Author: Feminist Newswire

On Saturday Mitt Romney announced Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI) as his vice-presidential running mate. Ryan is widely known as the architect of a budget passed by the House in Spring 2012 that dismantles Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare.

The Daily Beast reports that the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said Ryan’s budget “calls for radical policy changes that would result in a massive transfer of resources from the broad majority of Americans to the nation’s wealthiest individuals.” The ‘Ryan Budget’ was the target of The Nuns on the Bus Tour this summer – US nuns visited 9 states on a speaking tour to raise awareness about the budget’s massive cuts for many social services. Ryan is a practicing Catholic, but the nuns insisted that the budget’s disregard for people in need is “immoral” and inherently “un-Christian.”

Ryan believes abortion should be illegal across the board, including in cases of rape or incest or when the life of the mother is at risk. The National Right to Life Committee has scored his voting record at 100 percent every year since 1999, and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund said in a statement on Saturday that he has earned a zero percent on its women’s health scorecard. During his 1998 run for congress he “expressed his willingness to let states criminally prosecute women who have abortions.” He has voted to defund Planned Parenthood at least four times, opposes the Obama Administration’s birth control mandate in the Affordable Care Act (and would repeal the Affordable Care Act all together), and has voted repeatedly against international family planning funding.

He also co-sponsored a personhood bill at the federal level – the Sanctity of Human Life Act. The bill states that life begins at conception, and that every fertilized egg should “have all the legal and constitutional attributes and privileges of personhood.” Personhood bills have far-reaching consequences, including outlawing abortion in all cases as well as criminalizing miscarriages, outlawing common forms of birth control, in vitro-fertilization and some treatments for cancer and other serious illnesses.

National Organization for Women president Terry O’Neill released a statement on Saturday, stating “women should beware, because they are the targets or the disproportionate casualties in virtually every policy Romney and Ryan propose.”

Media Resources: The Daily Beast 8/11/12; Huffington Post 8/11/12; The Daily Beast 8/13/12; National Organization for Women Statement 8/11/12

Women are making history at the London 2012 Olympic Games. For the first time in history, women athletes are representing every single competing country. Saudi Arabia was the last hold-out, but they finally entered two female athletes earlier this summer. Although women first competed in the modern Olympic Games in 1900, this is the first year that every sport had a woman’s division. Boxing was the last all male sport until this year. World champion Katie Taylor from Ireland took the gold in the Light weight class, and 17 year-old American Claressa Shields won gold in the Middle weight class.
US women have taken the Olympics by storm. Katie Ledecky, at 15-years-old the youngest American athlete, won a gold medal in the 800m Freestyle. Swimmers Missy Franklin and Allison Schmitt each won five medals, just one short of Michael Phelps’ six. Gabby Douglas was the first African-American gymnast to win gold in the individual all-around competition. In addition, the women’s gymnastics team won the gold medal in the team competition, which is only the second time Americans have won the women’s team title. Women’s beach volleyball doubles team of Misty-May Treanor and Kerri Walsh, and the women’s soccer team each won their third straight gold medals.

As of Friday morning, the US women have won gold medals in 26 events, about 25% of the total gold medals won by women. In total, 99 American women will go home with at least one medal. 70 women will bring home at least one gold. In contrast, 47 American men will bring medals home, 21 of them gold. Overall, medals earned by women make up 56% of the United States medal count. American women have won medals in 51 events so far, but are expected to beat the 53 medal record set in Beijing in 2008.

Media Resources: Official London 2012 8/10/12; CNN 8/10/12; AP 8/10/12

Texas medical groups are pushing back against new restrictions proposed by the state Department of Health and Human Services that would prevent any doctor from discussing abortion with patients. The restrictions would apply to doctors participating in the Texas Women’s Health Program (WHP). The Texas Medical Association and four other groups, who represent 47,000 doctors and medical students, say they might stop participating in the WHP if these restrictions go into effect.
The Texas Tribune reports that the groups argue these provisions would compromise medical ethics and doctor-patient relationships. “The relationship between patient and physician is based on trust and creates the physician’s ethical obligations to place the patient’s welfare above his or her own personal politics, self-interest and above obligations to other groups,” the groups said in a letter to the Department of State Health Services on Friday. State health officials have responded by saying they will review the doctors’ input.

