Claiming that Kansas is becoming known as the “abortion capital of the world”, state lawmakers have proposed a bill that would ban the so-called “partial birth” abortion procedure. This follows two well-publicized cases of minors who traveled to Kansas to undergo late term abortions, the most recent being a 14 year-old ward of the state […]
Pennsylvania’s Abortion Control Act is facing a possible revision, as Attorney General Mike Fisher (R) is peddling legislation he drafted that would prevent public school officials from “arranging, facilitating, or counseling an abortion”. The drafted legislation would, however, “allow school officials to advise against an abortion. The proposal comes on the heels of a lawsuit […]
Women seeking the ThinPrep Pap test won a major battle Thursday as Aetna Inc., the nation’s largest health insurer, agreed to cover Cytic Corp.’s ThinPrep. Although the federal government deemed the test 65% more effective than the traditional pap test, Cytic had struggled to gain acceptance from insurers, mainly because of cost. Although top Aetna […]
Three Arkansas men who allegedly kicked a pregnant woman in the stomach, killing her nine month fetus, are the first to be charged with first degree battery and capital murder under the state’s new Fetal protection Law. The murder charges mark the first test of the new law which was enacted last spring. Under the […]
After recently receiving a Health Ministry license, a hospital in Tel Aviv, Israel has completed at least 10 legal outpatient abortions using mifepristone, the non-surgical early abortion method, also known as RU-486. The pill’s licensing process was described as “trouble free,” despite some feminists’ concerns that the Shas-controlled Health Ministry might have opposed the pill’s […]
The NCAA reported yesterday that graduation rates for all Division I women’s basketball players declined for the second straight year, according to the recently released 1999 NCAA Graduation Rates Report. NCAA President Cedric Dempsey called the drop “distressing,” and added, “We don’t know what the causes for the decline are, but its certainly an area […]
On Monday, a federal judge in Rhode Island struck down the state’s two-year-old ban on late-term abortions, saying the law is unconstitutional. U.S. District Court Chief Judge Ronald R. Lagueux said the law is unconstitutional because it is vague and could be interpreted to cover other abortions, because it does not make an exception for […]
A 14-year-old British student has threatened to sue her school if they refuse to allow her to wear pants. The Wickam Comprehensive School in Gateshead currently requires female students to wear skirts, and Britain’s governtment-funded Equal Opportunities Commission recently said it will represent in court if necessary — student Jo Hale in her battle to […]
A report issued by the Progressive Women’s Association (PWA) reveals that about 300 Pakistani women are burned to death each year by their husbands or their husbands’ families, and the violence is increasing. According to PWA co-coordinator Shahnaz Bukhari, domestic violence is rampant in Pakistan. “Every second, a Pakistani woman is the victim or a […]
Organizers of the Next Millenium Conference opened the four-day domestic violence awareness event yesterday with a videotaped address by First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, who declared, “Citizens and governments around the world will recognize that domestic violence is not a custom; it is a crime.” More than 2,000 domestic violence experts, survivors, and advocates assembled […]
The United Nations Subcommission on Human Rights ruled Thursday that international law mandates the Japanese government to take responsibility for crimes committed by its soldiers during WWII. The Japanese military lured and/or abducted as many as 200,000 young and poor women from Korea, China, Indonesia, and the Philippines during WWII for the purpose of sexually […]
A government-led study of the emotional well-being of Iranian women in the conservative holy Iranian city of Qom and the more liberal capital of Tehran revealed that social and cultural restrictions on women may cause widespread depression. While all Iranian women are subject to numerous social and cultural restrictions, the enforcement of these mandates is […]
U.N. Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women Radhika Coomaraswamy will travel to Afghanistan next month to evaluate the condition of women there under the repressive Taliban regime. Coomaraswamy will meet with Afghan women refugees in Pakistan and travel to the Afghan cities of Kabul, Bamiyan, Herat and Faizabad. Stops in Pakistan will include Islamabad, Peshawar, […]
The conservative Southeastern Legal Foundation filed suit against the city of Atlanta yesterday, charging that a city policy which has set aside one-third of city contracts for minority and women-owned businesses is “illegal and unconstitutional.” The policy, which has been in effect for the past 24 years, is a successful program that has been emulated […]
Organon, Inc. has developed a new electronic “reminder card” for women taking oral contraceptives. The small plastic device resembles a credit card and is intended to remind women to take their daily pills. Beginning on the first day of their monthly regimens, women are instructed to activate their reminder cards by pushing a button. Once […]
The United Nations refugee agency reported today that as many as 160,000 Afghans have fled their homes due to fighting between the fundamentalist Islamic Taliban regime and its northern opposition. Kris Janowski, spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said that approximately 150 people arrive in the capital city of Kabul each day, […]
Australian start-up company Acrux Ltd. has developed a new method of administering hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Acrux creators say the new method, which uses a spray similar to an asthma inhaler, would eliminate the need for patches, which are expensive and can cause skin irritations, or pills, which can induce nausea. “The quest has long […]
American Home Products Corp., maker of the Norplant contraceptive, has agreed to settle numerous lawsuits filed on behalf of more than 36,000 women. The lawsuits argued that American Home Products Corp. failed to adequately inform consumers about the contraceptive side effects. Norplant prevents pregnancy for a period of approximately five years and consists of hormones […]
Representative Steve May (R-Phoenix), has never denied being gay in his adult life, but has long made it a policy to discuss his sexuality only when asked. However, when Representative Karen Johnson (R-Mesa), characterized gays and lesbians as disease-carrying threats to moral society this past February, he could not hold back his indignation. Johnson had […]
The Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association (COBA), a union representing New York City correction officers, filed a Federal lawsuit against the city’s Department of Corrections over a department mandate that requires female officers to wear pants and not skirts. Corrections officers defended their policy, arguing that skirts prevent officers from running as quickly as they could […]
