Author: Feminist Majority Foundation Blog

A draft of the Pentagon report, leaked yesterday, reveals that a repeal of the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy would not be detrimental to the military. The report includes surveys of hundreds of thousands of active-duty military service members and their families and posits that most soldiers are not against gay and lesbians serving openly, though some military personnel, primarily those in the Army and Marines, voiced their dissent. The report is scheduled to be released December 1. Alexander Nicholson, Executive Director of Servicemembers United, remarked in a press release, “These results confirm what those of us who actually know the modern military, especially the rank and file troops, have said all along. The men and women of America’s armed forces are professionals who are capable of handling this policy change.” The Defense Authorization Bill with the DADT repeal amendment in it is set to be voted on in the lame duck session that will begin next week. 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 contains an amendment by Representative Patrick Murphy (D-PA) that repeals “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.” In early November, a federal appeals court three judge panel ruled that the US military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy will stand indefinitely until the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) appeals process concludes. DADT was instituted by former President Bill Clinton in 1993 and prohibits the military from inquiring about a service member’s sexual orientation, and also calls for the discharge of anyone who acknowledges being lesbian or gay. Thus far, the policy has led to the expulsion of more than 13,000 military service personnel.

Deficit Commission Co-Chairs Alan Simpson and Erksine Bowles proposal to reduce the deficit was immediately opposed by leading Democrats, women’s rights groups, and labor. Immediately upon release, both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Commissioner and Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) issued scathing dismissals. Pelosi simply said the proposal was “unacceptable” and Schakowsky called it a “non-starter.” Women’s rights groups, including the National Organization for Women, OWL the Voice of Midlife and Older Women, and the Feminist Majority immediately expressed their outrage. The following is taken from the statement of the President of the Feminist Majority, Eleanor Smeal: “Social Security has not caused the deficit problem. In fact, Social Security has accumulated a massive surplus. The U.S. cannot balance its books on the backs of older women, the disabled, and the middle class while it provides tax cuts and tax breaks to the super rich and to mega, multinational corporations. “This proposal targets women in many areas. For example, it disproportionately cuts programs whose recipients are primarily women, such as Social Security, Medicare, the earned income tax credit, and the child tax credit. It freezes the pay of the civilian Department of Defense employees (the majority of which are women) and of so-called non-combat military forces (i.e women). Even insisting students pay interest on student loans while they are in college hits young women more than men since men are less dependent than women on college loans for their education. “Most of its suggestions are to reduce spending rather than to increase revenue as it places the burden on middle-class Americans, especially women, and protects the skyrocketing profits of the richest Americans. Obvious solutions such as raising the cap on FICA or Social Security withholding tax to include more of the income of the highest paid Americans (i.e. mostly men) was not suggested. The proposal rejects the basic principles of a progressive income tax, which is the staple of a fair or just taxation system and it reduces corporate income taxes yet again.”

Women Members of Congress will increase by 1 percent when the new Congress convenes in January. A total of 74 women, including three non-voting delegates, will join the new House of Representatives in January, an increase of one woman over the membership in the current House. This number could increase further as two House races with women candidates remain too close to call. The number of women elected to the Senate stands at 16 with incumbent Lisa Murkowski leading in the still undecided Alaska race. The current Senate includes 17 women. The two House races where women could still win are: Illinois 8 where Democratic incumbent Melissa Bean is running behind by a few hundred votes in an unofficial count; and NY 25 where Republican challenger Ann Marie Buerkle is currently behind by 694 votes.

Dr. LeRoy Carhart of Bellevue, Nebraska announced plans for the Carhart Centers for Sexual and Reproductive Health, including three new comprehensive reproductive health clinics in Maryland, Iowa, and Indiana. The first clinic is projected to open in suburban Maryland. The Centers will offer comprehensive family planning, male sexual health care, education programs, and abortion services, including specialized care in late abortion cases. Carhart cites current Nebraska law, which prohibits abortions after 20 weeks gestation, as the reason he must travel beyond his home state to provide this specialized care. Carhart has become a chief target of Operation Rescue, based in Wichita, which launched targeted demonstrations and so-called “street counseling” in Omaha and at Dr. Carhart’s Bellevue clinic in August 2009. Prior to Dr. George Tiller’s murder in May 2009, Dr. Carhart traveled to Wichita each month to work with Dr. Tiller. Troy Newman of Operation Rescue led a multi-group campaign called “Keep it Closed” that aimed to ensure Dr. Carhart did not open a late abortion clinic in Kansas or Nebraska. The Feminist Majority Foundation runs 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 Dr. Carhart as he works to save women’s lives and health and expand his practice.

The Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed two lawsuits today challenging the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The plaintiffs in both cases claim to have been denied federal programs and benefits available to heterosexual married couples. In Pedersen et al. v. Office of Personnel Management, five married same-sex couples from Connecticut, Vermont, and New Hampshire are suing for benefits enjoyed by opposite-sex married couples, including Social Security survivors’ payments, the right to file taxes jointly and guaranteed leave from work to care for a sick spouse under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). In the second case, Windsor v. USA, Windsor alleges to have been denied the estate tax deduction available to surviving spouses. Mary Bonauto, Civil Rights Project Director at GLAD said in a press release, “DOMA must fall. In 1996, when Congress passed DOMA, the stated goal was to harm gay people and same-sex families with this law, and sadly, it has succeeded. Married gay and lesbian couples fall through the federal safety nets that exist for other married people.” Passed in 1996, DOMA defines marriage as between one man and one woman and denies federal recognition of same-sex marriages. Massachusetts was the first state to challenge the constitutionality of DOMA in a lawsuit, filed by state Attorney General Martha Coakley in July 2009. The second suit, Gill v. Office of Personnel Management, was filed on behalf of seven gay and lesbian married couples and three widowers by the Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders. In that case, federal judge Joseph Tauro agreed that DOMA violated the equal protection clause.

Flip Benham of Operation Rescue/Operation Save America, goes to trial today for stalking and distributing WANTED posters with the names, pictures, and home and office addresses North Carolina abortion doctors. Benham, who distributed the WANTED posters in the doctors’ neighborhoods and at their homes, is the first to be charged under a new North Carolina state law that bans residential picketing. Katherine Spillar, Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF) Executive Vice President responded to Benham’s claim that he was exercising his First Amendment rights saying, “this is not free speech. This is the equivalent of yelling fire in a crowded theater. History clearly shows a pattern of WANTED posters, murder, WANTED posters, murder. “These WANTED posters are communicating a threat to these abortion providers; doctors featured on WANTED posers in the past have become targets of anti-abortion extremists willing to kill, including most recently Dr. George Tiller.” The WANTED posters in North Carolina appeared within two months of Dr. Tiller’s murder. Spillar is an expert on clinic terrorism and leads the FMF’s National Clinic Access Project. WANTED-style posters have been found to violate the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act’s (FACE) prohibitions on the use of force or threat of force against reproductive health care providers. Previous federal court decisions have classified WANTED posters as “true threats” within the meaning of the federal law. The Feminist Majority Foundation has urged these WANTED posters be prosecuted by federal and state law enforcement authorities as violations of FACE and federal and state anti-stalking laws. Lawyers for the Feminist Majority Foundation are in Charlotte today to monitor the criminal trial. Both CBS and NPR have recently featured stories on the North Carolina anti-abortion WANTED posters.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates urged Congress to repeal the so-called “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy before the newly elected members take office next year. Nevertheless, Gates expressed doubt as to whether the repeal would occur this year. Aubrey Sarvis, Executive Director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network commented, “the Senate should call up the defense bill reported out of committee and pass it before it goes home for the year.” In early November, a federal appeals court three judge panel ruled that the US military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy will stand indefinitely until the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) appeals process concludes. In May, the Defense Spending Bill passed in the House but was filibustered in the Senate. The Bill contains an amendment by Representative Patrick Murphy (D-PA) that repeals “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.” DADT was instituted by former President Bill Clinton in 1993 and prohibits the military from inquiring about a service member’s sexual orientation, and also calls for the discharge of anyone who acknowledges being lesbian or gay. Thus far, the policy has led to the expulsion of more than 13,000 troops.

Operation Rescue/Operation Save America’s Philip “Flip” Benham was just found guilty of two charges of criminal stalking with intent to cause emotional distress and disruption of domestic tranquility for residential picketing. Benham and his associates were ordered to stay 300 feet or more from wherever the targeted doctor works and 1,000 from his residence. Benham was put on two years probation. See today’s Feminist Daily Newswire story, North Carolina Anti-Abortion Leader Tried for WANTED Posters.

The conservative Blue Dog Democratic caucus suffered massive losses – 48 percent of the Blue Dogs or 26 of its 54 public members, including two of its four co-chairs were defeated. Meanwhile, only five percent or four members of their much larger Progressive Democratic caucus lost their seats. The Progressive Caucus has a public membership of 84 members that will likely grow as a result of the election of several new progressives.

