Author: Feminist Newswire

For the first time since 1987, Chicago’s public school teachers went to picket lines this morning instead of classrooms.

25,000 public school teachers went on strike after contract negotiations Sunday night failed to reach a 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.”

Chicago Public Schools has instituted a contingency plan for the strike which opens 144 schools for half days, but without teacher instruction. Instead, students will have supervised activities and meals. It is uncertain how long the teachers union is prepared to strike or how long the Board of Education can last without its teachers. The 1987 teacher strike in Chicago lasted 19 days.

Gloria Steinem, feminist activist and co-founder of Ms. Magazine, released a statement in solidarity with the teachers union. She said, “Tonight, I proudly wear a red t-shirt in support of the Chicago Teachers Union strike. As an 87% female workforce, and one that is nearly half African American and Latino, the Chicago Teachers Union know what their students need. This is why this country needs unions, collective bargaining, and mayors who recognize, honor and fairly pay the people our children know – and who know our children.”

Media Resources: CBS News 9/10/12; New York Times 9/10/12; Women’s Media Center 9/9/12

President Obama’s approval rating increased from 47 percent to 52 percent during the Democratic National Convention last week, according to a recent Gallup Daily Poll.

The Gallup Poll was conducted using daily phone interviews with 1,500 adults with a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points.

This is the highest President Obama’s approval rating has been since May 2011 following the death of Osama bin Laden. According to the Huffington Post, President Obama leads Governor Mitt Romney in presidential vote preference by three points (48% to 45%). Many political polls identify the increase in approval after the party convention as the “convention bump.” However, poll data from earlier this year indicates that President Obama has a 15 point advantage among women voters over Mitt Romney.
Media Resources: Gallup Politics 9/7/12; Huffington Post 9/7/12; Feminist Newswire 8/21/12

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine will appeal a federal court decision granting early-voting in the state. Last week, a federal judge ruled that Ohio must reinstate early voting during the three-days before the election, a schedule that had previously been eliminated by Secretary of State, Jon Husted.

The court ruled that the elimination of early voting in the state of Ohio was “arbitrary” in that the ruling only applied to non-military personnel and would disproportionately affect minority and low income voters. Husted intended to ignore the court ruling but was called into court for contempt and has since complied with the ruling. Within hours, Attorney General Mike DeWine announced he would appeal the court’s decision.

This news comes after victories in Florida and Texas to eliminate voter suppression measures.

Media Resources: Melissa Harris-Perry 9/9/12; Huffington Post 8/31/12; Talking Points Memo 8/31/12; Feminist Newswire 8/31/12

Bishop Robert Finn was found guilty on one misdemeanor count of failing to report suspected child abuse Thursday in Kansas City, Missouri. Bishop Finn is the highest ranking U.S. Catholic official convicted in a sex abuse scandal.

Bishop Finn was sentenced to two years of court-supervised probation. A condition of Finn’s probation is that he ensures officials in his diocese are trained to recognize and report suspected abuse. Another misdemeanor charge against Finn was dismissed by the judge.

Finn’s conviction comes from a case reported in 2011 of a priest at St. Patrick’s Catholic School in Kansas City who had hundreds of child pornography photographs on his computer and young girls’ underwear hidden in a planter in his backyard. Bishop Finn confronted the priest about his “boundary issues” but did not report any abuse to the authorities.

The Outreach Director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, Barbara Dorris is concerned that the sentence is not sufficient repercussion for the cover up. Dorris commented “Only jail time would have made a real difference here and deterred future horrific cover-ups, anything less will not produce any meaningful reform…The Catholic hierarchy is notoriously secretive. When they backslide again it will be hard to catch them, everyone involved must be hyper vigilant if kids are truly to be safe.”

Media Resources: Sources: American Free Press 9/6/12; New York Times 9/6/12

Zach Wahl, a marriage-equality advocate made famous by his speech delivered at a hearing in Iowa about being raised by a lesbian couple, endorsed President Obama last night at the Democratic National Convention because of the party’s position on same-sex marriage.

In his speech, Wahl attacked opponents of same-sex marriage. “I think every child deserves a family as loving and committed as mine. Because the sense of family comes from the commitment we make to each other to work through the hard times so we can enjoy the good ones. It comes from the love that binds us; that’s what makes a family…. My family is just as real as yours.”

Last week, the Republican Party officially adopted their 2012 party platform supporting marriage defined as one man and one woman. On Tuesday, the Democratic Party adopted their official 2012 platform, which includes a plank supporting marriage equality.

