House Democrats, led by Education and Workforce Committee Chairman George Miller (CA), intend to introduce legislation early in the new Congress that would raise the minimum wage for workers in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. A US territory in the Pacific Ocean, the Northern Mariana Islands are currently exempt from US minimum wage […]
A group of 110 members of Congress, including three Republicans, sent a letter to President Bush at the end of December calling for the removal of Eric Keroack from his position as assistant secretary of the Office of Population Affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In this position, Dr. Keroack, previously […]
Over the past two weeks in his last remaining days in office, ousted Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline (R) has continued to pursue his case against George Tiller, one of the only providers of late-term abortions in the US. Kline, an outspoken opponent of abortion rights, received in October redacted records of abortions performed at […]
According to the results of a survey conducted by Lifetime Television, young women today are “highly ambitious” and expect to succeed in the workplace while balancing family life. The Lifetime Women’s Pulse Poll surveyed “Gen Y” women (between the ages of 18 and 29) about their life goals for their careers and families. According to […]
A new study of internally displaced women in Sudan’s South Darfur illuminates the bleak status of women’s mental health in the volatile region. The study, which will be published in January by the International Medical Corps (IMC), found that although humanitarian aid helps meet women”s basic nutritional needs, the mental health of displaced women in […]
The Jackson, Mississippi Municipal Court found six anti-abortion protestors guilty yesterday for charges brought against them during Operation Save America’s week-long siege of the last remaining abortion clinic in the state this summer. In total, 13 protestors faced charges of violating Jackson’s special event ordinance, disorderly conduct, impeding traffic, and disturbing the peace, according to […]
Single women and lesbians in Scotland may soon find it easier to have children using donor sperm. Scotland’s government has proposed to eliminate the “father clause” from the in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment application, making IVF more accessible to women without male partners. In the past, the National Health Service for Scotland required IVF clinics […]
Breast cancer cases among women in the US unexpectedly declined by seven percent (14,000 cases) in 2003, one year after millions of women stopped taking estrogen-progestin hormones for menopause, new research shows. No link between hormone therapy and breast cancer has been proven, and while a research analysis released at the San Antonio Breast Cancer […]
A US District Court yesterday sentenced Robert Weiler, 26, to five years in prison for plotting to blow up an abortion clinic and shoot abortion providers. This summer, Weiler’s parents notified authorities of their son’s erratic behavior, the Balitmore Sun reports, and investigators for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) learned of […]
The New Jersey State Legislature voted on Thursday to legalize civil unions for same-sex couples after the state’s highest court ordered the legislature to pass a law that would give same-sex couples the same benefits as heterosexual couples. Governor Jon Corzine (D) said that he would sign the measure, which passed the Assembly 56-19 and […]
Two similar cases involving Title IX were recently settled in Alabama and Maryland. The Birmingham Board of Education settled a case involving girls basketball coach Roderick Jackson, who was fired as coach in 2001 after he complained the girls basketball team was not receiving the same treatment as the boys team. Jackson’s case went all […]
Though Massachusetts state law mandates that hospitals offer emergency contraception (EC) to rape survivors, a recent survey reveals that it may not be readily accessible in all state emergency rooms. Fourteen percent of Massachusetts hospitals required women to consult a doctor or take a rape exam before receiving EC. ‘These policies are problematic because they […]
Public health experts and midwives gathered in Tunisia on Tuesday for the first International Forum on Midwifery in the Community, urging governments to promote midwifery as a means to decrease maternal and infant death rates. Members from the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the World Health Organization (WHO), and […]
Violence in Iraq is a growing threat to the empowerment of Iraqi women and girls, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said in a recent statement. The agency called for immediate action to improve the status of Iraqi women in its statement, which accompanied a report on the global status of women and children released […]
The Canadian Status of Women Minister Bev Oda said that the government will remove the word “equality” from her program”s mandate in order to achieve equality in every government department. The Status of Women Office is a federal agency in charge of ensuring gender equality among all aspects of political, social, and cultural life in […]
The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) released a report Monday that found that gender equity is key to the well being and development of children. The State of the World’s Children 2007 report finds that equality of women produces a “double dividend,” allowing empowered and healthy women to have empowered and healthy children, according to […]
Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday launched a three-year action plan to stabilize and bring justice to the country, which has been in conflict since 1979. The “Action Plan on Peace, Reconciliation and Justice in Afghanistan” outlines five major elements that are deemed necessary to bring justice to Afghanistan; according to IRIN Newswire, these five […]
Congress passed a bill over the weekend that would authorize more than $16 million over two years for educational materials on gynecological cancer prevention. President Bush is expected to sign the bill into law. The bill, known as “Johanna’s Law,” is named in the memory of Johanna Silver Gordon, a schoolteacher in Michigan who died […]
Specialist Suzanne Swift has agreed to plead guilty to charges of being away without leave after refusing an assignment to return to Iraq because she says she was sexually harassed and abused by other officers. The army brought charges against Swift in September after she had been away for about five months, the Associated Press […]
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland and about 150 people allegedly molested by Portland priests have reached a settlement agreement for an undisclosed amount, US District Judge Michael Hogan announced yesterday. Because the Archdiocese filed for bankruptcy in 2004, the settlement must still go before a bankruptcy court judge. Insurance companies, however, have already agreed […]
