Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (D-NY) commented on the need for comprehensive sex education programs after the release of a study yesterday indicating that 2006 was the first year since 1990 where teen pregnancy rates rose in the US. The Guttmacher Institute report (see PDF), also found that teenage abortion rates rose by about 1 percent from […]
A bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy was introduced in the Nebraska state Legislature late last week by Speaker of the Legislature Mike Flood (R). Under the bill (see PDF), abortions after the 20th week, would only be permissible “to avert death or to avert serious risk of substantial and irreversible […]
Bangladesh’s high court ordered local authorities to find and protect a 16-year-old girl who received 101 lashes last month as punishment for becoming pregnant after she was raped last year. According to CNS News, the high court ruled in August that authorities must investigate punishments carried out outside of the judicial system after locally-issued fatwas […]
The trial of Scott Roeder, who has confessed to allegedly murdering George Tiller, MD, in May 2009, is continuing into its second day today. Thus far, the trial has focused on the testimony of prosecution witnesses who were present at the church on the day of the murder or who saw Roeder previously at the […]
The Kentucky state Senate voted overwhelmingly in a 32 to 4 vote yesterday in favor of a bill that would require women who are seeking an abortion to have and view an ultrasound prior to the procedure. The bill, introduced by state Senator Elizabeth Tori (R), also requires patients to meet with a doctor 24 […]
A French parliamentary committee released a nearly 200 page report yesterday that recommends banning face veils in certain public spaces, including on public transportation and at schools, hospitals, and government offices. According to the New York Times, only 14 members of the 32 member committee voted, eight in favor of the report and six against. […]
The Hawaii state Senate voted on Friday in favor of legalizing civil unions in the state. The state Senate voted for the measure with a “veto-proof” 18 to 7 vote. Only 13 votes were needed for the measure to pass. The state House is expected to consider the measure sometime this week. According to the […]
Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) sent a letter to President Barack Obama Friday urging a stronger focus on Afghan women and girls at an international conference on Afghanistan to be held in London this week. In her letter, Boxer indicated deep concern that women are “not being viewed as an essential element” in the US’s Afghanistan […]
Cindy McCain, the wife of 2008 presidential candidate John McCain, announced her endorsement of the No on 8 Campaign this week with a provocative ad on the group’s website. The ad depicts McCain with a piece of duct tape over her mouth and NoH8 written on her cheek. The McCains’ daughter, Meghan, has previously spoken […]
President Barack Obama resubmitted the nomination of Dawn Johnsen to be the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel within the Department of Justice on Wednesday. Johnsen was first formally nominated in February 2009. Johnsen’s nomination has been held up for nearly a year because of Republican opposition in Congress. Marge Baker, Executive […]
Focus on the Family will air a 30 second anti-choice ad featuring University of Florida football star Tim Tebow during the Superbowl. The ad will feature the story of how Tebow’s mother chose against having an abortion during her complicated pregnancy contrary to her doctors advice, according to All Headline News. The New York Times […]
Three leading members of the Haitian women’s movement were killed in the rubble of last week’s earthquake. Myriam Merlet, Magalie Marcelin and Anne Marie Coriolan founded three of Haiti’s leading women’s rights organizations and worked together for decades. Merlet fled Haiti in the 1970s, but returned in the 1980s because, as she once wrote, “as […]
Republican state Senator Scott Brown won the election to fill the late Senator Ted Kennedy’s seat yesterday over Democratic nominee state Attorney General Martha Coakley. According to CNN, Brown received 52 percent of the vote, Coakley received 47 percent, and Independent Joseph Kennedy (no relation to Ted Kennedy) received 1 percent with 99 percent of […]
Anti-choice protestors are continuing to target the University of Wisconsin Medical Center a year after the center announced plans to offer abortions to women up to the 22nd week of pregnancy. New abortion services are not yet offered at the medical center. Anti-choice protestors are planning a large protest in February and have previously turned […]
Sponsors of a proposed Alaska ballot initiative seeking a law that would require parental notification before a minor can obtain an abortion submitted signatures to qualify the measure for the ballot late last week. The initiative (see PDF), called the “Parental Involvement Initiative” also includes a judicial bypass provision. According to the Anchorage Daily News, […]
The Afghan parliament rejected more than half of President Karzai’s cabinet nominees, including two women, late last week. Rejected nominees also included known warlords, including Ismail Khan. A third woman nominee, Amina Afzali, was confirmed as work and social affairs minister. Sima Samar, who leads Afghanistan’s Independent Human Rights Commission, had previously told Reuters, “I […]
A Kentucky state Senate judiciary committee voted unanimously yesterday in favor of a bill that would require women who are seeking an abortion to have and view an ultrasound prior to the procedure. The bill, introduced by state Senator Elizabeth Tori (R), also requires patients to meet with a doctor 24 hours prior to the […]
A Washington, DC, Superior Court judge ruled yesterday that a referendum on same-sex marriage would violate the city’s Human Rights Act. The ruling (see PDF) upheld two previous decisions by the DC Board of Elections and Ethics that rejected ballot initiative proposals on same-sex marriage. Opponents to marriage equality plan to appeal the decision to […]
Noushin Ebadi, sister of human rights activist Shirin Ebadi, and all arrested members of the activist group Mourning Mothers were released from prison yesterday. It is unclear whether One Million Signatures campaign founder Mansoureh Shojaee, journalist Morteza Kazemian, and other Iranian feminists remain imprisoned. Shirin Ebadi told Al Jazeera that “The government arrested my sister […]
Two companion bills were introduced in the Washington state House and Senate yesterday that seek to institute truth in advertising laws for crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) in the state. If enacted, the bills would require CPCs to disclose that they do not provide information or referrals for abortion or birth control and that they do […]
