US Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) was supported by a group of leading Democratic Senators Wednesday as he introduced the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, which would repeal “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.” The legislation will be discussed as part of the Annual Defense Authorization Bill by the Senate Armed Services Committee in May, according to the Washington […]
Yesterday, the Oklahoma Supreme Court upheld the February ruling of a state District Court that an anti-choice state law not yet enacted is unconstitutional. Both courts found the law to be unconstitutional on the basis that the law violates state rules requiring that legislation address only a single subject. The law would have prohibited sex-selective […]
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit demanding public documents from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) concerning any religious elements of their international abstinence-only sex education programs. Senior staff attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project Brigitte Amiri said in an ACLU press release: “The United States government cannot be in […]
A meeting of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women began this week in New York City. According to the Division for the Advancement of Women, the meeting will conduct a fifteen-year review of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and focus on “the sharing of experiences and good […]
A Saudi Arabian woman, Sawsan Salim, has been sentenced to 300 lashings and one and a half years in prison for filing harassment complaints about government officials and appearing in court in the northern Qasim region without a male guardian present. In 2007, Salim filed 118 harassment complaints against local officials, who allegedly mistreated her […]
Washington, DC-based Catholic Charities announced yesterday that health insurance for the spouses of their employees will no longer be provided due to the recent legalization of same-sex marriage in the District. Catholic Charities will also discontinue their foster care program in the District. The changes take effect immediately, according to the Washington Post. Current employees […]
US Army Chief of Staff General George Casey told the US Senate last week that the Pentagon will reassess the ban on women in the Army’s infantry. He said, “I believe that it’s time that we take a look at what women are actually doing in Iraq and Afghanistan and look at our policies,” reported […]
A public hearing was held late last week before the judiciary committee of the Nebraska state legislature on a bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy in the state. According to ABC News, the committee heard testimony from nineteen doctors, lawyers, and Nebraskans during the nearly four-hour hearing and will decide whether […]
A bill that could criminalize illegal abortions was sent to Utah Governor Gary Herbert (R) for his signature last week. The bill was passed by the state House at the end of January and the state Senate in mid-February. The New York Times reports that Governor Herbert has said he agrees with the bill’s general […]
Spain’s Senate gave final approval on Wednesday to a bill that liberalizes the countries abortion laws. The new law allows abortion up to 14 weeks, which means that Spanish women will no longer risk imprisonment should they choose abortion. It also gives 16 and 17-year-olds the right to have an abortion without parental consent. The […]
On Wednesday, A federal court in Louisiana began hearing a case regarding sex-segregated classes in coeducational public schools. This is the first time a court has heard such a sex-segregation case, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The ACLU filed the sex segregation lawsuit in September 2009 against the Vermilion Parish School District […]
Originally posted on Huffington Post by Kathy Spillar, Ms. magazine Executive Editor By this time, few adults in the U.S. haven’t heard of the “cervical cancer vaccine” Gardasil, which has been well-publicized and recommended for routine administration to girls and women ages 9 to 26. But how many know that Gardasil–which attacks four strains of […]
Maryland state Attorney General Douglas Gansler released an opinion yesterday that states Maryland should recognize marriages of same-sex couples performed out-of-state. The ruling (see PDF) does not have the weight of law, but is considered a guideline for state officials. Gansler said, “There is no law in Maryland that says we don’t recognize out-of-state marriages […]
The Supreme Court heard a racial discrimination case Monday where they might apply the Ledbetter Act for the first time in a Supreme Court decision . In the current case, a group of minority applicants to Chicago’s fire department are suing the city under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, claiming that […]
A South Carolina state House budget panel approved a measure Monday that would end health insurance payments for pregnant victims of rape or incest who seek abortions. According to the Times and Democrat, Democrats on the panel were “stunned” by the measure. House Minority Leader Harry Ott (D) asked state Representative Rex Rice, who authored […]
Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Robert Casey (D-PA) held a joint subcommittee hearing yesterday of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Afghan Women and Girls: Building the Future of Afghanistan. Dr. Sima Samar, chair of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, traveled from Afghanistan to testify. Dr. Samar provided invaluable insight on the current situation […]
The United States Navy plans to allow women on submarines for the first time, military officials announced yesterday. According to the Los Angeles Times US Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates informed Congress Monday of the Navy’s intended policy change. The policy will go into effect as early as mid-April unless Congress objects during a 30 […]
Originally Posted on Huffington Post by Kathy Spillar, Ms. magazine Executive Editor As health care reform is being debated today at the White House between Democrats and Republicans, who better to weigh in than … Catholic bishops?
A bill that would ban abortion in nearly all circumstances, without exception for rape or incest, was introduced late last week in the Florida state House. State Representative Charles Van Zant (R), a former Baptist minister, is sponsoring the bill, called the “Florida for Life Act”. There are currently no House co-sponsors and there is […]
Virginia state Delegate Bob Marshall (R) stated at an anti-choice press conference last Thursday that disabled children are a punishment from God for abortion. Marshall said, “The number of children who are born subsequent to a first abortion with handicaps has increased dramatically. Why? Because when you abort the first born of any, nature takes […]
