A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel recommended yesterday that the FDA approve the expansion of Gardasil use to boys and men between the ages of 9 and 26 and also approve Cervarix, a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, for use in women. Anna Giuliano, a scientist who led a trial of Gardisil in men, told […]
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a sex segregation lawsuit Tuesday against the Vermilion Parish School District in Louisiana. The complaint was filed on behalf of the unnamed parent of two students who claim they were denied equal opportunity for co-educational classes at Rene A. Rost Middle School after being assigned to single-sex classrooms. […]
CNN has reportedly only considered male candidates thus far for a new Crossfire-style show. According to Media Bistro, CNN is considering the following male candidates: current CNN contributors Roland Martin and Errol Lewis, ESPN’s Steve Smith, and Cenk Uygur of the Young Turks on the liberal side and frequent CNN contributor Joe Pagliarulo and several […]
Justice Sonia Sotomayor will hear her first case as a Supreme Court Justice today after a formal investiture ceremony yesterday in which she was officially sworn into office for the third time. The case involves the legality of using corporate and union funds in campaign finance law. The Supreme Court heard the case earlier this […]
Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock approved a proposed ballot measure that aims to constitutionally define fertilized eggs as people in the state. A similar initiative failed to qualify for the state’s ballot last year because not even half of the required signatures were gathered. More than 48,000 valid signatures must be gathered for the measure […]
Sayed Pervez Kambaksh, who was originally sentenced to death in Afghanistan for distributing information regarding the role of women in Islam in October 2007 is now free. Afghan President Hamid Karzai secretly pardoned Kambaksh, who was moved from a Kabul prison two weeks ago before being flown out of the country to an undisclosed location, […]
Lubna Ahmed al-Hussein, who was jailed in Sudan yesterday for wearing pants, was released today after the Sudanese Union of Journalists reportedly paid a fine to secure her release. Al-Hussein pled not guilty during her one-day trial yesterday and was not allowed to present a defense. Nabil Adib, her lawyer, told CNN, “She thinks that […]
The NGO Forum on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Development held in Berlin last week issued a Berlin Call to Action urging immediate and international action to improve women’s health and access to resources. The call to action stated that “with five years left” until the deadline established by the 1994 Cairo Consensus, “we call […]
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley announced yesterday that she will run for Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat. Coakley is currently the only woman elected to statewide office in Massachusetts and, if elected, would be the first woman to represent the state in the US Senate, according to the Boston Globe. Currently, there are 17 women US […]
A ballot measure that proposes to overturn a Washington state law that guarantees domestic partner benefits for unmarried couples was certified this week despite suspicions that some collected signatures are fraudulent. The law was signed Governor Chris Gregoire in May and was originally scheduled to take effect in July. The law in question expands the […]
The Iranian Parliament approved President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s nominee for Health Minister,Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi, yesterday. Dastjerdi is the country’s first woman to be appointed to the cabinet since Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979. The nominations of two other women, Fatemeh Ajorlou for the welfare and social security minister and Susan Keshavarz for the education minister position […]
ABC News announced yesterday that Diane Sawyer will succeed Charles Gibson as anchor of the evening broadcast “World News” in January. Gibson plans to retire from his full-time post at ABC News, as reported by the network. When Sawyer’s tenure commences, two of the three major network evening news broadcasts will be anchored by women. […]
The Thomas More Society filed a lawsuit this week with the Illinois Supreme Court that seeks immediate enforcement of a parental notification law in the state. The notification law was scheduled to go into effect on August 5th, but its implementation was delayed by a 90-day moratorium approved by the state’s Department of Financial and […]
Drafts of the United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) International Guidelines on Sexuality Education that will be launched formally in October are inciting controversy. UNESCO describes the guidelines (see PDF) as “an evidence-informed and rights-based framework to give children and young people access to the knowledge and skills they need in their personal, […]
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved emergency contraceptive Next Choice, a generic version of Plan B, for over-the-counter use. Next Choice, manufactured by Watson Pharmaceuticals, was first approved by the FDA for prescription use on June 24, according to the Pharmaceutical Business Review. Next Choice will be available over-the-counter to women ages 17 […]
Opponents of same-sex marriage filed a petition in Washington, DC yesterday requesting a ballot initiative that would define marriage as only between men and women. The proposed initiative states that “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in the District of Columbia.” The initiative request is filed as members of […]
The recently published graduate thesis of Virginia Attorney General Robert McDonnell, who is also the Republican candidate for Virginia Governor, demonstrates opposition to women’s rights. McDonnell spent 14 years in the state legislature before becoming state Attorney General in 2006. McDonnell has attempted to distance himself from the inflammatory views fleshed out in his thesis. […]
Legislation allowing same-sex marriage in Vermont went into effect today, with several couples wed just after midnight. Bill Slimback, who married his long-time partner Bob Sullivan, told the Associated Press, “It’s a day I’ve been long waiting for, and a day I truly honestly thought would never come.” He also told United Press International that […]
A report released last week by the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) and the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund (MALDEF) examines the high dropout rate of Latina high school students. The report found that 41 percent of Latina students do not graduate from high school in four years with a standard diploma, according to a […]
Reports indicate that many women were unable to vote in some parts of Afghanistan and that women’s voting cards were used to stuff ballot boxes in the country’s presidential election earlier this month. In some areas that are not controlled by the Taliban, however, women were nearly 60 percent of voters, according to the Christian […]
