The 5th WNBA season opened on May 28th with a win for the Los Angeles Sparks over the Houston Comets. The close 66-63 victory was an upset for the Comets, the five-time champions for the women’s professional basketball league, who played without two of their star players, Cynthia Cooper (retired) and Sheryl Swoopes (injured). The […]
Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE) has announced that he will not seek his former position as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee when Democrats gain control of the Senate and its committees next week. Instead, Biden will assume the chairmanship of the Foreign Relations Committee replacing conservative Republican Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC). Biden’s decision leaves the chairmanship […]
In preparation for World No-Tobacco Day on Thursday, the World Health Organization (WHO) this week released a report called “Women and the Tobacco Epidemic.” The report highlights tobacco advertisers’ use of targeted marketing towards women, “effectively exploiting the struggle of women everywhere for equality and women’s rights,” by positioning cigarettes as a sign of independence […]
Despite the downturn in the stock market over the last year, women investors are managing to come out ahead. According to the National Association of Investing Clubs, all-women clubs are posting average gains of 19.25% on their investments, where all-male clubs were posting only 18.73%, and co-ed clubs 19.19%. Money Magazine picked up on the […]
NPR’s Julie Rovner reported Friday (“All Things Considered”) that abortion may be the issue “most affected” by Sen. James Jeffords’ (I-VT) decision to leave the Republican party. University of Akron political scientist John Green pointed out that until last week, Republican anti-abortion leaders were looking to restrict the availability of abortion through direct legislation (e.g. […]
In China, sexuality is often a hidden topic. But it will be a little less so, thanks to the use of a simple apron in reproductive health classes like this one. Using an apron illustrated with a woman’s internal organs, doctors like Fang Jing teach poor, often illiterate women farmers how to prevent sexually transmitted […]
On January 22—the twenty-eighth anniversary of Roe v. Wade—here’s how George W. Bush celebrated his first full working day as president of the United States: he directed the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to reinstate President Reagan’s “Mexico City Policy,” known by activists as the “Global Gag Rule.” “It is my conviction that taxpayer […]
“It kills me that I can’t ask lawmakers from my own country, ‘Can you imagine how horrible it is for us when a 13-year-old rape victim walks into a clinic and we can’t tell her anything?’” says Galdos. “This is especially difficult when we know there are options and choices. We have to sit there […]
The United Nations World Food Program gave the Taliban until June 15 to agree to allow Afghan women to help implement a survey that ensures the UN’s food aid is getting to the neediest people in the capital city of Kabul. The Taliban has refused on the grounds that allowing Afghan women to work violates […]
College is over. That doesn’t mean your feminist activism has to be! Join the Leadership Alliance and Friends Alumnae Network at http://www.feministcampus.org/alum_network.asp. Member benefits include a directory of FMLA Alumnae, personal and professional networking opportunities, ongoing opportunities to get involved in feminist activism, alumnae chats and message boards on http://www.feministcampus.org/.
The TEMPLE UNIVERSITY Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance brought a representative from Planned Parenthood of Philadelphia to campus to conduct a clinic escort training for members and campus activists. The group plans to organize an “Adopt-A-Clinic” action and support a local Philadelphia abortion clinic that is being harassed by anti-choice protestors.
Last April, Leadership Alliances and activists across the nation commemorated Sexual Assault Awareness Month with major events, rallies,and marches. The BROWN UNIVERSITY Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance in Rhode Island organized a Take Back the Night March to rally support for women’s safety on campus. The BOSTON UNIVERSITY Leadership Alliance affiliate hosted a “Clothesline Project” display […]
Last week, students nationwide came together in DC for the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition’s (GenderPAC) second National Conference on Gender (NCG). Hundreds of activists from 30 states across the country and students from over 36 campuses attended the three-day event that included dozens of workshops on feminism, race, class, and transgender issues. The Feminist Majority […]
Tana Koss, co-founder and President of the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, was recently recognized in the local newspaper for her excellence in academics and her commitment to social justice. Koss received the 2002 Chancellor’s Medallion and the 2002 “Woman of the Year” award. In addition, Koss was chosen to […]
Senator James Jeffords’ party switch to become Independent overshadowed the Senate vote on Ted Olson, who was confirmed as U.S. Solicitor General last night. “Once again, the Democrats are showing that they have enough votes to filibuster right-wing nominees to federal appointments, but chose not to in Olson’s case,” said Eleanor Smeal, president of the […]
The National Abortion Federation (NAF) announced this week that it will launch a massive public education campaign on Mifepristone (RU-486), the early abortion pill that was approved by the FDA last September. NAF is the professional organization of abortion providers in the U.S. and Canada. “Our campaign is aimed at ensuring that women facing an […]
In a move that does not resemble “compassionate conservative” politics, President George W. Bush overruled moderate U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell on his choice of who will head a crucial refugee bureau within the U.S. State Department. While Powell chose Alan Kreczko, a longtime civil servant, to head the Bureau of Population, Refugees and […]
Senator James Jeffords of Vermont announced today that he has changed his party affiliation from Republican to Independent. Leading with the issue of reproductive choice, he changed the political equation in Washington. “Looking ahead, I can see more and more instances where I’ll disagree with the President on very fundamental issues–the issues of choice, the […]
UN Secretary Kofi Annan this week condemned the Taliban decree ordering Hindus to wear a yellow identification badge. The US, India, and other countries have also denounced the badges, likening them to the yellow stars Jews were forced to wear in Nazi Germany. The badge is the most recent of the Taliban militia’s extreme and […]
A Federal Appeals Court ruled yesterday that pregnant illegal immigrants in the United States have no right to prenatal care under Medicaid; the case follows a recent trend severely cutting back health care for illegal immigrants in this country. The court ruled that “the denial of prenatal care is not unconstitutional,” but that children born […]
