Author: Feminist Newswire

A group of 72 members of Congress submitted a request last week to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) urging the organization to investigate multiple pro-choice organizations, including Planned Parenthood.

The request [PDF] asks the GAO to track the government funding of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the International Planned Parenthood Federation, the Population Council, the Guttmacher Institute, Advocates for Youth, and Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SEICU) and to determine specifically how funds were used.

Representative Diane Black (R-TN), one of the lead signers of the request, told reporters, “My hope is that through greater transparency and accountability, we can successfully mobilize the support needed to de-fund abortion providers, once and for all.”

Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said of the request, “At a time when the American people want Congress to focus on creating jobs and preventing the looming budget cuts, it is ridiculous that some members of Congress are instead focused on launching baseless political attacks aimed at restricting women’s access to preventive health care.”

Media Resources: ThinkProgress 2/25/2013; Washington Times 2/25/2013; Black.House.Gov 2/21/2013

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An Alabama lawmaker justified a new TRAP (Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers) that could potentially shut down the handful of clinics currently open in in the state by arguing that a fetus is the largest organ in the female body on Tuesday.

In an interview about the legislation, state Representative Mary Sue McClurkin (R-Pelham) told the Montgomery Advertiser “When a physician removes a child from a woman, that is the largest organ in a body. That’s a big thing. That’s a big surgery. You don’t have any other organs in your body that are bigger than that.”

According the Guttmacher Institute, the majority of abortion procedures occur [PDF] in the first trimester when a fetus is typically less than three inches long. The average human lung is between 10 and 14 inches long.

H.B. 57, sponsored by Representative McClurkin, imposes outrageous standards on abortion clinics in an attempt to eliminate abortion in Alabama. The bill requires any doctor performing abortions in the state of Alabama to have admitting privileges at local hospitals and all clinics where abortions are performed to meet the same standards as ambulatory surgical centers. The bill was approved by the House legislature on a 73 to 23 vote and now goes before the state Senate. Similar TRAP laws threaten clinics in other states such as Virginia and Mississippi.

Media Resources: Montgomery Advertiser 2/20/2013, 2/19/2013; Feminist Newswire 1/2/2013, 11/29/2012; Guttmacher Institute 8/2011

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New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) will include a section on expanding and protecting abortion rights in the state of New York as part of a Women’s Equality Act.

The Reproductive Health Act would expand the conditions under which a woman could have a late abortion in the state to include when the mother’s health is in jeopardy or the fetus is not viable in addition to cases to save the life of the mother. This would bring New York state law on late term in sync with federal regulations. The act would also allow licensed health care practitioners to perform abortions and remove abortion from the New York penal code and place it under regulation by the state’s public health law.

According to an anonymous Cuomo official, one reason for the Reproductive Health Act is to protect a woman’s right to choose in case the historic Roe v. Wade decision were to be overturned.

Cuomo has insisted that the Reproductive Health Act should not be treated separately from the Women’s Equality Act, which is reportedly a 10-point piece of legislation that would provide equal pay for equal work, workplace protections against discrimination, and measures against violence against women. In Cuomo’s “State of the Union” New York address, he said, “Maybe it’s a man’s world, but it is not a man’s world in New York. Not anymore.”

Media Resources: MSNBC 2/18/2013; New York Times 2/16/2013; Feminist Newswire 1/30/2013

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The Arkansas “heartbeat” bill that is currently being debated in the Arkansas state House could ban abortion after 12 weeks and be voted into law without the governor’s approval.

Earlier this month, the Arkansas state Senate passed the Human Heartbeat Protection Act on a 28 to 6 vote. This act would require women who are seeking to terminate their pregnancies to undergo an ultrasound. If the probe is able to detect a fetal heartbeat, the woman would not be allowed to undergo an abortion on the grounds that a fetus with a heartbeat is a human being. Originally, the bill did not specify whether a transabdominal ultrasound or a transvaginal ultrasound would be used. A transvaginal ultrasound can detect a heartbeat as early as six weeks into a pregnancy.