Media Resources: National Journal 9/6/12; Feminist Newswire 9/4/12, 8/30/12

On Tuesday, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan was asked by reporters if she could balance her role as a mother and running for governor in 2014, despite the fact that Madigan has not confirmed she will run.

Madigan shut down reporters’ questions about her intentions in running as governor in the 2014 mid-term election, stating that she was at the Democratic National Convention solely to support President Barack Obama. Reporters pressed the issue and asked if she believed she could balance being governor and raising her two young children.

“Wow. Does anybody ever ask that question?” Madigan replied. “I’m very lucky to have the support of my family. My husband helps take care of our kids. But, I think more people should ask that of men running for office as well.”

Reporters continued to question her ability to balance both, citing that the position of governor was more demanding than her position as Attorney General. Madigan stated “All of these jobs are very demanding. And people who, unfortunately, have to work three jobs and don’t necessarily have health-care coverage – they’re even in a worse situation. So nobody needs to give any pity on what elected officials have to endure.”

Media Resources: RH Reality Check 9/6/12; Chicago Sun Times 9/4/12

President Barack Obama officially accepted the Democratic Part’s nomination for re-election last night in Charlotte, North Carolina.

In accepting the nomination, the President stated “If you give up on the idea that your voice can make a difference, then other voices will fill the void: lobbyists and special interests; the people with the $10 million checks who are trying to buy this election and those who are making it harder for you to vote; Washington politicians who want to decide who you can marry, or control health care choices that women should make for themselves.”

Earlier this week Lilly Ledbetter, Michelle Obama and Sandra Fluke spoke on the possible effects the November 2012 election will have on equal pay, education, and abortion access. The Democratic Party also officially adopted their 2012 platform that supports abortion access, the Equal Rights Amendment, and same-sex marriage, among other planks.

Media Resources: Huffington Post 9/6/12; Feminist Newswire 9/6/12, 9/5/12, 9/4/12

United States District Judge Susan R. Bolton, a federal judge, denied a request Wednesday to block the “show me your papers” provision in Arizona’s immigration law. The Arizona law allows law enforcement officials in the state to request proof of legal immigration, residency, or citizenship of anyone they suspect might be an illegal immigrant.

Her ruling is in accordance with the U.S Supreme Court decision in June 2012 that upheld the requirement that police must check the papers of anyone suspected to be undocumented.

In 2010, US District Judge Susan Bolton ruled against multiple sections of the Arizona law, including the requirement that police check the immigration status of criminal suspects that they had stopped while enforcing other laws and a provision that would make it a crime not to carry immigration papers.

Bolton’s latest action concerned immigration reform activists. Alessandra Soler, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona said in a statement, “Once this ‘show me your papers’ provision goes into effect, racial profiling will become rampant statewide…and we intend to ramp up our reporting and litigation efforts to seek justice on behalf of the victims of police abuse.”

Media Resources: CNN 9/6/12, Feminist Newswire 6/25/12, 7/29/10, 5/18/10

Sandra Fluke, the Georgetown Law School student Republicans refused to allow to testify at a House Committee hearing on the religious exemption on contraception coverage and women’s health, addressed the Democratic National Convention last night in Charlotte, North Carolina. Fluke spoke about how the outcome of November Election could impact women’s rights.

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.”

Last night, Sandra Fluke pointed out that she was silenced just as many other women are silenced every day. She stated, “Because it happened in Congress, people noticed. But it happens all the time. Many women are shut out and silenced. So while I’m honored to be standing at this podium, it easily could have been any one of you. I’m here because I spoke out, and this November, each of us must do the same.”

In endorsing the Obama Administrations’ policies on women’s health, Fluke said “We’d have the right to choose. It’s an America in which no one can charge us more than men for the exact same health insurance; in which no one can deny us affordable access to the cancer screenings that could save our lives; in which we decide when to start our families.”

Fluke spoke of the sharp contrast presented by Republican policies on women’s health as she described “An America in which you have a new vice president who co-sponsored a bill that would allow pregnant women to die preventable deaths in our emergency rooms. An America in which states humiliate women by forcing us to endure invasive ultrasounds we don’t want and our doctors say we don’t need. An America in which access to birth control is controlled by people who will never use it; in which politicians redefine rape so survivors are victimized all over again; in which someone decides which domestic violence victims deserve help, and which don’t.”

