Author: Feminist Majority Foundation Blog

Minnesota State Representative Tom Hackbarth (R), who has a zero rating from NARAL and a 100 percent rating from Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, was stopped by police after a Planned Parenthood security guard called the police because he noticed a man had parked his car in the Planned Parenthood parking lot and walked down a nearby alley carrying a gun in a hip holster. Although Hackworth, who has a concealed weapons permit, was not arrested, the police took possession of his revolver, citing his “stalking-like behavior” and borderline “harassment or terroristic threats” in their report. Hackbarth stated that he was unaware that he had parked at a Planned Parenthood facility and told police that he had been searching for a woman he met online because he believed that she was seeing another man. Police were not able to verify this story because he had neither a phone number nor an address for the woman. Minnesota House Speaker Kurt Zellers (R) announced that he was temporarily suspending Hackbarth’s leadership position in the Minnesota House until “the matter is settled.” Hackbarth was scheduled to become chairman of the House Environment and Natural Resources Committee in January.

Carol Johnson, Superintendent of Boston Schools, announced her decision late last week to reevaluate her earlier decision to establish public single-sex academies in Boston city schools. Johnson stated she wanted more time that she wanted to evaluate the data about single-sex education. Recent studies have debunked the myth that single-sex education will solve public education problems. Rather these studies, such as Delusions of Gender by Cordelia Fine, a PhD in neuroscience, and Brainstorm by Rebecca Jordan-Young, a sociomedical scientist, show that the evidence of different learning patterns of girls and boys are flawed. Moreover single-sex education is opposed because it is more costly and has many drawbacks, not the least of which, it discriminates on the basis of sex, which many people believe is a violation of Title IX, the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in education. The Feminsit Majority Foundation supports the repeal of Bush administration 2006 Title IX regulations, which make it easier to establish public single-sex classrooms and schools. Title IX permits single-sex education only when it can be shown that it affirmatively reduces sex discrimination in education.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is scheduled to vote on the International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA) tomorrow. Even though the content of IVAWA does not deal with abortion, this widely supported bill has been held up by anti-abortion politics. There is a possibility that anti-abortion Senators will introduce abortion amendments when the bill is voted on by the Committee tomorrow. IVAWA provides for the development of a comprehensive strategy to prevent violence against women and girls internationally including an emergency response to critical or widespread incidents of violence in situations of armed conflict. The Act also directs both the State and Defense Departments to incorporate training on prevention and response into the basic training of foreign military and judicial forces. Funding is authorized for nongovernmental organizations, multilateral institutions and foreign countries to implement strategies to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls with special efforts required to assist community-based and women’s organizations.

Pope Benedict XVI clarified today that his comment that condom use might be acceptable in certain circumstances was applicable to women as well as men. On Saturday, Pope Benedict indicated that when used to prevent diseases like AIDS, condoms “can be a first step in the direction of moralization, a first assumption of responsibility.” However, the example he gave was ironically a male prostitute. Pope Benedict stated that although he still opposes condoms as form of contraception, he acknowledged their importance in disease prevention for both men and women. The Pope remarked to Vatican Spokesman, Federico Lombardi, “It’s the first step of taking responsibility, of taking into consideration the risk of the life of another with whom you have a relationship. This is if you’re a woman, a man, or a transsexual. We’re at the same point.” Pope Benedict’s revised position on condoms might give impetus to the necessary reconsideration of PEPFAR’s bias for abstinence-only, be faithful, then condom programs in fighting AIDS. Pope Benedict’s recent comments differ from his earlier statements on condoms. For instance in March 2009, Pope Benedict claimed during his trip to Cameroon that condoms “increase the problem” of AIDS. While visiting the country, Pope Benedict reportedly said “You can’t overcome this problem of AIDS with just money. It helps, but if there is no soul, the money cannot help. You cannot overcome it just by distributing condoms. You will increase it.”

On Monday, the New Jersey Assembly voted in favor of allocating $5 million in funding to the state’s family planning clinics. The bill transfers $5 million from unused funds originally allocated to county prisons for housing state prisoners to family planning clinics and passed 44 to 25 in the House, with ten representatives not voting. The New Jersey Senate is expected to vote on the bill in early December. The measure restores some of funding cut from the state budget after Governor Chris Christie (R) vetoed a measure that allocated $7.5 million to the state’s 58 clinics in late September. Due to the lack of funding, multiple clinics have closed. Lawmakers also passed a bill that requires the state government to apply for further Medicaid funding from the federal government to provide family planning services to low-income women. Passing 45 to 25 with nine representatives abstaining, this bill will also be addressed in the Senate in December.