Texas is already attempting to block Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers from participating in the WHP. Historically, these clinics have made up approximately half of the clinics participating in the WHP, and helped provide health services including cancer screenings and contraception (not abortions) to approximately 130,000 low income women participating in the WHP.

Media Resources: Texas Tribune 8/6/12; Think Progress 8/7/12; KWTX.com 8/7/12

After much public pressure, a Louisiana school’s policy that students be required to take pregnancy tests at the threat of expulsion will be changed, announced school officials yesterday. The policy, which requires students who are suspected of being pregnant to undergo a pregnancy test, states students who are either found to be pregnant or who refuse to take the test will not be allowed on campus.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana sent a letter to Dehli Charter School officials on Monday saying that the school’s policy violates Title IX of the 1972 federal education law as well as the students’ 14th amendment rights to equal protection under the law. The school responded saying that they were unaware that there was anything wrong with the policy. The school’s chairman Albert Christman said the “policy has gotten everybody in a roar,” announcing Wednesday that it would no longer enforce the policy.

According to a June report from the National Women’s Law Center, too many schools do not realize pregnant students should receive equal treatment. “Despite enormous advances for women and girls in education since 1972,” the report states, “schools across the country continue to bar pregnant and parenting students from activities, kick them out of school, pressure them to attend alternative programs, and penalize them for pregnancy-related absences.”

Media Resources: National Partnership for Women and Families 8/9/12; National Women’s Law Center blog 8/9/12; Huffington Post 8/8/12

Yesterday Georgetown Law graduate and women’s rights activist Sandra Fluke hit the campaign trail with President Barack Obama. Fluke introduced Obama at a campaign event (video) in Denver, Colorado. She rose to national attention last winter after she spoke out publicly in favor of Obama’s Affordable Care Act (ACA)–specifically the birth control mandate–and was then called a “slut” by conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh. The ACA and women’s health and rights were featured prominently in both Fluke and Obama’s speeches yesterday.

“Fortunately, we have a President who has fought for our right to quality, affordable care. That’s the promise behind President Obama’s health reform: we should have access to basic health care no matter where we work or study or what gender we are. And Obamacare is already delivering access to care for millions of women,” Fluke said yesterday in an op-ed on the Huffington Post. During her introduction of Obama she said, “We have a choice between someone who has stood up for women’s health and defended our access to affordable healthcare and a candidate that has outright promised to turn back the clock on women’s health and women’s rights.”

Colorado is an important swing state in the 2012 election. As of the end of July, women make up approximately 53 percent of Colorado’s active voters; and in 2008, Obama won 56 percent of the women’s vote in Colorado and the nation. However, George W. Bush carried the state in 2004 and 2000. Obama is currently leading Romney 46.4 percent to 43 percent in the state, according to Pollster.

Media Resources: Huffington Post 8/7/12; Huffington Post 8/8/12; LA Times 8/8/12

In the Dominican Republic doctors are not treating a 16-year-old girl with acute leukemia because of her pregnancy, CNN reports. Article 37 of the Dominican constitution, passed in 2009 states: “the right to the life is inviolable from conception until death.” Because of this bill, abortion is illegal in every case, including rape, incest, and endangerment of a woman’s health or life. The unnamed girl is dying and needs an aggressive chemotherapy treatment, which would more than likely terminate her pregnancy. The teen is approximately 12 weeks pregnant. Doctors are fearful of providing her with the treatment she needs out of fear of legal action, but the current state of her treatment is unclear.