Media Resources: Washington Post 9/5/12; Feminist Newswire 8/13/12, 3/1/12, 2/2/12

The 10,000 person cap for the U Visa, a visa for immigrants designed to give victims of physical or mental abuse temporary legal status and work eligibility for four years, has been reached this year. This is the third consecutive year the visa has reached its cap, and never has the cap been reached this soon. Visas will not begin to be issued again until the new fiscal year begins on October 1, which poses a serious problem for those who will not speak out against their attacker until they can obtain the visa.

The visa provides protection to immigrants who are victims of domestic violence and sexual assaults: women who are abused by their husbands can go to the police without fear of their legal status and the threat of being deported. This also ensures that those who are committing the crimes are reported.

In May, the Senate was successful in passing a new Violence Against Women Act that would raise the U visa annual quota from 10,000 to 15,000. The bill also offered protection for gay, bisexual, or transgender immigrant victims. However, the version of VAWA that the House pushed through does not raise the cap, does not offer new protections, and eliminates the opportunity for U visa holders to gain permanent residency after three years.

Media Resources: New York Times 9/3/12; Bradenton Herald 8/24/12

The Chicago Police Department adopted a new policy for respectfully handling transgender suspects on August 22nd of this year. The changes have been supported by multiple transgender-rights organizations, and were not formally announced by the police department.

The new policy prohibits an officer from searching a person to determine their gender and requires that transgender individuals be detained alone when space is available instead of in a collective holding cell. It also requires that transgender detainees have access to hormones they are currently using and prohibits syringes used for hormone therapy to be used as evidence of a crime.

Some transgender advocacy organizations are hesitant to celebrate the new policy because responsibility for enforcement lies with the police department and relies heavily on government issued identification.

Media Resources: Human Rights Campaign 9/4/12; Windy City Times 9/4/12

Michelle Obama spoke on key women’s issues including health care reform, financial aid, same-sex marriage, equal pay,and abortion in her address at the Democratic National Convention last night.

While speaking from her childhood experiences, Michelle Obama voiced her full support for the Affordable Care Act and continued heath care reform, as well as funding for Pell Grants and financial aid for students.

She continued her speech by affirming that “…women are more than capable of making our own choices about our bodies and our health care…”

In conclusion, Michelle Obama stated “If farmers and blacksmiths could win independence from an empire…if immigrants could leave behind everything they knew for a better life on our shores…if women could be dragged to jail for seeking the vote…if a generation could defeat a depression, and define greatness for all time…if a young preacher could lift us to the mountaintop with his righteous dream…and if proud Americans can be who they are and boldly stand at the altar with who they love…then surely, surely we can give everyone in this country a fair chance at that great American Dream.”

Media Resources: Politico 9/4/12

Lilly Ledbetter, who initiated one of the largest legal battles for equal pay for equal work, addressed the opening night of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, Tuesday evening.

Ledbetter shared with the convention her decade-long struggle to get compensation from Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., who paid her less than her male counterparts because she was a woman. Her legal battles culminated in a Supreme Court decision in favor of Goodyear that denied Ledbetter equal pay. However, in 2009, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was signed into law and helps not only women, but all workers who are victims of wage discrimination on the basis of sex, race, color, religion, national origin, age, or disability. Another equal pay measure, the Paycheck Fairness Act, was filibustered in the Senate in June, 2012.

Speaking to the convention, Ledbetter stated “Maybe 23 cents doesn’t sound like a lot to someone with a Swiss bank account, Cayman Island Investments and an IRA worth tens of millions of dollars… When we lose 23 cents every hour, every day, every paycheck, every job, over our entire lives, what we lose can’t just be measured in dollars.”

She concluded her speech by stating “But this fight became bigger than Lilly Ledbetter. Today, it’s about my daughter. It’s about my granddaughter. It’s about women and men. It’s about families. It’s about equality and justice. This cause, which bears my name, is bigger than me. It’s as big as all of you. This fight, which began as my own, is now our fight-a fight for the fundamental American values that make our country great.”

Media Resources: Politico 9/4/12; Feminist Newswire 6/5/12, 1/29/09

The Democratic National Convention began this morning by releasing Democratic 2012 Party Platform, which seeks to protect abortion access, ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, defend Obamacare, support immigration reform and legalize same-sex marriage among other positions.

On abortion – “Abortion is an intensely personal decision between a woman, her family, her doctor and her clergy; there is no place for politicians or government to get in the way.”

