Author: Feminist Majority Foundation Blog

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.

Yesterday Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA) reintroduced the Repealing Ineffective and Incomplete Abstinence-Only Program Funding Act, which would transfer all funding for Title V abstinence-only program to the Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP). The would strike a provision of the Social Security Act that has enabled funding for abstinence-only programs since 1996 and would redistribute $50 million annually to sex education programs through the PREP program, which funds comprehensive, evidence-based programs that include information not only on abstinence, but also on contraceptives and sexually transmitted infections.

Monica Rodriguez, president and CEO of the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SEICUS), stated, “The focus of the government this year needs to be on increasing the health and well-being of our nation’s young people by smartly investing in health education programs that work and eliminating wasteful programs that don’t serve any purpose but to line the pockets of special interests. Eliminating the failed and ineffective Title V abstinence-only programs so we can concentrate on bringing real, comprehensive sexuality education to young people is a good step in achieving these goals.”

Over the past 15 years, Congress has allocated more than $1.5 billion in federal funds to absence-only programs. Title V abstinence funding originally expired in June 2009, but was reinstated by an amendment to the 2010 Affordable Care Act.

Planned Parenthood announced that it would file a lawsuit against South Dakota if Governor Dennis Daugaard (R) signs an anti-abortion bill that would impose a 72 hour waiting period on women seeking abortions. The bill would also require women to receive counseling at a “pregnancy help center” or crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) prior to obtaining an abortion. These centers are typically run by anti-abortion volunteers who are not licensed medical professionals and may prevent women from receiving neutral and comprehensive medical advice.

Sarah Stoesz, CEO of Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota described the bill as, “an egregious violation of the Constitution.” Current South Dakota law requires that women wait for 24 hours before having an abortion. Under South Dakota law, Women seeking abortions in the state must also be given an opportunity to view a sonogram.

Governor Daugaard has until March 24 to sign the bill. His spokesman, Joe Kafka, indicated that the the Governor will likely sign the bill, despite the possibility of a lawsuit.

A Virginia law requiring clinics that perform first trimester abortions to meet Board of Health regulations on hospitals will become effective just as Republican Governor Bob McDonnell’s six appointees assume positions on the 15 member board. After Governor McDonnell appoints the two additional members in the coming months, he will have appointed eight total members. At that time, his appointees will make up a majority on the panel and give the anti-abortion governor influence over abortion clinic regulations.

The regulations on hospitals are far more stringent those on physician’s offices and could cause as many as 17 of the state’s 21 abortion clinics 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 imposes unnecessary and onerous regulations on abortion providers and restricts women’s access to reproductive health services.

In Maryland, thousands of teachers and public workers gathered last night at the state Capitol in Annapolis to protest Governor Martin O’Malley’s (D) budget plan, which propose to freeze educational funding and raised employee pension contributions. The protestors chanted, “keep the promise” and “hands off our pensions.”

At the conclusion of the rally, Governor O’Malley spoke to the crowd “I don’t like this budget either, but I wanted to come here and say this: Our state is not like other states. We are a great state…because our public employees do a good job every single day. You will not find in Maryland the sort of Midwestern repression that goes on in places like Wisconsin…Ohio, that are doing away with collective bargaining.”

Earlier this month, approximately 1,500 demonstrators gathered at City Hall in Providence, Rhode Island to protest the dismissal of Providence’s entire teaching force. Due to a Rhode Island law, which requires that teachers receive notification about potential layoffs or terminations by March 1, the school board sent termination notices to all of Providence’s 1,926 teachers, though many will be rehired.

On Friday, the Maryland House of Delegates referred the state’s same sex marriage bill back to committee. Since the Maryland General Assembly will end its session in early April, the bill will not be up for debate again until January 2012 at the earliest. Governor Martin O’Malley (D) expressed his disappointment about the stalled bill to the Washington Post, “I would have hoped that we could have resolved this issue and then let the people decide.”

Equality Maryland said its press statement, “Our setback today only strengthens our determination to redouble our efforts to ensure that our voices are heard and our rights are protected. We know our cause is just. We know that a growing majority of Marylanders believe in the same values of fairness and equality.”

The Maryland House of Delegates Judiciary Committee passed the bill by a vote of 12-10 in early March. The Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act (SB 116), a same-sex marriage bill, also passed the state Senate on February 24 by a vote of 25 to 21.

