In a front page story in this Sunday’s Washington Post, journalist David Finkel provides one of the first comprehensive U.S. media stories on the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, where at least 1 million people face death from famine and drought. The majority of these refugees are women and children. The crisis has been exacerbated by […]
Republicans in the House announced an orchestrated campaign to push the limits to restrict abortion access, including legislation on mifepristone, “partial-birth” abortion, and minors’ access to reproductive health services. In a front page story in the Washington Post, Republican leaders including House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-TX) announced a strategy to limit abortion incrementally through […]
Earlier this week, Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) questioned Secretary of State Colin Powell on the global “gag rule,” a policy recently reinstated by President Bush that limits U.S. funding to family planning groups worldwide that counsel abortion. Clinton spoke at the Senate Budget Committee meeting where Powell testified on the State Department Budget, saying “I […]
Audre Lorde said it best: “The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.” We women struggle for equality in our lives, yet we operate within fundamentally unequal structures. It’s time for a hierarchy-bashing feminist revolution. Though there are many ways to practice your feminism, undoing power structures “at home” has worked wonders for us […]
The new head of the United Nations High Commission on Refugees Ruund Lubbers announced possible plans to return 1.5 million refugees to Afghanistan. Lubber intends to negoiate with the Taliban and provide the militia with assistance as part of the plan. Paradoxically, Lubber claims that many of the people who have fled Afghanistan may no […]
The European Parliament released a resolution this week condemning the Taliban’s treatment of women and girls in Afghanistan, as well as its destruction of ancient Buddha statues. The resolution called on Pakistan to immediately close Taliban recruitment centers and fundamentalist Islamic schools in Pakistan, and called on countries neighboring Afghanistan to keep their borders open […]
The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network seventh report on the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy shows a slight decrease in reported incidents of anti-gay harassment in the military for the year 2000, but shows that such harassment is still common in all branches of the service. Reports of harassment went from 986 in 1999 to 871 […]
The Republican Pro-Choice Coalition met this week for their annual conference and lobbied GOP Congress members for more “respect” for reproductive rights within the party. Coalition director Lynn Grefe said that the coalition aimed to persuade others that “pro-choice Republican” is “not an oxymoron.” Several Congress members, including Rep. Jim Greenwood (R-PA) and Rep. Christopher […]
Dr. LeRoy Carhart, the sole plaintiff in a recent Supreme Court case that upheld a woman’s right to abortion into the third trimester, is challenging the University of Nebraska for wrongful termination of his faculty position. Carhart claims that the university’s decision to fire him was due to political pressure from the office of Gov. […]
Five women from different branches of the MetLife insurance filed a suit yesterday charging the insurance giant with sex discrimination in compensation, hiring and promoting policies. During a news conference, the women recalled their experiences with MetLife, including being passed over for promotions in favor of a less qualified, less experience male co-workers; being denied […]
After a five-year study by a task force assigned to overhaul China’s classifications of mental illness, the Chinese Psychiatric Association has removed homosexuality from its handbook of mental diseases and no longer considers homosexuality to be a pathological condition. This reversal of previous policy is a major victory for the Chinese gay community. Research that […]
Taliban Annihilate 5th Century Buddhist Statues Taliban officials announced today their complete destruction of two ancient giant Buddhist statues. Following the announcement, Taliban officials ordered “the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) to remove its correspondent Kate Clark from the country within 24 hours.” Kate Clark has served as a BBC reporter in Afghanistan since 1998 and […]
Nicholas Morency pled guilty in U.S. District Court to charges of “intimidating people providing reproductive health services,” facing a maximum sentence of 6 years imprisonment and a $350,000 fine. Prosecuted under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE), Morency operated a website in January 1999 and offered a $1.5 million reward for the […]
President Bush’s plan to provide government funding to religious-based social services is under attack from conservatives and liberals alike, and two religious groups recently published a guide to churches warning them about the “faith-based” plan. The Interfaith Alliance Foundation and the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs released the guide, arguing, “Religion thrives in America […]
On Thursday, a House Judiciary subcommittee will begin hearings on the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, a measure that would make it a federal crime to harm a fertilized egg, embryo, or fetus while committing certain violent federal offenses. Abortion rights and women’s rights groups oppose the bill because establishing legal “personhood” for a fertilized […]
In an effort to stack the courts with right wing judges, President Bush is moving fast to fill vacant federal judgeships, especially in the federal appeals courts. Bush’s haste to fill these positions is surprising, considering to the rigorous, years-long investigations the GOP demanded of federal judgeship candidates nominated during the Clinton Administration. Bush has […]
In an unexpected contradiction to the anti-choice, anti-stem cell research position of the Bush Administration, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said during a Senate Budget Committee hearing last week that he was troubled by the law that prevents federal funding of stem cell research using discarded human embryos. Thompson said that he had […]
Doctors at the New York University School of Medicine released a preliminary study last week that shows taking aspirin three times a week may reduce a woman’s risk of ovarian cancer by as much as 40 percent. The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, found that aspirin could be an effective medication because […]
Last Friday, the eccentric mayor of Bogata, Columbia, declared the evening to be a “Night Without Men,” and encouraged the women of the city to spend an evening celebrating with other women at bars, concerts and festivals. The evening of partying was not only a night off from domestic responsibilities, there was a serious message: […]
Human Life Advocates will file a class-action lawsuit on behalf of eight separate agencies against recent National Institutes of Health regulations on stem cell research. A related lawsuit was filed earlier this week by Nightlight Christian Adoptions. The lawsuits claim that the government’s new regulations on federally funded stem cell research violate a 1995 law […]