On the Equal Rights Amendment and women’s rights – “We are committed to ensuring full equality for women: we reaffirm our support for the Equal Rights Amendment, recommit to enforcing Title IX, support the Paycheck Fairness Act, and will urge ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.”

On health care – “Democrats will continue to fight for a strong health care workforce with an emphasis on primary care. We remain committed to eliminating disparities in health and will continue to make sure families have access to mental health and substance abuse services. We will strengthen Medicaid and oppose efforts to block grant the program, slash its funding, and leave millions more without health insurance.”

On immigration reform – “Democrats are strongly committed to enacting comprehensive immigration reform that supports our economic goals and reflects our values as both a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants.”

On same-sex marriage – “We support the right of all families to have equal respect, responsibilities, and protections under the law. We support marriage equality and support the movement to secure equal treatment under law for same-sex couples.”

Last week the Republican Party approved their 2012 platform which seeks to ban abortion and same-sex marriage, turn Medicare into a voucher system, eliminate affirmative action, and increase voter suppression efforts.

Media Resources: San Francisco Gate 9/3/12; Democratic 2012 Platform 9/3/12; Feminist Newswire 8/30/12

Congressman Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) entered the rape exception debate when speaking at a town hall on Thursday. When asked about abortion in cases of rape, Bartlett responded that there are so few pregnancies from rape that an exception would not be an issue. Congressman Bartlett is currently in a tight race to win re-election against Democrat John Delaney and Libertarian Nickolaus Mueller.

When asked specifically about cases of forcible rape [sic] in which a woman gets pregnant Bartlett replied “If you really – there are very few pregnancies as a result of rape, fortunately, and incest – compared to the usual abortion, what is the percentage of abortions for rape? It is tiny. It is a tiny, tiny percentage.”

Bartlett was challenged by member of the audience who pointed out that 20,000 pregnancies are the product of rape each year. The congressman responded “Yeah, I know, I know. But in terms of the percentage of pregnancies, percentage of abortions for rape as compared to overall abortions, it’s a tiny, tiny percentage.”

Abortion exceptions in case of rape became a topic of national discussion last month following candidate Todd Akin’s claim that “legitimate rape” does not often lead to pregnancy. The Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, Tom Smith, a wealthy business man, also stepped into the rape/abortion controversy when he compared a pregnancy conceived by rape to a pregnancy conceived simply out of wedlock.

Media Resources: ThinkProgress 9/1/12; Buzzfeed 8/31/12; Feminist Newswire 8/28/12, 8/24/12

Mitt Romney officially accepted the Republican Presidential nomination Thursday evening. In his acceptance speech on the final night of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, FL, Romney echoed key points of the Republican platform including planks that support eliminating a woman’s right to choose and banning same sex marriage by defending the “sanctity of life” and honoring “the institution of marriage.” Romney also reaffirmed his commitment to repealing Obamacare, building the military, and promised to cut taxes while increasing government spending

The Romney-Ryan ticket was criticized earlier this month by the radical anti-choice organization Personhood USA for announcing it would support an exception for abortion in cases of rape and incest. However, Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan has an extreme anti-choice background including co-sponsoring a personhood bill at the federal level – the Sanctity of Human Life Act.

Media Resources: New York Times 8/30/12; Feminist Newswire 8/30/12; Feminist Newswire 8/23/12; Newswire 8/13/12

A federal court rejected a Texas voter identification law on Thursday. The three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court decided that the law would unduly prevent minorities from being able to vote. If enacted, the law would have required voters to present one of six state-approved IDs before being able to vote. Voters would be responsible for getting the required ID and all associated paperwork at their own expense.

The court determined that requiring voters to present an ID that meets the law’s stringent guidelines will create a burden that will “fall most heavily on the poor and that a disproportionately high percentage of African-Americans and Hispanics in Texas live in poverty.”

Other voter suppression measures were blocked earlier this week. On Tuesday a federal court blocked a 2006 Ohio law that threw out ballots cast at the wrong precinct, even if they were cast at the correct polling location. On Wednesday, a federal court decided to permanently block strict voter registration laws in Florida.

Voter suppression legislation has recently passed in 19 states, with the legislation being put into law in 17 states. The laws have the potential to disenfranchise up to 5 million people in the U.S. and are specifically designed to target people of color, young people, women, and people living in poverty.

