Migration Category: news-10001-15000-national

Asha Osman Aqiil, Somalia’s new minister for women and family affairs, was abducted by Islamist rebels late Wednesday night, the day after her appointment was announced. The abduction occurred while Aqiil was on her way to her first cabinet meeting. She was travelling in an area controlled by al Shabaab militants. Aqiil is the only woman in the new 18 member government.

Al Shabaab has a history of targeting government ministers. Last month, al Shabaab was accused of killing Interior Minister Abdi Shakur Sheikh Hassan in a suicide bomb attack. Sahra Maalin, a women’s rights activist described Aqiil’s abduction as a “collective punishment against Somali women and all those who believe in equality.”

Since the overthrow of Dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, Somalia has not had an effective central government. Additionally, earlier in the week, the UN declared that there is famine in two of Somalia’s regions under rebel control. According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation, thousands have died in Somalia over the past months because of the severe drought and famine. The abduction of Asha Osman Aqiil has heightened famine aid groups’ security fears as they plan to make food deliveries.

A new study has found that the method of abortion through telemedicine is just as effective and safe for patients as the face-to-face method. Telemedicine allows physicians to remotely counsel each patient and to supervise administration of the drug mifepristone as the nurse dispenses the medication.

The study is among the first reports on telemedicine and was conducted by Dr. Daniel Grossman at University of California-San Francisco at Planned Parenthood clinics throughout Iowa. The study found that 94% of the women who chose telemedicine report being “very satisfied” with the procedure. Researchers found that women who received counseling through telemedicine had no more complications than those with office visits.

In a country in which 88% of counties have no abortion provider, telemedicine abortions have become an increasingly popular method, affording the option of abortion in many areas in which that choice would otherwise not be available.

Five states have banned telemedicine abortions – Arizona, Kansas, Nebraska, Tennessee, and North Dakota, though yesterday in North Dakota, a state with only one abortion clinic, a judge put a temporary restraining order on the statewide ban. Representative Steve King (R-IA) is attempting to ban the procedure in Iowa, attaching it to an agricultural bill that passed the Iowa House last month.

Democrat Dave Hansen won in the first of nine recall elections in Wisconsin this week, easily defending his seat in the state Senate from a Republican challenger. Hansen garnered 66 percent of the vote to defeat David Vanderleest.

Hansen was one of three Democrats facing a recall effort after fleeing the state for nearly a month earlier this year to delay a vote on a controversial anti-union bill backed by GOP Governor Scott Walker. Two other Democrats and six Republicans are slated for recall votes next month. If Democrats win two more in the state senate, they will hold the majority.

“Obviously, we are preparing for what will be the largest get-out-of-the-vote operation since Barack Obama was elected,” said Mike Tate, chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. “We live in a state where both bases are very, very engaged and energized.”

The House Foreign Relations Committee voted Thursday to reinstate and expand a ban on funding for family planning programs in developing countries that counsel or provide information to women or advocate on a full range of options, including abortion. The ban would be an expansion of the policy, eliminating all funding for family planning programs that discuss abortion without making any exceptions for certain programs such as funds for HIV/AIDS.

Commonly referred to as the Global Gag Rule, President Ronald Reagan implemented it through an executive order; President Clinton rescinded the executive order; President George W. Bush reinstated the executive order; and President Obama rescinded it.

On the second day of a marathon session, Ranking Democrat Howard Berman (CA) proposed an amendment to the State Department and foreign operations authorization bill that would take out the restrictive language that bans such funding. Berman argued that the policy “prevents poor women and families around the world from gaining access to essential information and health care services.” The Berman amendment failed by a 17 to 25 vote, which was mostly along party lines – all but one Democrat, Representative Ben Chandler (KY), voted for the Berman amendment.

Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation of Cardinal Justin Rigali, archbishop of the Philadelphia diocese, which has been the center of a major sex abuse scandal. Rigali handed in his resignation on his 75th as is customary in the Catholic Church. It is not clear whether the abuse allegations played a role in Pope Benedict XVI’s decision on Tuesday to accept the resignation.

In February, a grand jury found evidence the archdiocese under Rigali had conspired to cover up sexual misconduct by as many as 37 priests. A month later, Rigali suspended 21 priests accused of sexually abusing minors.

Rigali “never appreciated what a disaster he was involved in,” said Terence McKiernan, president of BishopAccountability.org, an organization that documents cases of sexual abuse by priests throughout the United States. “Those grand jury reports have reframed Philadelphia in the first decade of the 21st century as the place where the sex-abuse crisis played out and in that, Rigali failed,” McKiernan said.

Rigali will be replaced by 66-year-old Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver, who has won some praise for his handling of priest sex abuse cases, but who has also won a reputation as a staunch conservative and opponent of abortion and gay marriage.

Yesterday, President Obama announced his support for the repeal of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). DOMA defines marriage as between one man and one woman and denies federal recognition of same-sex marriages, as well as the legal benefits attached to marriage, including Social Security survivors’ benefits, family and medical leave, and immigration rights.

Jay Carney, White House spokesman, said that President Obama was “proud to support the [repeal effort], which would take the DOMA off the books once and for all.” Carney said President Obama supports the appeal in order to “uphold the principle that the federal government should not deny gay and lesbian couples the same rights and legal protections as straight couples.”

Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee will conduct hearings that examine the Respect for Marriage Act , a proposed law that would repeal DOMA and “ensure respect for state regulation of marriage.” The Respect for Marriage Act would only apply to federal benefits and federal employees. The proposed law that is supported by the repeal effort requires federal government to treat same-sex married couples equally in federal programs and benefits as opposite-sex married couples. The legislation would not require states to legalize same-sex marriage or dictate the rights and responsibilities of marriage under state law.

In February , the Obama administration declared DOMA unconstitutional and said that the Justice Department would not defend it against any legal challenges, though the administration would continue to enforce the law until it was repealed. Currently, only 29 senators support the DOMA repeal bill.

House Bill 78, which will limit women’s access to late-term abortions in the state, has passed the state legislature and will now go to Ohio Governor John Kasich (R), who is likely to sign the bill. House Bill 78 will restrict abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy unless a doctor determines the fetus is not viable. The bill does not include an exception when the health or life of the woman is at risk. The bill passed the Republican-controlled Senate with a 27-7 vote.

If Governor Kasich signs the bill, Ohio will join 39 other states with late-term abortion limits, including seven states that passed similar legislation: Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Idaho, Indiana, Missouri, and Alabama. In the upcoming weeks, Kasich will also decide whether to pass another abortion bill that would restrict abortions after the detection of the fetal heartbeat into law. Since January, Ohio has taken up eight other abortion related bills.

Senator Nina Turner (D-OH) stated that the bill “denies a woman her individual right, her civil rights and her human rights to have control over her body.” Executive Director of Right to Life Mike Gonidakis stated that he believes the bill will impact more than 600 abortions per year.

The rate of Cesarean sections in the US is rising quickly and is prompting concern among health professionals. In 2009, 34 percent of pregnancies ended in a c-section, compared to 27 percent in 2002, a study by the independent health care ratings organization Healthgrade found.

The rise is “quite dramatic,” said Dr. Alan Fleischman, medical director of the March of Dimes, which promotes health for mothers and babies. “Cesarean section should be done at the right time and for the right reason,” Fleischman said. “Some cesarean sections are being done too early and not for the right reason. Convenience for the woman or her doctor isn’t the right reason.”

Besides the ease of planning a birth time, the report found more c-sections were being performed because women were not aware of the risks associated with the procedure and because doctors feared malpractice suits. Other factors included increasing rates of diabetes and obesity among pregnant women, as well as women’s tendency to give birth later in life.

