News

The Food and Drug Administration’s decision not to approve Barr Laboratories’ 2004 petition to make emergency contraception (EC) over-the-counter was unduly influenced by political pressure, depositions of several FDA scientists indicate. The depositions, released on Thursday, are part of the Center for Reproductive Rights’ lawsuit against the FDA for not following standard procedure when reviewing […]

Thanks to a suit filed by a 13-year-old girl and her parents, the Livingston Parish school district will not go forward with its plans to offer only single-sex classes in the 2006-2007 school year. The American Civil Liberties Union filed suit against the Livingston Parish School Board on behalf of Michelle Selden and her parents […]

A coalition of over 200 women’s organizations, including the Feminist Majority, has called on Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao to strengthen the Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau. The Women’s Bureau, the only federal bureau concerned with working women’s issues, is facing a reduced budget and staff cuts that could serve to diminish the role of […]

Women still do 63 percent of the household work, according to data released late last month by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. While women dedicate an average of almost 16 hours per week to household tasks such as cleaning and preparing food, men’s contributions add up to less than ten hours weekly. The data comes […]

Last night, Democrats in the Senate were successful in blocking the minimum wage-estate tax break bill from coming to a full vote in the Senate. Republicans had tied a $2.10 minimum wage increase over three years to a permanent decrease in the estate tax and a tax break package that would have given bonus tax […]

Washington’s Supreme Court ruled late last month to uphold its ban on same-sex marriage, the Washington “Defense of Marriage Act” (DOMA). The Wednesday ruling upheld the 1998 interdict against gay marriage despite arguments that DOMA is discriminatory and is a violation of many citizens’ civil rights. The court ruled in favor of keeping the DOMA […]

A survey conducted by the Union of Concerned Scientists found that scientists at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) feel that their work is subject to outside pressures, both political and commercial, and that these pressures influence agency conclusions for the public. The anonymous survey was sent to close to 6,000 FDA scientists and 997 […]

Fox News Network, a unit of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, has settled a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on the behalf of four former employees. According to the lawsuit, Joe Chillemi, vice president in the advertising and promotions department, allegedly created a hostile work environment by routinely cursing and […]

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on Monday that it would resume the process of making emergency contraception over-the-counter for some women. Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, acting commissioner of the FDA, has said FDA officials would like to meet with Barr Laboratories Inc., the manufacturer of the drug, within the next seven days to […]

A recent poll shows that 47 percent of voters in South Dakota would vote against the state’s abortion ban, while only 39 percent would vote in support of it. The survey, commissioned by the Sioux Falls Argus Leader and KELOLAND-TV, found 14 percent undecided. The South Dakota abortion ban, which provides an exception only to […]

A federal judge ruled on Friday that Slippery Rock University intentionally discriminated against its female student-athletes by eliminating the women’s swimming and water polo teams and ordered the school to reinstate the two women’s teams immediately. The president of Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania, Robert Smith, cut three women’s and five men’s sports teams in […]

The US House of Representatives passed legislation early Saturday morning increasing the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour over three years. Restaurant server tips would not be counted toward the minimum wageÑeffectively excluding them from the increases. House Republicans were successful in linking the minimum wage legislation to an estate tax cut prior […]