Since the bill passed in the state Senate, its sponsor Senator Jason Rapert (R-Conway) has revised his legislation into a “moderate” heartbeat ban. In the revised legislation, he clarified that the ban would only apply when a heartbeat is detected with an abdominal ultrasound, usually around 12 weeks into the pregnancy. He is also adding exceptions for cases of severe fetal abnormality, and is working to remove criminal penalties for abortion providers who perform a procedure after the 12 week mark. Despite these revisions, the Human Heartbeat Protection Act would be the most restrictive abortion ban in the nation.

Governor Beebe (D) has expressed concerns over the constitutionality of the heartbeat ban but has not indicated if he will veto the legislation should it pass the House. Beebe has already agreed to sign into law legislation prohibiting abortion coverage under the state health insurance exchange program and a 20 week abortion ban, however he has remained hesitant about speaking on the heartbeat bill. The Arkansas state legislature could pass the heartbeat ban into law even if the governor vetoes the bill. The Arkansas state legislation has the power to override the Governor’s veto with a simple majority in both chambers. Currently both the Arkansas state House and Senate appear to have majority support for the ban.

Media Resources: RH Reality Check 2/13/2013; ThinkProgress 2/13/2013; Associated Press 2/10/2013; Feminist Daily Newswire 2/1/2013

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The landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in the United States, Roe v. Wade was handed down 40 years ago today. While Roe v. Wade established that abortion is a private matter between a woman and her doctor, politicians and anti-choice extremists across the country have worked to restrict abortion access since even before this historic ruling.

2012 saw the second highest number of state-level anti-choice provisions enacted in a year on record. The highest was in 2011 with 93 state laws and regulations restricting abortion access enacted. However, these totals reflect provisions enacted during a calendar year, not legislative session. When considering the 2011-2012 legislative session, a total 136 anti-choice provisions were enacted.

Despite constant attacks on reproductive rights, public opinion on Roe v. Wade has remained steady. According to a new poll by the Pew Research Center, 63% of those interviewed believed that Roe v. Wade should not be completely overturned compared to 29% who favored overturning the ruling. In addition, these findings reflect the same sentiments as the Pew polls conducted in the early 1990’s.

Media Resources: Feminist Newswire 1/17/2013, 1/7/2013

Photo Courtesy of Feminist Majority Foundation

Last week, a record number of new congresswomen were officially sworn into their positions to begin the 113th Congressional session.

One hundred women will be filling the seats of Congress in the new session. The total number of women holding seats in the House of Representatives is now 80, up from 77 in the last Congressional session. In the Senate, women hold 20 seats in the new Congress, up from 17 in the last session.

Among the women in this Congressional session’s freshman class are:

• Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) is the first openly gay member of the Senate.

• Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI) is the first Asian-American woman elected to the US Senate.

• Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is the first woman ever elected to the US Senate from the state of Massachusetts.

• Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth (IL-8) is an Iraq War veteran who worked in the Obama administration.

• Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (HI-2) is the first Hindu ever elected to the US House.

While the gains in the number of women in Congress are a major achievement in gender equality, women are still not sufficiently represented in the legislature. Despite being half the population, women only compromise about 20% of Congress.

Media Resources: New York Times 1/3/2013; Reuters 1/3/2013; Feminist Daily Newswire 11/7/2012

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The Department of Defense (DoD) has blocked access to LGBT advocacy websites on military computers, according to an expose in AMERICAblog last week.

Websites such as GLAAD, AMERICAblog, Bilerico, Towleroad, and HRC Blog are categorized as “LGBT” and are not permitted by the filter service used by the Pentagon. Another website, Outserve.org, which is dedicated to creating a network of LGBT military members and respect for LGBT members in the service, is also prohibitedunder the category of “LGBT.” In a statement released by the DoD, the Pentagon qualifies that these pages are also “Blog/Personal Pages” which are not permitted either. The DoD justifies that blogs and personal pages are restricted in accordance “with DoD policy allowing military commanders the option to restrict access to personal pages for operational security reasons.” However, blogs by Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, and the blog of anti-gay extremist group Family Research Council are permitted.

