Author: Feminist Newswire

Senior Cardinal Timothy Dolan will give the benediction at the Democratic National Convention a week after leading prayer at the Republican National Convention.

Cardinal Dolan is the senior Catholic Cardinal in the United States and is also President of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. Earlier this year, documents surfaced showing that Dolan, as then Archbishop of Milwaukee, authorized payments of up to $20,000 to priests who sexually abused children as incentive to leave the ministry. Catholic authorities did not warn the community or notify the police of the potential dangers these individuals posed. He is against the funding of Planned Parenthood by the Susan G. Koman Foundation, and is currently suing President Obama over healthcare reform.

Many LGBT advocacy groups have criticized the invitation of Cardinal Dolan to speak at the convention. A spokesperson for the Human Right Campaign told BuzzFeed ‘While Cardinal Dolan has a respected track record in the ministry, his work to undercut the dignity of LGBT people cannot be overlooked. There are many faith leaders who would be an ideal fit to close out the Democratic National Convention … but Cardinal Timothy Dolan is not that leader.’ Cardinal Dolan actively fought against the legalization of same-sex marriage in New York and has confronted the current administration about not supporting the Defense of Marriage Act.

Media Resources: Sources: Buzzfeed 8/29/12, Archdiocese of New York 8/28/12, Feminist Newswire 8/23/12, Feminist Newswire 6/1/12, Feminist Newswire 3/19/12

Six companies have announced they are separating from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) – General Electric, Western Union, Sprint Nextel, Symantec (creators of Norton anti-virus software), Reckitt Benckiser Group (which makes Lysol), and Entergy (a Louisiana-based power company).

ALEC came under scrutiny for their support of “Stand Your Ground” legislation used in the defense of George Zimmerman in the shooting of Trayvon Martin and voter suppression legislation. Voter suppression bills based on ALEC’s model have been introduced in 34 states. Voter suppression legislation has recently passed in 19 states, with the legislation being 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.

Following a campaign by ColorOfChange.org, over thirty companies have stopped their support of ALEC including Coca Cola, PepsiCo, and McDonalds according to ThinkProgress. ALEC disbanded their “Public Safety and Elections” task force that focused on non-economic legislation as a result of corporate pressure.

Earlier this year, Common Cause filed an IRS claim against the ALEC, claiming that group has lobbied in violation of its 501(c)(3) status as a non-profit, tax-exempt organization. ALEC has denied the claims, saying the group studies legislative ideas and policy.

ALEC is an organization which has been supported by many corporations and is composed of state legislators. ALEC has developed model legislation which aids corporations and has often promoted extreme right-wing legislation. ALEC claims to have about 1,000 of its bills introduced by legislative members every year, with one in every five of them enacted into law.

Media Resources: ThinkProgress 8/27/12, Feminist Newswire 4/26/12; Feminist Newswire 4/18/12; Feminist Newswire 4/5/12

Gender stereotypes are prevalent in many K-12 public coeducational schools with single-sex academic classes and programs across the country according to the ACLU’s “Teach Kids, Not Stereotypes” campaign report released last week. The ACLU’s report looks at self-reported documents by 21 school districts in 15 states.

The ACLU found that multiple public school single-sex classes centered their practices on gendered stereotypes and served to reinforce them. One school cited by the ACLU strove to “ensure that students would experience ‘male-hood and female-hood defined space’ exhibiting characteristics of ‘warrior, protector, and provider’ for boys and giving girls ‘space/time to explore things that young women like [including] writing, applying and doing make-up & hair, art.'”

The report found that many of single-sex programs evaluated violated Title IX requirements. This echoes the findings of a study on single-sex academic classes by the Feminist Majority Foundation in June, 2012. FMF discovered that from 2007 to 2010, over 1,000 public K-12 schools instituted deliberate single-sex classes. Most were single-sex classes in coed public middle and elementary schools. This total of over 1,000 schools is still an insignificant percentage of the some 98,000 K-12 public schools in the USA but reflects a troubling trend in some states since the 1986 Bush Administration Title IX regulations weakening restrictions on sex segregation in public schools.

