Women should get a prescription for emergency contraception (EC) now, in case they need it later, advises the new “Ask Me” campaign by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. The campaign, launched Monday, seeks to bypass the FDA, which has not yet approved Plan B, a brand of emergency contraception, for over-the-counter sales despite […]
J Christopher Carey, MD, former director of an OB-GYN residency program, has filed suit against his Phoenix, Arizona hospital, claiming he was fired because of his public support of providing abortion training to OB-GYN residents. The Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), along with other lawyers, will represent Dr. Carey in a suit that claims the […]
Malalai Joya was physically and verbally attacked by her colleagues in Afghanistan’s parliament yesterday after she said that some of her fellow lawmakers were warlords and shouldn’t be allowed to sit in parliament. “I said there are two kinds of mujahedeed in Afghanistan,” Joya told the Associated Press. “One kind fought for independence, which I […]
See Jane, a project of Dads and Daughters, released a report last week detailing the prevalence of male characters in children’s media and emphasizing the importance of creating greater gender balance in the future. The report found that in the 101 films studied, there was only one female character for every three male characters. The […]
The latest issue of Ms magazine includes an investigative report into the situation of women garment workers in the Northern Mariana Islands. “Our research team documented what amounts to indentured servitude on the U.S. territory of the Northern Marianas: substandard living and dangerous working conditions, forced abortions, and a declining labor market that has left […]
The United Kingdom’s branch of Save the Children, a non-governmental organization (NGO), has released a report outlining the widespread sexual exploitation of Liberian girls, who are often forced to have sex in order to have access to basic necessities. Children are often responsible for earning money for their families in the West African country that […]
In the past eight years, unplanned pregnancies, births and abortions have risen among the nation’s poorest women, while these rates have fallen for more affluent women. This data comes from a report by the Guttmacher Institute, which analyzed information from the National Center for Health Statistics and other federal sources from 1994 to 2001, and […]
The United Kingdom’s Prime Minister, Tony Blair, has appointed Margaret Beckett to replace Jack Straw as Foreign Secretary. Beckett is the first woman to serve in that post. Currently Secretary of State for the Department of Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), she was the first person to hold that position, which was created in […]
Betty Sutton, a pro-choice, Democratic Ohio State Representative, won her primary election and will now be the Democratic Party candidate for the US House of Representatives from Ohio’s 13th Congressional District. Sutton has a strong record on issues of women’s health, domestic violence and pay equity. Sutton’s campaign also emphasizes getting troops out of Iraq, […]
On Monday’s traditional labor holiday May Day, hundreds of thousands of women and men marched in cities across the country to demand legislation that would allow immigrants to apply for citizenship. “It’s an incredible statement of the immigrant community being mobilized and coming into their own voice,” said Joanne Lin, the senior staff attorney for […]
The House of Representatives yesterday passed House Concurrent Resolution 90, sponsored by Congresswoman Hilda Solis (D-CA), which condemns the violent murder of more than 400 women over the past 16 years in the border cities of Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua, Mexico. The resolution denounces the murders and asks that the United States government engage the […]
On Tuesday, federal lawmakers announced that they had reached a bipartisan agreement regarding the renewal of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which protects the voting rights of racial minorities particularly in states with histories of discrimination. Some elements of the 1965 law were due to expire in 2007, including the provision that some states receive […]
The Supreme Court refused without comment to hear an appeal by anti-abortion extremists on Monday in the “Nuremberg Files” case. The case, American Coalition of Life Activists (ACLA) v. Planned Parenthood, originated as a suit filed in 1999 by Planned Parenthood of Oregon and four Oregon doctors listed on WANTED-style posters on the Nuremberg Files […]
Men taking hormonal contraceptive treatments regain fertility in 3-4 months, according to researchers from UCLA and the University of Sydney. The researchers tout the potential for these treatments to “allow men to share more fairly the satisfaction and burden of family planning,” said Peter Liu of the Anzac Research Institute, the study’s lead author, in […]
The Catholic Church, which has opposed the use of condoms for contraceptive or safe-sex purposes, is now considering endorsing their use by married couples in which one partner has HIV/AIDS. Pope Benedict XVI, who was a strict enforcer of church doctrine under Pope John-Paul II, has requested a report on the issue, surprising many Catholics […]
A new report has revealed that US District Court Judge Terrence Boyle, President Bush’s nominee to the Fourth US Circuit Court of Appeals, failed to recuse himself from nine cases in which he had a conflict of interest. According to Salon and the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR), five corporations in which Judge Boyle acknowledged […]
Thousands gathered in 12 different locations yesterday to support Sudan’s Darfur region and rally against the genocide-in-progress. The largest of these rallies was on the National Mall in Washington, DC. “Never again,” the speakers yelled to masses in front of the nation’s capitol. “Never again,” shouted back the diverse, impassioned crowd. The rally lasted a […]
Bangladeshi women’s rights activist Nasreen Huq died in a tragic accident last week, leaving a legacy of outspoken commitment to social justice. Huq was waiting outside her home on Monday when her driver lost control of the vehicle and struck her, causing fatal injuries. Huq was holding her adopted 15-month-old daughter Jamila Shulekha, who was […]
The Louisiana State Senate approved a near-total ban on abortion on Wednesday, allowing abortion only to save a woman’s life. This ban demonstrates the strong anti-choice politics of the Senate, as there were no arguments against the ban, but only questions of whether to include exceptions for cases of rape and incest. An amendment to […]
San Francisco’s new strategy to prevent sexually transmitted infections (STIs) makes use of a teen-friendly medium: text messaging. The program, modeled after a similar service started in the UK, gives users answers to frequently asked questions about STIs, pregnancy, and sexual abuse, directing them to free drop-in clinics and other services at local health centers. […]
