Last week, District Judge Stephen Tatum dismissed 23 felony charges against a Kansas City-area Planned Parenthood and 26 misdemeanor charges in a case alleging that the clinic had falsified records and failed to maintain accurate records. Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe called for 49 of the 107 charges against the Planned Parenthood Overland Park […]
Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain indicated that he regrets calling US House of Representatives Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) “Princess Nancy.” Cain told CNBC, “That was a statement that I obviously should not have made, but I was trying to make a point.” During a Republican debate, Cain commented that “You didn’t hear about [an […]
On Tuesday, the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the constitutionality of the minimum coverage provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). This provision requires that a person purchase minimum health coverage or face a modest monetary penalty beginning in 2011. The American Center for Law and Justice, founded by […]
A civil jury in Miami awarded a record $100 million to Andres Sousana, who alleged that he was drugged and raped by a Roman Catholic priest when he was 14 years old. Reverend Neil Doherty, who is currently retired, awaits a criminal trial in jail. Jeff Herman, Sousana’s attorney in the case stated, “It sets […]
On Tuesday, Superintendent Linda Lane for Pittsburgh Public Schools recommended that George Westinghouse Academy, a local public high school, end its single sex education program. The decision came after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) threatened to file a lawsuit against the school district, claiming that the program violates Title IX, a law that prohibits […]
A civil jury in Miami awarded a record $100 million to Andres Sousana, who alleged that he was drugged and raped by a Roman Catholic priest when he was 14 years old. Reverend Neil Doherty, who is currently retired, awaits a criminal trial in jail. Jeff Herman, Sousana’s attorney in the case stated, “It sets […]
The Pennsylvania State University Board of Trustees has fired football coach Joe Paterno and University President Graham Spanier following a scandal involving former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky, who is charged with sexually abusing eight boys over a span of 15 years. According to a grand jury report, Paterno learned of Sandusky’s alleged assault […]
Israel’s Supreme Court’s three-judge panel ruled unanimously to reject former President Moshe Katsav’s appeal of his rape charges. Katsav was ordered to spend seven years in jail for sexually harassing two women while serving as president and raping an employee during his term as cabinet minister. Judge Salim Joubran stated, that Katsav “fell from the […]
Victory for State’s Public Unions Tuesday night, Ohioans voted to repeal a Republican-backed law that restricted the state’s 350,000 public workers’ collective bargaining power. Issue 2 (Senate Bill 5) on the Ohio ballot was defeated in a landslide by a 62 to 38 percent margin. This was a huge victory for Democrats and labor organizers […]
In an exciting and important victory for women’s rights advocates, Mississippi voters defeated the Personhood Amendment. While the state went Republican and voted for many candidates who supported Initiative 26, a state constitutional personhood amendment that would have given full rights to fertilized eggs, women’s rights supporters successfully defeated this dangerous initiative 58% to 42% […]
By Michele Kort The remarkable five-part PBS series Women, War and Peace concludes on tonight (Tuesday, November 8th) with War Redefined, the capstone piece that brings together the issues brought up in the previous films about conflicts in Afghanistan, Colombia, Liberia and Bosnia. Narrated by Geena Davis, the film touches on, among other things, […]
Two officials from Pennsylvania State University have been charged with failing to report suspected child abuse by the university’s former football coach and committing perjury in their grand jury testimony. Senior Vice President Gary Schultz and Athletic Director Tim Curley allegedly failed to inform law enforcement about complaints that former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky […]
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has been dispatching reproductive health care service providers and necessary resources to Central America, where approximately 1.2 million people have been affected by severe flooding. UNFPA has set up two mobile health centers and distributed over 5,000 kits, which include soap, sanitary pads, and towels, in El Salvador to […]
According to a study released by the American Association of University Women (AAUW), 48 percent of students in grades 7-12 experience sexual harassment, either in person or through texting, emails, or social media platforms. Catherine Hill, director of research at AAUW, stated, “It’s reached a level where it’s almost a normal part of the school […]
Tomorrow Mississippi voters will have the opportunity to vote on the Personhood Amendment, a ballot initiative that “would amend the Mississippi Constitution to define the word ‘person’ or ‘persons,’ as those terms are used in Article III of the state constitution, to include every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning, or the functional […]
According to a study released by the American Association of University Women (AAUW), 48 percent of students in grades 7-12 experience sexual harassment, either in person or through texting, emails, or social media platforms. Catherine Hill, director of research at AAUW, stated, “It’s reached a level where it’s almost a normal part of the school […]
The National Restaurant Association will decide today whether to release a former employee from a confidentiality agreement in her sexual harassment complaint against Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain of sexual harassment from a confidentiality agreement. After registering a complaint with the National Restaurant Association, the woman received a $35,000 severance package, contingent on her agreement […]
The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a joint subcommittee hearing on Wednesday on Women and the Arab Spring. The issue of the U.S. failure to ratify CEDAW, the Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women was raised several times. Senator Barbara Boxer (CA), who co-chaired the hearing, and Melanne Verveer, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large […]
By Ellen Chesler Birth control pioneer Margaret Sanger is back in the news this week thanks to GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain, who claimed on national television that Planned Parenthood, the visionary global movement she founded nearly a century ago, is really about one thing only: “preventing black babies from being born.” Cain’s outrageous and […]
A study published in the Lancet found an at-home test for human papillomavirus (HPV) to be very effective and could be particularly useful in regions where women do not have access to pap tests, used to diagnose the infection. According to the researchers, the do-it-yourself tests were four times more likely to detect cases of […]
