The Illinois House yesterday voted 62-55 in favor of access to comprehensive reproductive health care, including abortion. The vote on HB 40 came on the same day as the Illinois Women March on Springfield where over a thousand women turned out in support of a large progressive agenda that included women’s equality, immigration, homelessness, criminal legal reform, the environment, LGBTQ rights, healthcare, disability rights, economics, education, and more.
Earlier this week, House Republicans released a new plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and this proposal is even worse for women’s health than before.
On Tuesday a District Court judge in San Francisco temporarily blocked President Trump’s January executive order threatening to pull federal funding from sanctuary cities who do not comply with the administration’s mass deportation efforts.
Last week the Family Foundation filed a lawsuit opposing amendments to Virginia’s “Regulations for Licensure of Abortion Facilities” that removed unconstitutional outpatient surgical center building requirements imposed on clinics that perform abortions.
In 2013, the Supreme Court overturned the provision requiring specific states to seek federal approval, freeing Texas to pass whatever election laws it pleased. Voting rights activists have stated that if that provision of the Voting Rights Act was still in place, Texas taxpayers would have been spared the significant legal costs incurred defending these unconstitutional laws.
On Tuesday, April 25th the Illinois state Senate will consider bill SJRCA 4, the state ratification for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the U.S. Constitution. This same day, a coalition of progressive advocates plan to march on the capital of Springfield, in the spirit of the January 21 Women’s Marches, to advocate for legislation being considered in the spring 2017 legislative session, including the ERA ratification.
On Friday, advocates and survivors of sexual assault went to the Department of Education to demand that Secretary DeVos listen to their concerns about the continuation and enforcement of Title IX, which promises freedom from sex discrimination in order to achieve equal access to education.
Bill O’Reilly has been forced out of Fox News after widespread national condemnation over sexual harassment allegations led to more than 70 companies pulling their advertisements from The O’Reilly Factor.
The bill seeks to enforce the decision from the 2016 Supreme Court case Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, in which two provisions of a Texas law requiring abortion providers to have admitting privileges at a local hospital were ruled an unconstitutional undue burden on women seeking an abortion.
The 31-year old speech writer has no experience working on women’s issues, and many women’s rights advocates have pointed to an article he once wrote denying the existence of the gender wage gap and opposing paid maternity leave as reason for concern over his appointment.
During the Taliban regime that fell sixteen years ago, there were no female judges.
Earlier this month—right after the Republican-controlled Congress approved a repeal of an Obama-era regulation that reinforced protections for healthcare access under the Title X family planning program—the Trump Administration officially cut off all US funding for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the main UN agency working to advance family planning worldwide.
This means that the revolving door of lobbyists, activists, and political donors coming to meet with the President and his senior staff will be kept secret, granting anonymity to those who supposedly have the most face time and influence with the administration.
A report released this month by the research and policy center In The Public Interest details the educational shortcomings and financial wastes of California’s charter school industry, a warning to other states, and the federal government, considering implementing similar policies.
Reports are coming out of Chechnya that a large group of gay men are being held by the government in concentration camps and have been subjected to violent interrogations.
The American University of Afghanistan (AUAF) in Kabul has recently reopened after being close for seven months following a terror attack that left at least thirteen dead including seven students and one professor.
Ten days ago, the New York Times broke a story about five women to whom 21st Century Fox has paid out around $13 million to address allegations of abuse and sexual harassment at the hands of Fox News star, Bill O’Reilly. In addition to these five women who reached settlements, there have been at least two more who also allege sexual harassment on the part of O’Reilly.
Last week a federal judge in Baltimore finalized a reform agreement, known as a consent decree, between the local police department and the Department of Justice (DOJ) despite condemnation and disapproval by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
On Friday, the Senate confirmed Neil Gorsuch to serve as an Associate Justice on the United States Supreme Court by a vote of 54-45. He will be sworn in on Monday.
mplemented by President Barack Obama, the 2014 Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces order ensuring that companies with federal contracts are held accountable to fourteen labor laws. This same order goes to lengths to protect women in the work place by addressing two major workplace concerns: pay transparency and proceedings of sexual assault and discrimination claims.
