Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed two bills into law Wednesday that will further restrict abortion in the state. One bill, called the “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act,” bans late-term abortions, making it a felony crime for doctors to perform abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Oklahoma is now the fourth state to restrict abortions after […]
“There’s no such thing as a free lunch,” President Barack Obama began in a speech addressed to students at Northern Virginia Community College on Tuesday. In a town hall format in the school’s gymnasium, the President spoke about what’s been on everyone’s minds: the current state of the economy and the resulting budget cuts. Relating […]
Today marks the one year anniversary of the greatest environmental disaster in United States history, an explosion of the BP-owned Deepwater Horizon that killed 11 crew members and over 4,5000 animals, and spilled nearly 5 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. On this day, people continue to remember the disastrous effects of […]
A new poll released yesterday by CNN shows support for same-sex marriage in the U.S. has strengthened, with the majority of Americans believing that gay and lesbian couples should be allowed to legally marry and obtain the same rights as heterosexual couples. The results indicate that a small majority of a little over 51 percent […]
Last Thursday marked the end of the annual forty-day legislative session of the Georgia General Assembly. The status of reproductive rights and abortion access in the state reflected the controversial and heated debates going on across the nation, though the assembly ended without passing the restrictions on abortion that other states have faced. Georgia introduced […]
The Justice Department filed a civil complaint last week against an anti-abortion activist for sending a threatening letter to Dr. Mila Means, the Kansas doctor who plans to offer abortion services at her Wichita practice. Dr. Means has been the target of anti-abortion protests and harassment since she began training to provide abortion services in […]
Late last week, the Georgia state legislature passed a bill similar to Arizona’s controversial immigration law that expands the authority of police to check the immigration status of suspects and require employers to check the status of potential employees. A spokesman for Republican Georgia Governor Nathan Deal said Friday that Deal intends to sign the […]
The US House of Representatives Judiciary subcommittee on the Constitution held a hearing Friday called “Defending Marriage” on the Defense of Marriage Act. The hearing was held in reaction to the Obama administration’s February announcement that they will no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in court on the grounds that it considers […]
Yesterday, the Delaware House voted 26 to 15 to pass a bill that would allow same-sex couples to enter into civil unions and attain some of the same benefits enjoyed by married couples, such as the right to visit a partner in the hospital and the right to make decisions about the partner’s medical care. […]
Rapidly increasing rates of chlamydia in Minnesota have led the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota (PPMNS), in conjunction with other state public health groups, to form the Minnesota Chlamydia Partnership, which aims to reduce chlamydia rates through prevention and education efforts. According to a state health […]
On Wednesday, Representatives Mike Turner (R-OH) and Niki Tsongas (D-MA) introduced the Defense STRONG (Sexual Trauma Response, Oversight and Good Governance) Act that would increase the legal rights and protections for service members who have experienced sexual assault during their military service. The bill would provide victims with the right to legal counsel and would […]
In Minnesota, the state Senate Health and Human Services Committee passed the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act that would prohibit women from obtaining abortions after 20 weeks gestation period even through medical evidence does not support the claim of fetal pain. The bill, introduced by Senator Gretchen Hoffman (R-Vergas), makes no exceptions for cases of […]
Yesterday Kansas Governor Sam Brownback (R) signed a bill requiring that medical providers obtain a written and notarized indication of consent from both parents prior to offering abortion services to minors. Proponents say the two parent notification requirement would only apply in cases in which the nuclear family was intact; however, such consent laws are […]
On Monday, the Pennsylvania House Health Committee approved a bill that would require clinics that provide abortions to meet the standards of outpatient surgery centers, which are far more stringent than the regulations on physician’s offices and would impose new restrictions on hallway and parking lot dimensions. The bill, approved by the state House committee […]
Congratulations women, as of today you have earned as much money as your male counterparts did in the year 2010: it only took you 16 months! Equal Pay Day takes place on April 12th each year as a way to symbolize the amount of time women must work into the following year to earn the […]
Today is the anniversary of Equal Pay Day, which marks how many days into the present year that women must work to equal men’s earnings in the previous year. In other words, women must work 15 weeks into 2011, or an extra 600 hours, in order to match what men earn in 2010. In the […]
Yesterday U.S Capitol police officers arrested Washington DC Mayor Vincent Gray (D) for protesting the Congressional budget deal that would place restrictive riders on the city budget. DC Council Chairman Kwame Brown (D) and council members Yvette Alexander (D-Ward 7), Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4) and Michael Brown (I-At Large), as well […]
Yesterday the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit decided to uphold US District Judge Susan Bolton’s ruling to block portions of Arizona’s immigration law. The three judge panel ruled that Judge Bolton “did not abuse” her power in her decision to block portions of the law. However, the court did not rule on […]
Following the Pentagon’s March 17 release of its latest sexual assault statistics, Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-CA) delivered a speech on the floor of the US House of Representatives decrying rape in the military. Congresswoman Speier stated, “Read my lips, the military must end rape in this country. And those who commit such crimes must be […]
The Alabama Republican-controlled House passed the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act late last week that would ban abortions after 20 weeks. The bill, sponsored by Representative Kerry Rich (R-AL) passed by a vote of 69-19, which was largely along party lines. The bill will now goes to the state Senate for a vote. Representative Rich […]