FMF found:
1. Justifications and specific plans for single-sex education were not based on scientific evidence that sex separation was needed to achieve desired educational outcomes for girls and/or boys.
2. Single sex classes were not equal. Often there were different student/teacher ratios and purposeful use of sex stereotypes to teach girls and boys differently based on false assumptions that they as a group learn differently.
3. Participation in the single-sex classes was not voluntary despite this requirement in the 2006 Title IX regulation. Schools often assigned students to these single-sex classes and some neighborhoods lost their access to coed schools when segregated schools or dual academies were created.
4. Schools with sex segregation did not have rigorous evaluations to determine whether or not single-sex treatment was more effective in increasing achievement than comparable coed classes, even though periodic evaluations are required by the ED 2006 Title IX regulation. (Occasional anecdotal information or reporting of achievement scores was provided, but not comprehensive quality evaluations to document effectiveness of sex segregation).

Media Resources: ACLU 8/20/12, Feminist Newswire 6/26/12

The Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, Tom smith, a wealthy business man, stepped into the rape/abortion controversy. Smith, in commenting on U.S. Representative Todd Akin’s infamous statement about rape and abortion, compared a pregnancy conceived by rape to a pregnancy conceived simply out of wedlock.

When speaking to the Pennsylvania Press Club, Smith remarked that he disapproved of the “legitimate rape” comment by Congressman Todd Akin (R-MO), but agreed with his stance on banning all abortion including in cases of rape. According to the Huffington Post, when asked how he would feel if his daughter conceived by rape Smith stated he ‘lived [through] something similar to that’. ‘She chose life, and I commend her for that,’ he said. ‘She knew my views. But, fortunately for me, I didn’t have to … she chose the way I thought. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t rape.’

When asked to clarify what he meant by a similar situation to rape, Congressman Smith said ‘having a baby out of wedlock.’ When asked explicitly by reporter if it is similar to rape Smith responded ‘No, no, no,…But, well, put yourself in a father’s position. Yes, I mean, it is similar.’

Later that evening, a representative of Smith’s campaign issued a statement ‘Tom was speaking to the difficult decision faced by his family, not the nature of his daughters conception.’

Media Resources: Businessweek 8/28/12; Newsday 8/28/12; Huffington Post 8/27/12; Feminist Newswire 8/24/12

Charlie Crist, the former Florida Republican governor, announced his support for President Barack Obama in an editorial in the Tampa Bay Times Sunday on the eve of the Republican National Convention in Tampa.

Crist, who is now registered independent, applauded President Obama’s actions as president, citing his efforts to improve the economy, infrastructure, education, and healthcare. He remarked “President Obama has a strong record of doing what is best for America and Florida, and he built it by spending more time worrying about what his decisions would mean for the people than for his political fortunes.”

Crist also addressed his former party, stating that some Republicans “[have] pitched so far to the extreme right on issues important to women, immigrants, seniors and students that they’ve proven incapable of governing for the people. Look no further than the inclusion of the Akin amendment in the Republican Party platform, which bans abortion, even for rape victims.” Congressman Todd Akin (R-MO) stirred up controversy by claiming that victims of “legitimate rape” do not get pregnant when discussing abortion exceptions for rape. The draft Republican platform expected to be adopted at this week’s convention once again includes a “human life amendment” to the Constitution. The proposed amendment would ban all abortion with no exceptions as well as some forms of contraception.

Crist will speak at the Democratic National Convention, according to ABC news.

As governor of Florida, Crist vetoed a house bill that would have required women to view an ultrasound and listen to a description of the fetus before having an abortion. The bill also stripped funding for elective abortions. The bill was later signed into law by Crist’s successor, current Florida Governor Rick Scott.

Media Resources: Huffington Post 8/27/12; ABC News 8/27/12; Tampa Bay Times 8/26/12; Feminist Newswire 8/24/12; Feminist Newswire 8/21/12; Tampa Bay Times 6/12/10

Incumbent Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) is leading by 10 points over challenger Congressman Todd Akin, according to a Rasmussen poll released Thursday. This is the first time Senator McCaskill has led in the polls since May. She currently has 48 percent support to Akin’s 38 percent.