Media Resources: Maddow Blog 8/30/12; MSNBC 8/30/12; U.S. District Court 8/30/12 (via Election Law Blog); ThinkProgress 8/30/12 Feminist Newswire 8/31/12

District Judge Robert Hinkle announced Wednesday that he will granting a motion to permanently block strict voter registration laws that prevent third-party organizations from registering new voters in Florida. Hinkle will be able to officially grant the motion once a federal appeals court dismisses the case. The State of Florida has agreed to drop the appeal they had filed in the federal appeals court.

The voter registration laws in question would have placed harsh restrictions on which organizations could register voters, a 48 hour time frame on submitting registration forms, and fines against organizations and individual volunteers who violated the new guidelines. An injunction in May 2012 temporarily blocked the law.

Other voter suppression measures were blocked this week. On Tuesday a federal court blocked a 2006 Ohio law that threw out ballots cast at the wrong precinct, even if they were cast at the correct polling location. On Thursday, a federal court blocked a law requiring voters to present an approved photo ID before voting in Texas.

Voter suppression legislation has recently passed in 19 states, with the legislation being put into law in 17 states. The laws have the potential to disenfranchise up to 5 million people in the U.S. and are specifically designed to target people of color, young people, women, and people living in poverty.

Media Resources: ThinkProgress 8/30/12; Brennan Center for Justice 8/29/12; U.S. District Court 8/29/12; Talking Points Memo 8/29/12; Feminist Newswire 8/31/12

On Tuesday, the Republican Party approved their 2012 platform, which seeks to undo years of legislation protecting reproductive choice, marriage equality, disability rights, affirmative action, education, immigration reform, and voting rights among others.

The platform takes the following positions:

On abortion – “We assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to unborn children.” Such an amendment would ban all abortion in the United States.

On same-sex marriage – “We reaffirm our support for a Constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman. We applaud the citizens of the majority of States which have enshrined in their constitutions the traditional concept of marriage, and we support the campaigns underway in several other States to do so.”

On women’s and disability rights – “It is all the more important that the Congress…shall reject agreements whose long-range impact on the American family is ominous or unclear. These include the U.N. Convention on Women’s Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty…”

On affirmative action – “…we reject preferences, quotas, and set-asides as the best or sole methods through which fairness can be achieved, whether in government, education, or corporate boardrooms… Merit, ability, aptitude, and results should be the factors that determine advancement in our society.”

On education – “We support options for learning, including home schooling and local innovations like single-sex classes,… We renew our call for replacing ‘family planning’ programs for teens with abstinence education which teaches abstinence until marriage as the responsible and respected standard of behavior.”

On immigration reform – “Illegal immigration undermines those benefits and affects U.S. workers… we oppose any form of amnesty for those who, by intentionally violating the law, disadvantage those who have obeyed it. State efforts to reduce illegal immigration must be encouraged, not attacked. The pending Department of Justice lawsuits against Arizona, Alabama, South Carolina, and Utah must be dismissed immediately.”

On voter suppression – “For the same reason, we applaud legislation to require photo identification for voting and to prevent election fraud, particularly with regard to registration and absentee ballots. We support State laws that require proof of citizenship at the time of voter registration to protect our electoral system against a significant and growing form of voter fraud.”

Media Resources: GOP Platform 2012 8/28/12; Feminist Newswire 8/21/12

A “personhood” amendment granting rights to a fertilized egg will not appear on the November 2012 Colorado ballot because it failed to gather enough valid signatures. The Colorado Secretary of State announced that the initiative fell short of the 86,105 signatures needed to qualify for the ballot by 3,859 valid signatures, according to local KDVR. Earlier this month, the Colorado Personhood Coalition submitted 112,121 signatures to the secretary of state for verification.

Personhood USA is not backing down and planning to appeal the Secretary of State’s decision. Kelly Mason, a spokesperson for Personhood USA, told the Huffington Post ‘Whole petitions were discarded because of small details, like a notary error…Once those things are counted, we’ll have more than enough.’ The Colorado Personhood Coalition has thirty days to file an appeal and has already found legal representation.

This is the first time Colorado Personhood has failed to get enough valid signatures. The amendment appeared on the Colorado ballot first in 2008 and again in 2010. Both times Colorado voters have defeated the amendment by substantial margins.

A personhood amendment was defeated in 2011 by a wide margin in Mississippi.

Media Resources: Huffington Post 8/29/12; KDVR 8/29/12; Personhood USA 8/29/12; Feminist Newswire 8/7/12, Feminist Newswire 11/3/10; Feminist Newswire 7/11/2008