The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has launched an official inquiry into Girls Scouts USA. At the end of March, Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne wrote a letter expressing his concerns about the Girl Scouts relationship to groups that promote birth control and contraceptives, such as Sierra Club and Doctors Without Borders, and […]
by Audrey Bilger It’s official. After a week of speculation about whether the White House was going to take a strong stand on marriage equality, President Obama has gone on record in support of same-sex marriage rights. After explaining how his views have changed over the years, the President said the words that many of […]
This week, Utah became the only state in the country to enact a law that requires a 72- hour waiting period for a woman seeking an abortion. The state measure, passed earlier this year and enacted on Tuesday, requires a woman seeking an abortion to undergo a face-to-face consultation with a medical practitioner at a […]
Yesterday, President Obama became the first sitting president in history to support lesbian and gay marriage. This is a monumental victory for lesbian and gay rights. In an interview with ABC’s Robin Roberts, President Obama said that “gay and lesbian Americans should be treated fairly and equally….at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for […]
The House Judiciary Committee passed the Cantor/Adams VAWA Reauthorization bill in a nearly straight party line vote yesterday. Only one Republican, Ted Poe (TX-2), joined the Democrats in voting no. The Committee, in denying consideration of the substitute bill of Ranking Member John Conyers (D-MI), essentially rejected what Vice President Biden (the principal author of […]
Voters in North Carolina passed a constitutional amendment last night that defines marriage as the legal union between a man and a woman. Amendment One, or the Defense of Marriage Act, not only outlaws same-sex marriage, which was already illegal in the state, it also bans domestic partnerships for gay or straight couples. With all […]
A report released last week by NPR breaks down the gender distribution across industries and sectors. The report compares the percentage of women in various industries from 1972 to today. The proportion of women has increased in the government sector (from 42.7% to 56.8%), leisure and hospitality (from 38.8% to 52.5%), and financial activities (from […]
A Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study released last week shows that not only are more teenage girls using contraception but also that girls are choosing more effective types of contraception. 60% of the teenagers between 15 and 19 years old are using birth control methods that are rated as highly effective methods. […]
In the 3rd ruling in this case in a week, a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday that Texas cannot exclude Planned Parenthood from its state women’s health program, pending the hearing of formal arguments. The most recent ruling reversed an emergency stay issued earlier last week that allowed Texas […]
Governor Jan Brewer of Arizona signed into law on Friday a bill that will prevent the allocation of public funds to abortion providers in the state. Ironically titled the “Whole Women’s Health Funding Priority Act,” the law will cut all funding for health services delivered by Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers, effecting the nearly […]
The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled unanimously April 30th against a proposed amendment to the Oklahoma constitution that would grant “personhood” rights to human embryos, calling it unconstitutional. Earlier in the month, the state House defeated the Personhood bill. The House Republican Caucus announced they would not take up the controversial bill, saying the decision was […]
by Kristen Schuetz “What do we do when women’s rights are under attack? Stand up, fight back!” That was the call that rang through downtown Los Angeles last Saturday, April 28, in protest against the ever-present War On Women, which has dragged on since Congress’ introduction of the “let women die” bill in early 2011. […]
The Oklahoma State House unanimously passed a bill yesterday that allows for patients to sue abortion providers or doctors who prescribe the medication for an abortion. Under House Bill 2561, patients, or the parents of a minor patient, can sue the abortion provider if anything goes wrong during the abortion or if the patient believes […]
A version of the Violence Against Women Act introduced by House Republicans excludes some protections found in the Senate bill, such as protections for LGBT, immigrant, and Native American victims of domestic violence. The House bill’s key sponsor, Rep. Sandy Adams (R-FL), defended the bill and his spokeswoman said that the protections were unnecessary because […]
co-written by Melody Moezzi & Tracy Hollister North Carolina has the dishonorable distinction of becoming the first state to put an anti-gay marriage amendment on a 2012 ballot. On May 8, voters in the state will weigh in on the North Carolina’s Amendment 1, which states that “marriage between one man and one woman is the only […]
A bill introduced by Congressman Todd Rokita (R-Ind) would force states to halt programs that provide funding for abortions for low-income women. The bill, HR 4160 (PDF) or the State Health Flexibility Act, was introduced in March and has been added to the Republican budget plan. The bill would move Medicaid to a block grant […]
The Justice Department filed court papers on Monday asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the Affordable Care Act’’s requirement that healthcare plans include contraception coverage. The lawsuit, brought by several states, challenges the Obama Administration’s rule that only “houses of worship” will not be required to cover birth control without co-pays or deductibles. […]
The Kansas State Senate voted 23-16 on Wednesday to pass a broad bill that gives pharmacists the right to deny women any drug that the pharmacist believes can cause an abortion. The bill extends “conscience” protections to non-hospital facilities, including clinics and doctors’ offices. Supporters of the bill claim it protects pharmacists from being sued […]
The Department of Justice announced yesterday that it is launching an investigation into the handling of sexual assault reports at the University of Montana in Missoula. The investigation was prompted by the large number of sexual assaults; there have been 80 reported cases of rape at the university in the past three years. There have […]
Georgia Governor Nathan Deal signed a bill yesterday that prohibits women in the state from having an abortion after 20 weeks gestation, on the unsupported premise that the fetus can experience pain at 20 weeks. The “fetal pain” bill was passed in the Senate 36 to 19 at the end of March. The bill passed […]
