Under a directive from President George W. Bush, Secretary of State Colin Powell reviewed 55 “special offices” within the State Department, deciding to abolish 21 of them. Powell provisionally kept 25 special offices, but the State Department announced that six of them will be reviewed in the near future, among them the interagency council on […]
In their latest attack on culture and human-rights, the Taliban has vowed to destroy ancient Buddhist artifacts, including two giant Buddhist statues in central Afghanistan that are two-thousand years old. The Taliban claims that the statues are an insult to Islam, but these statues predate Islam in Afghanistan. Many countries have issued statements decrying the […]
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 this week that Congress violated the First Amendment when it barred lawyers in a federally financed legal services program from challenging welfare laws on behalf of their indigent clients. In Legal Services Corporation v. Velazquez, the Supreme Court ruled that lawyers working for the Legal Services Corporation were not […]
The Center for Reproductive Law and Policy is suing for an injunction against a Michigan law that would limit women’s access to mifepristone, the early abortion pill, and would effectively ban physicians from prescribing the drug. The law, an amendment to Michigan’s 24-hour waiting period statute, requires physicians and clinics to provide women seeking abortions […]
Just as in the year 2000, the abortion debate on the bankruptcy bill centers on language introduced by Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) that would specifically bar perpetrators of abortion clinic-related violence from avoiding paying legal judgments by declaring bankruptcy. Earlier this week, Schumer reached a compromise with Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Orrin Hatch (R-UT) that […]
Catholics for a Free Choice recently conducted a nationwide survey of 589 Catholic hospital emergency rooms to determine if emergency contraception was available to women who requested it. Women called emergency rooms anonymously to ask: “Is the ‘morning-after pill’ available?” When the response was “sometimes,” the caller asked under what circumstances it was available; when […]
Women’s rights leaders held a press conference today announcing a plan of action to save reproductive freedom and protect women’s access to birth control, abortion, and other reproductive health services. “We will not go back to days of back-alley abortions where women will die,” said Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF). “We’ve […]
March 1 marks the beginning of Women’s History Month, a celebration of the accomplishments of women throughout history, and a reminder of the challenges that women worldwide still face. In celebration of the month, the Feminist Majority Foundation launched a special Women’s History Month Section of its website, featuring the Feminist Chronicles, a fifty-year outline […]
Would-be assassin Clayton Lee Waagner escaped an Illinois jail and is now traveling in a stolen vehicle. At the time of the theft, Waagner was wearing brown overalls, a white insulated shirt and a baseball cap. He is approximately 6 feet tall, 200 pounds, and has green eyes, brown hair and a scar on his […]
A new vaccine for human papilloma virus (HPV) is being tested at Johns Hopkins University and would be a major breakthrough for women’s health, because certain strains of the virus are believed to cause cervical cancer. HPV is contracted through sexual contact with an infected person, but can also be transmitted by skin-to-skin genital contact […]
The US Supreme Court has rejected a case filed by three South Carolina abortion providers and the abortion clinics in Greenville and Charleston, SC, that charge state regulations on abortion clinics are financially burdensome, medically unnecessary and violate a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion. The 1996 licensing requirements include clinic airflow standards, alarm systems […]
The Greater New York Council of the Boy Scouts of America announced its plan to challenge the Boy Scouts’ national policy that bans gay troop leaders and members from participating in the Boy Scouts. The announcement came after the New York City Council threatened to prohibit any government agency from funding or supporting Boy Scouts […]
The world’s top women skiers competed in the world championship games in St. Anton, Austria, this month as they prepare for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. Switzerland’s Sonja Nef won the gold medal in the woman’s giant slalom and leads the giant slalom standings as she prepares for the World Cup […]
A Virginia bill that would have made emergency contraceptives available over-the-counter failed in committee this week. Although the bill had widespread support in both houses, lawmakers could not reach a compromise on a clause that would have required minors to obtain parental consent before receiving the pills. The bill’s chief sponsor, Delegate Viola Baskerville (D) […]
In new twist to the growing controversy over President Bush’s interference with the health care of women in other nations, the European Union and member states indicate that they may step in and substitute for the cuts in U.S. family planning aid. President George W. Bush re-imposed the so-called global gag rule January 22 banning […]
Family planning advocates in the United States and overseas applauded the Europeans’ decision. The European position “will send out a clear moral message to the whole world that certain governments feel strongly about the vast unmet sexual and reproductive health needs in the world,” said Hannah Pandian, spokesperson for the London-based International Planned Parenthood Federation, […]
Most family planning organizations try to reduce the number of abortions by offering contraception. So, in cutting funds to organizations that provide or promote abortion services, advocates argue, Bush’s decision in fact cuts family planning funds for the other reproductive health services offered by these organizations. “If we cannot provide as much family planning as […]
Hundreds of people gathered at a sports stadium in Afghanistan to witness the public hanging of two Afghan women convicted of prostitution by the Taliban. BBC correspondents say that, although public execution has become common under the Taliban, it is rare for women to be executed in this manner. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Afghans […]
New technology that identifies gene activity inside tumor cells can determine what type of breast cancer a woman has, enabling doctors to choose more appropriate and effective treatments, says the National Human Genome Research Institute. The new method, called gene expression profiling, uses computers and fluorescent labels on tumor DNA to reveal whether a woman […]
In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court limited the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), highlighting the danger of President Bush’s Supreme Court nominations, expected this summer. The Court ruled that state employees who have suffered job discrimination based on disability cannot sue for monetary damages under the ADA, citing the case as an issue […]
