Author: Feminist Newswire

Arguments began yesterday over a 1995 Illinois state law requiring anyone 17 years or younger to notify a parent before seeking an abortion. The 17 year old law has yet to be enforced because of a string of multiple lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the law.

Medical professionals who are represented by the ACLU are challenging the law by arguing that it violates Illinois’ constitutional right to be free from gender discrimination and that the law is an invasion of privacy. The state defense supporting the bill argued that according to Illinois legal precedent there is not enough evidence to support a new legal case.

Lorie Chaiten, one of the ACLU lawyers challenging the law, told the Supreme Court that through the parental notification law “The state imposes harmful restrictions on those who seek abortions that it does not impose on those who choose to carry their pregnancies to term.” Chaiten told reporters after the hearing “If the state can come up with a justification for putting young women in harm’s way as this law does, then let them try to do so…But don’t just simply say, ‘That U.S. Supreme Court case from 1981 answers the question,’ because it doesn’t for us.”

Media Resources: Huffington Post 9/20/12; RH Reality Check 9/20/12; San-Francisco Gate 9/20/12

Proscovia Alengot Oromait has been elected to the Ugandan Parliament at age 19. She is the youngest politician elected in not only Uganda, but all of Africa.

According to Buzzfeed, Alengot Oromait won in a landslide, receiving twice as many votes as her runner up. The teenager decided to run for Parliament to fill her father’s position after his death in July.

Some have questioned whether she will be able to fill the role due to her age. Alengot Oromait responded to concerns in a local TV network interviews, “It does not matter. It’s not age that works, it’s the brain and the knowledge that one has.”

Alengot Oromait has pledged that in Parliament she will work to improve roads in the country and education.

Media Resources: Buzzfeed 9/19/12; Standard Digital 9/19/12

Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi received the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor bestowed by Congress, yesterday in ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was joined by House and Senate leaders alongside Buddhist monks and women in traditional Burmese dress in presenting the award. Suu Kyi met with President Obama afterwards in the White House.

Suu Kyi told the press that it was “one of the most moving days of my life.”

Suu Kyi is a human rights activist who has championed for democracy in Myanmar for decades. In 1991, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts, and formally accepted the award earlier this year. She was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2008, but was still under house arrest.

Between 1989 and 2010, Suu Kyi spent fifteen years under house arrest as a result of her non-violent struggle against the military junta in Myanmar. Suu Kyi’s victory in the election this year opened the possibility that the National League for Democracy party could take control of Myanmar’s government in the 2015 election, though the military continues to exert great influence over Myanmar’s government. The National League for Democracy party has not won an election since 1990, when the results were annulled by the army-junta that was in power at the time.

Aung San Suu Kyi and her heroic efforts were featured in the Winter 2012 issue of Ms. Magazine. You can read an excerpt online at MsMagazine.com .

Media Resources: Washington Post 9/19/12; Feminist Newswire 6/18/12; Ms. Magazine 2012

Chick-Fil-A has agreed to stop funding of anti-LGBT organizations such as Focus on the Family and the National Organization for Marriage according to a statement issued Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, the Illinois-based LGBT advocacy group The Civil Rights Agenda (TCRA) had announced that Chicago Alderman Joe Moreno had received a letter from the organization that funding to anti-LGBT group would cease. Earlier this year, Moreno took the Chick-Fil-A controversy to a new level when he refused to allow a Chick-Fil-A franchise to open in his district because of its anti-LGBT funding.

According to the Associated Press, Chick-Fil-A issued a statement in response to TCRA that the fast-food chain’s non-profit branch and decided “to leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena.”

Media Resources: Associated Press 9/19/12; Los Angeles Times 9/19/12

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court decided on Tuesday that if voting IDs will not be readily available in time for the November 2012 election, the state’s new voter ID law cannot go into effect. The law, enacted in March, requires that every person must have a Department of Transportation (PennDOT) photo ID in order to vote in Pennsylvania. However, under the law, the state of Pennsylvania is supposed to provide alternative voter ID cards free of charge.

