (WIC) program and would benefit family caregivers, the majority of whom are women, by including $96 million for the Administration’s Caregiver Initiative.

Moreover, the President’s budget proposes $777 million to support victims of violence, including domestic abuse and sexual assault, $135 million to support battered women’s shelters, and $4.5 million for the National Domestic Violence Hotline. The 2012 Budget also proposes $23 million for a State Paid Leave Fund within the Department of Labor that will “provide competitive grants to help states that choose to launch paid-leave programs cover their start up costs.”

President’s Obama budget proposes $350 to establish the Early Learning Challenge Fund, administered by the Department of Education, and includes $8.1 for Head Start and Early Head Start, while the Republicans proposed a $2.27 billion cut from the President’s 2011 request.

Reverend Martin P. O’Loghlen, a priest accused in 1999 of having a sexual relationship with a teenage girl, has recently been removed from his parish in Los Angeles. The vicar of clergy, Msgr. Michael Myers, also announced his resignation.

After having been contacted multiple times by Reverend O’Loghlen, Julie Malcolm filed a lawsuit against the priest and his religious order, the Congregation of Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and received a settlement of $100,000. Nevertheless, despite its knowledge of Reverend O’Loghlen’s sexual addiction and the abuse, the Los Angeles archdiocese did not remove O’Loghlen and allowed him served on a sexual abuse advisory board of the archdiocese.

Cardinal Mahony told the California Catholic Daily, “The failure to fully check records before granting priestly faculties is a violation of archdiocesan policy. We owe it to victims and to all our faithful to make absolutely certain that all of our child protection policies and procedures are scrupulously followed.” Four years ago the Los Angeles archdiocese paid $660 million in a settlement to 508 people claiming to have been sexually abused by priests as children.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced yesterday that it would allow nursing mothers to receive a tax break for pumps and other breastfeeding supplies. Nursing mothers can now use their pretax dollars from flexible spending accounts to pay for these items. Women without flexible spending accounts can deduct breastfeeding costs if such expenses are more than 7.5 percent of their adjusted gross income.

This announcement reverses the IRS’s ruling in October stating that breast pumps and other breastfeeding supplies are not subject to the tax breaks offered for other medical expenses, such as acne medications and denture adhesives.

Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) stated, “This is good news for nursing moms, and a welcome recognition of scientific fact by the IRS: breastfeeding has significant health benefits – it helps prevent disease, and is good for moms and for babies. Anything we can do to encourage healthy choices is a good thing – and this ruling definitely qualifies!”

Breastfeeding advocates and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) have emphasized the preventative health benefits of breastfeeding, backed by recent research. According to a study published in April, breastfeeding will prevent more than 900 infant deaths each year and will save an additional $13 billion in health care costs. Many mothers also receive health benefits from breast feeding.

Representative Hal Rogers (R-KY), Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, announced a list of 70 spending cuts to be included in the FY 2011 Continuing Resolution bill, including a $327 million cut in family planning funds. In 2010, $317 million in federal funding was allocated to family planning programs. Cecile Richards, President of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, explained that the Continuing Resolution would eliminate the Title X family planning program, which gives millions of women access to primary and preventive health care, including cancer screenings, and STI testing and treatment.

Richards stated, “Under the guise of cutting the budget, the House leadership is launching an all-out assault on women’s health. The simple fact is, family planning programs like Title X save money. For every public dollar invested in family planning, taxpayers save nearly $4.”

The total amount of the spending cuts in the bill will exceed $74 billion. The bill also includes a proposed $210 million cut in maternal and child health block grants.

The Raleigh school board recently decided to end its diversity policy in favor of establishing neighborhood schools, prompting much criticism and protest. The North Carolina NAACP, accusing the school board of re-segregation, filed a civil rights complaint.

Reverand Dr. William J. Barber, NC NAACP State President, stated, “The segregation of schools by socioeconomic status inevitably undermines our goal of high-quality experienced teachers for all students. By reducing the interaction between working-class Blacks and Whites, the re-segregation of schools stands to curtail the progress made by these groups to band together and focus on commonalities which affect all North Carolinians.”

On February 27, the North Carolina chapter of the NAACP will hold the Fourth Annual “Historic Thousands on Jones Street” People’s Assembly, which will focus on ending the re-segregation of Raleigh’s public schools.

US Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Patty Murray (D-WA), Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY), Al Franken (D-MN), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) held a press conference yesterday to speak out against two extreme anti-women’s rights measures introduced by House Republicans to restrict women’s access to health care and reproductive health services.

