At the senate judiciary committee meeting today, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) made a dramatic and well-documented statement outlining her reasons for opposing the appointment of John Aschcroft as U.S. Attorney General. Feinstein called Ashcroft’s record “ultra-right wing,” and stated that his “commitment to enforce the law in view of the extremeness of his record, as […]
From California to New York, Feminist Majority Leadership Alliances and pro-choice community activists are gearing up for One Million Voices, the Feminist Majority Foundation’s week of reproductive rights activism to commemorate the 29th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in 1973. On January 22nd, the anniversary of […]
The UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA Leadership Alliance will conduct a Burma Shave using slogans like “Save Roe vs. Wade” and “Protect Choice.” The group also plans to hold a pro-choice film festival featuring “If These Walls Could Talk” and FMF’s “Never Go Back” video. The CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY Leadership Alliance is planning a pro-choice march […]
Last Thursday, the UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO Leadership Alliance organized a panel discussion with a diverse set of speakers who discussed their perspectives on feminism. The event was co-sponsored by several organizations, including the Samahan Filipino Student Organization, Women and Youth Supporting Each Other (WYSE), Delta Gamma, Queers and Associates (Q&A), and the SSA Feminist Student […]
Yesterday, the US Supreme Court announced that it would not hear an appeal in the case against Ameritech phone company, accused of discriminating against pregnant workers. Ameritech denied job seniority to women workers who took pregnancy leave during the 1960s and 70s, resulting in women earning less retirement benefits today, despite the 1979 Pregnancy Discrimination […]
Anti-abortion protestors celebrated the presidency of George W. Bush — without Bush — at their annual march protesting the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision making abortion legal. In a statement read by anti-abortion leader Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ), Bush said “The promises of our Declaration of Independence are not just for the strong, the […]
United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Kofi Annan has expressed his deep concerns after hearing of “reports that civilians were deliberately targeted and killed during recent fighting in the Yakawlang area of Hazarajat in central Afghanistan.” The United Nations has said that 100 people were killed and one UN Afghan staff person missing after Taliban forces recaptured […]
On January 19, in oil-rich Nigeria, the most populous country on the continent of Africa, an Islamic Court in the north carried out a “Sharia” sentence of 100 lashes with a cane on 13-year old Bariya Ibrahim Magazu on charges of premarital sex (zina) and making “false” charges against the three men she claimed raped […]
President Bush’s anti-woman, anti-abortion position is clear this morning, as he announces his decision to block US funding for international groups that provide women around the world with family planning information, counseling and abortion services. Ronald Reagan first issued this order, known as the Mexico City policy, in 1984. President Clinton reversed the Mexico City […]
Today is the 28th Anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal in all 50 states. Despite 28 years of safe and legal abortion access, today a woman’s right to choose is more vulnerable than ever. The threat comes with the inauguration of an anti-choice President, a majority of both […]
Brooke Shields and Tony Award winner Cherry Jones will portray a lesbian couple in the true story about a woman who must fight her deceased partner’s parents for custody of the couple’s child. “What Makes a Family” airs Monday night on Lifetime at 9 p.m. (EST) and is sponsored by the Feminist Majority Foundation, Gay […]
Secretary Designate Tommy Thompson’s anti-abortion/anti-women’s rights ideology came through loud and clear in his confirmation hearing before the Senate Heal, Education, Labor and Pension Committee. In the final question directed to Thompson, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) asked him whether he would “take any action to undo the FDA approval” of RU-486. In his response, […]
At Wednesday’s Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing on Secretary of State-Designate Colin Powell, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) asked Powell whether he would continue to make the restoration of the human rights of Afghan women and girls a policy priority. Powell condemned the Taliban’s treatment of women and girls as “atrocious, bordering on barbaric” and pledged […]
During Wednesday’s Senate confirmation hearings on Sen. John Ashcroft’s nomination as Attorney General, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) and Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) voiced strong doubt that Ashcroft’s new promises to defend women’s rights, abortion rights, civil rights and gay rights can be trusted. “I have listened carefully to Senator John […]
WASHINGTON (WOMENSENEWS—The nation’s highest court was asked Tuesday, January 9, to overturn one of the last remaining federal laws that makes a distinction solely on the basis of gender: citizenship provisions for foreign-born children of American citizens. And, as in many of the equal rights cases that have been struck down by the U.S. Supreme […]
Kuwait’s Constitutional Court, the highest court in the nation, dismissed a case seeking to grant women the right to vote and to run for office. Judge Abdullah Issa, president of the Constitutional Court, stated that women’s “rights are denied” under the current law until the legislature amends it.
The Senate confirmation hearing in John Ashcroft’s bid for Attorney General continues today, with protestors again crowded outside the Russell Senate building, opposing the nomination of this anti-choice, anti-woman, anti-civil rights politician. At yesterday’s hearing, Ashcroft faced a barrage of questions from Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) regarding Ashcroft’s poor record on civil rights. Today, Senator […]
Yesterday, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit struck down a federal affirmative action measure designed to increase job opportunities for women and minorities in the broadcasting industry. The case highlights the importance of federal judicial appointments as the Senate confirmation hearing for Attorney General nominee John Ashcroft continues. A three-judge […]
On January 12, a Nebraska Judge dealt a blow to Dr. LeRoy Carhart in the case over Carhart’s eviction. Carhart, the abortion provider who successfully challenged Nebraska’s abortion procedure ban in Stenberg v. Carhart, sued the business partnership that bought the building where his abortion practice was located after they filed to evict him last […]
The Women’s Alliance for Peace and Human Rights in Afghanistan (WAPHA) has made an international appeal for help and humanitarian aid for Afghan refugees who have fled the brutal Taliban regime and the region’s worst drought. According to reports from the UN and the World Food Program, the drought in Afghanistan has left one million […]
