Wisconsin: After three days of debate, Republicans in the Wisconsin General Assembly passed an anti-union bill that proposes to reduce state workers’ wages between six and eight percent and take away the right of unions to collectively bargain for benefits, hours, and working conditions. The vote occurred at 1:00 am this morning and was closed […]
Attorney General Eric Holder announced yesterday the Obama administration will no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in court on the grounds that it considers the law violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution. Attorney General Holder stated in a letter to Congress, “the President and I have concluded that classifications based […]
On Tuesday, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R) proposed a budget that would dramatically cut teachers’ and other public employees’ retirement and health benefits, while doubling the middle-class property tax rebate. The budget reforms would cost teachers over $12,000 per year. Barbara Keshishian, president of the New Jersey Education Association, clarified, “In this budget, the […]
Over 550,000 people signed an open letter to Congress demanding that the Senate stop the amendment to the continuing resolution that would defund Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA). Women outraged by the defunding of PPFA and the elimination of Title X funding are flooding Congress with communications. Women’s groups, including the Feminist Majority, the […]
Thirty-seven of Indiana’s forty House Democrats fled the state yesterday, blocking the vote on a bill that would prohibit state workers’ right to collective bargaining. The Democrats vowed in their joint statement to remain in Urbana, IL until Republican Governor Mitch Daniels and House Speaker Brian Bosma (R) agree that the labor and education bills […]
On Monday, the Virginia House of Delegates voted 63-34 to amend the Targeted Regulations of Abortion Providers (TRAP) bill to impose increased regulations on abortion providers. If passed in the Senate, the bill would require that abortion clinics that perform five or more abortions yearly be licensed by the Board of Health and comply with […]
On Friday, the Obama administration rescinded the “conscience” rules, first instituted under the Bush administration, that granted protections to medical providers who refused to provide abortions, sterilization, in-vitro fertilization, and other medical procedures, such as care to AIDS patients, due to moral objections. Under the “conscience” rules, hospitals could refuse to provide emergency contraception to […]
DC Council Member David Catania (I- At Large), chair of the city’s Committee on Health, introduced a bill that would allow women to obtain birth control pills from their pharmacist without first visiting a doctor. If the DC city council votes to pass the bill, the DC Board of Pharmacy and the DC Board of […]
Sixty-eight thousand state and local public workers and supporters rallied Saturday in Madison, WI to protest Governor Scott Walker’s (R) extreme anti-union bill that proposes to reduce state workers’ salaries and take away the right of unions to collectively bargain for salary benefits, hours, and working conditions. The bill would cut public workers’ wages between […]
Following a lawsuit filed by Foliage Development Inc., Dr. Mila Means has agreed not to perform abortions in the office space that she leases from the company and stated that she will seek another space for her medical practice. Foliage Development claimed that by offering abortions, Dr. Means would create safety issues and a public […]
Fourteen Democratic Wisconsin Senators secretly fled from the state, blocking the vote on Republican Governor Scott Walker’s extreme anti-union bill in a strategy to make the Governor negotiate with them. Due to the senators’ absence, the state Senate lacked the 60 percent attendance rate required for the vote to occur. Walker’s bill proposes to reduce […]
Late into Thursday night and early this morning, the Pence Amendment to the House Continuing Resolution to fund the federal government was debated. Emotions ran high. One Republican House member after another maligned Planned Parenthood and kept saying the amendment was to stop federal funding of abortions despite the fact that no federal funding of […]
In a vote of 7 to 4, the Maryland Senate Judicial Proceeding Committee passed the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act (SB 116). The bill will go to the state Senate for a vote next week. If passed, the legislation would confer marriage rights to same-sex couples in Maryland. Morgan Meneses-Sheets, executive director of […]
The South Dakota anti-abortion bill (HR 1171) that would have altered the definition of “justifiable homicide” to include killings aimed to prevent harm to an unborn child failed yesterday in the state’s House by an overwhelming vote of 61-4. Earlier this week the bill passed out of the state’s House Judiciary Committee by a vote […]
Watch Rachel Maddow Monday on MSNBC to see a report from Wichita on the aggressive harassment of Dr. Mila Means, who wants to give women the choice of safe, legal abortion services in Wichita once again. Maddow is repeatedly asking, “What kind of nation do you want to live in?” Feminist Majority Foundation Legal Coordinator […]
The House just voted 240 to 185 to pass the Pence Amendment. Please see the FMF Press Release for more information.
Over thirty thousand state and local public workers and supporters rallied yesterday in Madison, WI to protest Governor Scott Walker’s (R) extreme anti-union bill that proposes to reduce state workers’ salaries and take away the right of unions to collectively bargain for salary benefits, hours, and working conditions (MSNBC). The bill would cut public workers’ […]
Following a lawsuit filed by Foliage Development Inc., Dr. Mila Means has agreed not to perform abortions in the office space that she leases from the company and stated that she will seek another space for her medical practice. Foliage Development claimed that by offering abortions, Dr. Means would create safety issues and a public […]
Afghan women’s leaders announced at a press conference this morning in Kabul that they will fight the proposed regulation and any attempt of the government to take over battered women and girls shelters, currently run by non-profit women’s organizations. Leaders at the conference, organized by the Afghan Women’s Network, which is comprised of some 75 […]
A survey released yesterday by the National Domestic Violence Hotline and the Family Violence Prevention Fund revealed that one in four women who agreed to answer questions after calling the hotline had experienced “reproductive coercion.” The Family Violence Prevention Fund defines “reproductive coercion” as “threats or acts of violence against a reproductive health or reproductive […]
