Kentucky State Senator Tim Philpot advocates an amendment to the Kentucky domestic violence law which would exclude lesbian and gay couples from its protection. Currently, the law covers unmarried couples who live together, formerly lived together or have a child in common, spouses and some relatives. The law won’t be heard until 1998, but Philpot […]
Arkansas Republican Governor Mike Huckabee has promised to sign a bill passed by the State Legislature which outlaws the abortion D&X procedure. The law stipulates that doctors who perform the procedure could face up to six years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Georgia, Michigan, Utah and Ohio have passed similar laws. Abortion clinics and […]
According to the National Foundation of Women Business Owners, women own approximately 8 million businesses in the United States, employ over 18.5 million people and generate $2.3 trillion in sales annually. And, the number of women owned businesses is increasing faster than the overall growth for U.S. businesses in all 50 top metropolitan areas. The […]
The Reverend Jerry Falwell, founder of the Moral Majority, has launched a letter writing campaign to General Motors, Chrysler and Johnson & Johnson asking them to pull their adds for the Ellen “coming out” episode. During an hour long special in May, the lead character Ellen will reveal that she is a lesbian, drawing protest […]
Abortion clinics and doctors have filed a lawsuit which claims that a Michigan ban on “partial birth” abortions is unconstitutional. The suit alleges that the vaguely drafted legislation would allow officials to prosecute doctors for any abortion conducted after the first trimester. The ACLU has also joined in the fight by asking the U.S. District […]
The National Institute for Health is seeking for nearly 100,000 additional women to participate in a ten year study of women’s health. The agency is looking primarily for women over the age of sixty, having already recruited the requisite number of women between the ages of 50 to 59. The agency is studying whether post-menopausal […]
Avoiding a fall referendum campaign, Maine legislators approved a ban on same-sex marriages by a 24 to 10 vote. On March 25th the Maine House had voted 106 to 39 to approve the ban. Governor Angus King is expected to sign the measure. If signed, Maine becomes the 18th state within the past year to […]
The Pentagon announced on March 24th that President Clinton has nominated Major General Claudia J. Kennedy to become the army’s first female three-star general. Clinton has also nominated Kennedy to serve as the deputy chief of staff for intelligence; she has served as the assistant deputy chief of staff for intelligence since 1995. The Senate […]
Officials from the United States Department of Education have warned Texas officials that the state’s school system will lose federal funding if it does not use affirmative action programs in admissions. Texas Attorney General Dan Morales earlier directed the schools not to consider race at all when make admissions decisions because of a recent 5th […]
Women who carry the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene should start receiving early mammograms as early as age 25, according to a researchers at the Women’s Health Care Center at the University of Washington. The March 25th issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association contains the results of a study which reiterates that the […]
A woman, walking along a highway late at night, noticed a van slowly following her. Frightened, she picked up a nearby phone and dialed 911. The operator instructed her to remain by the phone and that a deputy was on the way. Thirty-five minutes later, deputies arrived at the scene. Within that time, two men […]
A new study published in the March 25th issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association has found that approximately 7.8 million women and girls lack sufficient iron in their diets. An additional 3.3. million more women and girls have the severe iron deficiency called anemia. The study, conducted by Anne Looker and colleagues […]
The State Department is on alert: women’s furtherance world-wide is a central priority of America’s foreign policy. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has told all U.S. diplomats that she and President Clinton are committed to improving the status of women throughout the world. At an International Women’s Day ceremony, Albright outlined the policy and said, […]
During her trip to Africa with daughter Chelsea, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton has continuously stressed that the plight of women, their pains and triumphs, worldwide are a natural point for forging a new relationship between the United States and Africa. During her trip to Tanzania, where an international tribunal is investigating crimes against women […]
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is attempting to intervene in a sex discrimination lawsuit against Home Depot, Inc. The EEOC asked a federal court to allow it to join an attempt by 22,000 women employees of the store to form a class action. The women, from 312 stores east of the Mississippi, claim that the […]
Forty percent of women carry a gene which can double the risk of breast cancer and is responsible for nearly thirty percent of all breast cancer cases. The gene, CYP17, controls estrogen production and influences girls as they go through puberty. Researchers at the University of Southern California presented this information to the American Cancer […]
Georgia lawmakers have passed a bill which bans the D & X abortion procedure. Governor Zell Miller has said he will sign the bill which outlaws the procedure unless the woman’s life is in danger.
Revising earlier guidelines, the American Cancer Society announced on March 23rd that women in their forties should receive annual mammograms. The National Cancer Institute is expected to make similar recommendations this week. In January, a federal advisory panel concluded that women in their forties should consult their doctors and make their own decisions regarding the […]
On April 30th, Ellen Degeneres’s television character Ellen will reveal that she is a lesbian. The hour-long episode, which will air in one or two segments, includes guest appearances by Oprah Winfrey, k.d. lang, Melissa Etheridge and Billy Bob Thornton. Immediately following the episode, Degeneres will make her own sexuality clear during an interview with […]
A law passed by Congress last September which outlaws female genital mutilation in women under 18 takes effects on March 29th. The law, shepherded through Congress by ex-Congresswoman Patricia Schroeder (D-CO), makes the procedure a federal crime punishable by up to five years in prison. An estimated 100 million women worldwide have undergone the procedure […]