The DoD utilizes web filtering software produced by Blue Coat Systems, which also provides filtering services to countries hostile to LGBT people such as Syria and Saudi Arabia. The company has previously come under scrutiny from LGBT advocates for blocking anti-bullying and suicide prevention websites, such as the Trevor Project, in school districts by offering the option to restrict access to LGBT sites. Other filter categories provided by Blue Coat Systems include “Abortion,” “Alternative Sexuality/Lifestyle,” “Alternative Spirituality/Belief,” “Political/Activist Groups,” “Sex Education,” and “Violence/Hate/Racism.”

Media Resources: ThinkProgress 1/7/2013; Opposing Views 1/6/2013; RT 1/4/2013; AMERICAblog 1/4/2013

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The House of Representatives let the Senate-approved bipartisan Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) expire at the end of the 112th congressional session without ever seeing a vote. This is the first time VAWA has not been reauthorized since it was first passed in 1994.

The Senate approved the reauthorization of VAWA in April 2012 and included new provisions that would extend access to law enforcement and services for Native American women, better access for immigrant women who fear deportation if they report violence, and better access for LGBT victims. The House drafted a second version of VAWA that excluded these new protections, the Cantor/Adams VAWA. The House passed the Cantor/Adams version of the bill, which was the first time a draft of VAWA had been approved by either chamber that narrowed or restricted protections.

Without approval by both the Senate and the House, the process of reauthorizing VAWA must start over with the new congressional session.

Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) was one of the key sponsors of the bill in the Senate, and plans to reintroduce the bill in 2013. She issued the following statement regarding the failure of the House to reauthorize the bill, “The House Republican leadership’s failure to take up and pass the Senate’s bipartisan and inclusive VAWA bill is inexcusable. …No matter how broad the bipartisan support, no matter who gets hurt in the process, the politics of the right wing of their party always comes first.”

“I think they are still so kowtowing to the extreme on the right that they’re not even listening to the moderates, and particularly the women, in their caucus who are saying they support this,” Senator Murray told theHuffington Post.

In the almost 18 years since VAWA was initially passed, millions have benefited from its provisions. Between 1993 and 2010, the rate of intimate partner violence declined by 67%. VAWA established the National Domestic Violence Hotline, which receives over 22,000 calls each month and VAWA funds train over 500,000 law enforcement officers, prosecutors, judges, and other personnel each year.

Media Resources: Guardian 1/2/2013; Huffington Post 1/2/2013; MSNBC 1/2/2013; Feminist Newswire 5/17/2012, 4/26/12

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Today the National Rifle Association held its first press conference since the tragic shooting in Newtown, CT in Washington, DC. At the conference, Executive Vice President of the NRA, Wayne LaPierre, called for armed police officers in every school in the United States and creation of a national database to track those with mental illness and spoke of a new program that will draft security plans for school featuring armed security.

Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority Foundation, said “There is a massive gender gap in gun violence. Women are simply sick and tired of it, and the NRA is doubling down on their extremism.”

LaPierre addressed [PDF] a room filled with reporters, “The truth is that our society is populated by an unknown number of genuine monsters – people so deranged, so evil, so possessed by voices and driven by demons that no sane person can possibly ever comprehend them. They walk among us every day.”

He continued “And does anybody really believe that the next Adam Lanza isn’t planning his attack on a school he’s already identified at this very moment? How many more copycats are waiting in the wings for their moment of fame … A dozen more killers? A hundred? More? How can we possibly even guess how many, given our nation’s refusal to create an active national database of the mentally ill?”

LaPierre explained a new program to provide armed security consultations help recruiting armed personnel to schools called “National School Shield Emergency Response Program.” Under the guidance of former congressman Asa Hutchinson, the program will feature security program that features armed school security personnel and will be provided free of charge.

Media Resources: NRA Press Conference Transcript 12/21/12

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Earlier this month, Florida state Representative Lori Berman (D-Lantana) filed legislation to have Florida be the 36th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).

Currently only 35 states have ratified the ERA since it was introduced for state ratification in 1972. The last state to ratify the ERA was Indiana in 1977. To be added to the Constitution, 38 states must ratify the amendment.