The court questioned whether voter ID’s are being provided in accordance with the law’s own mandates requiring easier guidelines for getting an ID. In the decision [PDF], the Pennsylvania Supreme Court stated, “…as implementation of the Law has proceeded, PennDOT – apparently for good reason – has refused to allow such liberal access. Instead, the Department continues to vet applicants for Section 1510(b) cards through an identification process that Commonwealth officials appear to acknowledge is a rigorous one….The Department of State has realized, and the Commonwealth parties have candidly conceded, that the Law is not being implemented according to its terms.”

Tuesday’s state supreme court decision returns the case to the state’s lower Commonwealth Court to assess the extent that PennDOT voter ID’s are readily available. Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson refused to grant an injunction that would have stopped the new voter ID law from going into effect in August.

The decision also stated, “If the Commonwealth Court is not still convinced in its predictive judgment that there will be no voter disenfranchisement arising out of the Commonwealth’s implementation of a voter identification requirement for purposes of the upcoming election, that court is obliged to enter a preliminary injunction.”

Media Resources: Pennsylvania Supreme Court 9/18/12; ThinkProgress 9/18/12; Feminist Newswire 8/15/12

On Tuesday, the Chicago Teacher Union voted to end their week and a half long strike and return to the classroom Wednesday morning. For the first time since 1987, Chicago’s public school teachers went on strike on September 10th.

A vast majority of the teacher’s unions’ 800 delegates voted to end the strike and return to work after considering the latest contract between the union and Chicago Public Schools. Karen Lewis, the president of the teacher’s union, stated “We said that it was time – that we couldn’t solve all the problems of the world with one contract, and that it was time to suspend the strike.”

Before accepting the contract, it must be voted on the by union’s entire membership of 26,000 teachers. It will take weeks before final voting results are available, however, Lewis is optimistic that the contract will pass.

Media Resources: New York Times 9/18/12; Feminist Newswire 9/10/12

A new poll released today by NBC/Wall Street Journal shows that female voters nationally favor President Obama by ten points.

While the poll (see PDF) showed that President Obama was ahead of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney by five points overall, the gender gap between the two candidates increased to ten points. In individual states the difference was even higher. In Florida and Virginia, women voters favored President Obama over Governor Romney by 14 points. Ohio women voters favored President Obama by 16 points.

According to the poll 21, percent of voters overall were concerned about Governor Romney’s positions on abortion, contraception, and gay marriage compared to 13 percent who were concerned about President Obama’s positions.

The poll surveyed 900 registered voters by phone from September 12-16 and has a margin of error of 3 percent. Of the 900 surveyed, the poll indicated that 736 were likely voters.

Media Resources: NBC/Wall Street Journal 9/19/12; Rachel Maddow Show 9/19/12

In Iowa, Judge Mary Pat Gunderson issued a temporary injunction on Friday to stay the implementation of the swing state’s new voter suppression rules. The rules, which included regulations to verify citizenship, were pushed through by Secretary of State Matt Schultz and passed earlier this summer through an emergency rulemaking process.

Gunderson’s ruling does not directly address the merits of the new voter rules, but in her decision the judge said the rules “have in fact created confusion and mistrust in the voter registration process,” and “have created fear that new citizens will lose their right to vote and/or be charged with a felony and caused some qualified voters to feel deterred from even registering to vote.” The Judge’s ruling blocks the Secretary of State from moving forward in investigating the citizenship status of more than 3,500 voters.

“The court concludes the harm that granting the termporary injunction may prevent outweighs the harm that may result from denying it,” Gunderson wrote in her 12-page ruling.

The legal complaint against the rules was filed in August by the American Civil Liberties Union and the League of United Latin American Citizens of Iowa.

Rita Bettis, ACLU of Iowa staff attorney on the case, said in a statement: “We believe that every qualified, eligible Iowan should be free to exercise their most profound right of citizenship, the right to vote. This decision ensures that those rights will be protected while our case is proceeding, and that no Iowan, regardless of their Latino heritage, regardless of their status as new U.S. citizens, will have to wonder what it will cost them to vote this coming election.”