A survey by the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology revealed that one-third of the 1,200 doctors studied required that women seeking birth control undergo a pelvic exam, regardless of guidelines by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) which do not mandate a pelvic exam for women seeking contraception. In addition, 44 percent of doctors answered that they usually required a pelvic exam before writing a birth control perscription. The practice of requiring pelvic exams creates an additional obstacle for women seeking birth control and may prevent some from obtaining effective contraception. Although the pelvic exam, which screen for ovarian cysts, cancers, and sexually transmitted infections, is an important component of women’s healthcare, there is not a medical reason for the doctors to perform the exam prior to prescribing birth control. ACOG recommends that women have pap tests beginning at age 21 and every two years there after.

On Saturday, Pope Benedict XVI diverged from the Roman Catholic Church’s traditional stance against condoms and indicated to a German journalist that condom use might be acceptable in certain circumstances. Pope Benedict stated that although he still opposes condoms as form of contraception, he acknowledged their importance in disease prevention. The example he gave was ironically a male prostitute. Pope Benedict told the National Catholic Reporter that when used to prevent diseases like AIDS, condoms “can be a first step in the direction of moralization, a first assumption of responsibility, on the way toward recovering an awareness that not everything is allowed and that one cannot do whatever one wants.” Pope Benedict’s recent comments differ from his earlier statements on condoms. For instance in March 2009, Pope Benedict claimed during his trip to Cameroon that condoms “increase the problem” of AIDS. While visiting the country, Pope Benedict reportedly said “You can’t overcome this problem of AIDS with just money. It helps, but if there is no soul, the money cannot help. You cannot overcome it just by distributing condoms. You will increase it.”

A report on maternal mortality released in mid October by UN public health experts revealed the US ranks 41 out of the 171 countries studied and trails far behind other industrialized nations. The study cites women’s lack of guaranteed access to health care as the primary reason for the high mortality rates among pregnant women. The report also finds a racial disparity in terms of maternal mortality in the US, with black women four times more likely to die during or shortly after pregnancy than white women. The UN reports that “80 percent of maternal deaths are caused by hemorrhage, sepsis, unsafe abortions, obstructed labor, and hypertensive diseases of pregnancy,” but most of the deaths are preventable when the women have access to adequate health care services. The World Health Organization (WHO) announced in its September report that although maternal mortality rates have decreased by 34 percent since 1990, the decline in the rate of pregnancy-related deaths is not on track to meet the Millennium Development Goal target for 2015. The UN Millennium Development Goal target aims to reduce the number of maternal deaths by 75 percent between 1990 and 2015. However, the current rate of decline for the maternal mortality ratio is only 2.3 percent annually, according to a WHO press release.

Over 250 people stood in line to enter the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law Hearing on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Chair of the Subcommittee, Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) instructed an additional room to be opened to handle the overflow crowd. To emphasize the importance of CEDAW, leaders from many women’s organizations, including the Feminist Majority Foundation, NOW, YWCA USA, National Women’s Law Center, and Leadership Conference on Civil and Human rights, attended. Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor showed her strong support for the ratification of CEDAW in a letter to Senator Durbin. She wrote, “ratification of CEDAW would enhance the authority of the United States to advocate on behalf of women’s rights in countries, including both CEDAW parties and non-parties, that do not respect women’s rights to the same extent that the United States does.” Melanne Verveer, the United States Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues, actor Geena Davis, who appeared in Beetlejuice, The Fly, and Thelma and Louise, and Marcia Greenberger of the National Women’s Law Center testified in support of ratifying CEDAW. The Heritage Foundation testified against CEDAW.

The family of Tyler Clementi, a Rutgers University freshman who committed suicide in September, has granted Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) permission to use Clementi’s name on a piece of proposed federal legislation. The Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act would require that federally funded schools instate policies to prohibit the harassment of any student. Joe Solmonese, President of the Human Rights Campaign stated, “Our schools and our nation cannot sit back and wait for the next tragedy. Tools and resources are available to protect our children and it is adults who must act to put strong laws, policies and procedures in place.” In September, Clementi committed suicide by jumping off of the George Washington Bridge after his roommate live-streamed Clementi’s sexual encounter with another man.

