A new study showing that in the last four years one million adults with children have lost their Medicaid coverage means that there are approximately 700,000 mothers who now must live without proper health insurance. The changes occurred as a result of the 1996 welfare overhaul that left states responsible for implementation and development of […]
Investigators now say the reported number of women who were robbed, stripped or groped in last weekend’s annual Puerto Rican Day parade has risen from 6 to 50, with victims ranging in age from 14 to 40 years old. Police have arrested 16 men on charges of sexual abuse, robbery, and assault and are seeking […]
In an attempt to prevent disagreement within the Republican Party, the Bush campaign has decided to eliminate abortion from the agenda for party platform hearings. Abortion will not be discussed at the two policy forums held in advance of writing the platform, and the Bush campaign has told the GOP platform committee that abortion will […]
The House recently appropriated $50 million in funding for abstinence-only education programs through the Maternal and Child Health Block Grant. This recent funding, which came under the Labor, HHS and Education appropriations bill, will bring the total funding for abstinence-only education to almost $125 million (National Abortion Rights Action League, 6/14). Advocates of abortion rights […]
The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights concluded today that the New York Police Department improperly uses racial profiling and that blacks and Hispanics have been stopped and questioned far out of proportion to their representation in a given community. While many cities have adopted community policing practices which minimize racial tensions, the commission found that […]
Portland Community College conducted a reproductive rights information booth at the school’s resource and information fair. The Leadership Alliance’s booth provided information on reproductive rights nationally, as well as materials about abortion, contraception, and RU486.
Mexico’s ruling party and conservative opposition candidates—locked in a virtual tie in the run up to Sunday’s presidential election—are lavishing unprecedented attention on women voters. Francisco Labastida, candidate for the ruling Revolutionary Institutional Party (PRI), and his opponent Vicente Fox, of the family-values oriented National Action Party (PAN), each have about 40 percent of the […]
The Southern Baptist Convention declared yesterday in its revised Faith and Message Statement that women should not serve as pastors in their congregation. The Convention’s passage of the statement follows a recent trend toward the far right amongst conservatives in the Southern Baptist Church, which also opposes abortion and homosexuality. Within the past five years, […]
The 2000 Summer Olympics, scheduled to take place in Sydney, Australia, will include the highest number of women participating in Olympic sports to date. According to Olympic organizers, approximately 3, 952 women will compete this summer, or 38% of the total number of athletes—up from 34% in the Atlanta summer games of 1996. The Australian […]
The Coca-Cola Co. agreed yesterday to settle a pending racial discrimination lawsuit just as four other former employees filed a new $1.5 billion suit. The settlement could affect as many as 2,000 Coke employees who plaintiffs had identified to include in the suit. The new suit, filed on behalf of four black former employees not […]
Last night Oxygen Network hosted the very first “Oxygen Women’s Forum” – a 90-minute special with Vice-President Al Gore. The special aired live on Oxygen’s cable television network, C-SPAN and New Jersey Public Television, and was both provocative and entertaining. Facilitated by “Pure Oxygen” co-hosts, 150 Trenton, New Jersey women, and on-line participants at Oxygen.com, […]
Atlanta’s public transit agency MARTA recently refused to post paid advertising from the National Abortion Federation (NAF). The advertisements provided information about a hotline for abortion information and referrals, and were rejected by MARTA officials who cited their policy of “avoiding ads for controversial subjects.” However, U.S. District Judge Charles Pannell ruled last week that […]
Seven women were attacked by a rowdy group of 15 to 20 men in New York’s Central Park this Sunday evening, in the midst of a crowd gathered to watch a parade and enjoy the summer weather. In a confusing period of about 30 minutes, the men targeted women, surrounding at least seven individuals in […]
First Austria’s new, ultraright-wing government took aim at immigrants; then it moved on to women. Barely a day after officials of the new coalition government took office last February, they slashed the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and sent the country’s women’s groups scrambling. The ministry, which funded approximately 180 organizations and served as a clearinghouse […]
Republicans are attempting to strip the Sen. Charles Schumer’s (D-NY) proposed Bankruptcy Reform Act amendment preventing abortion protesters convicted of crimes from filing bankruptcy to evade fines. Schumer introduced the bill as a result of an alarming trend of anti-abortion extremists filing for bankruptcy after being assessed with clinic-related court judgments. The amendment would strengthen […]
Trustees at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, the nation’s oldest preparatory school, voted last week to welcome gay and lesbian couples as dormitory advisors in the family-like atmosphere of the dorms, where faculty members live alongside students, acting as role models, academic advisors, and emotional supporters. Exeter’s decision mirrors that of Phillips Andover Academy […]
While pleased that the United Nations Beijing Plus Five Conference in New York ended with 180 nations reaching consensus on a document that reaffirmed the platform approved at the 1995 Fourth World Conference, feminist organizations, including the Center for Women’s Global Leadership (CWGL) at Rutgers University, the Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO), and Feminist […]
This week, openly gay Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) hosted a gay pride celebration at the CIA’s Langley headquarters. Frank addressed approximately 100 intelligence workers and busloads of openly gay National Security Agency employees saying that the Gay and Lesbian Pride Month at the CIA is a “sign of real progress.” The agency has a long […]
In a blow to Clinton’s health care reform plan, the “patients’ bill of rights” was defeated by a vote of 51-48 in the Senate yesterday. The bill, which passed in the House last year, included important protections for women’s health. The bill would have allowed women in HMO’s to designate an OB/GYN as their primary […]
10,000 activists from around the globe are meeting at the United Nations this week to review the world’s progress toward women’s equality since the Beijing conference in the 1995. Five years since Beijing, U.N. officials believe that half of the world’s female population endures some type of domestic abuse, and the U.N. estimates that more […]