The new poll shows the impact of explosive statements Congressman Akin made about rape this past Sunday. He claimed that “legitimate rape” does not usually lead to pregnancy. “First of all, from what I understand from doctors [pregnancy from rape] is really rare,” Akin said to KTVI-TV. “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. But let’s assume maybe that didn’t work or something. I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child.” [Emphasis added]

Since the interview, many Republicans, including Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO), and four former Missouri Senators, have urged Akin to step down from the race. He has refused to do so.

Other Republicans have made similarly incendiary comments since Akin’s statements last weekend. Congressman Steve King (R-IA) commented that he had never heard of a child being impregnated from statutory rape or incest.

This attitude towards rape is not a new trend. Earlier this year, Idaho state representative Chuck Winder doubted a woman would know whether or not she had been raped stating “I would hope that when a woman goes in to a physician with a rape issue, that physician will indeed ask her about perhaps, her marriage, was this pregnancy caused by normal relations in a marriage or was it truly caused by a rape. I assume that’s part of the counseling that goes on.”

Incumbent McCaskill has a demonstrated pro-choice record and has supported many women’s issues, including voting to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act.

The Rasmussen poll was conducted by phone interview of 500 “likely” Missouri voters conducted August 22nd with a margin of error of +/- 4.5 percentage points.

Media Resources: Rasmussen Reports 8/24/12; Huffington Post 8/24/12; Opposing Views 8/22/12; New York Times 8/21/12; TPM 8/21/12; Politico 8/19/12; Feminist Daily Newswire 8/20/12

Women in southern Texas are increasingly traveling to Mexican pharmacies to obtain a drug to induce medical abortions because abortion clinics are restricted in the state. The drug, misoprostol, is an effective method for terminating a pregnancy within the first nine weeks – when taken in the correct dosage, according to the World Health Organization.

Workers in largely unregulated Mexican pharmacies do not have proper training or instructions on how to dispense the medication for terminating unwanted pregnancies, and no prescription is required for the drug. Some women are given incorrect dosages or instructions that can cause women pass a pregnancy incorrectly or not at all, causing the woman to remain pregnant. Some pharmacists in Mexico won’t provide instructions for the medication at all.

Kristeena Banda, director of Whole Woman’s Health, an abortion provider in McAllen, Texas, told the Texas Tribune ‘I’m sure it’s always occurred, but we’re noticing it more…A few times a week, women come in to ask for a pregnancy test. They’ve taken the pills, but they’re still seeing symptoms of pregnancy.’

Reproductive rights funding in general is currently at stake in Texas. A federal court ruled on Tuesday in favor of Texas, allowing the state to move forward in banning government funding for Planned Parenthood under the Texas Women’s Health Program.

Media Resources: Rh Reality Check 8/13/12, Texas Tribune 8/12/12; Feminist Newswire 8/22/12

Personhood USA criticized the Romney-Ryan ticket after the campaign announced it would not oppose abortion in cases of rape.

The radical “pro-life” organization originally praised Vice Presidential Candidate Paul Ryan for his continued efforts to defend “personhood” – which could ban emergency contraception, birth control pills, and IUDs as well as all abortions, even in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the woman or girl. It could even eliminate medical choices for women, including some cancer treatments, in vitro fertilization, and could allow the state to investigate and even prosecute a woman for a miscarriage. Ryan has a record of supporting anti-abortion legislation.

“We had hoped that Congressman Ryan would be a good influence on Governor Romney, considering Romney’s liberal abortion record,” Personhood USA Communication Director Jennifer Mason stated. “Reading today that babies conceived in rape should suffer the death penalty under a Romney-Ryan administration is extremely concerning, indicates that Congressman Ryan’s pro-woman and pro-baby positions would have little influence if he wins the office of Vice President of the United States.”

Despite the fact that the Romney-Ryan campaign has announced support for rape exceptions, the Republican Party platform approved by the platform committee on Tuesday includes a “human life amendment.” The amendment would ban all abortion, outlaw many forms of contraception and in vitro fertilization, and criminalize miscarriages. Similar amendments promoted by the radical anti-choice group Personhood USA have been on the ballots in Colorado and Mississippi and have failed.