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 benefits of marriage.

In a vote of 14 to 3, the New Hampshire House Health, Human Services, and Elderly Affairs Committee voted late last week to hold a bill that would prevent the state’s Department of Health and Human Services from establishing a contract with any organization that provides abortion services, such as Planned Parenthood until. The bill will be held until the next legislative session.

Opponents of the bill noted the many valuable services that Planned Parenthood provides to low income women in New Hampshire, including contraception, cancer screenings, and testing and treatment for STIs, including HIV.

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 to approximately 2.5 million women per year.

In an unusual maneuver, the Georgia Senate Rules Committee met to vote on SB 209, which would ban women from getting abortion in Georgia after 20 weeks, but without any discussion, replaced that bill with another bill that would prohibit women from getting an abortion in any medical facility other than a hospital.

Pro-choice supporters are descending on the Capitol to protest. This procedure moved a bill forward without adequate notice or hearings. This bill would effectively make abortion inaccessible in Georgia.

Janelle Yamarick, community services director at the Feminist Women’s Health Center of DeKalb County, GA, pointed out that 95 percent of abortions are performed in private doctors’ offices, licensed surgical centers, and clinics. Yamarick clarified, “To put it in a nutshell abortions would be legal in Georgia, you just couldn’t get one.”

The Committee will reconvene this morning to vote on the bill. If the Committee votes for the bill, it must vote again next week in order for the bill to go to the Georgia Senate floor for a vote.

The Wisconsin Assembly voted 53-42, with only four Republicans voting against the bill, in favor of Republican Governor Walker’s extreme anti-union bill that proposes take away the right of unions to collectively bargain for benefits, hours, and working conditions. Governor Walker told the Associated Press that he would sign the anti-union bill, “as quickly as I legally can.”

Yesterday Wisconsin Republican senators broke Senate rules and Wisconsin law and voted in conference committee yesterday 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 with them, 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.

Over the past three weeks, tens of thousands of protestors have been gathering daily in Madison, WI to protest the anti-union bill. A significant number of protestors have also been sleeping in the Capitol Rotunda.

Breaking Senate rules and Wisconsin law, Wisconsin Republican senators voted in conference committee yesterday 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 with them, 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. The Republican senators violated the Wisconsin Open Public Meetings Law requiring that 24 hours’ notice be given prior to a meeting.

After the Republican Senate vote, about 7,000 protestors peacefully descended on the Wisconsin Capitol carrying drums and horns and chanting. Over the past three weeks, tens of thousands of protestors have been gathering daily in Madison, WI to protest the anti-union bill. A significant number of protestors have also been sleeping in the Capitol Rotunda and are vowing to stay until the issue is resolved.

Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority Foundation, stated, “The feminist movement stands firmly with the public workers. This attack on public workers, many of whom are women who can hardly make ends meet while once again millionaires are given tax breaks, must stop.”

Phil Neuenfeldt, president of the Wisconsin AFL-CIO called the stand-alone union busting a nuclear option, and Democrats are vowing to fight back. Governor Walker’s extreme anti-union bill proposes to reduce state workers’ salaries and take away the right of unions to collectively bargain for benefits, hours, and working conditions. The bill would cut public workers’ wages between six and eight percent.

Governor Walker, endorsed by Wisconsin Right to Life, considers himself 100 percent pro-life and opposes abortion for all reasons, even in the cases of rape, incest, and when the woman’s life is endangered. Walker also opposes stem cell research and is in favor of cuts to family planning funding.

The Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group, convened by Republican House Speaker John Boehner (OH) voted 3-2 yesterday to authorize the House to defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in court. Both Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) voted against the proposal. In February, Attorney General Eric Holder announced the Obama administration will no longer defend DOMA in court on the grounds that it considers the law violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution.

Joe Solmoese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, stated, “Apparently, the Republicans’ jobs plan is a full employment project for right-wing lawyers bent on defending discrimination. With today’s vote, Speaker Boehner has made clear that an anti-equality agenda trumps helping American families in tough economic times, including loving and committed couples who are legally married in their states.”

The federal law banning same-sex marriage nevertheless remains in place. 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 many of the benefits of marriage.

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. DOMA was passed in 1996.