While Michigan was in the news due to its new “Right-to-Work” bill, the Michigan House took the opportunity to approve two anti-abortion laws on December 6th. House Substitute for S.B. 1293 and House Substitute for S.B. 1294 were both approved by the Michigan Senate and House and immediately prevent abortion coverage from being included in any health […]
Michigan governor Rick Snyder signed a Right to Work bill into law yesterday. This new law limits union power by preventing unions from taking dues from employee paychecks. Instead, employees must voluntarily give a portion of their paycheck to the union. Supporters of the law believes that this will lead to economic growth since employees who currently […]
Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin filed a lawsuit on Tuesday challenging a state law that would force doctors who perform medical abortions to face possible criminal charges. Wisconsin Act 217 went into effect in April of this year and required women seeking a medical abortion to visit the doctor three times before receiving the medication. Doctors administering the […]
Yesterday, Texas Governor Rick Perry vowed that he would do everything in his power to end abortion access. At a press conference by Texas Right to Life, Rick Perry told attendees “Let me be clear, my goal – and the goal of many of those joining me here today – is to make abortion at any stage […]
United State Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia defended his controversial stance on gay rights by comparing homosexuality to murder while speaking at Princeton University on Monday. Associate Justice Scalia was speaking at a lecture at Princeton to promote his new book. Self-identified gay first year student, Duncan Hoise, asked Scalia about his dissenting opinion in the […]
The state Senate of Michigan passed a package of anti-abortion legislation last week in an effort to pass abortion restriction legislation before the end of the lame duck session. SB 612, 613, and 614 seek to eliminate insurance coverage for abortion services with no exception for rape or incest. The bills would prevent abortion from being […]
Najia Seddiqi, the head of women’s affairs for Laghman province and known women’s rights activist, was murdered yesterday on her way to her office. She was getting into a rickshaw when two gunmen on a motorbike shot her. She was traveling with no bodyguards despite multiple requests for protection from authorities, according to her family. […]
On Friday, United States District Court Judge James C. Fox ruled that North Carolina could not offer “Choose Life” license plates because they violate the First Amendment. Fox determined that without a license plate promoting a pro-choice message, the proposed anti-abortion license plates violated the First Amendment and constituted “viewpoint discrimination.” According to NBC, legislation creating […]
A new campaign in East Timor plans to tackle high rates of maternal and infant mortality with a mobile phone program designed to provide families with information about health and wellbeing. Mobile Mums will provide new mothers and families with information on how to plan ahead for medically necessary travel, danger signs to look out […]
The United States Supreme Court has announced that it will hear two cases regarding same sex marriage. One case challenges Proposition 8, the California state ban on same-sex marriage and the other challenges the Defense of Marriage Act, a federal law defining marriage as between a man and a woman. Though official dates have not […]
South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint announced on Thursday that he will be leaving the Senate to lead the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation at the end of the year. Jim DeMint was a vocal Tea Party Republican in the Senate who is credited by the New York Times as helping spark the Tea Party movement. […]
Mississippi Democratic State Senator Alice Harden passed away yesterday at the age of 64. Harden died of an undisclosed but lengthy illness. She had served on the Mississippi state Senate since 1988, and is survived by her husband and daughter. In her time as state Senator, Harden has been described as a champion for public education, workers’ rights, […]
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court of Mexico determined that state law could not be used to prohibit same-sex marriage in the southern state of Oaxaca. The Court found that the law, which included the statement “one of the purposes of marriage is the perpetuation of the species,” could not be used to prohibit same-sex marriage […]
Maryland and Washington state began implementing parts of new legislation legalizing same-sex marriage today. Same-sex marriage was approved in both states, as well as in Maine, in the November election. In Maryland, same-sex couples can now begin the process for obtaining a marriage license from the state. Licenses for same-sex couples won’t be valid in January 1st, […]
As of 12:01am Thursday morning, the recreational use of marijuana became legal in the state of Washington. Initiative 502 takes effect today, a month after it was approved by Washington voters. The new law permits the recreational use of marijuana and the regulated state sale of the substance. Initiative 502 does limit the use of the […]
For the first time in the history of public education in Saudi Arabia, new textbooks will feature photographs of women. The textbooks, designed for third year high school English students, feature a woman as a nurse about to give someone an injection. In the photograph, she is wearing a headscarf and a surgical mask. The […]
Last night the Senate voted to approve the National Defense Authorization Act, which details the military’s budget and spending for 2013 and expands servicewomen’s right to abortion access. The NDAA would extend insurance coverage for abortion to military women who were raped. Currently, federal law prohibits servicewomen from using their insurance to cover an abortion […]
The Oklahoma Supreme Court rejected two anti-abortions laws in near unanimous decisions yesterday. In separate cases, the state Supreme Court determined that both HB 2780 and HB 1970 are unconstitutional because they violate the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1992 ruling in Planned Parenthood v. Casey. HB 2780 required that women had an ultrasound performed and described to her within […]
On Sunday, the self-appointed village council of Sunderbari within the state of Bihar in India prohibited the use of mobile phones by unmarried women and girls. The use of mobile phones by married women has also been restricted to when they are indoors and in the company of a relative. The ban resulted from fear […]
Today the Senate rejected the ratification of the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities by a vote of 61 for and 38 against. Because the treaty did not gain two thirds of the Senate or 66 of the 99 Senators voting for approval of the action, the treaty automatically fails. Senator Kirk […]
