The July 1999 fatal beating of Pfc. Barry Winchell by a fellow soldier has prompted an investigation of anti-gay harassment at various Army posts by top investigator Lt. Gen. Michael Ackerman. Winchell was beaten to death with a baseball bat at Kentucky’s Fort Campbell. His roommate Justin R. Fisher was sentenced to 12 1/2 years […]
The 1994 Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was a significant feminist victory, allowing women to sue for monetary damages in federal civil court, including medical expenses and lost wages. VAWA also includes provisions to fund battered-women’s shelters and domestic-abuse hot lines. Tomorrow, January 11, the Supreme Court will hear Brzonkala v. Morrison, a case involving […]
President Clinton proposed a $35 million increase in family-planning spending in the United States. The funds would be shared among 4,600 clinics nationwide, and would provide for “the full range of reproductive health services.” The proposed increase, according to Administration officials, is intended to prevent unwanted pregnancies among teens, poor women, and women with limited […]
According to Commander Gwen Elliot, the Pittsburgh Police Force, one of the most diverse law enforcement teams in the United States, is changing as a result of a 1991 decision striking down an affirmative action program that took effect in 1976. Before the program took effect, no women in blue served Pittsburgh, but now one […]
The Center for Disease Control’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report today revealed a 3.0% decrease from 1996 in the number of legal induced abortions, the lowest in 20 years. MMWR also shows that 20% of women obtaining abortions in 1997 were under age 19, and 13% were between the ages of 20 and 24. Most […]
A recent study of women and children leaving welfare rolls reveals that obtaining a job can mean losing health insurance. According to the study, about one-third of women formerly on welfare who are now employed have no insurance coverage. The study, to be published Monday in Health Affairs, is sponsored by the Health Policy Center […]
In the wake of much protest, Circuit Court Judge Durke G. Thompson removed himself today from further involvement in a recent sex-offender case. The case involved Vladimir Chacon-Bonilla, who was convicted on Tuesday of molesting an 11-year-old MD girl, who reported to police that she met him in an Internet chat room and had sex […]
The overwhelming trend in American public opinion reveals that we have more allies than foes in our struggle for basic equal rights, says Urvashi Vaid, Policy Institute Director for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF). NGLTF’s recent report, entitled From Wrongs to Rights 1973-1999: Public Opinion on Gay and Lesbian Americans Moves Toward […]
Catalyst, which works to advance women in business, recently released its annual Census of Women Board Directors of the Fortune 1000. For the first time, this census covered the entire Fortune 1000, and revealed a significant gap between the two tiers of these powerful companies in the number of women represented on their Boards of […]
After the NAACP threatened to boycott NBC for its lack of representation of black and other minority characters on this season’s line-up, Bob Wright, the network’s president, announced an agreement yesterday that will generate more jobs for minorities both on screen and behind the camera. The agreement will establish internships and scholarship programs for minority […]
Two recent studies from the Journal of the American Medical Association suggest that an existing test for human papillomavirus (HPV) could replace the Pap smear as a cancer screen in women over the age of 35. The authors of a study conducted in South Africa noted that over half of the U.S.’s cervical cancer patients […]
With hospital mergers on the rise, women will suffer the loss of services from abortion to tubal ligation to birth control. Today’s Kaiser Daily Health Report discusses the issue in conjunction with the recent purchase of the former South Valley Hospital in Gilroy CA by Catholic Healthcare West, which now operates 46 hospitals in the […]
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s Capital Gains and Losses: A State By State Review of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and HIV/AIDS Related Legislation in 1999 suggests a positive shift in attitudes in state legislatures toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights. NGLTF Executive Director Kerry Lobel celebrates this change as an indication of […]
The January 3 murder of Charles County, MD, resident Janice Lancaster leaves questions as to how well the law serves victims of domestic violence. Lancaster’s husband shot her in front of her two children, after months of harassment, beatings, and death threats, despite the fact that a warrant for his arrest had been signed by […]
Yesterday, several abortion clinics around the US received letters threatening to contain anthrax, a potentially fatal infectious disease that can affect people. One of the targeted clinics was the New Woman All Women Health Care Clinic in Birmingham, AL, the same clinic that was bombed in January, 1998. Suspected bomber Eric Rudolph has been charged […]
The Gun Owners Action League (GOAL) began a campaign of radio ads aimed at women to promote their cause to loosen gun regulations. GOAL is targeting women as well as legislators responsible for the toughest gun control measures in the country. GOAL executive director Michael Yacino said gun control measures are especially harmful to women, […]
According to the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) 1998-1999 survey, over 2.6 million girls participated in high school athletics compared with 3.8 million boys. The NFHS began keeping records in 1971, when fewer than 300,000 girls participated in high school athletics and 3.6 million boys competed. The NFHS surveys reveal an increase […]
A federal judge in Texas has blocked the 1999 amendments to the Abortion Facility Reporting and Licensing Act, which required doctors to become licensed by the state as abortion clinics if they performed more than 300 abortions per year in their office. The law went into effect on September 1, 1999 and would have increased […]
The Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) issued a New Year’s message commemorating the sixth anniversary of their armed rebellion against the Mexican government. The battle in 1994 lasted 10 days and nearly 150 people were killed, but Zapatistas gained worldwide attention for their pro-democracy cause. The Zapatista movement continues to struggle to enhance the representation […]
A study released today in Nature magazine found that women are infected by the HIV virus differently than men. Most women in the study were infected by multiple variants of the HIV virus while every man in the study was infected by just one variant. Based on the study’s findings, Dr. Julie Overbaugh, who headed […]
