On Monday, President Obama signed the Kate Puzey Peace Corps Volunteer Protection Act, legislation designed to protect Peace Corps Volunteers during their tours of service. The law provides “whistleblower protection” for Peace Corps workers and requires that the Peace Corps take measures to reduce sexual assault risk and establish a response protocol to protect volunteers. […]
On Monday, Virginia state Delegate Bob Marshall (R-Prince William County) filed a “personhood” bill, which states that life begins at conception and proposes to give constitutional rights to a fertilized egg. The bill proposes to give “unborn children at every stage of development…all the rights, privileges, and immunities available to other persons, citizens, and residents […]
A decision by the Obama Administration is expected soon, possibly before Thanksgiving, on broadening the religious exemption for contraceptive coverage. Women’s rights and pro-choice groups, including the Feminist Majority Foundation, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the National Women’s Law Center, the National Council of Jewish Women, the National Organization for Women (NOW), and NARAL Pro-Choice America, […]
First Lady Michelle Obama will serve as honorary chair of the 2012 “Women for Obama” initiative, which aims to gather support from women voters for the President’s bid for reelection next year. The initiative is a branch of the Obama campaign’s “Operation Vote,” focusing on targeting minority groups and other voters who traditionally align themselves […]
On Wednesday, the Massachusetts state Legislature passed a bill designed to prohibit discrimination against the state’s transgender population. The protects against employment, education, and housing discrimination and revises the state’s hate crimes law to protect against crimes targeting people based on their gender identity and gender expression. The state House approved the bill late Tuesday […]
A report by the European HIV/AIDS Funders Group (EFG) and Funders Concerned about AIDS (FCAA), in collaboration with the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), indicated that funding for AIDS-related work from US and European donors decreased by 7 percent, or approximately $44 million, between 2009 and 2010. Paul De Lay, Executive Director of […]
Last week, District Judge Stephen Tatum dismissed 23 felony charges against a Kansas City-area Planned Parenthood and 26 misdemeanor charges in a case alleging that the clinic had falsified records and failed to maintain accurate records. Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe called for 49 of the 107 charges against the Planned Parenthood Overland Park […]
Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain indicated that he regrets calling US House of Representatives Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) “Princess Nancy.” Cain told CNBC, “That was a statement that I obviously should not have made, but I was trying to make a point.” During a Republican debate, Cain commented that “You didn’t hear about [an […]
On Tuesday, the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the constitutionality of the minimum coverage provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). This provision requires that a person purchase minimum health coverage or face a modest monetary penalty beginning in 2011. The American Center for Law and Justice, founded by […]
A civil jury in Miami awarded a record $100 million to Andres Sousana, who alleged that he was drugged and raped by a Roman Catholic priest when he was 14 years old. Reverend Neil Doherty, who is currently retired, awaits a criminal trial in jail. Jeff Herman, Sousana’s attorney in the case stated, “It sets […]
Victory for State’s Public Unions Tuesday night, Ohioans voted to repeal a Republican-backed law that restricted the state’s 350,000 public workers’ collective bargaining power. Issue 2 (Senate Bill 5) on the Ohio ballot was defeated in a landslide by a 62 to 38 percent margin. This was a huge victory for Democrats and labor organizers […]
In an exciting and important victory for women’s rights advocates, Mississippi voters defeated the Personhood Amendment. While the state went Republican and voted for many candidates who supported Initiative 26, a state constitutional personhood amendment that would have given full rights to fertilized eggs, women’s rights supporters successfully defeated this dangerous initiative 58% to 42% […]
According to a study released by the American Association of University Women (AAUW), 48 percent of students in grades 7-12 experience sexual harassment, either in person or through texting, emails, or social media platforms. Catherine Hill, director of research at AAUW, stated, “It’s reached a level where it’s almost a normal part of the school […]
Tomorrow Mississippi voters will have the opportunity to vote on the Personhood Amendment, a ballot initiative that “would amend the Mississippi Constitution to define the word ‘person’ or ‘persons,’ as those terms are used in Article III of the state constitution, to include every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning, or the functional […]
The National Restaurant Association will decide today whether to release a former employee from a confidentiality agreement in her sexual harassment complaint against Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain of sexual harassment from a confidentiality agreement. After registering a complaint with the National Restaurant Association, the woman received a $35,000 severance package, contingent on her agreement […]
A study published in the Lancet found an at-home test for human papillomavirus (HPV) to be very effective and could be particularly useful in regions where women do not have access to pap tests, used to diagnose the infection. According to the researchers, the do-it-yourself tests were four times more likely to detect cases of […]
Yesterday, the Republican-controlled Wisconsin Senate voted 17 to 15, along party lines, to permit schools to teach abstinence-only education. The bill will now go to the state Assembly, which also has a Republican majority. Last year, a law was passed in Wisconsin banning abstinence-only courses. Under the law, schools can elect not to offer sex […]
On Thursday, current and former employees of Wal- Mart’s California stores filed a lawsuit against the corporation on grounds of sex discrimination. This is the first of many class action suits designed to serve as a scaled down version of the initial lawsuit, which was filed in 2001 and rejected by the U.S Supreme Court […]
Despite the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s decision to remove some of its proposed regulations on abortion providers, three doctors who perform abortions in Kansas announced that they will continue their challenge to the state’s abortion law in court. Earlier this week, the Kansas Health Department announced that it would abandon regulations that specify […]
US District Court Judge Catherine Eagles issued a preliminary injunction yesterday against a provision in a North Carolina abortion law that would require abortion providers to perform an ultrasound at least four hours prior to an abortion. The law, scheduled to take effect today, would also require that providers describe the images in the ultrasound […]