President Obama met with women leaders in the White House immediately after all Republican senators voted to block the Paycheck Fairness Act from moving to the Senate floor for a vote. The measure to stop the filibuster failed by just two votes with 57 Democrats and one Independent in the Democratic Caucus voting to bring it to the floor. The President encouraged the groups to keep fighting and not to be discouraged. He assured them that his Administration would keep working for passage. He reminded the leaders that polls show the vast majority of Americans, including the majority of Independent and Republican women, support pay equity for women. He was confident we will pass it. Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority, said after the White House meeting, “today we can no longer say there are moderate Republican senators. The so-called moderate Republican senators from New England, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe from Maine and Scott Brown of Massachusetts, voted against a very moderate bill that would have helped women employees to fight wage discrimination. “It’s particularly outrageous that they’d vote against the Paycheck Fairness Act during a recession when women’s wages are especially important to keep food on their families’ tables and roofs over their heads. Women’s organizations are determined to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act and, if necessary, to make it a major issue in the 2012 election.” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), who scheduled the vote despite Republican opposition, released a strong statement immediately after the vote saying, “Fairness in pay should not be a partisan idea.” Lisa Maatz, Director of Public Policy and Government Relations of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) remarked, “What’s especially frustrating is that this critical bill became a victim of arcane Senate rules. This de facto filibuster of fair pay by Senate Republicans ensured that we never got to a debate on the bill’s merits.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced yesterday that he would bring the National Defense Authorization Act, which includes an amendment that repeals the so-called policy “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” to the Senate floor for a vote in December following the release of the Pentagon report on how it would implement the repeal. The report is scheduled to be released December 1. The Republican filibuster of the bill must be stopped for it to proceed to a vote. In May, the Defense Authorization Bill passed in the House but was filibustered in the Senate. The Bill, containing an amendment by Representative Patrick Murphy (D-PA), would repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” if the repeal is consistent with military readiness, effectiveness, and unit cohesiveness and the Department of Defense “has prepared the necessary policies and regulations to implement its repeal.”

The Paycheck Fairness Act cloture vote to end the Republican filibuster is this morning in the US Senate. Women’s groups, including Feminist Majority, the National Organization for Women (NOW), the American Association of University Women (AAUW), the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), and the National Council of Women’s Organizations (NCWO), have been working hard to break the logjam. The Paycheck Fairness Act already passed in the House, and if the Senate acts favorably, President Obama will sign it into law. The vote is expected before noon today. Women’s movement groups have been working on the passage of this for over a dozen years. The Paycheck Fairness Act strengthens the Equal Pay Act and will help women fight wage discrimination. The gap between men’s and women’s pay is still significant, which is why its passage has been a major focus of women’s organizations. Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority, said in a statement, “It’s particularly outrageous that they’d vote against the Paycheck Fairness Act during a recession when women’s wages are especially important to keep food on their families’ tables and roofs over their heads. Women’s organizations are determined to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act and, if necessary, to make it a major issue in the 2012 election.”

On a vote of 58-41, with one Senator not voting, the Paycheck Fairness Act was blocked from coming to the Senate floor for an up or down vote this morning. The so-called moderate Republican Senators from New England – Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe from Maine and Scott Brown of Massachusetts – voted with their Republican colleagues, siding with big corporations against women’s rights to fight sex discrimination in wages. “Women’s groups all over the country will be working to ensure that this bill is voted on again and again until it passes,” said Eleanor Smeal, President of Feminist Majority. Smeal said in a statement, “It’s particularly outrageous that they’d vote against the Paycheck Fairness Act during a recession when women’s wages are especially important to keep food on their families’ tables and roofs over their heads. Women’s organizations are determined to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act and, if necessary, to make it a major issue in the 2012 election.”

The Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) is suing the FDA today for failing to comply with a 2009 federal court order that the FDA make Plan B, or the morning after pill, available to 17 year olds and to consider making it available to all women without a prescription. The FDA in 2006 had restricted Plan B to women 18 years and older. Judge Edward Korman had ruled that the FDA restriction was “arbitrary and capricious” and that the FDA had “acted in bad faith and in response to political pressure” of the Bush Administration. The CRR is suing to make Plan B available to all women regardless of age, without prescriptions, and over-the counter. The FDA had made it available to 17 year olds but refused to do so for younger women “unless required to do so by the company” (pharmaceutical), according to the Washington Post. Levonorgestrel, sold under the brand name Plan B, is a form of emergency contraception that must be taken within 72 hours of sexual activity.

A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) survey of over 7,000 women revealed that many women, despite their desire to avoid pregnancy, fail to use birth control or do so improperly and ineffectively. The CDC reports that approximately 50 percent of all pregnancies in the United States are unintended. Though oral contraception is 92-99 percent effective when used correctly, many women who rely on this method fail to take the pill consistently – at the same time everyday. Similarly, condoms are reported to be about have a 95 percent effectiveness rate, but their actual effectiveness is about 85 percent due to frequent improper usage. Intrauterine Devices (IUDs) and Depo-Provera, which are not subject to user error, are thus much more effective methods of contraception. The IUD, which has a lifetime of up to ten years and is 99 percent effective, may nevertheless be difficult for young, single women to obtain. Despite the weak correlation between the IUD and sterility and pelvic infection, many doctors will only prescribe the IUD to married women over the age of 25, according to Dr. Beth Jordan of the Feminist Majority Foundation.