Media Resources: ACLU Statement 9/15/12; Chicago Tribune 9/14/12; Reuters 9/14/12; DesMoinesRegister.com 9/14/12

Judge Juan B Colas of Dane County Circuit Court ruled late Friday on a 2011 anti-public-employee-union Wisconsin law, ruling most of it unconstitutional. The law was pushed through by Republican Governor Scott Walker. Known as Act 10, the law severely restricted union rights for public workers, nullifying most of the protections contained in Wisconsin’s fifty-year-old public employee collective bargaining law. Tens of thousands of municipal and school district employees will now regain their collective bargaining rights.

Wisconsin State AFL-CIO President Phil Neuenfeldt stated: “As we have said from day one, Scott Walker’s attempt to silence the union men and women of Wisconsin’s public sector was an immoral, unjust and illegal power grab,” according to the Nation.

“This is a victory for women. Some 70% of public workers are women. Governor Walker tried to divide the public workers unions by taking away union rights for teachers, social workers, and nurses — most of whom are women — while keeping rights for fire fighters and police officers — many of whom are men. But it didn’t work…all public workers unions united against this outrageous act,” said Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority Foundation.

Although this is a victory for unions, labor rights activists, and Wisconsinites, this year and a half long fight is not over yet. Walker released a statement immediately following the ruling, saying the state would appeal. Walker called the judge a “liberal activist” who was taking away “the lawmaking responsibilities of the Legislature and the governor.” The New York Times spoke to Andrew Coan, an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School, said that “it is well within the scope of a trail judge’s authority to issue an order declaring a state law unconstitutional.” The state will probably seek a stay in an attempt to delay the judge’s ruling from taking effect during the appeal process.

Media Resources: The Nation 9/14/12; Chicago Tribune 9/14/12; New York Times 9/14/12

A Cook County Circuit Court judge has prevented an attempt by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Public Schools to forcibly end the teachers’ strike by refusing to schedule a hearing for today.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Public Schools filed a suit against the Chicago Teacher’s Union for their continued strike after Sunday negotiations did not come to a resolution. Chicago Public Schools claims that the strike is a threat against the “public health and safety” of Chicago students and violates a state law that says strikes can only be for wages and benefits.

Chicago Public Schools were expecting to have to a hearing today awarding a temporary restraining order against the strike, forcing teachers to go back to work. Judge Peter Flynn, who made the decision, said he would consider having a hearing on Wednesday, but wondered if it would still be necessary by then.

Over 25,000 teachers went on strike last Monday after negotiations failed to result in an acceptable compromise. Karen Lewis, President of the Chicago Teachers Union, said that negotiations on wages were not the main points of contention, but that health benefits and a new teacher evaluation system caused most of the disagreement. According to Lewis, the new evaluation system, which emphasizes standardized test scores, “could result in almost 6,000 teachers – or nearly 30 percent of our membership – being discharged within one or two years. This is unacceptable and leads to instability for our students.”

Media Resources: Chicago Tribune 9/17/12; Reuters 9/17/12; Feminist Newswire 9/10/12

Craft store and evangelical-based Hobby Lobby filed a federal lawsuit on Wednesday against the Obama Administration over the mandate requiring employers to provide coverage for the morning-after pill and other medications.

Under the new mandate, companies who do not provide coverage that includes medication such as the morning after pill can face fines of up to $1.3 million daily. According to Hobby Lobby CEO David Green, “By being required to make a choice between sacrificing our faith or paying millions of dollars in fines, we essentially must choose which poison pill to swallow – We simply cannot abandon our religious beliefs to comply with this mandate.”

Hobby Lobby is the first organization to file suit against the mandate that is not a Catholic-founded institution. Earlier this year, Hercules Industries Inc. was awarded a temporary injunction from having to pay penalties for not providing contraceptive coverage under the birth control mandate.

Media Resources: Huffington Post 9/12/12; Feminist Newswire 7/30/12

The Missouri state legislature voted to override Governor Jay Nixon’s veto of a law that would exempt religious institutions from providing contraception coverage to employees yesterday. In addition the legislature gave a public rebuttal to the Obama Administration for the Affordable Care Act, the first in the nation. The veto override and rebuttal came as the result of a vote of 109-45, the minimum needed to pass.