According to an NIH press release, Dr. F. Gary Cunningham, chair of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas stated, “Declining VBAC rates and increasing cesarean delivery rates over the last 15 years would seem to indicate that planned repeat cesarean delivery is preferable to a trial of labor. But the currently available evidence suggests a very different picture: a trial of labor is worth considering and may be preferable for many women.”

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommendations released today for well-woman care are historic and the result of years of advocacy and persistent work of the women’s health movement, the improved status of women, and the leadership of the Obama Administration. These guidelines, if adopted by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), will increase vitally needed and often lifesaving preventive services for women.

Today’s IOM recommendations, if adopted, would require private insurers to cover an annual well-woman visit and a variety of specific health screenings and counseling, such as for domestic and interpersonal violence, gestational diabetes, cervical cancer (an HPV DNA screening), HIV and STIs, as well as all FDA-approved contraceptives, sterilization procedures, breastfeeding support, lactation services, and supplies. The IOM was tasked with advising HHS on the types of preventive care services that insurers will be required to cover, without a co-pay, under their health care plans.

Birth control and other women’s health services will not be free but will be fully covered for all women who have health insurance, without any additional charges or co-pays. This rule will apply to new insurance policies that are issued after the expiration of a one year waiting period, which starts after HHS adoption of the recommendations, and to all plans by 2018.

Feminist Majority Foundation urges HHS to promptly adopt and begin implementation of these recommendations, which will dramatically increase women’s access to preventive health care, including family planning services, improving the health and lives of women in every state. For women, the IOM recommendations are a game-changer.

Ohio state Representative Robert Mecklenborg announced Sunday that he is resigning after news of a drunk driving charge became public. Rep. Mechlenborg, chairman of the House Government and Elections Committee and sponsor of a controversial bill requiring voters to show a valid photo ID to register, was arrested in Indiana last April for allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol and with an expired driver’s license. According to media reports, he was accompanied in his car by a young woman and was found with Viagra in his system. His announcement of resignation came just days after Republican House speaker William Batchelder publicly asked him to leave office.

Information regarding the arrest was not made public at the time, but surfaced late last month, just one day after Mecklenborg delivered an impassioned speech on the House floor in favor of House Bill 125, which would ban abortions at the first detectable fetal heartbeat.

Mecklenborg sponsored a voter ID bill (HB 159) just days after the arrest and without a driver’s license of his own. The most restrictive state voter ID bill yet, it would require voters to show one of the following at the polls: Ohio state ID card, Ohio driver’s license, Military photo ID, or U.S. passport. According to American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, HB 159 could deny the right to vote to thousands of citizens who do not have the very limited acceptable forms of identification. They claim that it would disproportionately affect low-income, disabled, racial and ethnic minorities, college students, and the elderly. The bill has passed the House and awaits a vote in the Senate.

A Tea Party convention and straw poll scheduled for late September in Kansas has been called off amid sluggish enrollment and allegations of infighting. On the event’s website, Freedom Jamboree chair William Temple accused local groups of a “preoccupation with prospering their own organizations at the expense of the ‘grassroots’ movement as a whole” and said “the spirit intrinsic in 2009 has diminished nationwide, and some lethargy and weariness persists.”

The Kansas City event was expected to feature a straw poll and appearances by Republican presidential candidates Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum. Temple wrote that he hoped to draw at least 350 tea party groups. As of July 1, however, only 62 organizations had pledged to attend.

“If anyone in the our movement has a plan or direction that can unite the movement again, and reverse the nation’s headlong march toward the economic abyss, please take the reins!” Temple wrote on the website. “It appears the Tea Party horse is riderless, and riding off in all directions at once!”

The Freedom Jamboree is the second major Tea Party gathering to be canceled in as many years. Organizers blamed high temperatures and conflicts with summer vacation schedules when plans for a 2010 Las Vegas event fell apart.

