House of Representative Republicans on Thursday introduced their own version of legislation increasing the federal minimum wage. The “Minimum Wage Competitiveness Act of 2006,” introduced by Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) and 13 other Republicans, would raise the minimum wage from the current rate of $5.15 an hour to $7.15 an hour one year and 60 […]
Former Christian Coalition Executive Director Ralph Reed faces a tough primary race today for lieutenant governor of Georgia. Dogged by ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Reed and primary opponent Casey Cagle, a longtime Georgia state senator, are running neck and neck, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. According to the charges against Abramoff, who was […]
The Government Reform Minority Office released a report yesterday documenting the misinformation that many federally funded so-called pregnancy resource centers are distributing to teenagers. The study (PDF) by Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-CA) found that 87 percent of the clinics provided false or misleading information about the effects of abortion on physical, reproductive, and mental […]
A federal appeals court approved a Nebraska ban on same-sex marriage on Friday. Although the ban was previously ruled unconstitutional, the 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that it “and other laws limiting the state-recognized institution of marriage to heterosexual couples are rationally related to legitimate state interests and therefore do not violate the […]
Pro-choice forces held a rally on Saturday in Mississippi to counter a week of planned protests by the anti-abortion group Operation Save America (formerly Operation Rescue). The rally, held in a park directly across from the Governor’s mansion, featured Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization for Women (NOW); Nancy Kohsin-Kintigh of the Feminist Majority […]
Two Reedley College football players were arrested and several other college football players are said to have been involved in the alleged rape of an 11-year-old girl at a Fresno, California apartment. Fresno City Police charged two suspects on Wednesday, Mackey Davis, 20, and Eddie Scott, 19, with one count each of molestation of a […]
The Michigan Supreme Court decided last week that it would allow an anti-affirmative action proposal on the November ballot, despite allegations that many of the signatures were gathered using deception. According to the Detroit News, hundreds of people who signed the petitions were told that the measure was in support of affirmative action. In reality, […]
A recent study found that women who smoke are twice as likely as men to get lung cancer, but less likely to die from the disease. The study was released in the July 12 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association and was conducted by researchers at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical […]
The House voted yesterday to renew the Voting Rights Act after long debates about its necessity. The Act, H.R. 9, was renamed “The Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006” to honor these women for their continued and devoted efforts to achieve justice and equality […]
Missouri Governor Matt Blunt (R) signed a bill into law on Tuesday that will allow donors to crisis pregnancy centers to receive a tax credit over the next six years on up to half of their donations, up to $50,000. Gov. Blunt signed the bill at a crisis pregnancy center, saying that these centers “help […]
Women in Ghana have launched a campaign against domestic violence in support of a bill addressing domestic violence introduced in parliament. The Foundation of Female Photojournalists (FFP) developed a documentary addressing domestic and gender-based violence in order to “motivate viewers to support initiatives that would assist victims of gender violence and the quest to build […]
Patricia Hughes, 25, pleaded guilty yesterday to setting off a small firebomb outside a Shreveport abortion clinic. Hughes and her boyfriend, Jeremy Dunahoe, 18, were originally charged in January. Last December, Dunahoe drove Hughes to the clinic where she threw a Molotov cocktail at the Hope Medical Group for Women. It was ignited, but caused […]
Massachusetts lawmakers decided yesterday to postpone a vote on a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. During a joint legislative session, known as a Constitutional Convention, lawmakers decided 100 to 91 to postpone a vote on the amendment until two days after Election Day, November 9. The proposed legislation defines marriage as “the union of […]
A bill that would allow for extensive federal funding to go towards stem cell research is up for a Senate vote this month. Discussion of the bill could begin as early as next week. The three-part legislation, named “The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act” would allow for testing of embryos from fertility clinics that would […]
Canadian men outnumber women four to one in all jobs in the investment industry except support staff occupations, says a new study conducted by the Canadian non-profit group Women in Capital Markets. Women in Capital Markets (WCM) conducted the study as part of its regular examination of Canadian women’s involvement in the workforce. The report […]
United Nations Special Envoy for AIDS in Africa, Stephen Lewis, recently began advocating for a multi-lateral UN agency for women in an effort to bring international women’s issues to the forefront. The UN has failed to effectively address women’s issues and “…after fifty years of passivity and paralysis, it’s time to have an agency through […]
Taliban militia bombings, burnings of girls’ schools, and the killing of teachers are increasing at an alarming rate as the Taliban resurgence continues to gain strength. Ahmed Rashid, a well known author and expert on the Taliban recently wrote in the Washington Post that “…every single day somewhere in Afghanistan a girls’ school is burned […]
In a blow to the anti-choice movement, Michigan Citizens for Life failed to collect enough signatures to get an anti-abortion measure on Michigan’s ballot this November. The group needed to turn in at least 317,757 signatures yesterday in order for Michigan citizens to vote on whether the state constitution should change to legally define the […]
Wisconsin Representatives Gwen Moore (D) and Paul Ryan (R) introduced legislation on Monday that would ensure families receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) receive the full amount of child support from the non-custodial parent. Currently, a portion of child support owed to the custodial parent goes to the government to pay for the administrative […]
Women gained ground in the Anglican Church on June 8, when the General Synod of the Church of England voted 288 to 119 to allow ordination of women bishops. Dr. John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, called the decision “theologically justified,” according to the London Independent. Sentamu, who initiated the motion in support of women […]
