Yesterday US District Court Judge Thomas Marten ruled that the Dodge City Family Planning Clinic was permitted to join a lawsuit, filed by Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri (PPKM), challenging a Kansas law that prevents both organizations from receiving Title X family planning. Judge Marten indicated that PPKM and the Dodge City Medical Clinic […]
On Thursday, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs voted to pass an amendment as part of the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act that would “encourage companies with over $100 million in gross global receipts to post on their websites what policies they have in place to ensure their supply chains are free of slavery and […]
Yesterday, California Governor Jerry Brown (D) signed sign the Fair Treatment for Farm Workers Act, allowing farmworkers to privately fill out state-issued ballots for union elections. The bill passed both houses of the California Legislature in August and will dramatically increase the rights of California’s approximately 400,000 farmworkers. United Farm Workers President Arturo S. Rodriguez […]
On Thursday, 20 House Democrats, led by Representative Louise Slaughter (D-NY), called for an ethics investigation of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas for allegedly failing to report that his wife was paid $700,000 for her work at the Heritage Foundation between 2003 and 2007. The Democrats issued a letter requesting that the Judicial Conference determine […]
A new study conducted by the American Cancer Society revealed that deaths resulting from breast cancer have been steadily decreasing for more affluent women in the US since 1990. By contrast, lower-income women have not experienced the same rate of decline and were 7 percent more likely to die from breast cancer than their more […]
On Thursday, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), in conjunction with Planned Parenthood Health Systems, Planned Parenthood of Central North Carolina, the Center for Reproductive Rights, and the ACLU of North Carolina Legal Foundation, filed a lawsuit against a new North Carolina law that requires pregnant women to receive ultrasounds and be given information about […]
The group sold baked goods that were priced according to the race and gender of their costumers.
US Senior District Judge Wesley Brown denied the American Civil Liberties Union’s (ACLU) motion to block a Kansas law that prohibits private health insurance plans from covering abortion services, except when the woman’s life is endangered. Under the law, women who seek coverage for abortion services must purchase a separate rider to cover non-lifesaving abortions. […]
Walmart recently approved a provision as part of its non-discrimination policy to protect its transgender employees. The provision, which went into effect a few weeks ago, according to Walmart spokesman Phillip Keene, prohibits harassment both on the basis of gender identity and gender expression. Joe Solmonese, President of the Human Rights Campaign, stated, “What matters […]
Distinguished university researchers on the Board of the American Council for CoEducational Schooling (ACCES) provided evidence that placing children in single-sex learning environments is ineffective, misguided and may actually have harmful effects on children. In “The Pseudoscience of Single Sex Schooling, in Science magazine they found that purposeful “sex-segregated education is deeply misguided and often […]
For the first time, the bill to repeal the Respect for Marriage Act, which repeals the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), has a Republican co-sponsor: Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida. DOMA defines marriage as between one man and one woman and denies federal recognition of same-sex marriages, as well as the legal benefits attached to […]
The US Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) announced that Tyson Fresh Meats has agreed to pay $2.25 million, in a sex discrimination settlement, to approximately 1,650 qualified women applicants who were denied employment. OFCCP found that Tyson Fresh Meats violated Executive Order 11246 “by failing to meet its obligations as […]
According to government data released yesterday, since the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act allowed those under age 26 to remain on their parents’ health insurance plans, almost 1 million people ages 19-25 have gained access to health insurance. Since the provision went into effect in 2010, the number of young adults who are uninsured […]
Supporters of abortion-rights and anti-abortion rights gathered at the Ohio Statehouse yesterday concerning a bill that, if passed, would ban abortions after the fetal heartbeat is detected. This could be as early as 6 weeks gestation when many women do not even know they are pregnant yet. The bill does not include exceptions for women […]
In the past year, Republican Governor Rick Perry and the Texas Legislature cut family planning funding by 66 percent, which amounts to $74 million. However, state lawmakers voted to increase funding by $300,000 for Alternatives to Abortion Services, a state program comprised of 26 crisis pregnancy centers, adoption agencies, and maternity homes. According to the […]
A recent report by the Human Rights Watch revealed a much higher maternal mortality rate in South Africa as compared to other African countries, including Swaziland, Uganda, and Ghana, despite South Africa’s status as one of Africa’s wealthiest nations. According to the National Partnership for Women & Families, the rate of maternal deaths has increased […]
Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) will reintroduce the Global Democracy Promotion Act (GDPA) this evening. If passed, the bill would overturn the Global Gag Rule, which bans funding for family planning programs in developing countries that counsel or provide information to women or advocate on a full range of options, including abortion. The bill states that […]
The official repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) will go into effect today. For nearly two decades, the policy forced lesbian, gay, and bisexual service people to keep their sexual orientation a secret or face possible expulsion from the military. Pentagon press secretary George Little indicated that the military is prepared for the repeal […]
Fifteen years following her death, Barbara Jordan, the first African-American women from the South serve as a Congresswoman, will be featured on the US postage stamp. She is the first African American woman to have her picture appear on a stamp. Former Congresswoman Jordan of Texas will be the 34th person to be recognized in […]
At Arlington Community High School in Indianapolis, public school officials are separating male and female students even in the hallways, cafeterias, and on buses, in what they claim to be an effort to boost academic performance. Students say that they to rarely see those of the opposite sex on school property. According to the Indiana […]