Media Resources: RH Reality Check 8/22/12; Personhood USA 8/21/12; NBC 8/21/12; Feminist Newswire 8/21/12; Feminist Newswire 8/13/12; Daily Kos 8/20/12

Mitt Romney will announce that the senior US Catholic Cardinal Timothy Dolan will give a benediction at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida.

Cardinal Dolan was requested to speak personally by convention organizers, according to a press statement released by the Archdiocese of New York. The press release states that the Cardinal is will only pray at the convention and will not endorse any candidate. The Cardinal is also open to a similar invitation from the Democratic National Convention.

Cardinal Dolan is the senior Catholic Cardinal in the United States and is also President of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. Earlier this year, documents surfaced showing that Dolan authorized payments of up to $20,000 to priests who sexually abused children as incentive to leave the ministry. He is against the funding of Planned Parenthood by the Susan G. Koman Foundation, and is currently suing President Obama over healthcare reform.

Media Resources: BBC News 8/23/12; Archdiocese of New York 8/23/12; EWTN 8/23/12; Feminist Newswire 6/1/12; Feminist Newswire 3/19/12

A federal court ruled on Tuesday in favor of Texas, allowing the state to move forward in banning government funding for Planned Parenthood under the Texas Women’s Health Program. In March, Governor Rick Perry implemented a rule that excludes affiliates of abortion providers from the Medicaid Women’s Health Program, essentially cutting any government funding to Planned Parenthood.

Although Planned Parenthood is the nation’s largest abortion provider, the Texas Women’s Health Program does not pay for abortions. This means participating Texas Planned Parenthood clinics do not provide the procedure. After the ruling was announced, Texas officials said Planned Parenthood’s funds under the Women’s Health Program will be cut off immediately.

This issue has pitted the Republican-dominated Texas government against the Obama administration. Following the implementation of the funding restrictions in March, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced that the federal government will not renew funding through the Medicaid family planning program for the state of Texas. Officials at the Medicaid federal agency said that states are not allowed to restrict patient’s access to particular providers and still receive federal funding. 90 percent of the funding for the program came from the federal government, but Texas plans to move forward with the ban and without funding from the federal government.

“We are evaluating every possible option to protect women’s health in Texas. This case has never been about Planned Parenthood — it’s about the women who rely on Planned Parenthood for cancer screenings, birth control, and well-woman exams,” Planned Parenthood Action Fund President Cecile Richards said in a statement. “For nearly 100 years, women and families have trusted Planned Parenthood for high-quality, affordable health care and information. We won’t let politics interfere with the health care that nearly three million people a year rely on Planned Parenthood for in Texas and around the country. Planned Parenthood health center doors are open today and they’ll be open tomorrow.”

The Texas Women’s Health Program currently serves 100,000 low income women with Planned Parenthood as its largest provider, serving about 40% of its patients. Planned Parenthood said in a statement that the ruling will put the health of approximately 52,000 Texas women at risk.

Media Resources: AP 8/22/12; CNN 8/22/12; Reuters 8/21/12; Planned Parenthood Statement 8/21/12

According to a recent poll by NBC/The Wall Street Journal, President Barack Obama has a 15 point advantage among female voters over Mitt Romney for the 2012 presidential election.

The recent poll data [PDF] shows that President Obama leads by six points over Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney among all registered voters. When the responses are broken down according to sex, female voters favor President Obama 54% to 39% for Mitt Romney creating a gender gap heading into the election season.

Responses to the poll were collected July 18 through the 22, prior to the Akin “legitimate rape” controversy. Since the Akin controversy erupted, President Obama has held a press conference stating [VIDEO] “Rape is rape… we should not have politicians, the majority of whom are men, making healthcare decisions for women.”

Media Resources: Morning Joe 8/21/2012; MSNBC 8/21/2012; MSNBC 8/20/12; NBC/The Wall Street Journal 7/22/2012

The Augusta National Golf Club invited Condoleeza Rice and Darla Moore to become the first female members in the club’s history after pressure from women’s groups and advocates. Since the club opened its doors eighty years ago, Augusta has maintained a strict male-only membership policy with women able to play the course as guests. Rice and Moore accepted the invitation and will be members for the new season in October.

