A group of 72 lawmakers in the U.S. House submitted a letter earlier this week calling on President Obama to issue an executive order instituting federal non-discrimination protections for LGBT people in the workplace. The administrative action would require that all companies doing business with the U.S. government enforce non-discrimination policies that include sexual orientation […]
This morning, President Barack Obama, in addressing some 300 women leaders, activists, business leaders and entrepreneurs and academics at a White House Forum on Women and the Economy, emphasized the gains for women under his Administration, including increasing judicial appointments, preventive health care coverage, removal of sex discrimination in insurance pricing and saving teacher jobs. […]
Voters in Anchorage, Alaska overwhelmingly rejected an initiative on Tuesday that would add civil rights protections for gay citizens. Proposition Five would have extended the city’s civil rights laws to include protection from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. One Anchorage, a group advocating for gay rights in Alaska, organized the Proposition 5 campaign […]
The federal district court for the District of Columbia dismissed a case last week brought against the US Department of Education by the American Sports Council (ASC). The ASC argued that Title IX’s three-part test should not be applied to high schools. The test is used to determine whether schools provide equal opportunities for both […]
Coca-Cola announced yesterday that it would pull all support and membership in the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Its announcement came in response to a campaign recently launched by ColorofChange.org asking businesses to pull sponsorship from ALEC. PepsiCo, whose membership expired in January, told Color of Change that it would not renew for 2012. ALEC […]
Xavier University announced yesterday that it will no longer provide contraceptive coverage for its employees. Xavier, a Jesuit university in Cincinnati, Ohio, said that its employee insurance plans will no longer cover birth control as of July 1. In his letter to the faculty announcing the change, Xavier president Michael J. Graham wrote that he […]
The American Civil Liberties Union will be allowed to pursue its case against a law in Kansas that restricts insurance plans from covering abortions. US District Judge Julie Robinson ruled against the state’s request to dismiss the ACLU’s challenge of the law. The ACLU argues that the law discriminates on the basis of gender. They […]
A suspect was charged yesterday in the April 1 bombing of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Grand Chute, Wisconsin. The Associated Press reports that Francis Grady, 50, was charged with “arson of a building used in interstate commerce and intentionally damaging a facility that provides reproductive health services.” In a statement released yesterday, Planned Parenthood […]
Arguments continue in the landmark case against Monsignor William Lynn who has been charged with child endangerment and conspiracy for allegedly failing to act in response to cases of alleged priest sex abuse of children. Jurors heard testimony from a detective who read internal memos from the church, detailing the sexual abuse. The documents contained […]
A federal appeals court upheld California’s statewide ban on using affirmative action in admissions decisions at public universities yesterday. Proposition 209, approved by California voters in 1996, bans public colleges and universities from considering gender, ethnicity, or race in the admissions process. The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the ban once before. […]
A new USA TODAY/Gallup poll released yesterday shows that there is currently a wide gender gap in the presidential race. President Barack Obama currently has an eighteen point advantage with women voters over Romney. Overall, the poll shows that President Obama currently has a nine point lead over Republican candidate Mitt Romney. According to the […]
Police are investigating a homemade bomb that exploded last night outside of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Grand Chute, Wisconsin. No injuries were reported, and the clinic experienced only minimal damage from a fire caused by the bomb. Teri Huyuck, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, stated, “Our primary concern today – as […]
Aung San Suu Kyi, of the National League for Democracy party, won a seat in Myanmar’s (previously Burma) parliamentary election last weekend. Her victory opens the possibility that the National League for Democracy party, which won 40 of the 45 contested seats, could take control of Myanmar’s government in the next election in 2015. Nevertheless, […]
“Multiple Deprivations and Maternal Care in India,” a study conducted by Sanjay Mohanty and published in the March issue of International Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, found that in India, impoverished women who lack education face significant barriers in their access to maternal healthcare, including antenatal and post natal care, as well as medical […]
Renowned feminist poet Adrienne Rich died on Tuesday at the age of 82. Rich, who wrote two dozen volumes of poetry and sold approximately 800,000 copies of her work, was widely acclaimed for her writings advocating for the rights of women and lesbians. According to the New York Times, Rich “accomplished in verse what Betty […]
The first-ever nationwide study of abortion in Rwanda, conducted by the National University of Rwanda’s School of Public Health and the Guttmacher Institute, indicated that 60,000 women obtain abortions annually in the country, amounting to 25 abortions for every 1,000 women who are of reproductive age. Moreover, in 2009, one in 40 women of reproductive […]
The Georgia Senate voted 36 to 19 to pass a bill that would prohibit 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 bill passed with an amendment allowing for an exception for “medically futile” pregnancies, which would […]
According to a study, conducted by conducted by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the D.C. Department of Health and published in AIDS and Behavior, a program in Washington DC, which gives female condoms to residents at no cost, saved $6 million in medical costs its initial year. During the program’s first […]
Yesterday Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who formerly served as the chief of the International Monetary Fund, was charged by French officials with “aggravated pimping” for his alleged involvement with prostitution rings in Paris and Washington DC in 2010 and 2011. Strauss-Kahn could face up to 20 years in jail. A civil suit filed by a New York […]
A study conducted by the University of Michigan found that access to birth control earlier in life enabled women to earn higher wages later in their careers. According to the study, approximately 33 percent of the increase in women’s wages during the 1990s can be attributed to the changes in laws during the 1960s and […]
