Yesterday, Boston Public Schools announced that they will invest $100,000 to begin a test pilot program that will provide free menstrual products to students in the 6th to 12th grades. The menstrual supplies will be available in the offices of school nurses and selected teachers as a part of the school district’s initiative to ensure […]
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Supreme Court Upholds Virginia Redistricting
On Monday, June 17th, the Supreme Court decided to uphold district re-drawings in spite of republican’s challenge to reverse racially gerrymandered districts. Written by Justice Ginsburg, majority 5-4 decision states Virginia preferred to “stop than fight on,” illuminating that they are ready for an election with these already redrawn districts. These districts were originally drawn […]
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Emphasizes the Inclusion of Women in Peace and Security Talks
Last Thursday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing to discuss the importance of women in building a long lasting peace in post-conflict societies, emphasizing women’s role in peace efforts and calling for the inclusion of women in its efforts of conflict resolution overseas. The committee created a goal to ensure that Afghan women […]
Swiss Women Protest Gender Inequality
On Friday, thousands of women took to the streets of Switzerland to protest gender disparities both at home and in the workplace. The protestors marched through some of Switzerland’s largest and most populous cities including Geneva, Zurich, and Bern, as well as smaller towns throughout the country. A large group of demonstrators amassed outside of […]
New York City Announces $250,000 of Funding towards Abortion Services
On Friday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Corey Johnson announced a budget deal for the next fiscal year that would allocate $250,000 to fund reproductive care for those seeking abortions. The money will go to the New York Abortion Access Fund (NYAAF), an organization that works to make abortion […]
More Women are becoming Sharia Judges in India
Women are now being trained as “qazis,” or Islamic judges who rule over marriage, divorce, and other relationship issues in India, allowing Indian brides to find justice within the Muslim community. The female qazis, unlike male qazis, listen to both individuals that are involved in the relationship and provide women information regarding their legal rights. […]
D.C. Appeals Court Blocks Policy that Prevents Undocumented Minors from Seeking Abortions
Today, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals blocked a Trump administration policy barring undocumented minors held in federal custody from obtaining an abortion. In their opinion, the Circuit Court judges wrote that “a person has a constitutional right to terminate her pregnancy” and “the government accepts the applicability of that settled framework to unaccompanied alien […]
Elizabeth Lederer Resigns from Columbia Law Following Release of “When They See Us”
On Wednesday evening Elizabeth Lederer, a Columbia law professor known for her involvement as a prosecutor in the Central Park Five case, resigned from her position on Columbia’s faculty, citing the resurgence of publicity surrounding the case due to the Netflix limited series “When They See Us,” which portrayed Lederer as an aggressive prosecutor who […]
US Embassies fly Pride Flag Despite Denial from Trump Administration
Monday, Mike Pence came out in support of the Trump administration’s decision to repudiate U.S. embassies’ for flying the pride flag, making nationalist claims that only one flag can fly, after U.S Embassies in Vienna, India, and South Korea all flew the pride in celebration of the LGBTQ community, despite previous denial from Trump Administration, […]
Vatican Issues New Attacks on the Trans Community
This Monday, the Vatican released an attack on the LGBTQ+ community after they issued an official document from the Congregation for Catholic Education that rejected the idea of gender fluidity and gender identity, furthering the harmful and scientifically inaccurate understandings of gender. The document is intended to be used as guide for sex education for […]
More than Four Million Flee Venezuela Amidst Economic and Political Crisis
Venezuela’s downward spiral into chaos and the collapsing economy coupled with high levels of violent crime forces more than four million people to leave the country as accused illegitimate president, Nicolas Maduro, moves to crush political opposition. The crisis means that Venezuela is now “one of the single largest population groups displaced from their country”, […]
Injunction Granted; Last Clinic in Missouri Remains Open for Now
Monday, a Missouri circuit court judge granted Reproductive Health Services of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region a preliminary injunction, allowing the clinic to continue providing abortion services; this injunction will keep Missouri’s last clinic that provides abortion services to remain open for the time being. The judge ordered Missouri’s Department of Health and […]
New Hashtag Re-Ignites the Conversation Around #MeToo in China
The new hashtag of #NoPerfectVictim on China’s popular Twitter-like social media website Weibo sparked conversation this week on rape culture and victim blaming in China. The hashtag emerged from conversation around a resurfaced video – which originally went viral in 2018 — depicting Richard Liu (a CEO and conglomerate) and Jingyao Liu walking consensually into […]
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The Youth are Suing the Federal Government over Failure to act on Climate Change
On June 4th, the Court of Appeals in the 9th Circuit heard arguments from Juliana v. United States on whether or not US citizens’ have a constitutional right to be protected from man-made climate change. The students are challenging the executive government’s inaction on climate change, and argue that the younger generations will suffer the […]
Gay Civil Servant Wins Monumental Court Battle for LGBTQ Rights in Hong Kong
This week, Hong Kong Court of Final Appeals ruled that a gay official and his husband were permitted to spousal benefits and joint tax returns despite that same-sex marriage is still illegal in the city. Senior immigration officer, Angus Leung, sued the government in 2015 after the government refused to grant his husband spousal benefits. […]
Wisconsin Senate Passes Restrictive Anti-Abortion Legislation
Last week, the Wisconsin Senate approved four anti-abortion bills that outlaw abortion in cases where the fetus has been or may be diagnosed with a congenital disorder, empower the Department of Health Services to decertify any private abortion provider under the Medical Assistance program, and require doctors to inform patients taking their first dose of […]
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Linda Fairstein Resigned from Vassar’s Board of Trustees for Involvement in Central Park Five’s Conviction
Linda Fairstein, former prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, formally resigned from Vassar College’s Board of Trustees this week because of a widely circulated petition calling for her removal due to her involvement with the case of the Central Park Five, a heavily racialized 1989 court case that resulted in the wrongful conviction of […]
Alabama Mayor Mark Chambers Post Violent Anti-LGBT Rhetoric Faces Calls for Resignation
This week, Hometown Action and Equality Alabama have started petitions calling for the resignation of Mark Chambers, Mayor of Carbon Hill, Alabama following his comments posted on June 4th on his personal Facebook page advocating for the “killing” of the LGBTQ community. This statement has caused backlash from his constituents and the LGBTQ Community. Chambers […]
North Carolina House of Representatives Failed to Overturn Governor Roy Cooper’s Veto of an Anti-abortion Bill
The North Carolina House of Representatives failed to overturn Governor Roy Cooper’s veto of an anti-abortion bill that would have required physicians to treat any newborn delivered during an abortion and grant the infant the same protections guaranteed to other patients. Known as a “born-alive” bill, this abortion ban would have made it illegal for […]
New CNN Poll Demonstrates Importance of Reproductive Rights in 2020 Campaign Dialogue
Yesterday, CNN released a poll of American adults concerning their opinions on abortion, finding that three in ten Americans consider reproductive rights to be the major factor in their voting decisions. The poll was conducted May 28-31 of this year and looked at individuals’ views on various laws restricting access to legal abortion and how […]