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 […]
Yesterday the Department of Defense issued an annual report that showed that sexual assault in the military rose by 35% from 2010 to 2012. The report found that 26,000 members of the military experienced “unwanted sexual contact” in 2012 when answering an anonymous survey – a rate of approximately 70 assaults a day. That number […]
Yesterday, the Delaware state legislature voted to legalize same-sex marriage and the bill was signed into law by the governor moments afterwards. The bill passed in the state House two weeks ago on a vote of 23 to 18. It was approved by the Senate yesterday on a vote of 12 to 9. Governor Jack […]
Last week, a Minnesota judge dismissed a lawsuit that attempted to end state insurance coverage for abortion.The lawsuit, brought against the state by a conservative anti-abortion legal group on behalf of “taxpayers”, alleged that the Department of Human Services was using tax-payer money to fund abortions for women on state assistance when the procedures were […]
The chief of the Air Force’s branch on sexual assault prevention and response was arrested over the weekend on charges of sexual battery. According to the Arlington Police Department, Lieutenant Colonel Jeffery Krusinski groped a woman in a parking lot early Sunday morning. She fought him off when he attempted to grab her again and […]
The official death toll from a building collapse in Dhaka, Bangladesh has surpassed 700 as more bodies were recovered on Tuesday. Officials said that the death toll had climbed to 705. It is the country’s worst industrial disaster and the worst disaster in the history of the garment industry. Survivors of the eight story building […]
The Florida state legislature adjourned on Friday without a vote on Medicaid expansion that would extend healthcare to 1 million Floridians.
On Thursday, Rhode Island became the tenth state to legalize same-sex marriage. In a vote of 56 to 15, the Rhode Island state House approved changes in a bill approved by the state Senate. That evening Governor Lincoln Chafee (I) signed the bill into law. Governor Chafee, who has been pushing for marriage equality since […]
The Supreme Court of El Salvador has still not issued a decision about whether or not it will allow a woman in El Salvador to terminate a life-threatening, non-viable fetus. “Beatriz”, who is currently 22 and already a mother of a young infant, was diagnosed with multiple severe illnesses and is 18 weeks pregnant. In […]
Yesterday, the Colorado state legislature approved a bill that will expand voter rights in the state. The bill would provide every voter a mail-in ballot, allow same-day voter registration, create a statewide voter database, and replace assigned precincts with general “voter centers.” The bill which passed in the state Senate with a vote of 20 […]
A 16 year old student in Bartow, Florida was arrested under felony charges earlier this week after a science experiment caused smoke and a loud noise on school property. Kiera Wilmot* mixed toilet bowl cleaner and aluminum foil in an 8oz plastic bottle for a science experiment after hearing it would produce non-toxic smoke from […]
The death toll from the eight story building collapse in Bangladesh last Wednesday has passed 500, making it the worst industrial disaster in the country’s history. Nine people have been arrested in connection with the collapse. An initial investigation found that the top four floors of the eight story building had been constructed illegally without […]
Linda Dorcena Forry won the Democratic primary for the open Massachusetts state Senate seat. She is the first Haitian-American to win a Massachusetts state primary, and will be running for a seat traditionally held by Irish-American men. “I’m so grateful to the many, many members of the community, the folks who came out and supported […]