The girl’s mother, Rosa Hernandez, is trying to convince health and government officials to make an exception and give her daughter the chance of survival. “My daughter’s life is first. I know that [abortion] is a sin and that it goes against the law … but my daughter’s health is first,” Hernandez said.

“How can it be possible that so much time is being wasted? That the treatment hasn’t begun yet because they’re still meeting, trying to decide if she has the right to receive the treatment to save her life — that’s unacceptable,” said Lilliam Fondeur, a women’s rights activist in the Dominican Republic.

This case highlights the concerns raised by Aldrian Almonte, President of the Dominican Gynecology and Obstetrics Society, in 2009 when the ban was passed. He warned that maternal deaths would rise significantly as a result of Article 37 and said “I would like of the honorable legislators to tell me what are we going to do before the presence of a woman with severe preeclampsia or eclampsia, convulsing in any emergency room around the country, what must we do, see her die to protect ourselves from the repercussions that [the ban] stipulates?”

Media Resources: CNN 7/25/12; Care2 7/27/12; Feminist Daily Newswire 4/27/09

The U.S. Catholic Church requested that Congress overturn the contraceptive coverage provision under the Affordable Care Act in a letter on Friday. Written to members of Congress, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, Chair of the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, asked that Congress overturn the federal contraceptive coverage requirement by the end of the year.
The policy, which took effect on August 1st, requires employers to cover contraception and other preventive care costs under their healthcare plans with no copay. However, the policy has allowed a one-year delay for all religiously-affiliated entities to comply with the rule, and exempts religious institutions like churches from this policy altogether, requiring insurance companies to provide free birth control to their employees instead.

25 lawsuits have been filed against the policy in the last year, mostly by religious groups, though the letter remarks that this litigation will take too long. “The fundamental importance of the religious freedom issue at stake demands a timely congressional response,” wrote DiNardo.

Media Resources: National Partnership for Women and Families 8/6/12; Sacramento Bee 8/6/12; The Hill 8/5/12; Letter, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities 8/3/12

On Thursday, Kansas District Judge Stephen Tatum dismissed 26 misdemeanor charges against the Kansas City-area Planned Parenthood Overland Park clinic. The clinic has been fighting a total of 107 criminal charges filed in 2007 by Phill Kline, former Kansas Attorney General and abortion opponent. Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe requested the misdemeanor charges against the Planned Parenthood Overland Park clinic be dropped since many of the key documents in the case, which the clinic had filed with the state health department, had been destroyed by the state health department in 2005.
“It is indeed a tragedy that it has taken this long for these charges to be dismissed,” said Pedro Irigonegaray, a Topeka attorney representing the clinic. “It is inconceivable to me to understand how such a high-profile case could be so incompetently handled.”

In November, Judge Tatum dismissed the most serious charges, including 23 felony and 26 misdemeanor charges against the clinic alleging that it had falsified records and failed to maintain accurate records in an effort to cover up later term abortions. Last month Howe said the expert retained to support the remaining 32 charges is too ill to serve as a witness. Moving forward, Judge Tatum set a scheduling conference to address the remaining charges on August 20.

On Friday in a separate case, Kansas Judge Franklin Theis refused to dismiss a lawsuit over new health and safety regulations for abortion providers before the case goes to trial. While state attorneys requested that the judge rule on this case without a trial, attorneys for two Kansas abortion providers argued that a trial was necessary to demonstrate why the regulations are unreasonable. The judge said that the issue involves medical questions that are beyond the common understanding.

Media Resources: Associated Press 8/3/12; Think Progress 8/3/12; San Francisco Chronicle 8/3/12; Kansas City Star 8/3/12; Feminist Daily Newswire 11/14/11

Today, President Obama nominated Pamela Ki Mai Chen to serve on a New York district court — upon confirmation, Chen would be the first Asian-American lesbian federal judge in US history. Chen’s nomination will expire unless the Senate confirms her before the end of this year.

