On Monday a measure was passed by the Texas House and Senate that would both defund abortion providers like Planned Parenthood and pressure the Obama administration to change Texas’s Medicaid program to a block grant. The measure allows the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) to grant family planning funds based on a tiered […]
Yesterday, the Ohio Republican-controlled House of Representatives approved three extreme anti-abortion bills in what women’s reproductive rights advocates are calling “anti-women’s day” in Ohio. The Ohio House voted 54 to 43 along party lines to pass the heartbeat bill, which would ban abortions after the fetal heartbeat is detected, which may be as early as […]
US District Court Judge Tanya Walton Pratt granted a preliminary injunction to block a law eliminating state and Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood of Indiana (PPIN).The injunction allows PPIN clinics providing preventive health services to again receive Medicaid reimbursements. The Indiana solicitor general indicated that it will appeal the decision to the Seventh US Circuit […]
In a 5-4 vote yesterday, the US Supreme Court struck down as an unconstitutional violation of free speech a provision in an Arizona public campaign finance law that gives additional public funds to a candidate who adheres to personal spending limits of $500, agrees to participate in at least one debate, will return unspent money, […]
Friday night, the New York Senate passed the Marriage Equality Act by a vote of 33 to 29, with four Republicans joining all but one Democrat in supporting the measure. Governor Cuomo signed the bill into law that evening. Once the law goes into effect in 30 days, same-sex couples will have the right to […]
Last night the New Jersey Assembly voted 46 to 32 to pass a bill that would take away the collective bargaining rights of public union workers on health care and increase health care insurance costs for public workers by 35 percent. The bill would also eliminate cost of living adjustments for public workers’ pensions for […]
Yesterday, the New York Senate delayed voting on a bill to legalize same-sex marriage. Republican lawmakers are scheduled to meet to discuss whether a vote should be taken on the issue. The bill, called the Marriage Equality Act, would grant same-sex couples the right to marry, as well as other rights, benefits and protections, such […]
North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue (D) on Thursday vetoed a bill to require ID at the polls, saying it would put too much of a burden on voters. “We must always be vigilant in protecting the integrity of our elections,” said the first-term Democrat in a press release. “But requiring every voter to present a government-issued […]
The Kansas Department of Health and the Environment announced that it will notify the state’s three abortion clinics on July 1 concerning whether the clinics will receive the necessary licenses to continue operating. Peter Brownlie, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, expressed his concern that by imposing the new regulations, which […]
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) has issued a new set of guidelines stating that intrauterine devices (IUDs) and contraceptive implants should be offered as an option for birth control for all healthy adult women and teenagers in the July issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology. ACOG did not endorse these methods of contraception […]
This afternoon Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) re-introduced the Equal Rights Amendment. The ERA currently has 160 co-sponsors in the House, including Congresswoman Gwen Moore (D-WI), Chair of the Congressional Women’s Caucus. Feminist Majority President Eleanor Smeal spoke at a press conference today announcing the bill’s re-introduction, stating, “Women and men […]
Yesterday the Louisiana House of Representatives voted 85 to 0 on a bill that would require that clinics providing abortion services post signs indicating that a woman cannot be forced to obtain an abortion and that her partner is legally obligated to pay child support. The signs must also state that services are available to […]
Last week, the Maryland Board of Public Works has agreed to lease public land in Montgomery County to Holy Cross Hospital, a Roman Catholic Hospital. The hospital will likely not offer a full range of reproductive health services, including access to birth control or abortion services. Jodi Finkelstein, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland, stated, […]
In a critical five to four vote, with Justice Antonin Scalia writing for the five justice majority, the Supreme Court made it much harder for the victims of discrimination to take class action cases against large employers. The US Supreme Court majority ruled that the largest sex-discrimination class-action suit in history, filed on behalf of […]
The State of the World’s Midwifery 2001, a report released yesterday by UNFPA, indicates that if midwifery services were improved by 2015, approximately 3.6 million lives could be saved each year. The report underscores the current disparity between the number of midwives currently practicing and the number needed to reduce infant and maternal mortality. Dr. […]
In response to the US Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of Wal-Mart yesterday, Equal Rights Advocates, the civil rights group that took the case ten years ago, and other organizations rallied in support of the women of Wal-Mart outside the Supreme Court today. Representatives from Feminist Majority Foundation, the American Association of University Women (AAUW), […]
A New York Times report released earlier this week uncovered the deception of many athletic programs in schools regarding gender equity in sports, distorting the numbers in order to comply with the requirements of Title IX. Title IX, which bans sex discrimination in any federally-financed education program, has largely drawn attention to and been labeled […]
Following a lawsuit filed by Foliage Development Inc., Dr. Mila Means has agreed not to perform abortions in the office space that she leases from the company and stated that she will seek another space for her medical practice. Foliage Development claimed that by offering abortions, Dr. Means would create safety issues and a public […]
David Kato, a gay rights activist in Uganda, was beaten and killed in his home yesterday. Kato worked for Sexual Minorities Uganda and was a vocal critic of the Anti-Homosexuality bill, which would impose life sentences or the death penalty for gay people. In October, Kato was included in a list of Uganda’s “top homosexuals” […]
Senators Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced the Life at Conception Act in the Senate yesterday that would establish that human life begins at the moment of conception. If passed, the bill would extend equal protection under 14th article of amendment of the Constitution to unborn fetuses and would reverse Roe v. Wade, […]