Under the Affordable Care act, contraceptive coverage must be provided to employees with no co-pay. Many religious institutions have filed lawsuits asking for injunctions against the birth control mandate. According to Businessweek, Missouri is one of 21 states who already have some type of exemption from covering contraception for religious institutions in their state laws.

Following the decision, Governor Nixon stated “By their act today, the legislators who voted to override this veto are standing between women and their right to make their own personal decisions about birth control.” The law originally passed in May 2012, and was vetoed by Nixon in July.

Media Resources: Businessweek 9/12/12; Thinkprogress 9/12/12; Feminist Newswire 5/22/12

One million young minority voters could be affected by new voter suppression laws enacted in 17 states, according to a study released by the Black Youth Project.

The study [PDF], co-authored by Cathy Cohen and Jon Rogowski from the University of Chicago and Washington University in St. Louis respectively, found that an estimated 700,000 minority voters under the age of 30 will be disenfranchised in the November 2012 election due to the implementation of voter ID laws in multiple states. According to Cohen and Rogowski, 700,000 is a conservative estimate – the number of voters affected will likely be closer to one million.

Cohen and Rogowski believe that voter ID laws are likely to decrease voter turnout of young minority voters, who were a key voting bloc in the 2008 election, according to the Huffington Post. In addition, the authors reported that numerous studies have found that minority voters do not carry photo identification as much as their white counterparts, thus preventing those who would go to the polls from being able to present acceptable ID.

Voter suppression measures, such as laws requiring presenting specific types of photo id at the polls, have been passed in key swing states including Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

Media Resources: Huffington Post 9/12/12; Black Youth Project 9/10/12; Feminist Newswire 9/10/12; 8/31/12; 8/15/12

Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler announced today that the Colorado Personhood Coalition has missed the Monday deadline for ballot certification for the “Personhood” Amendment to appear on the November 2012 ballot. On August 29, Gessler determined that the amendment did not have enough valid signatures to qualify for the November 2012 election.

While the proponents of the amendment were allowed 30 days to file an appeal of the signature decision, Gessler said it is now too late to get the measure on the ballot for this election cycle. Should ruling on the signatures be overturned by the courts, the “Personhood” Amendment would have to to wait until the 2014 election.

Media Resources: Denver Post 9/12/12; Feminist Newswire 8/29/12

Televagelist and host of The 700 Club Pat Robertson told viewers Monday to become Muslim so they can beat their disrespectful wives.

In response to a question sent into the program by a man who feels his wife does not respect him, Pat Robertson advised viewers “Well, you could become a Muslim and you could beat her.” Robertson continued by saying “I don’t think we condone wife-beating these days but something has got to be done to make her [respect you].”

According to Right Wing Watch, the Christian Broadcasting Network edited the show to remove the clip before posting the show on their website, but not before the show aired.

Media Resources: Huffington Post 9/11/12; Right Wing Watch 9/10/12

On Monday, President Obama set the record for most women judges appointed to the federal bench in one term when Stephanie Rose was confirmed on a 89 to 1 Senate vote as a new U.S. District Court Judge in Southern District of Iowa. Obama has now appointed 72 women to federal judgeships. This is the same number of women judges appointed to the federal bench during George W. Bush’s entire presidency. Notably, Rose will be the first woman judge in the District Court of the Southern District of Iowa.

In addition, President Obama has appointed numerous minority judges to federal bench. Thus far, he has appointed 29 minority women, 22 African-Americans, and three openly gay judges to the federal bench, surpassing former President Bush in every category.

Two of President Obama’s appointments include Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, who are both now justices on the United States Supreme Court. Sotomayor is the 111th justice, the third woman, and first Hispanic to serve on the Supreme Court. Kagan is the fourth woman to serve on the Supreme Court. Her swearing-in marked the first time in US history during which three women have served simultaneously on the Supreme Court.

