A total of eight abortion clinics received letters on Friday and Saturday containing a brown powdery substance with a note claiming that the contents were anthrax, a deadly bacteria used in biological weapons. The threats, which were confirmed to be a hoax, came one week after the murder of abortion provider Dr. Barnett Slepian of […]
Iran Forces Sex Segregation at Hospitals
Iran’s parliament passed an amendment that is the first of several planned measures designed to force segregatation of men and women at the country’s hospitals. The conservative parliament passed an amendment that will guarantee funding for a controversial law that would force public and private hospitals and other health organizations, including pharmacies, to segregate men […]
Tough Questions Surround Breast Cancer Prevention Drug
The drug tamoxifen, long used to treat breast cancer patients, can now be used as a prevention method for breast cancer, the government announced Thursday. Tamoxifen helps women at very high risk of developing breast cancer to reduce their chances of developing a tumor. “For the right patient. . .this represents a very good option,” […]
Human Rights Watch Implicates Taliban in Mass Killings
Human Rights Watch released a report Saturday documenting a massacre by the Taliban that occurred in Mazar-i Sharif in northern Afghanistan on August 8, 1998. The Taliban targeted a minority ethnic group, the Hazaras, who practice a form of Muslim different from the Taliban. The Taliban actions in Mazar-i Sharif demonstrate a calculated and purposeful […]
Abortion Rights Leaders Discuss Anti-Abortion Violence With Reno
Attorney General Janet Reno met with abortion rights leaders Wednesday following a memorial service for Dr. Barnett Slepian held outside the nation’s Capitol. Close to 20 representatives from clinics, women’s groups, and abortion rights groups met with Reno to discuss the ongoing violence against clinics and doctors that provide abortion services to women. The meeting […]
Newsletter Seeks to Close Gender Gap in Financial Education
Wominvest Publishing has launched its first issue of Purse Strings, a newsletter created to provide investment information to women. “While times are changing, women still lag men in investment skills and confidence,” said Purse Strings publisher Anita Saville. “Because they earn less on average than men do, women tend to save less and invest more […]
Retirement Security Proposals to Benefit Women
President Clinton and Vice President Gore have announced two proposals to improve women’s financial security after retirement. The first proposal would guarantee that time taken off from work under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) would be counted in retirement plan vesting requirements. Unpaid employee leave under FMLA can be up to 12 weeks […]
First Heart Attacks Especially Deadly for Women
Women suffer fewer heart attacks than men, researchers report, but are more likely to die from a first heart attack than are men. Spanish researchers led by Juame Marrugat of Barcelona’s Institut Municipal d’Investigacio Medica studied 1,460 women and men and found that women had a 70 percent greater chance of dying within a month […]
GYN Clinic Stays Open
The GYN Womenservices clinic, where Dr. Barnett Slepian worked before being shot by a sniper last Friday, will remain open and will continue to provide a broad range of health services including abortion. Doctors throughout the country have volunteered to take over Dr. Slepian’s work at the Buffalo clinic. One such doctor is being flown […]
U.S., Mexican Labor Officials Discuss Sex Discrimination
Labor laws regarding working women in the United States and Mexico will be analyzed by U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexis M. Herman and Mexican Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare Josi Antonio Gonzalez Fernandez through ministerial consultations. “My discussions with Secretary Gonzalez were very constructive,” said Herman. “I am pleased that we share a commitment […]
Gay, Lesbian Church Files Suit Against TV Station
The largest gay and lesbian church in the U.S. filed suit Tuesday against a Chicago television station after the station agreed to televise an infomercial produced by the church and then later withdrew its offer. The church believes WGN-TV in Chicago reneged on their agreement to air the infomercial “based on their views that this […]
Ladies Home Journal Lists Best Large Cities for Women
A Ladies’ Home Journal 1998 survey named Ann Arbor, Michigan; Madison, Wisconsin; Scottsdale, Arizona; Irvine, CA; Lakewood, Colorado; Virginia Beach, VA; Thousand Oaks, CA; Lexington-Fayette, Kentucky; Minneapolis, MN; and Burlington, VT as the best large cities for women in the United States. Two hundred cities in all were ranked, with cities in West and Midwest […]
National Memorial Service to Honor Dr. Slepian
National pro-choice organizations, women’s rights organizations, and religious leaders will come together Wednesday to remember the death of Dr. Barnett Slepian and to issue a national call to action to stop the continued violence against abortion providers. A memorial service will be held on the west steps of the U.S. Capitol building at noon on […]
Hundreds of Former Patients, Friends and Family Attend Slain Doctor’s Funeral
The funeral for Dr. Barnett Slepian drew hundreds of former patients as well as colleagues and relatives Monday. Heavy police presence was clearly felt. “Dr. Slepian took care of all the women in my family,” Marsha Sperduti, a patient and friend of Dr. Slepian said. “Thank God I’m not having any more children because I […]
Henney Gets Final Confirmation to Head FDA
The Senate made a final decision to confirm Dr. Jane Henney as the new Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last Wednesday. She is the first woman to head the organization. “As I have made clear in prior statements, my priority as commissioner will be to implement the FDA Modernization Act and to […]
Depression Increases Elderly Women’s Mortality Rate
Older women who are depressed face an increased risk of death, according to a study conducted by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco. “Treatment for depression may not only enhance quality of life but also reduce mortality among women with depressive symptoms,” wrote Drs. Mary Whooley and Warren Browner in the report, published […]
National Memorial Service to Honor Dr. Slepian
National pro-choice organizations, women’s rights organizations, and religious leaders will come together Wednesday to remember the death of Dr. Barnett Slepian and to issue a national call to action to stop the continued violence against abortion providers. A memorial service will be held on the west steps of the U.S. Capitol building at noon on […]
Nurse Condemns Clinic Violence In Commercial
Nurse Condemns Clinic Violence in Commercial Registered Nurse Emily Lyons was walking into the New Woman, All Women Health Care Clinic last January when a bomb exploded in her face. The bomb, believed to be set by fugitive Eric Robert Rudolph, severely injured Lyons and killed security officer Robert Sanderson. In an effort to protect […]
Rise in Number of Health Clinics That Lack Birth Control
The nation is gaining more and more health clinics, many of which do not dispense birth control. The number of clinics has almost doubled in the last four years according to Making the Grade, a national program that provides guidance to clinics. Based off results from the group’s survey, new clinics are appearing at a […]
Professor Wants Women to Emphasize Body Function Over Body Image
A recent study by Colorado College psychology professor Tomi-Ann Roberts took a new approach to examining women’s body image. Roberts had female and male university students wear either swimsuits or sweaters while taking tests and compared the results. Women wearing swimsuits reported feeling disgusted, ashamed or disgraced by having to wear the swimsuit, and their […]