Justin Carl Moose pled guilty late last week to plotting to bomb a North Carolina abortion clinic. Moose was arrested in early September and charged with “providing information related to the making, use, or manufacture of an explosive,” as stated in his plea agreement. He faces up to 20 years imprisonment and/or a $250,000 fine. The FBI press release in September states that Moose allegedly “utilized a social networking website as a platform to advocate violence against women’s health care clinics – specifically locations where abortions are performed – and the health care professionals employed at these facilities.” In reference to vicious attacks on abortion providers, Kathy Spillar, the Executive Vice President of the Feminist Majority Foundation commented, “we need to send a strong message that this is domestic terrorism, and it must be treated as seriously as international threats.”

Unquestionably, the biggest loss is the replacement of pro-choice, feminist Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and the pro-choice Democratic leadership team of Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC), and Assistant to the Speaker Chris Van Hollen (D-MD). With a virulently anti-reproductive rights leadership team of John Boehner (R-OH), Eric Cantor (R-VA), Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Mike Pence (R-IN), and Pete Sessions (R-TX). With the 60 plus vote Republican win in the House (four seats are still undecided), the pro-reproductive rights forces suffered big losses…43 votes in the House and 7 in the Senate. Worse yet, some extreme right-wing candidates on women’s issues have won, including Tea Party endorsed Rand Paul (R-KY), who opposes abortion even in cases of rape and incest; Pat Toomey (R-PA), who was the head of Newt Gingrich’s Club for Growth and is virulently opposed to abortion; and Tea Party endorsed Ron Johnson (R-WI), who defeated pro-choice Russ Feingold (D-WI). In the House, 7 new anti-abortion rights Republican women were elected and 8 pro-choice Democratic women were defeated. All of the Democrats but one were defeated by anti-reproductive rights Republicans. Kathy Dahlkemper (D-PA), who is anti-choice and was a co-sponsor of the Stupak/Pitts Amendment, was also defeated by an anti-choice Republican. But when you analyze the 43 losses in the House, abortion was not the deciding factor. Thirteen of those losses were anti-choice Democrats defeated by anti-choice Republicans. Perhaps more telling, 24 House Democrats who lost had voted yes on the Stupak/ Pitts Amendment. On the plus side for abortion rights, three powerful Democrat House Chairs who were solid anti-choice supporters will not be returning: Ike Skelton (D-MO), Chair of the House Armed Services Committee who lost; David Obey, Chair of the House Appropriations Committee who retired; and James Oberstar, Chair of the Committee of Transportation and Infrastructure, who lost. Obey insisted on inserting in the House appropriations bills funding for abstinence-only programs comparable to comprehensive family planning programs. Skelton had fought the ERA extension in the late 1970s. These committee chairs, together with the late John Murtha, who was the House Defense Appropriations Chair, had been formidable opponents of women’s right to choose. Statement of Eleanor Smeal 11/4/10

There will be at least 85 voting women members of the Congress in January 2011: at least 70 members of the House plus three nonvoting delegates and at least 15 senators. Four House races with women candidates are still too close to call as are two Senate races with women candidates (Senator Patty Murray and Senator Lisa Murkowski). If women win all the remaining races, there will be neither a gain nor a loss in the percentage of women members in Congress. If they lose, there will be a one and a half percent loss. Eight Republican women newcomers won in the House — one is a woman of color. They include Martha Roby (AL-2); Sandy Adams (FL-24); Vicky Hartzler (MO-4); Nan Hayworth (NY-19); Renee Ellmers (NC-2); Christy Noem (SD-AL); Diane Black (TN-6); Jaime Herrera (WA-3). No Republican incumbents lost in the House. Four Democratic women newcomers won in the House — all four were women of color. In total, nine Democratic women House Members lost: Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ-1); Betsy Markey (CO-4); Suzanne Kosmas (FL-24); Debbie Halvorson (IL-11); Dina Titus (NV-3); Carol Shea-Porter (NH-1); Mary Jo Kilroy (OH-1); Kathy Dahlkemper (PA-3); Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (SD At Large). All but Dahlkemper were strong supporters of reproductive rights. Five new women of color won their House races: Terri Sewell (D-AL) winning Davis’ seat, who ran for governor; Karen Bass (D-CA) winning retiring Diane Watson’s seat; Colleen Hanabusa winning Neil Abercrombie’s seat, who won his race for governor; Frederica Wilson (D-FL), who won the seat of Kendrick Meek, who lost his bid for the Senate; and Jaime Herrera (R-WA), who won an open seat of a retiring Democrat. In the Senate, the only woman incumbent to lose thus far was Blanche Lincoln (D-AR). Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), endorsed by Sarah Palin and a strong opponent of reproductive choice, will be the only woman newcomer in the Senate.

