The Senate passed by a strong majority the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181) last night after defeating a series of Republican hostile amendments. The Senate floor debate for the Act was led by Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Dean of the women Senators, for Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chair […]
Republican legislators in the Arizona state House Health and Human Services Committee this week approved a bill that would criminalize late term abortion except in cases where a woman’s life is endangered. The bill is intended to provide for state prosecution that mirrors federal law that bans late term abortions. According to Capitol Media Services, […]
The Feminist Majority applauds President Barack Obama for issuing an executive order today that repeals the Global Gag Rule. President Obama’s expeditious action on behalf of women worldwide will save the lives, health, and suffering of literally millions of women worldwide yearly. “Barack Obama, with the stroke of a pen, is now saving the lives […]
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Wednesday that plaintiffs who experience gender discrimination can sue under both Title IX and the Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution. The case, Fitzgerald v. Barnstable School Committee (see PDF), was summed up in an amicus brief signed by the Feminist Majority Foundation and filed by the […]
White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel halted the publication of Bush administration regulations Tuesday, including regulations from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that threaten women’s access to contraception and comprehensive health care that were scheduled to go into effect that day. In a memo, Emmanuel said that “no proposed or final […]
Today marks the 36th anniversary of the US Supreme Court decision that gave women the right to a legal abortion. In the 7-2 decision on Roe v. Wade, written by Justice Harry Blackmun, the court found that laws restricting abortion violate a woman’s constitutional right to privacy under the 14th amendment. Despite executive action expected […]
The incoming Obama/Biden administration is expected to address several key women’s rights issues within the next week. Women’s rights advocates are hopeful that President Obama will issue executive orders that rescind the global gag rule and release United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) funding that was authorized by Congress and held up by the Bush administration […]
The Senate delayed a planned vote on the nomination of Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) for Secretary of State yesterday due to objections from Senator John Cornyn (R-TX). Despite roadblocks to Clinton’s appointment, the Senate confirmed seven nominees yesterday, including Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, according to the Washington Post. Cornyn called for a roll-call vote […]
Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) was just confirmed as Secretary of State by a 94-2 Senate roll call vote. Senators David Vitter (R-LA) and Jim DeMint (R-SC) were the sole votes against her confirmation. The Senate delayed a planned vote on the nomination of Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) for Secretary of State yesterday due to Senator […]
The 2009 State of the World’s Children report released by the United Nations Childrens Fund last week shows childbearing to be one of the greatest health risks for women around the world. An estimated 10 million women have died due to complications related to pregnancy and childbirth since 1990. According to the report (see PDF), […]
The Obama-Biden transition team has released a report on their American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan that includes examination of its gender impact. The document (see PDF) outlines the key components of the package as “substantial investments in infrastructure, education, health, and energy; increases in food stamps and expansions of unemployment insurance; state fiscal relief designed […]
Senator Hillary Clinton’s nomination for Secretary of State was approved yesterday by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in a 16 to 1 vote. Next week, the full Senate is expected to formally nominate and confirm her appointment, according to Reuters. In her farewell remarks to the Senate (see video) yesterday Clinton said: “I am gratified […]
Three major feminist groupsthe Feminist Majority Foundation, National Organization for Women, and California National Organization for Womenhave submitted an amicus brief to the California Supreme Court in support of legal challenges to Proposition 8, the November ballot measure that overturned the right to same-sex marriage in the state. If Proposition 8 goes into effect, the […]
The House of Representatives passed legislation yesterday that will expand the Children’s Health Insurance Program with a 289 to 139 vote. The current bill is similar to legislation that had been vetoed by President Bush twice, according to the New York Times. The State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) provides health insurance to children from […]
President-elect Barack Obama’s nominee for Director of the Office of Personnel Management, John Berry, will be the highest-ranking openly gay official in US history upon confirmation. Berry will head oversee more than 5,000 employees and a $1.5 billion annual budget, reported the Bay Area Reporter. Berry is currently the director of the National Zoo. He […]
Representative Joseph Crowley (D-NY) reintroduced the Prevention Through Affordable Access Act in the House of Representatives. This legislation would drastically lower birth control prices on college campuses and community clinics. Since 2006, prices for birth control have skyrocketed as high as $50/month at clinics and college health centers as a consequence of the Deficit Reduction […]
Senator Hillary Clinton’s confirmation hearing for Secretary of State yesterday covered a range of women’s issues, including the plight of women worldwide. Among her related comments, Clinton said: “I want to pledge to you that as Secretary of State, I view [women’s] issues as central to our foreign policy, not as adjunct or in any […]
The Prevention First Act was introduced yesterday by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Rules Committee Chair Louise M. Slaughter (D-NY), and House Energy and Commerce Committee Vice Chair Diana DeGette (D-CO). The Prevention First Act, which addresses numerous family planning issues, has been repeatedly introduced in previous legislative sessions. The Act aims to reduce […]
New York state Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith announced goals establishing sex-education programs and reforming the state’s abortion laws as priorities for the next legislative session. Smith specifically expressed support of the Healthy Teens Act (see PDF) and the Reproductive Health and Privacy Protection Act (see PDF), according to the Gotham Gazette. The Healthy Teens […]
The American Civil Liberties Union charged in a suit filed yesterday that some funds distributed through the Trafficking Victims Protection Act by the Department of Health and Human Services were in violation of the separation of church and state. The suit alleges that the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, who have received Health and Human […]
