The University of Wisconsin announced it’s plan to offer second-term abortions at one of their campus health clinics. The university decided to offer the procedure after learning that the only area provider who offered abortions up to the 22nd week of pregnancy retired, according to Channel 3000. The decision must receive final approval from the […]
Rebels raped more than 80 women in two days in the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A United Nations refugee agency estimates that rebel groups have killed as many as 500 Congolese civilians in the northeastern region in the past month and displaced over 40,000, New Vision reported. According to the Agence France […]
The confirmation hearing for President-elect Barack Obama’s Labor Secretary nominee Representative Hilda Solis (D-CA), a leader and fighter for women and people of color, ran smoothly Friday. Republican questioning of Solis focused on union issues, particularly organizing rights. According to the Los Angeles Times, many questions focused on a bill that Solis co-sponsored, the Employee […]
A 14-year-old rape victim was admitted to an Afghan hospital in critical condition recently when she contracted an infection after a forced abortion. The victim had been held down by her mother as her older brother used a razor to perform an abortion and used thick upholstery string to sew the wound, according to the […]
In an outstanding victory for women’s rights, the Paycheck Fairness Act and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act were the first bills to pass the House in the new legislative session. The Paycheck Fairness Act passed with a 256-163 vote and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act passed with a 247-171 vote. The Paycheck Fairness […]
Two men entered guilty pleas Wednesday after firebombing the office of Dr. Curtis Boyd, an Albuquerque abortion provider. The men broke one of the clinic’s windows, poured gasoline into the building, and ignited a fire before fleeing, according to the Albuquerque Journal. The arson occurred after one of the men learned that his ex-girlfriend had […]
Ghana’s retired Supreme Court Justice Joyce Bamford-Addo became the first woman elected Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament on Wednesday. Speaker Bamford-Addo was sworn in by Chief Justice Theodora Wood after she was elected to the position unanimously, reported Bua News. Bamford-Addo now ranks third in the leadership hierarchy of Ghana, behind the President and Vice President. […]
Speaker Nancy Pelosi introduced legislation this week in the House that would, among other provisions, make the chamber’s official language gender neutral. The bill (see PDF) revises the operating rules of the House for the 111th Congress. The bill’s revisions to the chamber’s rules include changing references from “chairman” and “chairmanship” to “chair” and replacing […]
Seven South Carolina state representatives prefiled a bill in December that aims to tighten regulations on abortion. The existing state law requires that women have an ultrasound and wait one hour after discussing the details of the abortion procedure prior to the abortion. According to WCNC, the current bill would extend the waiting period from […]
US Senators and national civil rights leaders expressed their support of the nomination of Eric Holder to the position of US Attorney General in a press conference yesterday. Participants included Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) and representatives from the National Women’s Law Center, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the National […]
Conservative Utah state legislators will wait to propose legislation that would ban abortion in the state because of the anticipated cost involved in legally defending an abortion ban. Instead, three Republican state representatives plan to introduce a bill that would create a legal defense fund to be used to cover the costs of defending a […]
San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera has sent a letter to California Attorney General Jerry Brown giving notice that the city will sue the state if legislation that allows gender rating in health insurance remains law. Gender rating is a practice where insurance companies are allowed to charge different premiums to men and women. Two […]
President-elect Barack Obama announced his intention yesterday to appoint Elena Kagan to be Solicitor General and Dawn Johnson to be the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel within the Department of Justice. In a statement, Obama noted “these individuals bring the integrity, depth of experience and tenacity that the Department of Justice […]
Dr. Shirin Ebadi, a defender of women’s rights, lawyer, and Iran’s pre-eminent Nobel Laureate, has faced increasingly intense threats to her personal safety in recent weeks. In the latest of a series of serious incidents, an angry mob surrounded Dr. Ebadi’s home and personal office chanting death threats against her and violently vandalizing her building. […]
According to a new Department of Justice (DOJ) report, the rates of rape, sexual assault, and domestic violence in the United States have soared over the past two years. The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), a biannual report from the DOJ’s Office of Justice Programs, estimated at least 248,300 rapes and sexual assaults occurred in […]
Sexual assault reporting rates within national military academies are low and have significantly dropped, according to the Department of Defense (DOD). The DOD released results from the Academic Program Year 2007-2008 Service Academy Gender Relations Survey in December. The survey indicates that at military academies, approximately 90 percent of sexual assaults are unreported. DOD spokeswoman […]
Pamphlets distributed by the Taliban in Pakistani tribal areas bordering Afghanistan yesterday impose a ban on co-educational schooling in the region. According to the Times of India, all co-educational schools in the region must close by Monday. During the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, which lasted until 2001, Afghan girls were forbidden to attend school. In […]
California Attorney General Jerry Brown made public his opposition to Proposition 8 Friday in a brief to the California Supreme Court while “Yes on 8” forces filed a brief extending their opposition to include invalidation of the same-sex marriages already performed in there. California’s Supreme Court will consider the constitutionality of Proposition 8, which eliminated […]
Two Illinois pharmacists will be able to challenge in court an administrative rule that requires state pharmacists to dispense emergency contraception (EC) after the Illinois Supreme Court reversed a lower court decision denying their case last week. The case (see PDF), Morr-Fitz v. Blagojevich, will now be sent to a Circuit Court for review. The […]
Regulations from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that threaten women’s access to contraception and comprehensive health care were released in their final version yesterday. The regulation establishes new protections for health care providers who refuse to provide certain services based on moral or religious bases. The text is largely unchanged in comparison […]
