Yesterday the Senate, voting 50 to 50, fell short of the vote needed to break the Republican filibuster of the Teachers and First Responders Back to Work Act. Following the Republican filibuster of the American Jobs Act last week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced that he would introduce individual portions of the Act. […]
This week the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) held the first ever international conference on female genital mutilation (FGM), which discussed research, healthcare services, and preventive measures. Currently, the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme is working in 15 African nations to prevent FGM and is establishing partnerships with African Universities […]
On Tuesday, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 10-1 to approve a city ordinance that would prevent crisis pregnancy centers from spreading false or misleading advertisements about their facilities. The ordinance requires that crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) display signs indicating whether they offer comprehensive reproductive health services, including abortions and contraception, and whether a […]
Yesterday New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (D) and the New York City Department for the Aging awarded the Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE) a contract to open the first full-time center for lesbians, gays, and bisexual seniors in the country. Mayor Bloomberg stated, “The needs of seniors have evolved since centers were created […]
On Wednesday, District Court Judge Daniel Owens ruled to temporarily block a new abortion law in Oklahoma that seeks to restrict the use of abortion-inducing drugs by doctors. The bill, which was passed earlier this year by Oklahoma’s Republican-controlled legislature and later signed by Governor Mary Fallin (R), requires doctors to follow the strict guidelines […]
Yesterday, the Uniform Crime Report Subcommittee of the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) voted unanimously to recommend a new, more inclusive definition of Rape in the UCR Report. The recommendation will be considered at a public meeting of the CJIS Advisory Policy Board in December. If approved, it will be forwarded to FBI Director […]
Yesterday Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin nominated his general counsel Beth Robinson to the state Supreme Court. He stated, “Beth’s strong legal background, experience with crafting legislation at the Statehouse and commitment to the equal rights of all Vermonters will make her an exceptional justice on the Vermont Supreme Court.” Robinson’s confirmation is likely by Vermont’s […]
Yesterday US District Court Judge Thomas Marten ruled that the state of Kansas must continue to distribute federal family planning funds to the Dodge City Family Planning Clinic after a law went into effect on July 1 banning Title X family planning funding from going to the clinic. The law requires that the state allocate […]
“I was pregnant, I was miscarrying, I was bleeding. If I had to go from one hospital to the next trying to find one emergency room that would take me in, who knows if I would even be here today. What my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are trying to do is […]
In Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, the school board announced that it will end a middle school program that segregates classes by sex for at least the next five years. Galen Sherwin, staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union’s (ACLU) Women’s Rights Project, stated, “The Vermilion program was one of many across the country that relied […]
The movement to end the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is spreading across Senegal, with as many as 5,000 villages joining the collective effort to eliminate the procedure. “Before you would never even dare to discuss this. It was taboo. Now you have thousands of people coming to abandon it,” said Mamadou Dia, governor […]
Abortion rights supporters tell Governor McDonnell to reject politically motivated regulations on Virginia’s women’s health centers The Virginia Coalition to Protect Women’s Health rallied with hundreds of supporters in Richmond on Saturday, October 15 to demand that lawmakers stop the war on women’s reproductive health and rights. Protesters criticized Virginia’s politically-motivated regulations on abortion providers […]
Former legal director of Lambda Legal and executive director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission Paula Ettelbrick died at the age of 56 of peritoneal cancer earlier this month. In addition to these positions, Ettelbrick, a leader in the lesbian and gay rights movement, also served as legislative counsel at Empire State […]
On Friday, a Kansas City county grand jury indicted St. Joseph Catholic Diocese and its bishop, Robert Finn, for failing to report suspected child abuse by a priest in possession of child pornography. Bishop Finn is accused of covering up the abusive behavior of Reverend Shawn Ratigan, who was arrested in May on charges of […]
Yesterday the US Senate confirmed Alison Nathan to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in a 48 to 44 vote along party lines. Nathan is the third openly gay judge to be confirmed to serve as a federal judge. Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese stated, “We commend […]
Yesterday, the US House of Representatives passed the “Let Her Die” bill, sponsored by Representative Joe Pitts (R-PA) and supported by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA). The bill proposes to “prohibit federal funds from being used to cover any part of the costs of any health plan that includes coverage of abortion services.” The […]
Recently, Education as Vaccine, a Nigerian organization, petitioned the Ministry of Women Affairs to adopt a more aggressive stance on women’s rights issues in the country. The call to action is in response to the failure of the Ministry of Women Affairs to respond to a recent incident of rape, videotaped at a college campus […]
Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor announced late yesterday that he will continue to prosecute misdemeanor domestic violence cases. His announcement came after the Topeka City Council voted 7 to 3 yesterday to repeal the city’s law prohibiting misdemeanor domestic violence. The City Council’s vote was an attempt to force Shawnee County District Attorney Chad […]
Continuing its preoccupation with voting to restrict family planning and abortion rights, the US House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on HR 358, the “Protect Life Act,” sponsored by Representative Joe Pitts (R-PA), today. The bill proposes to “prohibit federal funds from being used to cover any part of the costs of any health […]
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is providing humanitarian assistance and reproductive health services and emergency reproductive health kits to the approximately 1.4 million women and girls affected by the flooding in Pakistan. The UNFPA estimates that 160,000 of these women are pregnant and approximately 440 women go into labor daily. The UNFPA has established […]
