President Bush announced this morning that he supports a Constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. “Today, I call upon the Congress to promptly pass and to send to the states for ratification an amendment to the Constitution defining and protecting marriage as a union of a man and a woman as husband and wife,” Bush said […]
The Bush Administration released its five-year global AIDS strategy yesterday. Women’s health advocates argue that the plan fails to address the needs of women and girls, even though women and girls make up the majority of those infected with HIV/AIDS. According to the Center for Health and Gender Equity, the plan does not offer any […]
United States funds represent a significant proportion of the budgets of many international nongovernmental organizations that provide essential health care to women in the developing nations. In many rural areas, these organizations are the only source of gynecological health care available. In 1984, the Reagan Administration placed restrictions on these funds, prohibiting overseas international family […]
President George W. Bush reinstated the global gag rule on his first official day in office, January 22, 2001, the 28th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Pro-choice groups and legislators reacted almost immediately not only with anger and fear for the women who would be affected by the policy, but with strategies to reverse it. […]
Reproductive rights encompass the right of sexually active persons to choose when, how often, and with whom to engage in sexual activity; how many children to have and when to have them; access to and education about reproductive health and family planning; the freedom from diseases associated with sexual activity; and freedom from sexual violence. […]
Anti-abortion extremist Stephen Jordi, charged with plotting to bomb abortion clinics, lesbian and gay bars, and some churches, pleaded guilty this month to one count of attempted arson. Jordi, a self-proclaimed terrorist, according to prosecutors, could face up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, the Associated Press reports. Federal […]
For the second time this year, President Bush bypassed the Senate by appointing a filibustered judicial nominee while Congress was in recess. In a move designed to attract little attention, Bush on Friday afternoon appointed Alabama Attorney General William Pryor to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Pryor has openly voiced his opposition to women’s […]
Several members of the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council stated that they are discussing plans to double the size of the current Governing Council in order to make it more legitimate. According to the New York Times, members of the Council want to reach out to more groups so the Iraqi people are more represented. The […]
A group of 60 leading scientists released a report on Wednesday criticizing the Bush Administration for distorting and suppressing scientific analyses, such as information on condoms, from federal agencies when the scientific data goes against the policies of the Administration. The Union of Concerned Scientists issued a statement saying “when scientific knowledge has been found […]
The Food and Drug Administration announced on Friday that it would delay its decision on over-the-counter status for the emergency contraceptive Plan B. The deadline on the decision was extended 90 days from the original date of February 20. The FDA says that it needs more time to evaluate the use of Plan B among […]
Seventeen people, including seven women who were accused of undergoing illegal abortions in Portugal, were acquitted yesterday of breaking Portugal’s strict abortion laws. According to BBC News, the seven women were accused of voluntarily having abortions at a street clinic in Averio, Portugal. A three-judge panel found no proof that the accused women had undergone […]
The chief American Administrator in Iraq yesterday told a group of Iraqi women that he will block any attempt to make Islam the main source of law in Iraq’s constitution. Iraqi women’s rights activists and US women’s groups such as the Feminist Majority have been protesting the Iraqi Governing Council’s recent vote on Resolution 137 […]
The Department of Justice has issued a series of subpoenas to hospitals in several major cities demanding the medical records of women who have undergone certain abortion procedures. US Attorney General John Ashcroft is requesting these records in conjunction with legal challenges to the federal abortion procedure ban, signed into law last November. Hospital administrators […]
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) introduced a bill on Wednesday that aims to make a compromise with the Bush Administration to end its withholding of funds for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The bill, co-sponsored by Reps. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX) and Edolphus Towns (D-NY) and 23 other members of Congress, would mandate $34 million to […]
At a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing yesterday, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) raised concerns that Iraqi women will lose their rights under the new constitution and that Islamic (sharia) law will be reinstated. Boxer also asserted that it would be a tragedy for Iraqi women if they have less rights under the US-backed Iraqi regime […]
The Feminist Majority Foundation’s National Center for Women and Policing announced yesterday that it will honor US Park Police Chief Teresa Chambers with its Lifetime Achievement Award. Chambers has recently been the target of a review by the Department of the Interior for speaking out on the need for increased funding to hire more park […]
A survey of US Catholic dioceses conducted by the Associated Press found that 1,341 priests had been accused of sexual abuse since the 1950s, with less than half of the dioceses reporting. A report commissioned by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops is scheduled to be released on February 27 by the John Jay College […]
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has ordered a review into the Defense Department’s measures to prevent sexual attacks against female soldiers. This review was called for after a series of reports were issued regarding male soldiers assaulting and abusing female soldiers who were also denied adequate counseling and medical care during duty in Iraq and […]
A leading human rights organization released a report stating that the death penalty in Nigeria is often used in a discriminatory way against women. According to the Amnesty International report, the death penalty was used for abortion-related offences and so-called crimes of sexual impropriety that went against sharia (Islamic) law. In addition, the crime of […]
Despite the recent sex assault scandal, women applied to the Air Force Academy in record numbers for the class of 2008. The school received 2,966 applications from women, which is almost 160 percent more women than in 2003. The number of applications this year also breaks the previous record of 2,878 women applicants in 1988 […]