On Thursday, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon (D-MO) said he will allow two bills that restrict late-term abortions to pass and become a law without his signature. House Bill 213 and Senate Bill 65 passed the general assembly with overwhelming majorities. Missouri had already banned abortions except to preserve the life or health of the woman, but the new law removes the general health or mental health exceptions. Under the new law, abortions are only allowed after 20 weeks to save the woman’s life or when continuing pregnancy risks substantial injury to the woman’s major bodily functions.

This law permits doctors to decide viability on a case by case basis. Doctors who violate the new law are subject to a fine of up to $50,000, loss of their medical license, and imprisonment.

Governor Nixon has said he supports abortion rights, though he has now allowed multiple abortion restrictions to pass without his signature or a veto. Other states, including Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Idaho, and Indiana have passed laws restricting late-term abortions.

Yesterday California Governor Jerry Brown (D) signed the Fair, Accurate, Inclusive, and Respectful (FAIR) Education Act into law, which will require that school curricula and textbooks include information about gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Americans. Governor Brown stated that the law “revises existing laws that prohibit discrimination in education and ensures that the important contributions of Americans from all backgrounds and walks of life are included in our history books.” The law will go into effect in January, although textbooks will not undergo revisions until 2015.

Roland Palencia, executive director of Equality California, “Today marks a monumental victory for the LGBT civil rights movement as the contributions of diverse LGBT community will no longer be erased from history. Thanks to the FAIR Education Act, California students, particularly LGBT youth, will find new hope and inspiration and experience a more welcoming learning environment that will embrace them.”

This is the first law on record requiring schools teach both about the contributions of LGBT Americans and those with disabilities.

On Tuesday, Democrats won all six of their primaries in Wisconsin’s recall elections after facing an unusual challenge from party-switching Republicans. The Republicans ran so-called “Fake Democrats” in order to force a primary, delaying the recall vote by a month and giving their real candidates more time to appeal to constituents. Five of the six primaries were won by women candidates.

“The voters of Wisconsin have rejected the Republicans’ dirty tricks, despite their best efforts to turn out voters in these primaries for fake candidates,” said state Democratic Party spokeswoman Gillian Morris.

The recall bids grew out of this spring’s bitter fight over an anti-union law backed by Republican Governor Scott Walker. Opponents of the law are targeting six Republican state senators who voted for it; the Republicans are trying to unseat three Democrats who fought against it. If Democrats gain three seats, they will win control of the Senate and greatly improve their chance of thwarting further Walker initiatives. The election will be held August 9.

A law designed to expose fake crisis pregnancy clinics has been put on hold in New York City. US District Judge William H. Pauley III on Wednesday imposed a preliminary injunction on the law, which would require facilities to tell patients whether they provide emergency contraception or abortion services and whether they have health professionals on site. In March, the New York City Council voted 39 to 9, with one abstention, to pass the bill, which was promptly signed into law by Mayor Michael Bloomberg (D).

The law’s backers vowed to appeal. “The judge got it wrong,” said City Council member Jessica S. Lappin, who sponsored the legislation. “This is an important measure to protect women from dangerous and deceptive practices, and we’re not going to give up. We’re going to keep fighting.”

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 prevent women from receiving neutral and comprehensive medical advice. These clinics are typically run by anti-abortion zealots who are not licensed medical professionals.

Bishop Leonard Blair of Toledo announced that priests, parochial school administrators, and parishes in the Catholic diocese may no longer hold fundraising events for the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Bishop Blair expressed his concerns that although the breast cancer awareness group does not currently fund embryonic stem-cell research, it might in the future.

Bishop Blair stated in his letter, “at the present the Komen Foundation does not fund cancer research that employs embryonic stem cells. However, their policy does not exclude that possibility. They are open to embryonic stem cell research, and may very well fund such research in the future. They are also contributors to Planned Parenthood.”

