A Georgia bill that seeks to criminalize abortions on the basis of race was approved by the state Senate late last week on a 33 to 14 vote. The bill will now be considered by the Georgia state House, whose Judiciary Non-Civil Committee voted 7 to 6 in favor of the bill earlier this month. […]
A so-called “personhood” ballot initiative, Amendment 62, will again be on the Colorado ballot in the November elections. Colorado Secretary of State Bernie Buescher announced late Friday that of the 126,762 signatures submitted by Personhood Colorado, 95,884 are valid, nearly 20,000 more than is required to put a measure on the ballot, reported the Cyprus […]
A report compiled by the US-based Guttmacher Institute and endorsed by a coalition of Canadian groups stated that the funding of family planning, which has been left out of Canada’s foreign aid plan, would save the lives of millions of women and children in developing nations. According to the Canadian Press, the United Nations Population […]
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey celebrated women’s history month yesterday at an event at the US Capitol. The reception was hosted by Speaker Pelosi and honored Secretary Clinton. Speaker Pelosi introduced Secretary Clinton by noting the focus she has on making sure “that women’s rights are viewed […]
Members of the Kansas state House and state Senate met yesterday to negotiate on a law that would restrict some access to late abortion in the state. According to the Associated Press, the bill will likely include a provision allowing women or their families to sue doctors if they can present evidence that their late […]
The Pentagon announced today that it will relax enforcement of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” until Congress acts to repeal the policy. According to the Washington Post, the military will no longer investigate service members’ sexual orientation based on anonymous tips, will reduce third party testimony, and will require high-level review of all expulsions based on […]
South Carolina’s state Senate approved the state House’s abortion legislation Wednesday that extends the wait time for an abortion from one hour to 24 hours. However, a compromise was added that does not necessarily tie the one-day waiting period to the time of an ultrasound, according to the Associated Press. Under the current bill, at […]
A US District Court judge ruled yesterday that an Itawamba County, Mississippi, school board infringed upon a high school student Constance McMillan’s First Amendment rights when it denied her attendance to the prom because she wanted to wear a tuxedo and attend with her girlfriend. Judge Glen Davidson said he would not fulfill the s […]
A US District Judge in Hawaii ruled in favor of a women’s high school softball team’s Title IX claim in Maui County, HI, late last week. Several members of the Baldwin High School softball team, their parents, and their coach sued Maui County and the Department of Education (DOE) for discrimination under Title IX. The […]
This is the beginning of a dramatic expansion of health care access, eventually adding coverage for 32 million people, increasing access to family planning and preventive care, and starts to limit some of the most despicable insurance company practices, said Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Foundation. “But women were forced to pay a […]
Cambodia has temporarily barred South Korean men from marrying Cambodian women. The ban, imposed earlier this month, came after Cambodian police arrested a woman for allegedly trafficking 25 women and for about 100 US dollars each, reports Asia Pacific News. The ban will eventually be lifted, but the government plans to first install an efficient […]
Personhood Colorado submitted approximately 45,000 more signatures to the Colorado Secretary of State in support of their proposed ballot initiative last week. According to ABC, just 15,690 more valid signatures are needed to put the measure on the fall 2010 ballot. In February, Personhood Colorado submitted 79,817 signatures, just 3,770 more than would be necessary […]
News broke late Friday night that Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) was brokering a deal with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to ban all abortion coverage in the health-care reform bill. You may be feeling deja vu. Backed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Stupak pulled the same trick–an 11th hour meeting with Pelosi–to […]
ABC announced yesterday that Christiane Amanpour will be the new anchor of the Sunday morning political talk show This Week. In August, Amanpour will join Candy Crowley, the new host of State of the Union as the only women currently anchoring Sunday political shows. Amanpour will be replacing George Stephanopoulos, who left This Week to […]
A bill introduced in the Missouri state Senate would require doctors to ask women seeking abortion services about their reasons for seeking the procedure. Women would not be required to respond to the question. State Senator Tom Dempsey (R), the bill’s sponsor, argues that the information would help the government better understand women’s reasons for […]
Idaho’s House of Representatives passed a “conscience clause” bill this week, which will allow health care professionals to deny access to contraception, abortion, stem-cell, end-of-life treatment or medication on the basis of their conscience. According to State Representative Tom Loertscher (R), the bill’s House sponsor, any health care worker, be it a pharmacist or a […]
Canadian government officials stated this week that their initiative to save the lives of women and children in developing nations will not include family planning supplies or services of any sort. At a Foreign Affairs committee meeting Tuesday, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said that Canada’s plan “does not deal in any way, shape or […]
The South Carolina state House voted 57 to 54 early this morning against a provision in the proposed state budget that would have ended health insurance abortion coverage for victims of rape or incest. The provision had previously been approved by the state House Ways and Means Committee in February of this year. State Representative […]
Egypt’s Constitutional Court ruled to allow the appointment of women judges to the State Council Monday. The State Council, the governing body in charge of administrative disputes regarding public power, voted overwhelmingly against appointing women to their ranks in February, according to Bikya Masr News. However, Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and the country’s top governing […]
A federal judge denied the city of Fresno, California’s motion for a new trial Monday in a sex discrimination suit where former fire department trainee Michelle Maher won a $2.5 million settlement. District Judge Oliver Wanger also ruled against Fresno’s claim that the evidence in the case did not fully support the original November 2009 […]
