On Wednesday night the manager of the Sexual Harassment and Assault Response and Prevention program for Fort Campbell, Kentucky, was arrested for stalking. Army Lieutenant Colonel Darin Haas was arrested around 6:30 pm Wednesday night when his ex-wife called the authorities after receiving threatening text messages that violated her order of protection against Haas. Later […]
The North Carolina state House passed an anti-abortion measure seeking to restrict state insurance coverage for abortion last night amid protests from pro-choice activists. The bill, HB 730 [PDF], allows any health care provider to refuse to participate in an abortion because of moral objections and allows hospitals to refuse to perform abortion services, even if […]
Today, lawmakers in Congress introduced the Military Justice Improvement Act in the US House of Representatives and Senate. The Military Justice Improvement Act seeks to reform the current system of prosecution in the United States military. 17 members of Congress joined together in a press conference today to reveal the bipartisan legislation to reform the […]
Yesterday the Supreme Court of El Salvador heard open arguments in a case where they will determine if doctors can administer a medically necessary abortion for a woman who could die as a result of her pregnancy. “Beatriz”, who is currently 22 and is already the mother of a young infant, was diagnosed with multiple […]
A U.S. Army Sergeant tasked with preventing sexual assault in the military is being investigated for charges of “abusive sexual contact.” The Sergeant 1st Class, whose name has not been released, served as the Sexual Harassment/Assault Result Prevention (SHARP) Coordinator and Equal Opportunity Advisor at Fort Hood in Texas. U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command is handling the […]
Yesterday, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act was introduced in both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate aimed at strengthening workplace protections for pregnant workers. The bill is aimed at strengthening the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, which prohibits workplace discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. Despite being illegal to fire someone […]
This week, major Western clothing retailers announced their support of new safety regulations in Bangladesh garment factories following the eight story building collapse that kill over 1,100 people. The Swedish retailer H&M, Spanish Inditex (Zara), British Primark and Tesco, Dutch C&A, and others all announced their commitment to pay for fire safety and building improvements […]
On Monday, the federal government appealed to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to block the unregulated sale of emergency contraception, commonly called Plan B, after a federal judge refused to delay the enforcement of his decision to make Plan B available over the counter for women and girls of all ages. On Friday, […]
Yesterday the Minnesota state Senate approved a bill that will allow same-sex couples to marry in the state beginning August 1, 2013. The Minnesota Senate voted in favor of marriage equality 37 to 30, after the state House approved the bill on Thursday in a vote of 75 to 59. Governor Mark Dayton (D) is […]
Today, Angelina Jolie published an op-ed in the New York Times detailing her decision to undergo a preventive double mastectomy. Jolie explains that her risk of developing breast cancer before the surgery was 87% due to a “faulty” gene BRCA1, and describes the procedure that she went through to remove her breasts. In the op-ed, […]
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R) vetoed a bill on Thursday that would have created 14 days of in-person early voting in New Jersey. Governor Christie argued that the bill was too expensive and that the current early voting system in New Jersey is satisfactory. Currently residents may request, complete, and return a “vote-by-mail” ballot […]
On Friday, hundreds of fast food workers in Detroit walked off the job in a one day strike to raise the minimum wage. The Detroit protest comes after similar protests in St. Louis, Chicago, and New York. An estimated 400 workers at 60 different restaurants in Detroit walked off their jobs to join protests calling […]
Pharmaceutical companies Merck and GlaxoSmithKline will provide cervical cancer vaccines for as little $4.50 a dose in poor countries to fight high rates of deaths from cervical cancer. The drugs Gardasil and Cervarix, made by Merck and GlaxoSmithKline respectively, prevent human papillomavirus (HPV), which is a leading cause of cervical cancer. In developed nations deaths […]
Yesterday, the Minnesota state House approved a law that would legalize same-sex marriage in the state by a vote of 75 to 59. The bill is expected to be voted on by the Senate on Monday and could be signed by the governor as early as Tuesday. Representative Tim Faust (D FL-District 11B) spoke about […]
Last week, more than a dozen farmworkers at the Crisalida Farm’s strawberry fields in California were fired when they left the field to take refuge from the smoke and ash from a nearby wildfire. Workers said on May 2 ashes were falling on them and they were having difficulty breathing from the smoke from a […]
On Friday rescuers in Dhaka, Bangladesh saved a woman who is still alive after the eight story building collapsed on April 24. The woman was discovered as a rescuer was cutting away iron rods and heard her cries for help. The woman, identified as Reshma, was in the building’s prayer room at the time of […]
A bill that would remove over time pay and replace it with “comp” time passed the House yesterday in a vote along party lines of 223 to 204. The Working Families Flexibility Act, dubbed the “More Work, Less Pay Act” by Democrats, would replace overtime pay at the hour-and-a-half rate with comp time that workers […]
The North Carolina Senate Health Committee passed a bill yesterday that would require that students are told that having an abortion is a significant risk factor for later pre-term births. The measure now heads to the floor of the state Senate. Senate Bill 132 [PDF] requires that seventh grade students be taught that abortion is […]
Thursday night, a fire broke out in a garment factory in the Mirpur area of Dhaka, Bangladesh, that killed eight people. No workers were in the building at the time. Officials say that the building owner, four of his staff members, and a senior and low-level police officer died when they were overcome by toxic […]
On Tuesday, the state of Arkansas asked a federal judge to dismiss a court case that challenges the state’s abortion ban after 12 weeks. Attorneys for the state of Arkansas filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the ACLU and the Center for Reproductive Rights on behalf of two abortion providers in Little […]
