Harriet’s List, a new Political Action Committee geared toward supporting progressive women candidates in Missouri, was launched yesterday at a press conference in University City, Missouri. The PAC is named in honor of Harriett Woods, who was the first woman to hold statewide office in Missouri. According to Harriet’s List, the organization will be modeled […]
O’Reilly Factor host Bill O’Reilly has come under renewed fire for remarks about George Tiller, MD since Tiller’s murder Sunday. O’Reilly and other hosts have mentioned Tiller on air 29 times since 2005 and frequently referred to him as “Tiller the Baby Killer,” reported Salon. O’Reilly also reportedly sent a producer to Tiller’s Wichita, Kansas […]
Indian parliamentarian Meira Kumar is expected to become India’s first female Speaker on Wednesday. Kumar has served five terms in India’s parliament and had recently been sworn in as a cabinet minister, a position she resigned after being offered the Speaker position by the Congress party. The BBC reported that her nomination was supported by […]
George Tiller, MD, was assassinated yesterday at his church in Wichita, Kansas. Dr. George Tiller, medical director of the Women’s Health Care Services clinic in Wichita, Kansas, was one of the few late-term abortion providers in the country. Dr. Tiller’s murder is not an isolated event. Dr. Tiller was harassed, threatened, shot five times (in […]
The Nevada Legislature overrode a Governor’s veto and legalized domestic partnerships in the state this past weekend. The state Assembly voted 28 to 14 Sunday after the state Senate voted 14 to 7 to overrule Governor Jim Gibbons’ veto of the legislation. The law will go into effect on October 1. With some exceptions, the […]
A final vote is expected today on a Nebraska bill that would require doctors to provide certain information to women who are seeking an abortion, including requiring the viewing of ultrasound images. In a preliminary vote earlier this month, the Nebraska Legislature voted 38-6 to advance the bill, reported the Associated Press. If the bill […]
A hotline that will give Chilean women information they need to self-terminate a pregnancy was launched yesterday by a network of feminist organizations. According to Women on Waves, the hotline will give women information about Misoprostol, a drug available in Chile by prescription to treat gastric ulcers, to safely and effectively induce abortion. Supporters at […]
Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi met with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday after returning to the United States late last week. Saberi was released from prison in Iran earlier this month after appealing a baseless espionage conviction. Reuters reported that, in March, State Department staff passed a letter to Iran’s delegation at a Hague conference […]
Quinnipiac University announced Tuesday that it will reinstate its women’s volleyball team as a result of an injunction issued last week in a Title IX lawsuit against the school, which is in Hamden Connecticut. US District Judge Stefan R. Underhill issued the injunction last week after testimony earlier this month by the team’s coach and […]
The British Ministry of Defense announced this week that they will review a policy barring women from serving in military positions that could require them to kill an enemy in close combat. According to the Guardian UK, a review of this policy is required every eight years due to the European Community Equal Treatment Directive. […]
A settlement has been reached in a discrimination case filed by an Arizona doctor who alleged he had been fired as a result of his pro-choice position. Dr. Christopher Carey, who formerly led the Maricopa Medical Center’s ob-gyn residency program originally filed suit in 2005 and alleged that he was harassed and removed from his […]
A bill that would prohibit incarcerated pregnant women from being shackled while in labor has passed in both houses of the New York state legislature. The bill initially passed in the state Senate on a 119 to 21 vote and passed in the state House last week. The bill stipulates that “no restraints of any […]
A federal lawsuit that challenges Proposition 8 was filed in a US District Court and calls for an injunction against the proposition. The suit, to filed by two prominent attorneys who argued against one another over the 2000 presidential election in Bush v. Gore, is on the behalf of two same-sex couples who were denied […]
The California Supreme Court upheld Proposition 8, the November 2008 ballot initiative that overturned the right of same-sex marriage in the state, in a 6 to 1 ruling today. The proposition, which passed 52 percent to 48 percent, overturned a May 2008 ruling of the state Supreme Court that resulted in, among other provisions, the […]
President Obama announced the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the US Supreme Court this morning. If confirmed, Sotomayor would be the third woman and the first Hispanic to serve on the Supreme Court. Other candidates that were rumored to be under consideration included Solicitor General Elena Kagan, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, Governor […]
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will announce a plan to provide benefits to same-sex partners of United States ambassadors and diplomats soon, according to media reports. Currently, a large number of benefits afforded to married spouses of US ambassadors are unavailable to same-sex partners including issuance of visas and passports, access to employment opportunities at […]
A bill was introduced yesterday in the US House of Representatives that would institute a Defense of Marriage Act for the District of Columbia defining marriage as between a man and a woman. The bill is sponsored by Representatives Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Dan Boren (D-OK), neither of whom represent the District of Columbia, according […]
Legislation that would allow health care providers to withhold certain services and medications, including abortion and emergency contraception, on the basis of religious or moral objections was approved by the Louisiana state House this week in a 65 to 33 vote. The bill (see PDF) also includes conscience clauses on stem cell research, cloning of […]
A report issued this week by Ireland’s Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse on abuse within at least 216 Catholic orphanages and state institutions has resulted in a global outcry against the continued abuse of children by the Catholic church. The report investigated alleged incidents of abuse dating back to 1914 and included evidence from […]
The California state Assembly passed a state-level version of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act Monday on a 49 to 28 vote. The measure codifies at the state level a broader version of the federal Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009. According to the bill, the statute of limitations on pay discrimination claims runs […]
