The new Prime Minister of Spain, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, appointed half of his cabinet seats to women and is making female empowerment a top priority. According to Women’s eNews, a leading Spanish feminist hailed the prime minister’s push for women’s equality stating that “we didn’t want them to appoint just any women…we wanted women […]
Last week, US District Court Judge Paul Cassell issued a temporary restraining order preventing the enforcement of Utah’s abortion procedures ban for at least 10 days. Utah’s abortion procedures ban, which would have gone into effect last Monday, is almost identical to the federal abortion procedures ban, which is being challenged in federal courts in […]
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last night announced that it was rejecting over-the-counter status for emergency contraception. This decision flies in the face of the FDA’s own expert advisory committees, which recommended 23-4 to approve over-the-counter status for the emergency contraceptive Plan B. The FDA had been under intense pressure from right-wing groups and […]
The United Nations has warned that Afghanistan’s disarmament program is in “serious jeopardy.” According to UN News, the top UN official in Afghanistan warned that the disarmament program is in danger because of obstruction by militiamen in the country. According to the spokesperson for the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Afghanistan, “the Afghan people […]
The media watchdog group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) found media coverage of the March for Women’s Lives was light despite record numbers of attendees. The group did an analysis of coverage of the March and found only eight stories about the March from the broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN). Meanwhile, other cable […]
Abortion rights supporters held demonstrations at several book tour stops by Karen Hughes in the last two days. At issue were remarks by Hughes, one of President Bush’s campaign advisors, who in an interview with CNN implied that people who are pro-choice have the same values as terrorists. Yesterday, members of the Agnes Scott College […]
The Republican-controlled Florida legislature on Friday garnered the three-fifths majority necessary to place a proposed constitutional amendment restricting abortion access for young women on the ballot this November. In what the Orlando Sentinel calls a “politically charged measure,” the amendment would require that female minors under the age of 18 seek parental consent before obtaining […]
Barr Laboratories, distributors of the emergency contraceptive Plan B, are reportedly concerned that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will not approve their proposal to make the drug available without a prescription. Carole Ben-Maimon, president of Barr Laboratories’ research division, told the Washington Post that she thinks “an approval is not a likely scenario.” An […]
A leading aid group has reported that teenage girls in the developing world have a high risk of dying from pregnancy and childbirth complications. According to Save the Children, approximately 70,000 girls and 1 million infants die each year due to childbirth or related problems. Save the Children found that in developing countries, pregnancy and […]
Three girls in Afghanistan were poisoned last week as a punishment for attending school. According to Agence France Presse, the three schoolgirls were poisoned by Taliban militia after eating biscuits given to them by a man in the southeastern town of Khost. The provincial military commander in Khost, Khialbaz Khan, asserted that “the Taliban is […]
A recent South African study reveals that women who are abused or dominated by their partners are 48 percent more likely to be infected with HIV. According to the study published in the Lancet, conducted by Dr. Kristin L. Dunkle, “Women with violent or controlling male partners are at increased risk of HIV infection.” In […]
A leading human rights organization recently released a report detailing the attempted killings and murders of women by male relatives in the name of “honor.” The Human Rights Watch report also documents the cases of women who have been in prison because they were threatened with honor killings. According to the executive director of Human […]
A new report details the many ways in which the Bush Administration has removed or altered information about women’s health, education, and labor. According to a report issued by the National Council for Research on Women, vital data has “been deleted, buried, altered, or otherwise gone missing from government websites and publications; priorities have changed, […]
One of President Bush’s campaign advisors on Sunday implied that women and men who participated in the March for Women’s Lives, as well as all those who support reproductive rights, hold the same values as terrorists. In an interview with Wolf Blitzer on CNN, Bush advisor Karen Hughes said, “President Bush has worked to say, […]
After pressure from reformists in Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s party, the ban on women performers on television and radio that was imposed last Friday was lifted. Female entertainers had been declared un-Islamic in the Southeastern province by the deputy provincial governor of Nangarhar. The provincial government ordered state-run television in Jalalabad to stop broadcasting Afghan […]
The March for Women’s Lives, the largest march in US history, made front-page headlines and spectacular pictures worldwide. Major newspapers ran front-page stories on the march in the US, including the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, the Miami Herald, the Boston Globe, and many more. Across the […]
Bush Administration officials rescinded funding for an international health conference because Republican staff members and right-wing groups such as the Traditional Values Coalition complained that the conference promotes abortion. According to the Washington Post, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) withdrew funding for the Global […]
Two days before the March for Women’s Lives, women’s rights leaders from around the world urged the Bush Administration to reinstate and increase international family planning funding and to repeal the Global Gag Rule. At a press conference on global abortion politics, Feminist Majority President Eleanor Smeal challenged reporters to “go to maternity wards to […]
Female performers in an Afghan province have been banned from performing on television and radio. According to Reuters, female entertainers have been declared un-Islamic in the Southeastern province. The provincial government, according to Radio Free Europe, ordered state-run television in Jalalabad to stop broadcasting Afghan women singer’s performances. Earlier this year, for the first time […]
One week before the March for Women’s Lives, leading women’s groups released a scorecard grading the Bush Administration on issues affecting women around the world, finding the Bush Administration long on rhetoric but falling far short on reality. In announcing the grade of “C” for rhetoric and “F” for reality on international family planning and […]