Media Resources: DesMoines Register 9/10/12; Huffington Post 9/10/12; Feminist Newswire 8/9/10, Feminist Newswire 8/7/9

A panel of judges on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit appeals court ruled yesterday that a woman cannot be prosecuted under an Idaho state law for taking medication to induce an abortion.

In September 2011, Jennie Linn McCormack used medication she had purchased from the internet to abort her own pregnancy. In doing so, she allegedly violated a state law requiring that all abortions be performed in a hospital or medical center and that banned the use of medication to induce an abortion. Originally the case was dismissed because the court believed there was no way to enforce the law. McCormack then appealed the decision to challenge the law itself.

The court determined [PDF] that the law is unconstitutional because it places the burden of the law on a woman seeking an abortion, not on the physician. Judge Harry Pregerson stated in his opinion “There can be no doubt that requiring women to explore the intricacies of state abortion statutes to ensure that they and their provider act within the Idaho abortion statute framework, results in an ‘undue burden’ on a woman seeking an abortion of a nonviable fetus.”

The law can still be enforced, however, despite the ruling. Until the law is struck down, women can legally be prosecuted, however this case sets precedent for dismissal.

Media Resources: Huffington Post 9/11/12; U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit 9/11/12

Representative Joe Walsh (R-IL) told contraception advocate and Georgetown Law student Sandra Fluke to “go get a job” at a campaign event on Saturday.

Congressman Walsh addressed a crowd of supporters in Addison, Illinois, on Saturday about Sandra Fluke’s speech at the Democratic National Convention. He said “Think about this, a 30, 31, 32 year old law student who has been a student for life, who gets up there in front of a national audience and tells the American people, ‘I want America to pay for my contraceptives.’ You’re kidding me. Go get a job. Go get a job Sandra Fluke. This is what – I was offended.”

Earlier this year, Fluke spoke out on the importance of the Obama Administration’s rule to ensure that students attending Catholic institutions have access to contraceptive coverage under the preventive care package of the Affordable Care Act. Conservative radio show host Rush Limbaugh attacked Fluke on his radio show, calling her a “slut.”

Walsh is currently running against Democratic candidate Tammy Duckworth, a wounded Iraq War veteran who lost both of her legs during a helicopter crash while serving.

Media Resources: Think Progress 9/10/12; Huffington Post 9/8/12; Feminist Newswire 9/6/12

The first academic study since the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” found that troops have suffered no negative side effects.

The study included interviews with anti-repeal advocates, 13 generals and admirals who were against the repeal, and 60 active duty soldiers from every branch of the military of all sexual orientations. The study was conducted by the Palm Center, a research division of the Williams Institute at University of California Los Angeles Law School.

The Palm Center found that in many situations the repeal of DADT helped foster an atmosphere of trust and helped troops in terms of cohesion. One soldier confided to the Palm Center “frank discussions, which are now far less risky because of repeal, helped disabuse them of preconceived notions about gay people and that ultimately, problems were ‘completely resolved’ through discussion of the fact that he was respected before he was out, and that nothing had changed by his acknowledgement of his sexual orientation.”

For nearly two decades, the policy forced lesbian, gay, and bisexual service people to keep their sexual orientation a secret or face possible expulsion from the military. DADT was instituted by former President Bill Clinton in 1993 and prohibited 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. DADT was repealed on September 20th, 2011.

Media Resources: Huffington Post 9/10/12, Palm Center 9/10/12; Feminist Newswire 9/20/11

Last week the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) reached a $295,000 settlement in a sex discrimination suit with Lund Boat Co., a subsidiary of Brunswick Corporation. In the past two years, the Brunswick Corporation has been awarded $248 million in federal contracts.

OFCCP found that Lund Boat Co. had passed over 185 qualified female applicants for entry level positions based on gender alone.

The settlement requires that Lund Boat Co. pays $295,000 in back wages and interest to 185 women who were denied jobs at Lund in 2006 and 2007. In addition, Lund must hire at least 27 of the 185 women originally denied and report to the OFCCP for the next two years.

Media Resources: Chicago Tribune 9/4/12; OFCCP News Release 9/4/12