The issue of female membership at Augusta has been a heated one in the last decade of the club’s history. In 2002, Martha Burk of the National Council of Women’s Organizations demanded the inclusion of women into the club’s membership. Augusta National leadership refused, causing the Masters Tournament to lose television sponsorships. When leadership at the prestigious golf club changed in 2006, Chairman Bill Payne announced that he planned to continue with the all male tradition. Female membership at the club returned to the spotlight earlier this year when Virginia Rometty became the CEO of IBM. IBM is one of the largest sponsors of the renowned Masters Tournament, and many of the previous CEOs have been asked to become members. There has been no announcement regarding extending membership to Rometty as of yet.

Media Resources: Augusta Chronicle 8/20/12, Associated Press 8/20/12, Feminist News Wire 5/10/06

On a local Missouri TV station on Sunday, Missouri U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) claimed that “legitimate rape” does not usually lead to pregnancy. Akin’s claims have prompted outcries from both sides of the aisle, and caused increased scrutiny on the Romney-Ryan ticket’s stance on abortion access.

“First of all, from what I understand from doctors [pregnancy from rape] is really rare,” Akin said to KTVI-TV. “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. But let’s assume maybe that didn’t work or something. I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child.” [Emphasis added]

This is not the first time Akin has trivialized rape. Last year Akin and current GOP Vice-Presidential candidate Paul Ryan were two of the original co-sponsors of the controversial “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act.” Federal law already prohibits the use of Medicaid funds (as well as all other government funds) from paying for abortions, but existing regulations make an exception for women who are raped. The proposed bill would have narrowed this exception further, allowing only women who could prove they had been “forcibly raped” to terminate their pregnancies with government funds. The public outcry against this language eventually caused it to be removed from the bill.

The Romney campaign is attempting to distance their ticket from Akin’s comments. Romney said on Monday that “Congressman Akin’s comments on rape are insulting, inexcusable, and, frankly, wrong.” Although Romney and Ryan may be able to disavow Akin’s claim that rape survivors do not usually get pregnant, it will be much more difficult for them to distance themselves from Akin’s central point, that abortion should be illegal in all cases, including rape. Both Romney and Ryan are on record supporting personhood amendments, which ban abortion in all cases. Ryan actually co-sponsored a personhood amendment at the national level in the House. In a 2007 Presidential debate, Romney went on record stating that he would be “delighted” to sign a bill banning abortion in all cases.

The race for US Senate in Missouri between incumbent Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill and Congressman Akin is one of the most closely watched in the country, as GOP hopes for reclaiming control of the Senate hinge heavily on Akin defeating McCaskill in November. Monday morning GOP Senator Scott Brown (MA) called on Akin to drop out of the race.

In response to Akin’s comments, Senator McCaskill said, “It is beyond comprehension that someone can be so ignorant about the emotional and physical trauma brought on by rape. The ideas that Todd Akin has expressed about the serious crime of rape and the impact on its victims are offensive.”

Media Resources: Think Progress 8/19/12; The Atlantic Wire 8/20/12; Boston.com 8/20/12; Jezebel 8/19/12; Fox2now.com 8/19/12

Hundreds of women converged on the U.S. Capitol Saturday for We Are Woman, a national rally that aimed to target the war on women being waged by conservative politicians and promote reproductive rights, equal pay, and the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment

Speakers at the rally included Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and representatives from the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Feminist Majority, National Women’s Political Caucus, National Center for Transgender Equality, National Organization for Women, and CodePink. The rally also included musical performers and comedians.

According to the rally’s organizers, a national grassroots group that came together earlier this year, “This rally is our way of standing up to say, ‘No more!’ to the war on women. We are strong, powerful, loving, and brave. We are America. We are Woman.”

Media Resources: We Are Woman Press Release 8-16-12, 8-10-12

In an exclusive report, Politico reveals the FBI investigated a GOP “fact-finding Congressional trip” to Israel where several lawmakers took a drunken late night dip in the Sea of Galilee. The trip, sponsored by the American Israel Educational Foundation, included over 60 congress members, family, and staff, and cost $10,000 per person.

According to the report, over 20 lawmakers, staff and family members participated, but Rep. Kevin Yoder (R-KS) is under scrutiny for swimming in the nude that night.

