The Wisconsin state Senate voted 25-6 to pass the Compassionate Care for Rape Victims bill last week. The bill mandates that all hospitals in the state provide rape victims with information on and access to Emergency Contraception (EC). EC is a single dose medication that prevents pregnancy when taken within 120 hours of unprotected sex. […]
Women are working later into their pregnancies and taking shorter maternity leaves, according to a report by the US Census Bureau Monday. The report (see PDF) analyzed data on maternity leave and employment patterns of pregnant women since the 1960s. It found that 67.2 percent of women in 2000 worked during their pregnancies, as compared […]
Following a state-briefing Thursday morning, Iowa Governor Chet Culver agreed to reject Title V federal abstinence only funds, Radio Iowa reports. Currently, 16 states have rejected the funding provided under Title V, which provides over $40 million a year for abstinence-only education programs across the US, according to the Reproductive Health Reality Check. State representative […]
This week Amal Soliman became Egypt’s first woman able to perform Muslim marriages. Soliman’s appointment has generated controversy within Egypt’s Muslim community, especially among Muslim men who insist that a woman should not hold the position of maazun, or marriage registrar. The BBC News reports that the court chose Solima over 10 male candidates due […]
An influential figure in the women’s health movement, Barbara Seaman, passed away Wednesday morning after battling lung cancer. Seaman co-founded the National Women’s Health Network (NWHN) and authored several books that raised awareness about women’s health issues and sexism in healthcare. Her first book, The Doctors’ Case Against the Pill, was published in 1969 and […]
Two studies just released on antidepressants show that they are no more beneficial to patients suffering from depression than placebos except for patients who have severe depression. PLoS Medicine, a peer-reviewed, open access journal published by the Public Library of Science, released a study February 26 that indicates antidepressants have very little effect on patients […]
According to the BBC News, Hajiya Habiba Garba, a female All Nigerian People’s Party chieftain was beaten into a coma by Labaran Abdu Maderi, a member of the opposing party in the Kano State Hose of Assembly. Maderi, who attacked Garba in front of witnesses and police, was been sentenced yesterday to remain in jail […]
US Senate passed Senator David Vitter’s (R-Louisiana) anti-choice amendment that would prevent funding for abortion for the Indian Health Services (IHS) yesterday. Reproductive Health Reality Check reports that this amendment to the Indian Health Services Act would not change the current policy regarding funding to the IHS because the Hyde Amendment, which restricts federal funding […]
On Tuesday, African lesbian groups called on African governments to stop treating gays and lesbians like criminals. The demands of the lesbian women came as the Coalition of African Lesbians began their conference to discuss the discrimination of lesbians and gays across the continent. Governments in the largely conservative continent have continued to institutionalize homophobia. […]
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley filed a brief in federal court last week responding to a lawsuit by anti-abortion extremists challenging the state’s clinic safety buffer zone laws. Anti-abortion groups filed the lawsuit last month, claiming that the safety zones violate the groups’ right to free speech. Coakley wrote in her brief that the 35-feet […]
The Kentucky House of Representatives voted 56-37 last week to require girls in public and private middle schools receive the HPV vaccine. The bill, House Bill 396, would allow parents to decline the vaccination for their daughters. Most insurance plans cover the $360 cost for the three-shot series, and the bill would cover the vaccination […]
The International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) launched a Week of Action against Child Marriage on Capitol Hill yesterday. This week of action aims to encourage US lawmakers to pass 2 prevention of child marriage bills, according to Women’s eNews. One of these bills, HR3175 (see PDF), would establish a fund that would grant […]
Civil rights champion Johnnie Carr died Friday night in Montgomery, Alabama. She was 97 years old. Carr was hospitalized following a stroke on February 11th. Carr’s three children, Annie Bell Beasley, Alma Lee Smith and Arlam Carr Jr., stayed with her throughout her hospitalization, reports the Montgomery Advertiser. Carr succeeded Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. […]
A Kansas judge in Johnson county pushed attorneys for Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Missouri (PPKM) to agree to turn over medical records subpoenaed by the grand jury investigating PPKMs reproductive health clinic on Friday. According to the Kansas City Star, the judge offered to keep the medical records in his possession while the grand […]
Denver city officials announced on Wednesday that anti-abortion groups planning to protest the Democratic National Committee convention this summer can apply for permits beginning March 3. Several anti-abortion extremist groups threatened to sue the city in November over claims that the delays in permitting violated free speech rights. The city cut 14 parks during the […]
The Georgia state House of Representatives tabled a state constitutional amendment this Wednesday that would define life as beginning at the moment of fertilization. A House subcommittee voted 4-3 to table the amendment, “effectively killing the measure for this year,” reports the Macon Telegraph. The resolution (see PDF) states, “…the word ‘person’ applies to all […]
The United Nations launched a program earlier this month to combat the prevalence of female genital mutilation (FGM). According to Inter Press Service (IPS), UNFPA and UNICEF have created a $44 million dollar program that plans to reduce FGM by 40 percent. UNICEF defines FGM as partial or total removal of external genitalia and estimates […]
State officials in Mississippi closed the Columbia Training School prison facility for teenaged girls last week. The facility has been under fire for years over allegations of physical and sexual abuse by the staff. In 2004, the US Department of Justice sued Mississippi over the brutal conditions at the Columbia Training School. The 2004 suit […]
US District Court Judge Ronald Leighton ruled last week that pharmacists in the state of Washington can continue to refuse to sell emergency contraception (EC). Two Washington State Pharmacy Board rules issued last year require pharmacies to provide EC for all women. However, two pharmacists and a pharmacy owner filed a lawsuit against the rules […]
The Kansas Supreme Court temporarily blocked the subpoena of Kansas State Attorney General Stephen Six’s office on Tuesday. The grand jury investigating Dr. George Tiller subpoenaed Six’s office earlier this month for medical records from about 60 of Dr. Tiller’s patients that the office obtained in a previous investigation, along with testimony provided by a […]