“I am proud to nominate this outstanding candidate to serve on the United States District Court bench,” President Obama said today in a press release. “Pamela Chen has a long and distinguished record of service, and I am confident she will serve on the federal bench with distinction.”

President Obama’s nomination came at the recommendation of Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who has actively worked to increase the diversity of the federal bench. Schumer notably recommended two of the three openly-gay federal judges serving today.

“Pamela Chen will be an excellent federal judge. She is an experienced attorney with a long record of public service who possesses the legal excellence, intellect and temperament to be a first-rate judge,” Schumer said. “Ms. Chen is a trailblazer in every sense of the word. Her leadership skills, her commitment to justice, and her extensive experience make her an fantastic choice for a position on the Eastern District Court.”

Chen has a strong background in civil rights, and currently heads the Civil Rights Section of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York. A graduate of Georgetown Law, Chen is a first-generation American daughter of Chinese immigrants. A federal judgeship is a lifetime appointment. President Obama has nominated five LGBTQ people to the federal court, three of whom were approved and one who withdrew. There are approximately 900 federal judges.

Media Resources: White House Press Release 8/3/12; Washington Blade 8/3/12; Human Rights Campaign 8/3/12; The Advocate 8/3/12

A Republican Senator from Utah, Mike Lee, is attempting to attach a DC abortion ban to a cybersecurity bill. Lee filed the “DC Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act” as an amendment to the cybersecurity bill after the House defeated the original DC abortion ban bill on Tuesday night on a vote of 220-154 in favor of it, falling short of the required two-thirds majority.

All of the proposed legislation would prohibit abortions after 20 weeks in the District of Columbia. The bill was originally sponsored in the House by Rep. Trent Franks of Arizona who based the ban on the concept of “fetal pain.” Just before the vote, he stated that late-term abortions are “the greatest human rights atrocity in the United States today.”

On Wednesday, a federal appeals court temporarily prohibited Arizona from enforcing its own 20 week abortion ban, which would have gone into effect today. This decision came just two days after U.S. District Judge James Teilborg dismissed the Center for Reproductive Rights and ACLU’s request for an injunction against the ban, upholding the new law.

The Washington Times reports that Lee’s spokeswoman Emily Bennion said, “The issue of prohibiting abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy is on the minds of the American people in light of [Monday’s] ruling in Arizona and yesterday’s vote in the House, which is why Senator Lee decided to attach the amendment to the cybersecurity bill.”

District Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, who does not have a vote on the House floor, does not see the bill moving forward as an amendment on the cybersecurity bill in the Senate. “What House Republicans failed to do yesterday,” she said, “the Senate is unlikely to be keen to take up — to undermine the reproductive health of women nationwide, using this bill’s direct attack on Roe v. Wade.”

Congress has jurisdiction over the District, and many District officials spoke out against the bill because it takes away the right of DC to make its own laws. City leaders clashed with President Obama last year when he signed a bill that included a ban on local government funding for abortions in the District.

Media Resources: Feminist Daily Newswire 8/1/12; The Washington Times 8/1/12; Ms. Blog 8/1/12

A bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks in the District of Columbia failed to get enough votes in the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday. The vote was 220-154 in favor of the bill, falling short of a two-thirds majority required under suspension of the rules, and therefore will not proceed to the Senate.

The bill, called the “D.C. Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act,” was sponsored by Rep. Trent Franks of Arizona who based the ban on the concept of “fetal pain.” Just before the vote, he stated that late-term abortions are “the greatest human rights atrocity in the United States today.”

District Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, who does not have a vote on the House floor, urged Congressmembers to defeat the bill. “The folks behind this bill care nothing about the District of Columbia,” she said. “They have picked on the District to get a phony federal imprimatur on a bill that targets Roe v. Wade.” Franks is also the Republican Committee Chair, who, in an unusual move, denied Norton’s request to testify on the bill when it was in committee.

