During a news conference on Tuesday, Texas Governor Rick Perry (R) announced that he would let HB 1098, which rescinds his order that all girls entering the sixth grade be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus (HPV), become law without his signature. The vaccine, called Gardasil, was approved in June 2006 to prevent cervical cancer and […]
Worldwide, marital sex is the leading cause of HIV infection in women, according to a new study by researchers at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. The study, published in the June 2007 issue of the American Journal of Public Health, says that men’s “inevitable” infidelity across most cultures is now the single […]
Ireland’s High Court ruled yesterday that a pregnant teen carrying a fatally deformed fetus can travel outside the country to obtain an abortion, after the motion was previously defeated by the lower and middle courts. The 17-year-old girl, known as “Miss D,” has been in the custody of Ireland”s Health Services Executive (HSE) since February […]
A report released Monday by watchdog group Media Matters for America documented the continuing lack of women and minorities in prime-time news programs. The three-week study of MSNBC, Fox News, and CNN‘s nightly news shows found that hosts and guests are still overwhelmingly male and white. Of the 35 hosts and co-hosts, 29 were men, […]
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has announced that she may sue President Bush if he issues a signing statement to change the meaning of a carefully compromised supplemental spending bill for the Iraq War. “We can take the president to court,” Speaker Pelosi told a group of liberal bloggers, according to Kid Oakland, […]
A 17-year-old girl from the Kurdish region of Bashika in Northern Iraq was stoned to death last month as a punishment for her relationship with a Muslim teenager. Du’a Khalil Aswad was violently attacked by men in her family and religious leaders in what has been called an “honor killing” after the teen was thought […]
Two women who allege they were sexually assaulted by University of Colorado (CU) football players in 2001 are asking the federal Court of Appeals to revive their lawsuit against the school for fostering a climate conducive to sexual assault by men athletes. Lawyers for both sides presented arguments in court yesterday. Former CU student Lisa […]
Mother’s Day, which has evolved over the past 137 years to become celebrated with breakfasts-in-bed, flowers, and cards to express love for mothers, originated with a very different message. In 1870, Julia Ward Howe, the author of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, wrote the original Mother’s Day Proclamation, calling upon women to unite for […]
Iranian women’s rights advocate Zeinab Peyqambarzadeh was arrested for the second time yesterday when she reported to the Revolutionary Court for a summons issued for her participation in a June 2006 women’s rights protest. Peyqambarzadeh and 20 to 30 other feminist activists were arrested following a peaceful rally outside the Revolutionary Court last June, where […]
In a letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), President Bush made clear his intent to veto any legislation that would improve access to abortion or support stem cell research. “I am concerned that this year Congress may consider legislation that could substantially change federal policies […]
Earlier today, the District Court of Ireland ruled that the 17-year-old Irish girl, known as “Miss D,” will not be permitted to travel to the United Kingdom for an abortion, even though her fetus suffers severe abnormalities and will likely die within three days after birth. Miss D petitioned for the right to travel abroad […]
On May 2, Harvard’s president-elect, Drew Gilpin Faust, gathered four current and former women presidents of Ivy League schools to participate in a coffee-table panel on the position of women in academia. Gilpin Faust’s historic appointment means that half of the Ivy League’s eight universities will be led by women beginning in July. However, the […]
The US House of Representatives voted yesterday 237-180 to pass the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which expands hate crime laws to include sexual orientation and gender identity and strengthens the ability of law enforcement at all levels to investigate and prosecute hate crimes. A similar version of the bill, named after Matthew […]
A 17-year-old Irish girl petitioned Ireland’s High Court yesterday for the right to travel to England to obtain an abortion, which remains illegal in Ireland even in cases of rape, incest, and severe fetal anomalies. The girl, known in the media as “Miss D,” has been in the custody of Ireland’s Health Services Executive (HSE) […]
A congressional briefing yesterday examined the effects of obstetric fistula, a hole in the birth canal suffered by young women who lack emergency obstetric care during prolonged labor. Particularly in developing nations, women who endure obstetric fistula are often ostracized due to their incontinence, odor, infertility, and inability to perform the duties expected of them […]
Women leaders of an Italian grassroots movement to protest construction of an American military base in Vicenza, Italy arrived in Washington this week to plead their case on Capitol Hill. Earlier this year, the group staged a protest that drew approximately 200,000 demonstrators to the city of Vicenza — one of the single largest protests […]
The World Bank approved a new policy on Health, Nutrition, and Population that preserves language on family planning. The approval comes after Whitney Debeviose, the US representative to the World Bank’s board, proposed to alter language that referred to family planning. Debeviose wanted “reproductive health services” to be replaced with “age appropriate access to sexual […]
The Museum of Television and Radio in Los Angeles hosted a reception and panel discussion on Monday night in honor of the 25th anniversary of the groundbreaking show, “Cagney and Lacey.” The television show, which featured two women plain-clothes police officers, was a favorite of feminists, who petitioned for the show to be continued after […]
High costs and minimal insurance coverage are limiting pediatricians’ and gynecologists’ administration of Gardasil, the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine that reduces the risk of cervical cancer. According to a report by the Washington Post, insurance companies do not pay doctors enough to cover the expense of buying and administering the vaccine. Some insurance companies reimburse […]
In a televised address yesterday evening, President Bush announced his veto of a $124 billion war spending bill that included a timetable for withdrawing troops from Iraq. Ignoring overwhelming public opinion that the Iraq war should be ended swiftly, Bush said, “Setting a deadline for withdrawal is setting a date for failure, and that would […]
