Merck, maker of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine Gardasil, has announced it will be partnering with the French drug company Sanofi-Aventis to release the HPV vaccine in Europe before the end of the year. Germany, Britain, and the Netherlands will be the first to launch the vaccine, with France, Switzerland, Belgium, Ireland, Austria, and Portugal […]
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a bill designed to protect patients and employees of reproductive health clinics from anti-abortion extremists who may use violence against them. Introduced by Assembly Member Noreen Evans in February and signed by Gov. Schwarzenegger on Tuesday, the bill, AB 2251, codifies that “no person, business, or association shall knowingly […]
Women writers continue to be underrepresented at five of the top “thought leader” magazines. An update of a report in last winter’s Ms. magazine reflects that the number of women writers has not increased since last year. In The Atlantic Monthly, Harper’s, The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, and Vanity Fair, women earned […]
Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report yesterday that exposed the bride-kidnapping and violent domestic abuse that occurs among women in Kyrgyzstan. According to the report, women as young as twelve years old are forced into marriage after being captured by groups of men who bring her to the home of the future groom. The […]
Only weeks before the midterm election, the US House of Representatives passed the controversial Teen Endangerment Act yesterday in a 264 to 153 vote. The act, officially called the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act, criminalizes the transportation of a minor across state lines to obtain an abortion by anyone other than the parent or legal […]
Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) released a report on Monday revealing the abuse and neglect that is inflicted upon young girls in two New York juvenile prisons. The report highlights the prisons’ violent restraint methods, which consist of grabbing the girls from behind and pushing them to the floor, […]
The Pro-Life Action League sponsored a conference this past weekend in Rosemont, Illinois, criticizing the use of birth control. The conference, called “Contraception is Not the Answer,” brought Christian conservatives together to extend the anti-abortion movement, organizing against all methods of artificial reproductive control. Joseph Scheidler, the leader of the Pro-Life Action League, explained the […]
A Santiago, Chile appeals court panel overturned a provisional ban on emergency contraception (EC) last week, allowing women over the age of 14 to obtain EC without parental consent and at no cost from public clinics. The temporary injunction was put in place after two parents and the mayor of La Florida, Chile, Pablo Zalaquet, […]
Donna Edwards conceded defeat yesterday to Representative Albert Wynn in the race for the Democratic nomination for Maryland’s fourth Congressional seat. Edwards’ primary was September 12, and after numerous problems at voting stations in many precincts, official results are still yet to be posted. However, unofficial results have Edwards trailing by 2,725 votes, so she […]
The Michigan Senate passed two bills last Wednesday requiring girls entering the sixth grade in the 2007-2008 school year to receive the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, Gardasil. If passed by the state Assembly after the end of their recess in November, the legislation will be the first of its kind since the vaccine was approved […]
Safia Amajan, the provincial director of Afghanistan’s Ministry of Women’s Affairs in Kandahar, was killed by gunman today outside of her home. There is speculation that she was killed in retaliation for her outspoken support of women’s rights and her work opening schools for women in Afghanistan, according to the Associated Press and BBC News. […]
Federal health officials at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) yesterday recommended routine HIV testing for adults from 13 to 64 years old. The new guidelines are meant to prevent the spread of HIV and to diagnose the estimated 250,000 Americans who do not know they have the disease, according to the Associated […]
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) introduced a new bill, the FDA Scientific Fairness for Women Act, in the House yesterday. According to Dr. Diana Zuckerman, president of the National Research Center (NRC) for Women and Families, the legislation “prioritizes the importance of science and the health needs of women and helps to ensure that industry pressure […]
Media consolidation cuts out women and minority television broadcast stations owners, according to a report released on Wednesday by Free Press, a nonpartisan media reform organization. The report, “Out of the Picture: Minority & Female Ownership in the United States,” analyzed the demographics of television broadcast station owners and found that women and people of […]
The Islamic Society of North American (ISNA) recently announced that Ingrid Mattson had been elected as its first female president, just days before the group’s annual convention. Her election is seen as a sign of “maturation” and an indication of progress for Muslim women’s rights, according to The American Muslim. Mattson said, “I think it […]
The National Organization for Women (NOW) and CodePink held Women for Peace Day yesterday, drawing attention to the strong presence of women in the peace movement. The event was part of Camp Democracy, a month-long camp set up on the National Mall in Washington, DC to promote peace and nonviolence. Women for Peace Day featured […]
President Bush announced on Friday that he is withholding the $34 million Congress had allotted for UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund. This is the fifth year President Bush has withdrawn funding from UNFPA Ñ a total of $161 million dollars lost in funding. UNFPA provides services to over 140 struggling nations, territories, and areas, […]
The US House of Representatives is expected to vote sometime this week on a bill that could effectively disenfranchise registered and eligible voters across the country. [UPDATE: The House passed this bill on Wednesday, Sept. 20. The bill has now moved to the Senate.] The “Federal Election Integrity Act of 2006” (H.R. 4844), introduced by […]
Women face discrimination from academic institutions in science and technology fields, according to a new report released Monday from the National Academy of Sciences. The report, “Beyond Bias and Barriers: Fulfilling the Potential of Women in Academic Science and Engineering,” finds that women’s lack of participation within science and technology fields in academia can be […]
The Illinois Supreme Court announced yesterday that it will revive a 1995 act that will require parental notification for women under 18 seeking an abortion. The Parental Notice of Abortion Act was never enforceable in Illinois because the state Supreme Court at that time refused to establish rules for appeals in special circumstances, Associated Press […]
