Women’s rights advocates in Kuwait may potentially experience a historic advancement in gender equality. Objecting to the government’s 1962 election law that forbids women’s right to vote, Mr. Adnan Al-Isa, filed a lawsuit against his local polling office for its refusal to allow five women to vote. For the second time in history, such a […]
Ciudad Juarez in Mexico, just across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas, has experienced immense growth in the last 10 years, but it has also become the site of the brutal raping and killing of over 200 young women and girls, as young as 12 years old-all workers in the city’s maquiladoras, mostly U.S. […]
The California-based organization Children Requiring A Caring Kommunity (CRACK) announced its plans to operate in the Washington, D.C. area. The highly controversial program offers $200 cash to drug-addicts who will seek “long-term birth control.” Options include Norplant and the Intra-uterine device, although CRACK reports that half of the addicts who have claimed their $200 have […]
New York Republican Senate candidate Rick Lazio accused Hilary Rodham Clinton of using her political influence to initiate and expose a Securities and Exchange Commission probe of a 1997 securities deal from which he profited. Executives from Quick and Reilly, the brokerage firm involved, were some of Lazio’s congressional campaign contributors. Lazio, says the Washington […]
Scientists are testing a new vaccine that will aid in preventing the development of cervical cancer in women. Caused by the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), cervical cancer annually infects more than half a million women globally, 200,000 of whom do not survive. It is the second largest cancer killer among women. Dr. Daron Ferris, who […]
Hillary Rodham Clinton’s New York senatorial campaign unleashed two new television spots that attacked her opponent Rep. Rick Lazio (R-N.Y.) for his stance on abortion. Lazio opposes Medicaid-funded abortions for low-income women. In both 30-second ads former New York City Mayor Ed Koch speaks out against Lazio’s position on abortion. “He’s not really pro-choice because […]
Ending a 12-year decline, incidences of gonorrhea rose nine percent in 1998. Although a single digit rise may seem insignificant, prior to 1998 the rate had fallen 64 percent between 1985 and 1997. Why the sudden rise in cases? Speculation points to an increase in complacency leading to a rise in unprotected sex. “There does […]
More than two-thirds of respondents polled in the Los Angeles Times poll, released earlier this week, believe the decision to obtain an abortion should be left between a woman and her doctor. The same nationwide poll told us that more than half of Americans are unclear on both presidential candidates’ stances on abortion. Today, the […]
The LA Times joined other major newspapers in urging immediate FDA approval of mifepristone without unnecessary restrictions. Criticizing the FDA’s consideration of restrictions that would limit availability of mifepristone as a method of early abortion, the LA Times editorial urges “Science should govern the FDA’s decisions on RU 486. There should be no more waffling.” […]
Republican Tom Coburn (R-OK) is expected to propose an amendment to the 2001 Agriculture Appropriations bill that will prohibit the FDA from approving drugs that induce abortion, which could adversely affect the mifepristone approval process. The Coburn amendment, if passed, will prohibit the FDA from using government funds to test, develop or approve any drug […]
Dr. Lucy H. Spelman was recently named director of the National Zoo, making her the first woman and youngest person to hold the prestigious job. As director, Spelman joins the ranks of only a handful of women in the United States to head major zoos. Having previously served as chief veterinarian at the National Zoo, […]
The Senate decided in a 57-42 vote to expand federal legislation against hate crimes to include violence based on gender, sexual orientation, and disabilities. The original law, passed in 1968, only covers crimes involving race, color, religion, or national origin. The proposal, sponsored by Senators Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Gordon H. Smith (R-Ore.), drops […]
The Senate rejected an amendment that would have lifted a ban prohibiting military women stationed abroad from obtaining abortions in military hospitals, even if the women pay for the procedures themselves. The proposal, offered by Senators Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), was defeated in a 50-49 vote. The ban puts the health of […]
The anti-choice group Christian Defense Coalition sued the US Supreme Court yesterday, claiming that the court violated the First Amendment by banning large signs from the sidewalks outside the court. Twenty-two anti-choice demonstrators were arrested on April 25, when the Court was hearing arguments on Nebraska’s so called “partial birth abortion” ban. The protesters refused […]
Senate candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton has shifted the strategy of her campaign to emphasize her argument that Rep. Rick Lazio is too conservative for New York. In a recent speech to the New York State Broadcasters Association, Clinton cited her strong advocacy of abortion rights and gun licensing laws, stating that even Giuliani agreed with […]
Remember a couple years ago, when the Southern Baptist Convention issued a statement telling women they should “submit graciously” to their husbands? Well, they’re at it again. In a decision that smacks of the same misogyny, the Southern Baptist Convention declared that women should no longer be ordained as pastors of the nation’s largest Protestant […]
In what could be the first major class-action discrimination suit for the telecommunications industry, 302 current and former employees of Nextel Communications Inc. will file complaints of racial and sexual discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over the next few weeks. Lawyers for the employees will seek permission to file lawsuits against Nextel in […]
The Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI) recently released a study on adolescent males’ attitudes toward abortion, reporting a decrease in approval for the procedure, especially among whites. The report analyzes two surveys of 3,590 males aged 15-19 conducted in 1988 and 1995. In 1988, 40.4% of teenaged males disapproved strongly of women having elective abortions; in […]
The Supreme Court today ruled against student-led prayers at high school football games, reaffirming earlier decisions against “officially sponsored prayer in public schools.” The decision declared unconstitutional a Santa Fe public school district’s policy to elect students to lead prayer before home high school football games. The 6-3 majority opinion was written by Justice John […]
A nationwide poll conducted by the Los Angeles Times reports that more than two-thirds of respondents believe the decision to obtain an abortion should be left between a woman and her doctor and participants generally opposed a constitutional ban on abortion. Although the two Presidential candidates have completely opposing views on abortion with Gore supporting […]
