The Supreme Court declined to hear a case Monday about whether religious-based social services agencies should be forced to subsidize the cost of contraceptives as part of their health insurance benefits. The court effectively upheld a New York law, the Women’s Health and Wellness Act of 2002, which compels employers offering prescription benefits to their […]
Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg recently unveiled a new World Health Organization (WHO)-led collaboration of governments and organizations designed to improve maternal and child health worldwide. Deliver Now for Women + Children aims to spur progress on UN”s Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5, which call for a two-thirds reduction in child deaths and a […]
President Bush has threatened to veto the $35 million increase to expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program to cover approximately 10 million children. The program currently provides health coverage for 6.6 million children who come from modest-income families that cannot afford health insurance but are not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid. A solid […]
Connecticut Roman Catholic bishops softened their opposition Thursday to a new state law requiring hospitals to dispense emergency contraception (EC) to all rape victims. Previously, the Bishops had refused to allow Catholic hospitals to provide EC without first performing an ovulation test. “Our efforts had only one goal, to protect the victims of rape,” Sen. […]
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit Thursday against Bloomberg LP, the company founded by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 1981. The lawsuit, brought on behalf of three senior employees, alleges that the news and financial services company treated pregnant women unfairly by “decreasing their pay, demoting them, diminishing […]
Verizon Wireless, the nation’s second largest cellular phone company, has reversed its decision to prohibit NARAL Pro-Choice America from sending text messages to its members over Verizon’s network. Verizon had originally rejected NARAL’s request for a five-digit “short code,” which allows members to sign up to receive text messages from the organization, claiming that they […]
City official have refuted claims that Planned Parenthood required a special-use permit to build its new clinic in Aurora, Illinois. Gemini Office Development, LLC, the Planned Parenthood subsidiary, did not need the special-use permit because the clinic was built in a planned development district where the special-use permit codes do not apply, reports the Chicago […]
A federal judge issued an order Monday temporarily blocking a Missouri law that would reclassify abortion clinics as outpatient surgical centers subject to increased regulation by the state. Under the law, H.B. 1055, any clinic or physician’s office that provides more than five abortions a month would have to conform to a number of rigid […]
Reed Walters, the prosecutor in the “Jena Six” cases announced that he will not challenge a Louisiana sate appeals court’s ruling that Mychal Bell, 17, could not be tried as an adult and that his second-degree battery conviction be set aside. Bell, who remains behind bars, is one of the six Jena, LA teens arrested […]
On Friday in Philadelphia, the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously that a city health clinic did not violate the rights of a 16-year-old girl by giving her the emergency contraception she requested, or the rights of her parents by not notifying them. The girl, Melissa Anspach, went to the clinic in January […]
The House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection held a hearing yesterday to discuss the impact of sexist, misogynistic and racist themes in the media, with an emphasis on Hip-Hop music and culture. Members were joined by corporate executives, Hip-Hop artists, and scholars specializing in the effects of discrimination in media on women. Philippe […]
Breast cancer deaths in the US have decreased slightly from 2001 to 2004, according to a report by the American Caner Society that was released this week. The report, “Breast Cancer Facts and Figures 2007-2008,” published every two years since 1996, provides detailed analyses of breast cancer trends and presents information on known risk factors […]
A New Jersey judge ruled Monday that a ballot measure authorizing the state to borrow $450 million to fund stem cell research would remain on the November ballot, despite the objections of anti-abortion activists. The measure would allow the state to use money to fund federally restricted embryonic stem cell research as well as research […]
Following five months of meetings by the Women for Dignity and Diversity in the Media (WDDM) coalition, the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection will hold a hearing today titled From Imus to Industry: The Business of Stereotypes and Degrading Images. Along with Rep. Bobby Rush, D-IL, WDDM has been working towards these […]
FDA Commissioner Andrew C von Eschenbach announced on Friday that Dr. Steven Galson has been appointed as the new Acting Surgeon General. Galson begins the new position October 1, 2007. He previously served as the Acting Director at the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER). While at CDER, Galson was one of the Bush […]
The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit heard arguments Monday on the whether the state of Missouri can deny incarcerated women access to a timely and safe abortion. The Reproductive Freedom Project of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is arguing the class-action case, which began when Missouri prison officials denied a woman […]
A federal judge on Thursday denied Planned Parenthood/Chicago Area’s request for an injunction that would have allowed its new clinic in Aurora, Illinois to open as scheduled. The city of Aurora has refused to allow the new facility to open until it completes an investigation into how the clinic obtained building permits. The refusal came […]
New York’s top health official announced Thursday that the state had canceled all existing federal Title V abstinence-only education contracts. According to the New York Times, the state has received approximately $3.5 million a year in federal abstinence funds since 1998. State health commissioner Richard Daines also said New York will redirect $2.6 million in […]
The Women’s Procurement Program, which was signed into law in 2000 to aid small, women-owned businesses, has never been implemented. According to an audit by the inspector general’s office of the Small Business Administration (SBA), delays and miscommunications within the agency are to blame. With the delay of federal grants to the programs, the audit […]
Recent analysis from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) suggests that many of the companies recognized as the best employers for working mothers actually fail to meet their needs, particularly when it comes to paid maternity and paternity leave. IWPR emphasizes the need for continued political mobilization around these issues. According to IWPR (PDF), […]
