The US House of Representatives on Wednesday passed the Advancing Justice Through DNA Technology Act (HR 3214), authorizing over $1 billion to facilitating the testing and processing of DNA kits in criminal cases. Sponsored by Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), HR 3214 designates $755 million over five years to the Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Grant Program, […]
Wisconsin’s Attorney General last week said that health insurance plans that cover prescription drugs must also cover birth control pills. Though Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager’s opinion is not binding, it does lend more authority to a long campaign by State Senator Gwen Moore (D-Milwaukee) and others to make contraceptive coverage required under state law, according […]
Iraqi women leaders from Iraq’s Governing Council, the Baghdad City Advisory Council and women-led Iraqi organizations called for an increased role for women in the rebuilding of a democracy in Iraq and in its reconstruction. Speaking today at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC, Iraqi Governing Council Member Dr. Rajaa Habib […]
On Tuesday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested Stephen Jordi of Coconut Creek, Florida for planning to bomb “an unspecified number” of abortion clinics. According to the FBI, Jordi was “perilously close” to starting his bombing campaign, according to the Associated Press. The FBI had been watching Jordi since August after receiving a tip […]
In an attempt to force votes on the Administration’s most extreme judicial nominees, the Republican-led Senate will have 30 hours of debate on judicial nominations starting this evening. With the urging of a broad coalition, including the Feminist Majority, Democratic Senators have refused to allow votes on a handful of the most extreme nominees based […]
Major women’s rights organizations released a follow-up scorecard today rating the Bush Administration on key issues affecting women internationally. The issues covered in this report card include women’s rights and security in Afghanistan and Iraq, the new US resolution on women and political participation, and the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). Rating the […]
Prompted by pressure from the Vatican, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is considering imposing sanctions against Catholic politicians who fail to adhere to Catholic teachings. On the opening day of the Conference’s four-day meeting in Washington, Bishop John Ricard of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Florida told fellow attendees, “Some Catholic politicians defy church teaching in their […]
After intense debate, the Texas State Board of Education voted on Thursday to approve textbooks that teach evolution. Although scientists and educators argue that the theory of evolution is generally regarded as “a cornerstone of modern scientific research,” according to the Associated Press, members of the religious community sought a version of evolution that allows […]
Afghanistan’s State Minister of Women’s Affairs, Mahbuba Hoquqmal, said that the draft constitution released last week does not do enough to guarantee women’s rights. Hoquqmal has suggested changes to the constitution that would guarantee and protect women’s rights such as using the term “men and women” instead of the word “citizen” because some Afghan men […]
Against the protests of women’s rights advocates, Governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger recently hired a private investigation firm to look into allegations that he groped at least 16 women in the past three decades. Women’s groups and California Attorney General Bill Lockyer (D), a Schwarzenegger supporter, have called for an independent investigation. “If someone came to me […]
A Food and Drug Administration (FDA) panel will meet next month to consider over-the-counter sales status for the emergency contraceptive (EC) Plan B. New York-based Barr Laboratories, Inc. – which recently acquired Women’s Capital Corporation, the manufacturer of Plan B – will speak with FDA panelists on December 16. “The idea of over-the-counter (sales) is […]
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) recently released a report showing that maternal mortality in Iraq has tripled since 1990. According to the report, the number of deaths due to complications in pregnancy or childbirth has risen from 117 deaths per 100,000 live births in 1989 to 310 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2002. […]
The Department of Justice has recently come under harsh scrutiny from Democrats for the heavy editing of an internal report, tracking the diversity of the department, which was posted on their web site. Russ Kick, a writer and editor from Tucson who operates the website thememoryhole.org, electronically stripped the blacked out passages of the version […]
Yesterday, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to approve the nomination of Janice Rogers Brown to the DC Circuit. All the Democrats on the Committee voted against the nomination. Women’s rights groups, civil rights groups, environmental groups, senior’s rights groups, and labor all oppose Brown’s nomination. In her speeches, Brown has shown a […]
A report issued by UNESCO asserts that while there has been significant progress in the number of girls attending school, girls are still facing discrimination in gaining access to schooling in most developing countries. According to the report, “discrimination against girls and women remains pervasive in most societies, in education and more generally.” Girls working […]
Less than an hour after President Bush signed a bill banning safe abortion procedures into law, a federal judge in Nebraska issued a temporary injunction to prevent implementation of the law. However, US District Judge Richard Kopf limited his order to the four Nebraska doctors who had filed suit against the law, according to the […]
For the first time ever, in the 2003-2004 admissions pool, women made up the majority of medical school applicants, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). The increase in women applying for medical school was a significant factor in helping to turn around a six-year decline in the number of students who applied […]
Human rights activists marched in Washington to the Mexican Embassy this weekend to demand justice for over 370 women who have been victims of serial killings in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. The leader of the march, a mother of one of the victims, stated that she has been harassed and threatened by the Mexican […]
After a four-month-long investigation, Women on Waves has been cleared of charges of breaking strict abortions laws by of performing illegal abortions in Poland and by introducing the abortion pill mifepristone (RU 486) into the country. According to Women on Waves, the prosecutor’s office dismissed the accusations due to a lack of evidence that the […]
The National Organization for Women (NOW) and other women’s rights activists will protest President Bush’s signing of a bill banning abortion procedures today in Washington, DC. “As George W. Bush signs the deceptively-named Partial-Birth Abortion Ban into law, women’s rights activists across the country will be recommitting ourselves to keeping abortion safe, legal and accessible,” […]