“A year ago, my wife, Brooke, and I joined colleagues for dinner at the Sea of Galilee in Israel. After dinner I followed some Members of Congress in a spontaneous and very brief dive into the sea and regrettably I jumped into the water without a swimsuit,” Yoder said in a statement to POLITICO. “It is my greatest honor to represent the people of Kansas in Congress and [for] any embarrassment I have caused for my colleagues and constituents, I apologize.”

After the group returned to the US, FBI agents questioned congressional staff about what happened on the trip, specifically during the group’s visit to the Sea of Galilee. The FBI has declined to comment on the probe.

Media Resources: Politico 8/19/12; Gawker 8/20/12; Washington Post 8/19/12

Three members of the feminist punk band Pussy Riot were found guilty of “hooliganism” and sentenced to two years in prison today in Russia. The maximum sentence for the charges was seven years. In a case that has garnered international attention, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30, and Marina Alyokhina, 24, have been in jail since March, when they were arrested after performing (video) a “punk prayer” on the altar of Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral in dissent of Vladimir Putin.

The members entered the church wearing bright colors and balaclavas, singing “Mother of God, Blessed Virgin, drive out Putin!” They noted later that their intent was to challenge the Church’s political support for Putin and to show their dissatisfaction with Putin’s 12-year political dominance.

The Associated Press reports that Boris Akunin, one of Russia’s best known authors, said: “This is all nonsense. I can’t believe that in the 21st century a judge in a secular court is talking about devilish movements. I can’t believe that a government official is quoting medieval church councils.”

Musicians, activists and human rights groups worldwide have been standing in solidarity with Pussy Riot both online and in the streets. Amnesty International has named the women prisoners of conscience, and artists including Sting, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bjork, Madonna, and Chloe Sevigny have been speaking out in support. Activists have marked August 17 as Pussy Riot Global Day and are staging solidarity protests all over the world. Although the women have experienced an outpouring of international support and solidarity, opinion polls indicate that Russians themselves are not very sympathetic. The case has shed international light on the Russian government’s intolerance of dissent.

In her closing statement at the trial, Alyokhina said, “I am not afraid of you. I am not afraid of you and I am not afraid of the thinly veneered deceit of your verdict at this ‘so-called’ trial. My truth lives with me. I believe that honesty, free-speaking and the thirst for truth will make us all a little freer. We will see this come to pass.”

Media Resources: Feminist Daily Newswire 7/30/12; Associated Press 8/17/12; Reuters 8/17/12; Jezebel 8/17/12

On Wednesday Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted announced that all Ohio districts will follow a uniform early-voting policy. Husted’s announcement comes after intense media attention and public scrutiny over what a New York Times Op-Ed called “overt discrimination” in Ohio’s early-voting restrictions.

Earlier this week, we reported that early voting stations in Ohio’s Democratic-leaning counties would be restricted this election season, while its Republican-leaning counties would have expanded early voting hours. When Republican election commissioners blocked Democrat’s efforts to expand early-voting times, Husted, a Republican, stepped in to break the tie, deciding in favor of restricting times in these counties, and allowing Republican-leaning counties to expand their hours to nights and weekends.

The New York Times blasted Ohio lawmakers in their Op-Ed, saying: “This is just the latest alarming example of how Republicans across the country are trying to manipulate the electoral system by blocking the voting rights of their opponents. These actions have a disproportionate effect on blacks, Hispanics and other ethnic minorities who struggled for so long to participate in American democracy. […] In Ohio, as in other states, the Republican Party is establishing a reputation for putting short-term political gain ahead of the most fundamental democratic rights.”

The uniform policy announced by Husted on Wednesday will extend early-voting hours to 7 p.m. on weekdays in the two weeks before the election; however, there will be no early voting in the final three days before Election Day.

Media Resources: Feminist Daily Newswire 8/13/12; New York Times 8/14/12 [Update 8/15/12]; Think Progress 8/15/12

Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson refused to grant an injunction that would have stopped a new Pennsylvania voter ID law from going into effect today. Simpson’s decision will most likely be appealed to the state Supreme Court. The law will require anyone voting in Pennsylvania to show specific government issued photo IDs. Pennsylvania’s Secretary of State estimates that 758,000 registered voters lack the proper ID.

