Abortion-rights opponents from the United Republican Fund of Illinois and the Institute for Human Rights have filed suit in Chicago against the National Abortion Federation for its advertisements about Mifepristone. In July, the National Abortion Federation ran ads in Self , People and several other magazines publicizing the FDAs approval of Mifepristone and providing resources […]
While Attorney General John Ashcroft has accused Democrats of foot-dragging on Bush’s judicial nominations, Democrats maintain that Republicans blocked judicial appointments under Clinton and even questioned the need to appoint more judges. At a speech yesterday at the American Bar Association annual meeting, Ashcroft claimed that the Senate Judiciary Committee (under Democratic leadership for the […]
The Taliban has renewed its campaign to be recognized by the United Nations, appealing by letter to Security Council members and members of the Credentials Committee. The U.N. currently recognizes the opposition government of Afghanistan’s President Rabbani. In the same week that the Taliban has launched its U.N. recognition campaign, it has provoked international concern over […]
Ignoring international outcry, Taliban rulers defended the arrest of 24 Shelter Now International (SNI) humanitarian workers yesterday. While it has been committing massive human rights abuses against women, minorities, and the Afghan population at large since it came into power in 1996, the Taliban has recently put increasing pressure on international aid workers. The arrests […]
Feminists thought we had won the battle for inclusion of women in heart disease studies. However, according to a study published in today’s Journal of the American Medical Association, a significant gender gap persists. Between 1991 and 2000, only 25% of those enrolled in heart disease studies were women, despite the fact that 43% of […]
Melissa Etheridge, longtime supporter of women’s rights, opened her first tour in years Monday in Washington, D.C. Etheridge has donated her time and talents to several feminist and progressive causes during her touring break, including a recent performance at a Feminist Majority Rock-4-Choice is Los Angeles, CA.
The Bush administration this week reversed its earlier decision to reject all pending requests from states to extend family planning coverage under Medicaid while the White House considered sweeping changes to the program. Waivers were granted to New York and Missouri, with approvals for the remaining states expected to follow. The reversal came in response […]
Fourteen right-wing organizations, including the anti-feminist Concerned Women for America signed a letter urging Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to segregate basic training of military recruits by sex. Among the signatories is the Center for Military Readiness, headed by longstanding equal rights opponent Elaine Donnelly. The Center works to eliminate women and gays from the military, […]
Dr. James Pendergraft is not about to be scared out of the business of providing abortions. Even before he opened a clinic in the small northern Florida city of Ocala in July of 1998, he was besieged by protests from many church-going folk, city officials, and local Dixiecrats. Strong-willed, tough-skinned, and a fierce promoter of […]
Feminist Majority Foundation interns recently organized a briefing on Emergency Contraception and Mifepristone to kick-off a nationwide campaign to further young women’s reproductive choices on college campuses. Over 60 interns from Capitol Hill and progressive DC organizations attended to learn about Emergency Contraception and Mifepristone and to gather new resources and strategies for strengthening reproductive […]
SPELMAN COLLEGE Leadership Alliance activist Miranda Ward recently appeared on ABC’s Nightline with Ted Koppel. Ward spoke on a panel of college students discussing a recent study on dating and violence. The study, published by the Journal of the American Medical Association, focuses on high school girls and found that one in five girls interviewed […]
Last month, AUBURN UNIVERSITY Leadership Alliance activist Charles Johnson and fellow feminist activists Claire Rumore and Ailecia Ruscin organized the third annual Southern Girls Convention in Auburn, Alabama. The conference brought together over 500 feminist activists from all over the country for a weekend of discussion, action, and entertainment devoted to ending violence against women, […]
The Pro-Choice Public Education Project (PEP) recently developed a new online toolkit that provides great resources for educating and involving more young people in the movement to protect reproductive freedom. Use PEP’s tool-kit as part of your organizing efforts on campus, in your community, on-line, at clinics, or as part of a public education and […]
A Congressional Wellness Center Committee will investigate the claims of Congresswomen that they are being discriminated against in the House gym. Led by Rep. Anne Northup (R-KY), congresswomen report being discouraged from exercising in the gym and charge that the gym is not accessible to women. Since business is sometimes conducted in the gym, Congresswomen […]
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HIV-positive women are less likely to give the virus to their offspring if they are treated with AZT during pregnancy. However, a recent study by the CDC also shows that in 1999, approximately 40 percent of pregnant women did not get tested for HIV. In 1995, […]
The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 12-7 Wednesday to reverse President Bush’s global gag rule, which bans foreign aid to groups that provide or promote family planning services. The “Global Democracy Promotion Act of 2001” (S 367), proposed by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), states that “foreign non-governmental organizations “shall not be ineligible for such […]
By a vote of 12-7, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted on July 26 in favor of the Local Law Enforcement Act of 2001. The legislation, introduced in March by Sens. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), would expand the scope of federal assistance in the prosecution of state and local hate […]
A new report shows that 1 in 5 adolescent girls are the victims of physical or sexual abuse at the hands of an intimate partner. The study, which appeared in yesterday’s Journal of the American Medical Association, also shows that such violence is often associated with numerous health problems. It is the most comprehensive study […]
On Wednesday the House Armed Services Committee denied servicewomen and military dependents the right to privately funded abortions in overseas military health facilities. During the markup of HR 2586, the National Defense Authorization Act of FY 2002, Representative Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) proposed an amendment that would repeal the ban on abortions in overseas military health […]
Gil Scott-Heron said the revolution would not be televised. It also won’t be happening between Sarah Jones’s thighs. Or so says Jones in her song “Your Revolution,” which parodies misogynist lyrics from popular rap songs. With lines like “Your revolution will not find me in the back seat of a jeep/ With LL hard as […]
