Japan elected a record 54 women to parliamentary seats in the country’s elections this weekend. The newly elected candidates bring the total percentage of women in the Japanese House of Representatives to 11 percent, a 2 percent increase, reported Agence France Presse. Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lost power after a massive landslide victory […]
The Feminist Majority Foundation joined pro-choice supporters nationwide in announcing their full support of Dr. Leroy Carhart and the Abortion and Contraception Clinic of Nebraska at a press conference in Omaha, Nebraska today. Pro-choice supporters from 16 states are defending the clinic. Dr. Carhart had traveled to Wichita each month to work with Dr. Tiller, […]
The Ohio Supreme Court ruled 7 to 2 yesterday against LaNisa Allen, who filed a discrimination complaint after being fired from her job at Totes/Isotoner because she took unauthorized breaks to pump breast milk. Her suit alleged that the company violated the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. The court’s ruling (see […]
Donald Hertz, who allegedly made death threats against abortion provider Warren Hern and his family, was indicted yesterday by a Denver federal grand jury. Hertz allegedly made the threats in a phone call to the Boulder Abortion Clinic on June 23rd. The threats were made just three weeks after Dr. George Tiller, medical director of […]
The California State Senate passed a resolution this week calling on the US Congress to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which bans gay and lesbian individuals from serving in the military. The resolution (see PDF) passed on a 23-16 vote and will go before the State Assembly in January. Senator Christine Kehoe (D-San Diego) introduced […]
The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this week in favor of a family seeking asylum in the US on the grounds that their daughter may face female genital mutilation (FGM) if they return to their home country of Indonesia. The asylum claim was filed in 2002 by Bob Benito Benyamin and Anabella Rodriguez […]
Statement of Feminist Majority President Eleanor Smeal on the Death of Senator Edward M. Kennedy For decades, Senator Edward M. Kennedy was a champion of women’s rights. For years, when few other Senators would take women’s rights seriously, the women’s movement could count on Senator Kennedy. In struggle after struggle, the women’s movement could turn […]
Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) died late last night at his Massachusetts home after a lengthy battle with brain cancer. Feminist Majority President Eleanor Smeal released the following statement: For decades, Senator Edward M. Kennedy was a champion of women’s rights. For years, when few other Senators would take women’s rights seriously, the women’s movement could […]
Today marks Women’s Equality Day in the United States, commemorating the anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote. Former Representative Bella Abzug (D-NY) led the 1971 drive in Congress to establish the holiday, according to the National Women’s History Project. In a Miami Herald editorial, Paula Xanthopoulou […]
Randall Terry, the founder of the militant anti-abortion group Operation Rescue, was ejected from a town hall meeting held by Representative Jim Moran (D-VA) and former governor Howard Dean (D-VT) on Tuesday night. The Virginia town hall was Randall Terry’s last stop on a ten-city tour, where he disrupted healthcare town halls. Terry and several […]
A new campaign to legally define embryos as people began yesterday in Colorado. The state Title board approved wording of a proposed initiative that is similar to Amendment 48, which was defeated in the 2008 elections by 73 to 27 percent. According to the Associated Press, supporters announced yesterday that they will begin collecting signatures […]
A study recently released by the Guttmacher Institute found that the legalization of mifepristone in 2000 has not dramatically improved geographic access to abortion services in the US. The study will be published in the September issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Dr. Lawrence B. Finer, the lead author of the study said in a press […]
South Africa is defending Caster Semenya, who won the gold medal in the women’s 800 meter race at the World Championships held in Berlin last week and is being gender tested by the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAC). Semenya returned to South Africa today to a heroine’s welcome: thousands of supporters met her at […]
Vermont’s Commission on Women and Department of Health are launching an initiative that offers free assistance to businesses in the state who are working to comply with a new law that requires accommodations for breastfeeding mothers at work. According to the Burlington Free Press, Vermont’s initiative is part of a nationwide US Department of Health […]
Thousands staged a protest Saturday in Bamako, Mali’s capital, against a proposed law that would give women greater marriage rights in the country. Protests have occurred across the country and largely argue that the law is against Islam and “modeled on Western civilization.” The law was passed by the Malian National Assembly early this month […]
The Taliban allegedly cut off the fingers of at least two Afghan women that voted in last week’s presidential election. Election officials confirmed that the two women voted in the southern province of Kandahar and that they are investigating reports of a third incident in the eastern part of the country, reported Los Angeles Times. […]
A Planned Parenthood clinic in Sioux Falls, South Dakota could lose its license if a legal battle with the state is not resolved. Last week, the clinic’s attorneys filed for a restraining order against the state health department to prevent it from revoking its license. At issue is an informed consent law passed in 2005 […]
Afghan women faced a number of obstacles to voting yesterday in Afghanistan’s presidential election. Despite large turnout at many polling places, men greatly outnumbered women voters, according to CNN. The election is still not decided as ballots are still being counted. Prior to the election, there was concern that there was a severe shortage of […]
A federal judge scheduled a January 2010 trial date yesterday in a lawsuit that challenges the constitutionality of Proposition 8, the November 2008 ballot initiative that overturned the right of same-sex marriage in the state. The suit, filed in May by two prominent attorneys known for arguing against one another over the 2000 presidential election […]
Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson’s office confirmed yesterday that the state will file an appeal with the state Supreme Court of a judge’s decision to overturn a controversial abortion law. On Tuesday Oklahoma County District Judge Vicki Robertson overturned a state law requiring women seeking abortions must first receive an ultrasound and a description of […]