Elderly women, members of minority populations, college students, Pennsylvanians with disabilities, and transgender individuals have all testified in the case against the new law, claiming it would disenfranchise them. In his ruling, Judge Simpson wrote that those seeking the injunction blocking enforcement of the law did not show that “disenfranchisement was immediate or inevitable,” reported NBC.

Four of the six state Supreme Court justices would need to vote against the voter ID law for it to be overturned. Currently the court is split evenly with three Republicans and three Democrats. The seventh judge, Republican Justice Joan Orie Melvin, has been suspended while she faces criminal corruption charges, reports the Associated Press.

Earlier this year, Republican Pennsylvania House Majority Leader Mike Turazi claimed that the new law would “allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania” in the November election. Opponents of the law have cited that the state does not have any evidence to suggest that voter fraud has occurred or will occur in Pennsylvania elections to justify a voter ID law. The US Department of Justice is also looking into the law due to evidence suggesting the law discriminates against minority groups.

Media Resources: Associated Press 8/15/2012; NBC News 8/15/2012; Feminist Daily Newswire 7/31/2012

A new immigration program, dubbed Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, goes into effect today. The program was created under President Obama’s executive order, signed in June, stating that the US will no longer seek the deportation of young illegal immigrants without criminal records who came to the US as children, and instead allow them to request deferred action for two years, subject to renewal, and also apply for work permits. However, since the new program was created as a result of an executive order it can be easily overturned by future presidents. Therefore, President Obama is still strongly encouraging Congress to pass the DREAM Act, which would make these changes permanent.

Individuals who meet five criteria will be eligible under the new deferred action process. The criteria require that the individual entered the US before age 16; lived in the US for five years and still lives in the US; is enrolled in school, graduated from high school, obtained a GED certificate, or is an honorably discharged veteran; does not have a criminal record and does not pose a threat to security; and is no older than age 30.

In a Department of Homeland Security press release, Secretary Janet Napolitano wrote, “Our nation’s immigration laws must be enforced in a firm and sensible manner. But they are not designed to be blindly enforced without consideration given to the individual circumstances of each case. Nor are they designed to remove productive young people to countries where they may not have lived or even speak the language. Discretion, which is used in so many other areas, is especially justified here.”

The new process does not provide a pathway to citizenship, but it does represent a major policy shift. The application fee for the program is $465, and applications and instructions are available at www.uscis.gov/childhoodarrivals. The Pew Hispanic Center expects as many as 1.7 million youths to qualify for the program.

Obama said the policy change is “the right thing to do.” When he announced the program he said undocumented children “study in our schools, play in our neighborhoods, befriend our kids, pledge allegiance to our flag. It makes no sense to expel talented young people who are, for all intents and purposes, Americans.”

Media Resources: Feminist Daily Newswire 6/15/12; CNN 8/15/12; Chicago Tribune 8/15/12

The bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates announced on Monday that CNN’s chief political correspondent Candy Crowley will moderate one of three presidential debates this fall, which will be the first time in 20 years that a woman has done so. ABC’s Martha Raddatz will moderate the vice-presidential debate, and PBS’s Jim Lehrer and CBS’s Bob Schieffer will moderate the two remaining presidential debates, making this the first time in the commission’s history that the moderators will be split evenly between male and female journalists.

The commission has been under public scrutiny lately over the fact that only one woman – Carole Simpson in 1992 – has moderated a presidential debate since the commission took control of the debates over a quarter-century ago.

The increased attention given to this issue was largely due to three young women – Emma Axelrod, Elena Tsemberis and Sammi Siegel – who started a Change.org petition calling for the commission to include another woman moderator this election season. Their petition gained over 180,000 signatures and national attention with the help of several US lawmakers and women’s organizations who joined forces to inject this subject into the national conversation.

“Women were being overlooked, and while it might not have been an active prejudice, it was definitely there,” Axelrod told NPR’s All Things Considered on Monday. “So, the fact that now we’re closing that gap of 20 years, that is what I’m excited that a woman will bring, the equal representation.”

Media Resources: Reuters 8/13/12; LA Times 8/13/12; NPR 8/13/12; SF Gate 8/13/12