The House passed legislation to codify abortion access on July 15. The Women’s Health Protection Act prohibits pre-viability and telehealth abortion bans. Henry Cueller (D-CA) was the only Representative to break party lines in the 219-210 vote. Liz Cheney (R-WY) and Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH) abstained. The House and Senate sponsors are Judy Chu (D-CA) and […]
Only 8 Republicans Vote Yes for Birth Control Protections
On Thursday, the House passed the Right to Contraception Act by a 228-195 margin. It establishes the right to birth control access and drew just 8 Republican votes. Liz Cheney (R-WY), Brain Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH), John Katko (R-NY), Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), Nancy Mace (R-SC), Maria Salazar (R-FL) and Fred Upton (R-MI) represented the […]
Record-Breaking Number of Reproductive Health Ballot Initiatives
This November, voters will decide on reproductive access amendments in six states—the highest number ever for abortion-related ballot initiatives. Three restrict access, while the other three are the first proposals supported by pro-choice organizers since 1992. Restrive abortion amendments have been regularly circulated since 1982. Here are the 2022 ballot measures: Initiatives on the 2022 […]
Abortion Providers, Patients Testify at House Hearing
The American Medical Association has been trying to give abortion providers medical, moral, and legal direction since Roe v. Wade was overturned. “At this point,” AMA president Jack Resneck told the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Tuesday, “we have more questions than answers.” Rep. Dianne DeGette (D-CO) chaired the hearing, which heard testimony from […]
Interstate Travel Abortion Protections
Lawmakers in Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Texas are considering legislation to ban residents from seeking or helping to provide out-of-state abortions. Fourteen governors have preemptively prohibited government agencies and employees from cooperating with other states’ abortion investigation cases. This includes providing time, money, information, or other resources to states banning people from receiving […]
Biden Issues Executive Order to Protect Reproductive Healthcare
“The only way to secure a woman’s right to choose is for Congress to restore the protections of Roe as federal law,” a statement from the White House said today. “Until then, he has committed to doing everything in his power to defend reproductive rights and protect access to safe and legal abortion.” President Biden […]
Sexual Harrasment Laws In Limbo After Trump-admin Changes
With women representing 60 percent of college students, Title IX has shifted focus toward sexual harrasment and assault. In a 2019 survey from the Association of American Universities, one in four cis female undergraduates said they were sexually harassed. The ratio was more than one in five for TGQN (trans, grenderqueer, noncomforming) students and one […]
Title IX Celebrates 50 Years of Progress in Gender Equity
Title IX, an appendage of the 1972 Education Amendments, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The law, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in federally funded educational programs and institutions, has been pivotal for gender equity progress. The National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education (NCWGE) published a report this month detailing the successes and […]
Supreme Court Erodes Separation of Church and State
At his last game as the Bremerton High assistant football coach, Joseph Kennedy led a prayer at the 50-yard line that had spectators jumping over the fence to join him on the field. This was after the school district told him to stop holding public prayers and right before they fired him. Kennedy sued, arguing […]
Tragic and Cruel: Supreme Court Overturns Roe v. Wade
The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade today in a 5-4 decision. Feminist Majority Foundation President Eleanor Smeal and Feminist Majority Executive Director Katherine Spillar released the following statement: “Today’s Supreme Court tragic and cruel decision to overturn Roe v Wade is catastrophic and endangers the lives and futures of millions of women and girls, especially poor […]
Afghan Women Reject Taliban Decree That Women Must Wear Head-to-Toe Coverings
A new Taliban decree requires Afghan women to cover themselves from head to toe, and deputizes men to force women to follow the rule. In the eight months since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan, the group has reinstated its repressive rules in full force, specifically targeting women and girls. Among many restrictions introduced, secondary […]
Ketanji Brown Jackson: Making History
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson was confirmed as the United States’ 116th Supreme Court Justice by a 53 to 47 vote in the U.S. Senate today. She will be seated as a Justice on the Court after Justice Stephen Breyer retires, which is expected this summer after the end of the Court’s current session. “Ketanji Brown […]
Taliban Reverses Pledge and Keeps Girls Schools Closed
Despite much anticipation, the Taliban regime announced today that girls’ schools from grades 7-12 would remain closed until they have a plan. The Taliban statement read that “we inform all girls’ high schools and those schools with female students above class six that they are off until the next order.” Devastated teachers and students around […]
Equal Rights Amendment Going Strong At 50 Years
The Equal Rights Amendment, which was 50 years ago approved by the Senate and sent to the states for ratification, received strong support today from leading Constitutional scholars. Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, chair of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, released today opinion letters from Laurence Tribe, Harvard Law School, Carl M. Loeb, University Professor Emeritus and […]
Texas Supreme Court Ends Federal Court Challenge to State’s Abortion Ban
The all-Republican Texas Supreme Court on Friday ruled that abortion providers can’t sue state officials to block Senate Bill 8, which bans abortion at roughly six-weeks with no exceptions for rape or incest. The unanimous decision closed the narrow pathway to challenge the law left open by the U.S. Supreme Court last December after the […]
Taliban conducts ‘horrific’ door-to-door searches in Afghanistan
In late February, the Taliban launched a house-to-house search operation called “search and clear” supposedly to address the rising criminalities in Kabul. The search operation is throughout Kabul and also other areas of Afghanistan, especially Kapisa, Parwan, Bamiyan, and Panjshir provinces. Photos and videos on social media show Taliban’s security forces kicking in people’s doors, […]
Even after the Oslo meeting, the Taliban continues to arrest and torture Afghan women protestors
On January 19th, a video circulating on social media showed Tamana Zaryab Paryani, an Afghan women’s rights activist and journalist, pleading for help moments before armed men claiming to be Taliban intelligence broke into her apartment and abducted her and three of her sisters. Paryani recorded the video on her phone while the men were […]
“The Equal Rights Amendment Has Been Ratified. It Is the Law”: U.S. House Resolution Declares ERA 28th Amendment
by Carrie N. Baker for Ms. Magazine In an opinion issued on Wednesday, Jan. 26, the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) helped clear the way for the Equal Rights Amendment, according to leading ERA advocates. In January of 2020, under Trump, the OLC issued an opinion arguing that Congress had no power to remove a […]
ERA Coalition and Partners to Rally at White House, Host Virtual Press Conference Marking Date Equal Rights Amendment Must Be In Effect
Sen. Cardin, Chairwoman Maloney, Congresswoman Speier To Speak at Press Conference Washington, D.C. –– After nearly a century of work, Thursday, January 27 marks the end of the two-year waiting period for the Equal Rights Amendment to go into effect across the country after meeting all of the constitutional requirements. To commemorate the day, the ERA […]
Supreme Court Issues Another Procedural Blow to Texas Abortion Advocates
This Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Texas abortion providers again in the on-going legal battle over the state’s controversial six-week ban, S.B. 8. This week’s decision was made regarding the issue of sending the case back to the original trial judge, an attempt by abortion advocates to move their challenge to the law […]
