This Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Texas abortion providers again in the on-going legal battle over the state’s controversial six-week ban, S.B. 8. This week’s decision was made regarding the issue of sending the case back to the original trial judge, an attempt by abortion advocates to move their challenge to the law […]
Afghan Women Risk their Lives to Protest Taliban’s Brutality and Harsh Restrictions
Afghan women activists gathered in front of Kabul University this past Sunday, January 16, demanding their rights and justice over the fatal shooting of Zainab Abdullahi at a Taliban checkpoint, the disappearance of Herat women’s prison manager Alia Azizi, as well as the alleged torture of women protesters in Mazar-e-Sharif, the fourth largest city in Afghanistan. […]
New Year’s Eve Fire at Knoxville Planned Parenthood Ruled Arson
The fire that destroyed a Knoxville Planned Parenthood clinic on New Year’s Eve was ruled as “intentionally set” by the Knoxville Fire Department yesterday. According to the department, they were assisted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) in conducting their investigation and have “determined the fire to have been purposely set by an […]
Attorneys General of Virginia, Illinois, and Nevada Fight to Have Recognition of ERA Recognized
On Monday, January 3rd, Attorneys General Mark Herring of Virginia, Klane Raoul of Illinois, and Aaron Ford of Nevada filed their legal brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District Of Columbia Circuit demanding the federal District Court decision to deny the states standing be reversed and that the ratification of Equal Rights Amendment […]
Blinken Appoints Two Leaders for Afghan Women, Girls and Human Rights
Last week (December 29), U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken appointed Rina Amiri as the Special Envoy for Afghan Women, Girls and Human Rights and Stephanie Foster as the new Senior Advisor for Women and Girls within the State Department’s Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts (CARE) team. Both women have years of experience working for […]
Women Protest in Kabul for Food, Work and Equality
Dozens of brave Afghan women in Kabul staged a rally against the spread of poverty today calling for food, work, equality and full participation in all social, economic, and political spheres. The women marched through Kabul holding banners that demanded women’s political participation and release of Afghanistan’s frozen assets by the international community. “We are […]
Supreme Court Delivers Another Blow Against Abortion Rights
Last Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to block a clearly unconstitutional abortion ban in Texas, leaving in place S.B. 8, which bans most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. The Court’s ruling substantially narrows options to challenge the law in federal court, and there is no fast option for a Texas Supreme Court ruling […]
Amnesty International Calls for International Aid to Immediately Help Afghan Women and Girls
New research conducted by Amnesty International reveals that “women and girl survivors of gender-based violence have essentially been abandoned in Afghanistan. Their network of support has been dismantled, and their places of refuge have all but disappeared,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General. In interviews by the Amnesty International, 26 survivors and service providers […]
The Supreme Court Must Not Reward Anti-Abortion Violence
by Christian F. Nunes and Eleanor Smeal Political violence as a tool for achieving political goals is on the rise, particularly when it comes to abortion. We’ve seen this before with S.B. 8 in Texas, a law that codifies vigilante anti-abortion extremism, and we’re seeing it again with the Mississippi abortion ban case, Dobbs v. Jackson […]
White Supremacists in Charlottesville Rally Found Liable
On Tuesday, a federal jury in Charlottesville, VA found that more than a dozen white supremacists “conspired to intimidate, harass, or commit acts of violence during 2017’s deadly Unite the Right rally.” The jury decided that these men, along with the white supremacist groups to which they belong, owe $26 million in damages. The jurors […]
Afghan Women Judges Targeted by Taliban
Afghan women judges who presided over abuse cases are being threatened by the Taliban. Currently, their lives and the lives of their families are in danger, as members of the Taliban are tracking down and killing women justices for their commitment to gaining justice for women survivors. There are currently more than 200 women judges […]
Feminist Victory: House Passes Build Back Better Act Today
In a historic victory for feminist policies, the Build Back Better Act passed the House of Representatives Friday morning by a vote of 220-213. The Act will invest billions in helping women, families, and the environment. The law was able to be passed thanks to the strong leadership of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, as well as […]
Attacks on Shia Minorities Increase in Afghanistan
The Taliban intelligence directorate asked school teachers in the Herat province to fill out a form to specify their religious identity, as well as their home address, duty station, and contact information last week. This religious identification requirement caused panic among the Shia minorities living in the Herat province, some of whom strongly opposed the […]
Maloney and Other Members of Congress Introduce Access to Birth Control Act
On Wednesday, November 17, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, Rep. Robin Kelly, and Rep Katie Porter in the House and Sen. Cory Booker and Sen. Patty Murray in the Senate introduced the Access to Birth Control Act to ensure that customers attempting to access birth control at pharmacies cannot be turned away. According to Rewire News, “thanks […]
New Poll Shows Strong Majority of Americans Support Upholding Roe v. Wade
A new Washington Post-ABC News poll found that Americans, by a large majority, think that the Supreme Court should uphold Roe v. Wade, and, by a similar margin, oppose SB8, the Texas abortion ban that was implemented in September. According to the poll, 60 percent of Americans say that Roe should be upheld, and 75 […]
Texas’s Six-Week Ban Has Been In Effect for Over Two Months. Is There an End in Sight?
by Roxy Szal for Ms. magazine With a lack of Supreme Court action to block the most restrictive abortion ban in history, Texas abortion advocates are looking to a district court for relief. On Wednesday, a state district judge heard arguments from abortion providers and advocates to block enforcement of Texas Senate Bill 8, the most […]
Congress Passes Infrastructure Bill, Biden to Sign Next Week
On Monday, November 15th, President Biden will sign the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the long-awaited bipartisan infrastructure bill, into law. Attending the ceremony will be members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, governors and mayors, and labor union and business leaders. The Senate passed the bill in August, and the House passed […]
Afghan Women’s Rights Activists Murdered
Last week, bodies of four Afghan women’s activists were discovered in Mazar-i-Sharif, northern Afghanistan. One of the victims was identified as Frozan Safi, a 30-year-old activist and private university economics lecturer. According to Safi’s family, she left her home on October 27 after she received an anonymous call asking her to collect her documents because […]
Starving Afghan Families Forced to Sell Their Daughters for Food
A recent CNN video features Afghan families who are unable to afford food at the displacement camps selling their daughters to old men in order to survive. The video shows a nine-year-old, Parwana, who was sold to a man as old as 70, for 200,000 Afghanis, approximately $2,200 on October 22. The incidents took place […]
Ohio Lawmakers Introduce Total Abortion Ban
On Wednesday, lawmakers in Ohio introduced a bill banning all abortions in the state. The bill has a similar structure as Texas’s SB8, deputizing private citizens to sue abortion providers and anyone who helps someone access abortion care. Those lawsuits can reach $10,000 or more. Much like in Texas’s law, the bill is designed to […]