News

A West Virginia Roundtable discussion on Tuesday brought together domestic violence survivors, law enforcement officers, and domestic violence service providers to discuss methods to reduce and prevent domestic violence. The discussion was hosted by Senator Jay Rockefeller, one of the original co- sponsors of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in 1994. As reported in […]

A fire that occurred late last week at a New Orleans women’s clinic appears to be arson.  The fire, at Women with a Vision, occurred shortly after the FBI announced it was investigating arson attacks against clinics in the Atlanta, Georgia area.  Women with a Vision’s executive director, Deon Haywood, told the Times Picayune that […]

A US court of appeals ruled today that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman, is unconstitutional because it discriminates against married same-sex couples that are denied federal benefits.  The First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston struck down the part of […]

The U.N. reported yesterday that a majority of the victims in last Friday’s Houla massacres in Syria were women and children. According to the reports, 49 children and 34 women were executed by Shabbiha soldiers loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. UN reports and victim testimonies describe acts of torture and close-range execution; only 20 of […]

The US House of Representatives is set to begin debate today on a bill that seeks to ban abortions that are based on the sex of the fetus. The Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PRENDA) has been extremely controversial and many groups are calling it an attempt to limit abortions. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Trent Franks […]

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for legislation on Tuesday that would put severe limitations on abortion in the country. Under current law in Turkey, abortion is legal with “spousal authorization” up to ten weeks after conception or at any point without authorization if it is for medical reasons. Under Erdogan’s proposed plan, abortions […]

Katherine Legge became the first driver to bring an all-woman team to the Indy 500 on Sunday. Legge, a rookie from England, is the ninth female racer to qualify for the Indy 500. Her all-woman crew made headlines for being the first in the history of the Indy 500. Before the race, Legge told CNN […]

The chief medical officer for the New Mexico Department of Health resigned late last week, claiming she was asked to resign by the Governor’s office because she gave a television interview in which she advocated that teenagers use condoms to “slow the growth of sexually transmitted diseases.” The chief medical officer, Erin Bouquin, told the […]

Another group of Afghan girls was poisoned today, making this the second attack on schoolgirls in the past week. 160 girls in Talokhan, the capital of the Northern Afghan province of Takhar, were taken to the hospital after the attack, complaining of headaches, dizziness, and nausea. CNN reports that the girls were poisoned with some […]

The FBI announced yesterday that it is investigating fires that they believe are acts of arson at two women’s health clinics in Georgia. No injuries were reported in either fire. Law enforcement has not yet named a suspect. “We’re quite alarmed about the fires, as we have already seen an escalation in violence directed against […]

The New Hampshire State Senate voted on Wednesday, without debate, to kill a bill passed by the New Hampshire State House that sought to establish a mandatory 24 hour waiting period before a woman could get an abortion. The House voted 198-100 on May 15 to include the provision in a business tax-credit bill even […]

An amendment offered by Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) that extends reproductive health services to servicewomen was approved yesterday by the Senate Armed Services Committee and will be included in the National Defense Authorization Act. Under the amendment, armed servicewomen will be granted the same rights as civilian women under federal policies that provide affordable abortion […]

Monsignor William Lynn took the stand yesterday in his own defense in the landmark case against him in Philadelphia, in which he has been charged with child endangerment and conspiracy for allegedly failing to act in response to cases of alleged priest sex abuse of children. Lynn admitted that he knew there were “pretty sick […]

In the second attack since April, over 120 Afghan schoolgirls and three teachers were poisoned yesterday in the northern Takhar province of Afghanistan. Both attacks were blamed on conservative radicals who are against the education of girls. In yesterday’s attack, an unidentified toxic substance was used to contaminate the air in the classrooms of the […]

Two female soldiers filed a lawsuit yesterday charging that the military’s ban on women in combat is unconstitutional and violates their equal protection rights under the Fifth Amendment. Command Sergeant Major Jane Baldwin and Colonel Ellen Haring filed the suit in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, naming Defense Secretary Leon Panetta […]

An article in the New York Times today investigated the high rate of sexual violence against Native American Women, an issue that is receiving more attention in light of the debate over the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (VAWA). On May 16 in a 222-205 vote, the US House of Representatives […]

A bill is due to be introduced in the Pennsylvania legislature today that will defund Planned Parenthood in the state. The bill, “Whole Woman’s Health Funding Priority Act,” will be introduced by State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R). Under the bill, healthcare providers that offer abortions will be given the lowest priority for receiving state funding. […]