A pipe bomb exploded last Thursday at Amaranth Bio Inc, a laboratory outside Boston specializing in stem-cell research. No one was injured from the blast that shattered several windows. Police verified that a break in had occurred prior to the explosion, according to Reuters. Massachusetts State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan told the Associated Press, “It […]
The Women on Waves ship, traveling to Portugal to bring attention to the nation’s punitive abortion policies, has been blocked from entering Portuguese waters. The Portuguese Defense Minister has called the small commercial vessel rented by Women on Waves a “threat to national security.” Portugal’s Defense Ministry has announced that it will use force if […]
A new report shows that more than 100 schoolgirls were forced to undergo the harmful practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) in the West Pokot District of Kenya in August. The East African Standard reports that most of the girls were between the ages of 10 and 18 years old. According to a local human […]
A ruling by US District Judge Richard Casey of New York on Thursday found the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act unconstitutional. Casey explained that the law, signed by President Bush in 2003, is not consistent with a prior Supreme Court ruling in 2000 that struck down a similar state law because it lacked an exception […]
The US women’s soccer team won the Olympic gold medal in Athens yesterday, beating Brazil in overtime with a score of 2-1 in the championship game. Five veterans on the Olympic team have been credited with bringing women’s soccer to national prominence, as well as inspiring a generation of young female athletes. Mia Hamm, Julie […]
A survey conducted by Lifetime Television in July found that fewer than 10 percent of women feel that either President Bush or Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry understands them well. Broken down by candidate, 51 percent of the women polled said that Bush understands them not well or not at all, and 39 percent said […]
The United Nations mission to Afghanistan has warned that the Taliban and other extremist groups will likely increase their attacks before Afghanistan’s presidential elections are to take place this October. According to the UN News Service, the head of the United Nations mission, Jean Arnault, told the Security Council that all electoral workers and voters […]
US District Judge Anita Brody signed an order to delay the sentencing of self-proclaimed anti-abortion “terrorist” Clayton Lee Waagner until the US Supreme Court rules on two unrelated cases that will clarify federal sentencing guidelines. Waagner was convicted of mailing envelopes filled with fake anthrax to women’s health clinics in December 2003. At his trial, […]
As reported earlier this week, Women on Waves set sail on Monday for to bring attention to the nation’s restrictive abortion policies. The deputy for Portugal’s Green Party, Isabel Castro, asserted that the ship will show “what cannot be forgotten, a law that is humiliating for women.” In response to the ships departure, Jose Areia […]
Abortion opponents hope that a proposed amendment to the Florida state constitution placing limits on the privacy rights of minors will pave the way for a state parental notification law. Two previous laws passed by the Florida state legislature requiring parental notification for a minor seeking an abortion were subsequently struck down by the state […]
One of Malaysia’s most prominent clerics, Mufti Harussani Zakaria, has angered women’s rights and human rights groups by opposing calls to protect women from rape within marriage. According to Agence France-Presse, the Human Rights Commission in Malaysia has recently urged the government to make rape within marriage a crime. Zakaria responded to the calls stating […]
New rules effecting overtime pay set forth by the Bush administration went into effect today, redefining which workers qualify for time-and-a-half pay after working more than 40 hours in a week. The rules are expected to affect up to six million workers, causing them to lose overtime pay, according to the Economic Policy Institute, with […]
Women on Waves will set sail for Portugal this afternoon to bring attention to the nation’s restrictive abortion policies. According to Women on Waves, between 20,000Ð 40,000 illegal and unsafe abortions take place in Portugal each year. A Portuguese woman can only receive an abortion up to her 12th week of pregnancy in cases of […]
The California Assembly was scheduled to vote on a bill this past Wednesday that would require all individual health insurance plans to include maternity benefits. The measure was sponsored by state Senator Jackie Speier (D), and would affect 354,000 Californians who do not get their health insurance through group plans provided by an employer, and […]
Thirteen countries in Southeastern Europe have come together in recent months to combine efforts against sex trafficking. The latest sweep, by more than 1,000 police officers in June, identified 545 traffickers of which 328 were charged, according to the Christian Science Monitor. Cross-border cooperation, which has been a rarity in the past, has been brought […]
A federal civil rights lawsuit was filed against Costco Wholesale Corporation for bias against female employees on Tuesday. The suit is seeking class-action status to represent as many as 650 women, the San Francisco Gate reports. The lead plaintiff in the case, Shirley “Rae” Ellis of Colorado, claims that women are rarely promoted to high-level […]
Mim Kelber, a feminist leader, writer, and social activist, died of heart failure at her home in New York City on Friday. She was 82 years old. Kelber was a co-founder with former Congresswoman Bella Abzug of WEDO (Women’s Environment and Development Organization). She also co-founded Women Strike for Peace in the 1950s and the […]
At least four gunshots were fired at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Lufkin, Texas late Tuesday or early Wednesday morning. No one was hurt in the incident. Bullet holes were visible in several windows and the front door of the clinic, according to the Lufkin Daily News, and the clinic suffered some damage in the […]
This past Wednesday, the National Population and Family Planning Commission of China announced a nation-wide pilot program aimed at correcting China’s traditional bias for male children. BBC News reports that the program, entitled “Care for Girls,” will offer cash and other incentives to families who have daughters. Other perks for families with daughters include exemption […]
The Philippines Department of Health launched a telephone hotline last Friday to respond to questions about family planning, sexual health and relationship issues. The “FamPlan Hotline” will be staffed by two psychologists and two midwives ready to answer questions on a variety of health issues, according to DeepikaGlobal.com, including topics considered taboo in the predominantly […]