Berman told WPTV, “There is precedent for it going on. I’m sure if that if Florida was one of those states we could make sure that it could become an amendment to the Constitution.”

“The Equal Rights Amendment will offer Constitutional protection to a woman’s right to equality,” she continued. “I have always been a strong advocate and proponent for women’s rights in all arenas and this is an inherent part of being an American.”

Florida state Senators Gwen Margolis (D-Miami) and Arthenia Joyner (D-Tampa) have also co-sponsored legislation for Florida to ratify the ERA in the state Senate.

Media Resources: WPTV 12/20/12; WLRN 12/3/12; EqualRightsAmendment.org

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On Monday, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley appointed Representative Tim Scott as the successor to retiring Senator Jim DeMint.

Tim Scott will be the only African-American Republican in Congress after the defeat of Representative Allen West in Florida in the November election. Scott has a record of social and fiscal conservatism that is similar to DeMint’s voting record according to the New York Times. Scott won his bid for U.S. House of Representatives in 2010 with support of Tea Party organizations and has served as a liaison between Boehner and conservative representatives elected in 2010. Scott will be sworn into office January 3rd, 2013 and then face re-election in November 2014 alongside senior South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham (R). A special election will be held in South Carolina to fill the Scott’s empty seat in the House.

South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint announced earlier this month that he would be leaving the Senate to lead the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation at the end of the year. Jim DeMint was a vocal Tea Party Republican in the Senate who is credited by the New York Times as helping spark the Tea Party movement.

Media Resources: New York Times 12/17/12; Wall Street Journal 12/17/12; Washington Post 12/17/12; Feminist Newswire 12/7/12

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On Monday, the Montana Supreme Court decided that a case brought by six couples and the ACLU urging the court to extend partnership benefits to same sex couples was too broad and violated separation of powers.

The case, which featured six same sex couples denied rights under various statutes such as bereavement leave, protections in case of divorce, and death benefits, urged the court to recognize the rights of all same sex couples in the state and to change existing statutes to reflect those rights.

In a 4 -3 decision, the MT Supreme Court agreed with the lower court that the case was too broad in scope and that asking the court to change existing statutes violated the separation of powers between the court at the state legislature. The Supreme Court did change the lower court’s ruling that the plaintiffs could not amend their case to be more specific.

Montana Supreme Court Justice James Nelson wrote in his dissent, “I have never disagreed more strongly with the Court as I do in this case. With due respect, I believe today’s decision… wrongly deprives an abused minority their civil rights.” He also challenged the state amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman, saying “Indeed, a not-too-distant generation of Montanans will consign today’s decision, the marriage amendment, and the underlying intolerance to the dustbin of history and to the status of a meaningless, shameful, artifact.”

The plaintiffs plan to re-file their case after reviewing the court’s decision.

Media Resources: Chicago Times 12/17/12; Huffington Post 12/17/12; KPAX 12/17/12; Wisconsin Gazette 12/17/12

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Toy company Hasbro will release a gender-neutral Easy-Bake Oven at the Toy Fair in February after meeting with a thirteen year old girl who sparked an internet outrage over the toy.

McKenna Pope from Garfield, N.J. created an online petition that gathered over 40,000 signatures after she went shopping for an Easy Bake Oven for her little brother, Gavyn. Feeling that the company’s stereotypically advertising and design discouraged boys from cooking, she decided to urge the company to provide more gender neutral designs and advertising. Pope even had cooking celebrities such as Bobby Flay support her petition.

“I’m sure there are a lot of kids out there like my brother who want Easy-Bake ovens but don’t ask for them because they’re told they’re not supposed to want them,” Pope told CNN. “There’s a lot toys specifically marketed towards boys and girls, but guys need to learn to cook and take care of children, too.”

After hearing of the petition, Hasbro invited Pope and her family to the company headquarters in Pawtucket, R.I. where they showed Pope and her brother a neutral prototype the company developed over the past 18 months featuring blue, black, and silver designs. Hasbro also showed the family design concepts featuring boys in ads for the toy.