Congress has jurisdiction over the District, and many District officials spoke out against the bill because it takes away the right of D.C. to make its own laws. City leaders clashed with President Obama last year when he signed a bill that included a ban on local government funding for abortions in the District.

Senator Tom Harkin (IA), Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, stated yesterday that Congress “should not interfere in the District of Columbia. Regardless of banning abortions after 20 weeks, this is no business for the U.S. Congress, period.”

House Republicans said that, while the measure failed, they felt they had succeeded in getting themselves on the record with this issue.

Media Resources: USA Today 7/31/12; Washington Post 7/31/12; The Hill 7/31/12; Huffington Post 7/31/12; DCist 5/15/12

A Connecticut Federal Court Judge ruled yesterday that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) violates the Fifth Amendment right to equal protection, following suit with several other judges who have made the same ruling in the past two years. DOMA defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman, denying federal benefits to legally married same-sex couples. The case was brought forward by six same-sex married couples and a widower, all of whom were denied federal benefits.

Mary Bonauto, the Civil Rights Project Director for Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD), the plaintiff in the case, stated, “We are very pleased that the Court recognized that DOMA’s creation of second-class marriages harms our clients who simply seek the same opportunities to care and provide for each other and their children that other families enjoy.”

The House of Representatives’ Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group intervened on behalf of DOMA. Both supporters and opponents of DOMA, as well as the Obama administration, have requested that the U.S. Supreme Court issue a ruling on the constitutionality of the law.

Media Resources: Huffington Post 7/31/12; Care2 7/31/12; Advocate 7/31/12

On Friday, a U.S. District Court judge issued a temporary injunction, which allows Hercules Industries Inc. to avoid penalties for not providing contraceptives in its company’s health care plan. This controversial case is the first to successfully petition for a temporary exemption from the Affordable Care Act’s birth control requirement. Judge John Kane ruled that he saw the potential for the federal law to put a “substantial burden” on the business’ right to practice their religion, which is a violation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

According to RH Reality Check, Sarah Lipton-Lubet, policy counsel for the ACLU Washington Legislative Office, insisted, “This is not religious freedom, this is discrimination. Real religious liberty gives everyone the right to make their own decisions about their own health, including whether and when to use birth control. It doesn’t give anyone the right to impose their beliefs on others.”

Judge Kane made it clear that this temporary injunction applies only to Hercules Industries, a for-profit air conditioning company. Hercules Industries could not be included in the federal list of exempt employers because it is not a place of worship. The federal government provided an exemption for religious institutions from birth control coverage under their insurance policies by requiring the insurance companies to cover the cost. It has also delayed enforcement of the provision until August 2013, though for non-religious institutions it will go into effect next month. Hercules Industries claims it is a business run by a Roman Catholic family that opposes contraceptives.

Media Resources: The Denver Channel 7/27/12; Washington Post 7/28/12; RH Reality Check 7/27/12

Photo credit to Flickr user starbooze.

Yesterday, the Michigan Senate Judiciary Committee voted 3-1 to pass a bill onto the Republican-dominated state Senate that would put unnecessary restrictions on abortion providers. The bill would require abortion facilities to be licensed as freestanding outpatient surgical facilities and force doctors to screen for women who may have been coerced into having the procedure. In addition, the legislation dictates how women must handle fetal remains that result from any terminated pregnancy, even miscarriages. This TRAP law, or Targeted Regulations of Abortion Providers, is one of many that have passed through state legislatures since 2011.

Supporters of the bill claim to have the safety of Michigan women at heart, while opponents insist that the bill is poorly written and an obvious attack on women’s reproductive rights. “Until we completely eliminate abortions in Michigan and completely defund Planned Parenthood, we have work to do,” said Michigan representative Mike Shirkey, according to the Huffington Post.

Over the past few months, Michigan lawmakers have attempted to put this bill and similar laws on the books that would restrict a woman’s right to choose. Activists, including Vagina Monologues author Eve Ensler, have been vocally protesting these laws. The Michigan Senate will reconvene on August 15 to discuss this bill.

