An American business woman was arrested on February 4 for being in the family section of a Starbucks in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with a male colleague. A relative of the woman told the Associated Press that she went to Starbucks to use the internet after being told the connection was down at her office. The […]
New York Governor Eliot Spitzer is urging lawmakers to pass state legislation that would guarantee all women the right to an abortion. The Catholic Church has launched an aggressive campaign against the new bill, the Reproductive Health and Privacy Act, according to the New York Sun. The bill was drafted in April of last year, […]
A new law introduced to Missouri State House panel last week would re-classify emergency contraception (EC) as “abortifacient,” even though the FDA does not use that classification for EC. The bill, HB 1625, would also allow pharmacies to refuse to dispense both the Plan B emergency contraceptive pill and RU486, also know as mifepristone, and […]
On Monday, many Pakistani women were forced to stay home and away from polls due to the threat of terrorist violence. Religious militants intimidated women voters with suicide bombings, claiming that women should not have the right to vote. According to The New York Times, a series of violent attacks has discouraged both female and […]
The Virginia Senate Education and Health Committee voted down three separate anti-abortion bills according to The Associated Press. The first bill would have outlawed public schools and their employees from providing abortion services and also banned any abortion provider from giving information about human sexuality or sexually transmitted diseases. The second would criminalize coercing a […]
A bill that forces a doctor to perform an ultrasound test prior to every abortion and to show the images to each woman seeking an abortion has passed the Kentucky Senate, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader. Doctors would be required to have a face-to-face meeting with the woman 24 hours prior to the abortion. In […]
Two incumbent members of congress lost the primaries in Maryland on Tuesday. The defeat of an incumbent is rare, but the defeat of two incumbents causes political analysts to take notice, according to the Baltimore Sun. Progressive feminist candidate Donna Edwards defeated Democratic incumbent Al Wynn, who had a history of voting in support of […]
The government of Saudi Arabia has banned the color red from all shops in order to prevent celebration of Valentine’s Day. The Saudi Gazette reports that the agents of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice warn shop owners every year to get rid of all their red items and displays, […]
Donna Edwards defeated Rep Albert Wynn in a stunning upset last night in the Democratic primary for Maryland’s 4th Congressional district. Edwards had challenged Wynn in the 2006 primaries, losing only by a slim margin. This time, she defeated Wynn, an eight term incumbent, by a wide margin: 60% to 35%, reports the Washington Post. […]
The South Dakota Senate rejected a bill last week that would have required pharmacies to dispense contraceptives, even if the pharmacist had a religious objection. The legislature’s 12-22 vote will allow pharmacists in South Dakota to continue to turn away women seeking birth control. Kate Looby, the director of South Dakota’s Planned Parenthood, said in […]
Jamie Leigh Jones, a former KBR employee, testified again on Tuesday at a Congressional hearing that she was drugged and gang-raped by a group of her co-workers in the Green Zone KBR camp in Iraq in 2005. She also asked lawmakers to address the difficulties victims of such crimes face in suing their employers when […]
A new medical report shows that the rate of uncontrolled high blood pressure among American women is increasing, putting more women at risk for heart disease and stroke. The report, which will appear in the February 12th issue of Circulation, also shows that uncontrolled high blood pressure rates among US men has stagnated. Researchers used […]
Three women testified on Monday at a military hearing against US Air Force Colonel Samuel Lofton III. According to the Associated Press, one woman testified to Lofton raping her, and another woman testified to repeated sexual assault. A third woman testified to verbal harassment from Lofton that went as far as calling her at her […]
The Turkish Parliament voted over the weekend to remove the ban on headscarves at universities from the country”s Constitution. According to BBC News, the government argues that the ban made education inaccessible to the two thirds of women in Turkey who wear headscarves. However, protesters that demonstrated against the vote Sunday stated that overturning the […]
Congressman Tom Lantos, D-CA, died today at the Bethesda Naval Medical Center in Maryland, surrounded by his wife, two daughters, and many of his 18 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Lantos was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in December, and announced last month that he would not seek re-election, instead endorsing feminist Jackie Speier to fill his […]
MSNBC anchor David Shuster was suspended from the network last week following his offensive comments about Chelsea Clinton’s work for her mother’s candidacy. While guest hosting on “Tucker,” Shuster remarked that Chelsea’s efforts to support her mother were unseemly and that it was like she is being “pimped out” by the campaign. Shuster has been […]
Almost a quarter of women experience domestic violence in their lifetimes in the US, a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finds. Victims of domestic violence in the US are more likely to report chronic health problems and exhibit health risk behaviors the report stated. A Reuters article estimates from […]
The grand jury investigating Dr George Tiller subpoenaed Kansas Attorney General Stephen Six’s office this week. The grand jury is seeking medical records from Dr. Tiller’s patients that the office obtained in a previous investigation along with testimony provided by a doctor who gave a second opinion for some Tiller patients, reports the Associated Press. […]
The Iranian government forced Irans influential womens magazine Zanan (“Women” in Farsi) to close down last week. The Commission for Press Authorization and Surveillance claim that Zanan painted a “dark picture” of Iran. Iranian authorities allege that Zanan was “compromising the psyche and the mental health” of the society by disseminating “morally questionable information.” Zanans […]
Ten states may have anti-abortion initiatives and five may have anti-affirmative action initiatives on the November state ballots. Women’s and civil rights groups are gearing up to fight these initiatives. Currently, anti-abortion extremists are circulating petitions to add more anti-abortion constitutional amendments on the ballots in Colorado, Montana, and possibly Georgia, Mississippi, Wisconsin, Michigan, and […]