Pope told reporters after the meeting, “I think that they really met most or even all of what I wanted them to do, and they really amazed me.”

The gender-neutral Easy-Bake Oven is anticipated to be available in the summer.

Media Resources: Seattle Times 12/17/12; USA Today 12/17/12; CNN 12/6/12; Change.org Petition

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In light of the massacre in Newton, Connecticut last Friday, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has announced that, on the first day the new Congress convenes in January, she will propose new legislation to restrict assault weapons access.

On “Meet the Press” yesterday, Feinstein explained that she will propose a bill in the Senate that would restrict the sale, importation, and possession of assault weapons and limit the maximum number of bullets allowed in a magazine. A companion bill will also be introduced in the House. “I can tell you that [Obama] is going to have a bill to lead on because it’s a first-day bill I’m going to introduce in the Senate and the same bill is going to be introduced in the House. A bill to ban assault weapons. It will ban the sale, the importation, and the possession – not retroactively but perspectively [sic]. And it will ban the same of big clips, drums, or strips of big bullets,” she said

Feinstein is not the only Senator who will be tackling gun control. Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) hasannounced that he will introduce legislation to ban the sale of high-capacity magazines. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), a lifelong National Rifle Association member, told MSNBC, “Anybody that’s a proud gun owner, a proud member of the NRA, they’re also proud parents, they’re proud grandparents. They understand this has changed where we go from her. …I don’t know anyone in the sporting or hunting arena that goes out with an assault rifle, I don’t know anybody who needs 30 rounds in a clip to go hunting.”

Media Resources: Huffington Post 12/17/12; NBC 12/17/12; Washington Post 12/17/12; Think Progress 12/16/12

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In his segment on Fox News on Saturday, former Governor Mike Huckabee blamed the elementary school shooting in Newton, Connecticut on America’s systematic rejection of religion as evidenced by “tax-funded abortion pills.”

Huckabee back-tracked on comments he made Friday when he linked a lack of religion in schools to the massacre earlier that day. After stating that bloggers “jumped to the conclusion that I said if we had prayer in school the shooting wouldn’t have happened,” he insisted “I said nothing of the sort.” He continued “It’s far more than just taking prayer and Bible reading out of schools.”

Huckabee then cited contraception coverage and LGBT individuals as evidence of his theory that the rejection of religion leads to tragedies such as Newton. “Christian-owned businesses are told to surrender their values under the edict of government orders to provide tax-funded abortion pills,” he said, “We carefully and intentionally stop saying things are sinful and we call them disorders. Sometimes, we even say they’re normal. And to get to where we have to abandon bed rock moral truths, then we ask ‘well, where was God?’ And I respond that, as I see it, we’ve escorted him out of our culture and marched him off the public square and then we express our surprise that a culture without [God] reflects what it’s become.” Watch the video here.

Media Resources: ThinkProgress 12/17/12; Raw Story 12/16/12; Fox News 12/15/12
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In a conference call on Tuesday to Latino leaders, President Obama announced that after reaching a settlement with Congress about the fiscal cliff, the White House will devote itself to reforming America’s immigration policy. One participant in the call, Brent Wilkes of the League of United Latin American Citizens comments that while Obama’s first term focused on general changes, “Now that he’s free from having to run again, he’s going to be worried about trying to do things like immigration reform that he really believes in.”

According to Politico, aides of the Obama Administration are already laying the groundwork for a campaign-esque initiative to pass massive immigration reform in 2013.

Congressional leaders have also begun to talk about immigration reform. The “Gang of Eight,” a group of lawmakers that are key to the immigration debate and includes Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Lindsay Graham (R-SC), has started meeting and hopes to propose legislation by March.

The most contentious battle over reform will be over the question of citizenship eligibility for 11 million people who are currently in the United States illegally. Many progressive lawmakers favor creating an opportunity for those who have been in the country long term to become citizens, however many conservatives feel that this goes too far.

Media Resources: USA Today 12/14/12; Politico 12/13/12; Wall Street Journal 12/13/12

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