The House Judiciary Committee’s Constitution Subcommittee held a hearing yesterday on the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act” (HR 3), introduced by Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ), Congressional Pro-Life Caucus Co-Chair with the support of House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA). Today the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health will hold a hearing on the “Protect Life Act” (HR 358), sponsored by Representative Joe Pitts (R-PA).

Senator Boxer stated, “We are sending a clear message to House Republicans that their agenda on women’s health is extreme, it breaks faith with a decades-long bipartisan compromise and it risks the health and lives of women. It also punishes women and businesses with a tax hike if they wish to keep or buy insurance that covers a full range of reproductive health care. We want the women and families of America to know that we will continue to defend women’s health and, with a bipartisan effort, we will stop an agenda that would do them harm.”

HR 3, the “No Tax Payer for Abortion Act,” is misleading and dangerous. It goes way beyond the Hyde Amendment, which has prohibited federal funding of abortion since 1976. If passed, the bill would permanently ban women in the military from obtaining an abortion in a military hospital overseas, even if they pay for it with their own (not federal) money. Taxes will be increased for individuals and small businesses whose private health insurance plans include abortion coverage. Federal workers who pay their own insurance premiums out of pocket would be prohibited from having abortion coverage in their insurance. HR 3 would take the premium assistance promised by health reform away from people who choose a private insurance plan with abortion coverage.

HR 358, the “Protect Life Act,” would “prohibit federal funds from being used to cover any part of the costs of any health plan that includes coverage of abortion services” under the Affordable Care Act.

Reproductive Rights groups, including the Feminist Majority Foundation, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the National Partnership for Women and Families, NARAL Pro-Choice America, and the National Abortion Rights League oppose HR 3 and HR 358, which would place extreme limitations on women’s access to reproductive health services.

A joint program between the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported that over 6,000 communities in Ethiopia, Egypt, Kenya, Senegal, Burkina Faso, the Gambia, Guinea and Somalia have abandoned the practice of female genital mutilation/ cutting (FGM/C).

Nafissatou Diop, coordinator of the UNFPA-UNICEF program, stated, “We are working in 12 out of 17 priority African countries and have seen real results…In Ethiopia, the prevalence rate has fallen from 80 percent to 74 percent, in Kenya from 32 percent to 27 percent, and in Egypt from 97 percent to 91 percent.”

FGM is the partial or total removal of external genitalia. The practice both increases the risk of HIV transmission and increases infant and maternal mortality rates. In many cases, FGM decreases women’s sexual satisfaction. Approximately 3 million young women annually are forced to undergo FGM as a form of birth control and as initiation into womanhood. FGM is practiced as a rite of passage in 28 African countries.

Representative Bobby Franklin (R-Marietta) introduced a bill that would change the language of state criminal codes to refer to those who file charges for rape, stalking, and domestic violence as accusers, not victims, until there has been a conviction. Carolyn Fiddler, communications director for the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, explained recent outrage regarding the bill, “Burglary victims are still victims. Assault victims are still victims. Fraud victims are still victims. But if you have the misfortune to suffer a rape, or if you are beaten by a domestic partner, or if you are stalked, Rep. Franklin doesn’t think you have been victimized.”

Representative Franklin’s bill is the second piece of rape-related Republican legislation to provoke heavy criticism this month. Following an outcry from women’s rights groups and others last week, House Republicans removed the word “forcible” to describe the rape exception in H.R. 3, an anti-abortion bill introduced by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Congressional Pro-Life Caucus Co-Chair, with the support of House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA).

HR 3, which purports to prohibit taxpayer funding of abortions and ensure that the healthcare reform law does not cover the cost of abortions, had provided for an exception only when the woman’s life is endangered, in cases of “forcible” rape, or in cases of incest if the woman was a minor. The exemption in the bill will now cover all forms of rape.

A recently released study from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) revealed that in 2009 the US teen birth rate reached the lowest level ever recorded. Although the decline in the teen birth rate had stalled from 2005 to 2007, the study indicates that declining trend has resumed. The study supports the government’s preliminary report on teenage pregnancy released in December.

Between 2007 and 2009, the teen birth rate decreased 8 percent to 39.1 births per 1,000 teens between the ages of 15 and 19. For teens 18-19 years old, the birth rate fell in 45 states and decreased overall six percent, which represents the greatest decline in one year since 1972.The birth rate has also decreased for teens younger than 15 years old.

The researchers noted declines in the birth rate for teens across racial and ethnic groups. In 2009, the rate of births to Hispanic teens reached an all-time low in the two decades that data has been recorded for the group. Although the reason for the drop in the rate of teenage pregnancies remains unclear, some suggest that this might be a result of the recession.