In a strong victory for reproductive rights, the Colorado ballot initiative Amendment 62 was defeated by an overwhelming margin of 2-to-1 on Tuesday night. The measure (PDF) sought to amend the state constitution so that “the term ‘person’ [would] apply to every human being from the beginning of the biological development of that human being.” If the initiative had passed, it would not only have put a woman’s right to an abortion in danger but also threatened the legality of oral and emergency contraception, IUDs, in vitro fertilization clinics, and stem cell research. NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado clarified in its press statement, “Amendment 62 is a dangerous and deceptive ballot proposal that seeks to extend legal and constitutional rights to a woman’s fertilized eggs. It would ban all abortion in Colorado, including in cases of rape, incest or when a woman’s life is at risk.” The proposed measure went even further than Amendment 48, which was defeated in the 2008 elections by 73 percent, and declared a fertilized egg to be a person who enjoys all constitutional rights “relating to inalienable rights, equality of justice, and due process of law.” The Fetal Personhood Amendment to the Mississippi Constitution is scheduled to be on the Mississippi 2011 ballot. A judge in Hinds County, Mississippi recently ruled against the ACLU and Planned Parenthood attempt to remove it from the 2011 ballot. The “Personhood Amendment,” an anti-abortion initiative, from ballots next year, the Personhood U.S.A. movement — founded by Keith Mason of Kansas and Cal Zastrow of Michigan, both members of Operation Rescue, an anti-abortion extremist group — has nevertheless suffered defeat after defeat. In February 2010, the so-called “Personhood Initiative” suffered an overwhelming defeat after the New Hampshire House voted 219-122 against the measure. The initiative also failed to appear on Florida and Nevada ballots this year due to lack of signatures on the petitions supporting the measure. Anti-choice forces are split on the fetal personhood initiative, which has proven to be unsuccessful because it exposes that a large portion of the right to life groups would like to outlaw contraception.

Last Thursday, a federal court in Eastern Washington sentenced Donald Hertz to be confined to his home for 180 days and receive five years probation for threatening Colorado abortion provider, Dr. Warren Hern, and his family, including his 92 year-old mother. The threats followed three weeks after the tragic May 31, 2009 murder of Kansas abortion provider, Dr. George Tiller. Hertz was charged with a felony for making threats across state lines and a misdemeanor for impeding a reproductive health clinic, but received the probation sentence as part of a plea bargain. In response to the probation sentencing, Kathy Spillar, the Executive Vice President of the Feminist Majority Foundation commented, “we need to send a strong message that this is domestic terrorism, and it must be treated as seriously as international threats.” Hern remarked to the Associated Press, “We were terrified…I believed this threat, and so did every member of my family.” Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority Foundation, clarified, “these are not just a threat to Dr. Hern and his family but to all women who need his services.”

A hearing has been set for May for the lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood of Montana against the state of Montana over its denial of birth control for teenage girls who are insured by the state’s low-income health insurance program for minors, Healthy Montana Kids. The Associated Press reports that girls insured by Healthy Montana Kids are prohibited from obtaining the drug through its public insurance program if they are using it solely to prevent pregnancy. They can obtain the drug for other purposes, such as the treatment of acne or heavy menstruation. Planned Parenthood of Montana clarifies that the “prohibition only affects young women and exclusively implicates prescription drugs used to prevent pregnancy…this denial of comprehensive healthcare for young women violates multiple sections of the Montana Constitution.” About 10 percent of the 25,000 children covered by Healthy Montana Kids are females between the ages of 15 and 19. Though the program will not cover the drug for pregnancy prevention, teenage mothers receive coverage for prenatal and postnatal care, as well as delivery expenses. Last year, the program spent $720,000 to cover the costs of 43 births to teenage mothers. State actions preventing the allocation of funds for family planning-related programs have been prominent over the course of the past month. In early October, New Jersey received $4.7 million from the federal government in order to fund teenage pregnancy prevention programs. However, the Newark Star-Ledger reports that about $1 million of this money must be spent on abstinence-only education programs. In late September, Governor Chris Christie (R) vetoed a measure that allocated $7.5 million from reaching the state’s 58 family planning clinics. Due to lack of funding, two clinics have already closed in New Jersey’s Camden County, and two more Burlington County clinics are expected to close this month.