Doris Lessing, the author of the classic novel “The Golden Notebook,” won the Nobel Prize for literature today. While announcing the award, the Swedish Academy called Lessing, a prolific author who has written dozens of short stories and novels: “That epicist of the female experience, who with skepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a […]
CODEPINK co-founder Medea Benjamin and fellow peace activist Ann Wright, a retired colonel and former US diplomat, were recently turned back when trying to enter Canada at Niagara Falls. They were on their way to a discussion of peace and security issues with the Toronto Stop the War Coalition. According to Benjamin and Wright, they […]
Criminal contempt of court proceedings began against Orange County Catholic Bishop Tod Brown on Tuesday. The hearing was to determine if Brown violated a judge’s orders when he sent Msgr. John Urell, the church official that investigated sex abuse allegations, out of the country before he could finish testifying in a sex abuse lawsuit, which […]
A new study finds that African American women with breast cancer are less likely than white women to undergo some potentially life-saving treatments. “When cancer has spread to the lymph nodes, we are seeing that African American women are not getting the optimal therapy as often as are Caucasians,” the study’s lead researcher Mousumi Banerjee […]
An international human rights tribunal has accepted a petition by a US mother of three small girls who were murdered by her estranged husband after local police refused to act. The case marks the first time the tribunal had indicated that countries in the Americas, including the US, may be responsible for protecting victims from […]
After being ordered to pay millions in punitive damages to a former executive last week for sex discrimination (including sexual harassment by New York Knick’s coach Isiah Thomas), Madison Square Garden (MSG) is again facing charges of discrimination and sexual harassment. Diane Henson and an unnamed co-worker who worked as security supervisors at MSG are […]
On the 30th Anniversary of the famed Houston 1977 International Women’s Year Conference, the Bella Abzug Leadership Institute (BALI), along with many other women’s rights organizations, including the Feminist Majority Foundation, will hold a major intergenerational conference for women and girls on November 10th and 11th at Hunter College in New York City. The Freedom […]
Operation Rescue has filed a complaint with the Kansas Board of Healing Arts against Dr. George Tiller, one of the few remaining late-term abortion providers in the United States. This is the latest in a string of actions taken by anti-abortion groups against the Kansas doctor. The complaint alleges that Tiller performed an abortion on […]
Rep Jo Ann David, R-VA, died Saturday morning of breast cancer at 57. Her office said she had been diagnosed with the disease in 2005 and resumed treatments earlier this year following a re-occurrence. The four-term Congresswoman made history as the first Republican woman from the Commonwealth of Virginia to be elected to Congress. She […]
Men suffering from heart disease are 2-3 times more likely to receive life-saving implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) than women with the disease, a study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found. Researchers for the study, who examined the medical files of 236,084 Medicare beneficiaries, also found that African Americans were […]
The vote to override President Bush’s veto of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program expansion is planned for October 18. A House procedural vote on Wednesday allowed Democrats to move the vote back while they work on gathering enough support for the required two-thirds majority to override Bush’s veto. The bill, which would have allowed […]
More than 140 male contraception researchers from around the globe recently gathered in Seattle to discuss new alternatives to condoms and vasectomies. At the two-day “Future of Male Contraception” conference, whose sponsors included the World Health Organization, the University of Washington, and the National Institutes of Health, researchers unveiled a number of new viable birth […]
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on Tuesday accused the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) of violating civil-rights law through a pattern of discrimination, harassment and retaliation against black and woman employees. Its findings came after investigating discrimination complaints from two anonymous women firefighters. The LAFD must now implement drastic reforms or face a possible […]
Women board directors help to boost financial performance in Fortune 500 companies, according to a new study by Catalyst, a non-profit research and advisory organization that works to expand opportunities for women in business. Examining the financial results of 520 companies over a four-year period, the study found that companies with the highest numbers of […]
More than 80 women’s groups have voiced strong opposition to the new draft constitution in Turkey, which describes women as a ‘vulnerable group in need of protection.’ The draft document also drops the current constitution’s clause requiring the government to ensure equality for all. The proposed constitution has been drafted behind closed doors. But, calling […]
Anita Hill wrote in an Op-Ed yesterday, “I stand by my testimony” in the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Hill’s statement in the New York Times comes after Thomas’ attacks on her truthfulness in his just released memoirs, “My Grandfather’s Son”, and numerous interviews promoting the book. In the highly charged 1991 […]
A federal jury found New York Knicks coach Isiah Thomas guilty of sexual harassment Tuesday and ordered Madison Square Garden (MSG), the team’s owner, to pay millions in punitive damages to former executive Anucha Browne Sanders. During the trial, Browne Sanders testified that Thomas made unwanted sexual advances and called her derogatory names, reports the […]
This morning President Bush vetoed bill to continue and expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. With the fourth veto of his presidency, Bush has knocked down a measure that would have allowed enrollment in the insurance program for low-income children to increase from 6.6 million to 10 million. The bill passed in the Senate […]
A study released yesterday by Human Rights Watch (HRW) found that Nicaraguan women”s health and lives have been put at risk by the country”s blanket ban on abortions, imposed one year ago. The ban includes “therapeutic abortions” (abortions meant to save a woman”s life or health) and has no exceptions for rape or incest. The […]
Planned Parenthood/Chicago Area’s new clinic in Aurora, Illinois finally opened its doors today after being cleared of allegations of fraud. Aurora’s mayor granted the clinic an occupancy permit after three attorneys found the city had no legal basis to prevent the clinic from opening, reports the Chicago Tribune. The clinic will begin treating patients this […]