Executive Director Mary Westphal of the Northwestern Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Foundation stated that organization has never given money to Planned Parenthood and does not currently fund embryonic stem-cell research. She went on to say that she was “extremely disappointed” with Bishop Blair’s decision.

New Hampshire’s Executive Council, comprised of five Republicans, indicated that it will meet again to reconsider its previous decision to defund Planned Parenthood. On June 22, New Hampshire’s Executive Council voted 3-2 to block funding for Planned Parenthood clinics, cancelling the state’s contract the organization and denying Planned Parenthood $1.8 million in state funding. Additionally, Planned Parenthood can no longer distribute low-cost birth control or antibiotics to any of its uninsured patients because the clinics also provide privately funded abortions.

Without insurance, many women will not be able to afford the full cost of birth control or other prescriptions. This affects about 120 low-income women every day and 70 percent of Planned Parenthood’s patients. According to Jennifer Frizzell, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, Since the decision, Planned Parenthood clinics have had to turn away 20 to 30 patients per day who wanted to refill their birth control prescriptions.

This vote makes New Hampshire the eighth state to attempt to defund Planned Parenthood.

In a special election yesterday for California’s 36th Congressional district, Democrat Janice Hahn defeated Republican Craig Huey by 54.6 percent to 45.4 percent. Hahn, a Los Angeles city councilwoman, is a firm supporter of women’s reproductive rights, fair pay, and equal education. Hahn also supports preserving Social Security and promoting green technology and jobs. Representative Jane Harman (D-CA) previously resigned this seat earlier this year in order to head the Woodrow Wilson Center, a Washington think tank.

During her campaign, Hahn stated, “with the recent attacks on a woman’s right to choose by extremists in Congress, it’s clear that we need to send more pro-choice leaders to Washington. I will protect a woman’s right to choose and beat back any attempts to strip groups like Planned Parenthood of the funds they use to provide women’s reproductive health care to women who can’t afford it anywhere else.”

Hahn was endorsed by the Feminist Majority PAC, NARAL Pro-Choice America PAC, and EMILY’s List. Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILY’s List, stated, “Republican self-funder Craig Huey would add ranks to a party currently waging war on American women and families and attempting to end Medicare as we know it. Janice is the progressive leader that California families deserve.”

At the San Bernardino Valley College campus yesterday, seven undocumented students were arrested for unlawful assembly and blocking traffic while protesting immigration policies. In total, approximately 125 people from across California gathered in total, carrying signs and chanting.

Isaac Barrera, one of the arrested students stated, “we chose this campus because we keep hearing of cases where the campus police are working directly with [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] ICE in detaining and even deporting undocumented youth. We have had enough, our communities have been hiding for far too long and we need to show them they do not need to be afraid.”

One of the policies the students protested required certain counties to check the immigration status of people detained by the police and potentially deport them. Mohammad Abdollahi, co-founder of the Dream is Coming Project stated, “It’s not always for civil disobedience, but if you roll a stop sign (you can be deported). That’s what these students were fighting against, these policies that are criminalizing our communities.”

A Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report showed a large gap in outcomes between African American and white women in almost every aspect of reproductive health, including higher rates of preterm delivery, infant mortality, and maternal deaths among African American women. The report suggests that race is the strongest predictor of disparities in birth outcomes.

The report also found that unexpectedly the race gap in birth outcomes does not narrow with educational attainment or age; or in other words, unlike white women, African American women do not experience better reproductive health and birth outcomes with increased age or socioeconomic status. Arline Geronimus, a professor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health believes this is due the “cumulative impact of constantly dealing with disadvantages” a phenomenon she titled “weathering.” She suggests weathering may lead “birth outcomes for black women to deteriorate with maternal age.”

Susan Cohen, author of the report “Abortion and the Women of Color: The Bigger Picture” proposes that stressors and life events that are more common in low-income and minority women also lead to higher rates of abortion in African American women. According to the US government statistics collected by the CDC, African American women are five times more likely than white women across all income levels to seek an abortion.