Media Resources: MLive 7/26/12; Think Progress 7/26/12; Feminist Daily Newswire 6/19/12; Feminist Daily Newswire 6/8/12; Huffington Post 6/7/12

Photo credit to Wikimedia Commons user Samahiaka18.

Hillary Clinton announced over $150 million in new US initiatives to combat the global HIV/AIDS pandemic. The statement was made at a keynote address during the International AIDS 2012 Conference which is being held in Washington, DC this week.

Puerto Rico is receiving two million dollars in federal funds, specifically meant to assist people on waiting lists for HIV/AIDS medication, the Huffington Post reports.

San Juan Resident Commissioner, Pedro Pierluisi made a statement this week stipulating that the funds will “target patients lacking health insurance.”

The US territory also just received $17million to support prevention and treatment programs in urban areas. Over 44, 000 people out of the island’s population of 4 million are HIV positive.

The number of people waiting for medication is not known.

Media Resources: Daily Mail 7/23/2012

Photo credit to Flickr user 2011 Caribbean HIV Conference.

Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee tried to make abortion the primary issue in the Committee’s hearing today on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Despite their attempts, the treaty was voted out of Committee on a vote of 13-6 with three Republican Senators voting with the 10 Democrats on the Committee.

Although Republican Senators Richard Lugar (IN), Johnny Isakson (GA) and John Barrasso (WY) voted with the Democratic majority to send the treaty to the floor, all three joined with their fellow Republicans in a failed attempt to pass an anti-abortion amendment offered by Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL). Democrats argued that the politics of abortion have no place in the discussion of the treaty which is about the rights of persons with disabilities. Senator Barbara Boxer suggested to the Republican Senators that if they want to have a debate on abortion, they should do so on the floor of the Senate, not in the discussion about a treaty on the rights of the disabled.

Committee Chair Senator John Kerry’s Secondary Amendment to Rubio’s anti-abortion amendment passed on a party line vote with all 10 Democrats voting yes and all 9 Republicans voting no. The Kerry Amendment stated that the treaty is a “non-discrimination instrument” that it does not address particular health programs or procedures, but “Rather, the Convention requires that health programs and procedures are provided to individuals with disabilities on a non- discriminatory basis.”

The treaty, which has strong support from the disabilities community will now go to the Senate floor where ratification requires a two-thirds vote.

Photo credit to Flickr user Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Washington, DC, which is hosting the 2012 International AIDS Conference this week, has a higher HIV/AIDS infection rate than African countries such as Ethiopia, Nigeria and Rwanda, ABC News reports. Approximately 3 percent of the city’s residents are infected with the virus with 7% of all Black males being HIV positive. Infection rates amongst Black females are lower at 2.9%. When the infection rate is above 5% it is considered a “generalized and severe epidemic.”

US-based Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that about 1.2 million Americans are currently living with HIV/AIDS, an all-time high. African-Americans, who are 14 percent of the U.S. population, account for 44 percent of all new HIV infections and deaths in 2009, making them the largest group.

Despite the fact that globally infection rates are decreasing, 2.7 million new infections in 2012 compared to 3.2 million in 1990, the US still about 50,000 new infections every year, according to UN AIDS.

The rate among heterosexual black women was 15 times more than the rate of white women and more than three times that of Latinas.

Gail Wyatt, associate director of the UCLA AIDS Institute, says that not enough attention is being paid to U.S. HIV/AIDS crisis: “Our challenges have to do with disparities we have always seen between those who can afford health care and those who are not in the health care system. We are talking about affordable care and who gets treatment and which populations are disenfranchised and have not gotten care and have no insurance.”

The Obama Administration adopted the first National Plan to combat AIDS at home in 2010.

Media Resources: ABC News 7/23/12

Photo  credit to Flickr user Elvert Barnes.