The Presidents’ job plan would have a positive impact on women’s jobs, woman-owned small businesses, small to medium sized non-profits, and on payroll tax savings for some 78 million employed women, and an extension of unemployment insurance for unemployed workers, including some 2.6 million women. “Many of the proposals for job creation, job retention, job […]
Yesterday the three judge panel of the Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in Richmond Virginia unanimously ruled to throw out a lawsuit filed by the state of Virginia challenging the constitutionality of the mandated minimum coverage provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). This provision requires that a person purchase […]
Yesterday approximately 3,000 Hyatt employees began a week long strike in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Honolulu to protest Hyatt’s outsourcing practices and unsafe working conditions. According to UNITE HERE, a union comprised of over 250,000 hotel and hospitality workers across North America, since its contract with Hyatt Hotels Corporation expired approximately a year […]
On Thursday, the North Carolina chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU-NCLF) filed a lawsuit in the federal district court for the Eastern District of North Carolina against the state over the production of new anti-abortion license plates that read “Choose Life.” The ACLU argues that the production of these plates is “unconstitutional viewpoint […]
On Tuesday, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals supported a district court ruling blocking a law eliminating family insurance benefits for same sex partners of Arizona government workers. This ruling comes after a long court battle, which started in September 2009 when Arizona Governor Jan Brewer (R) signed a law repealing same sex partner […]
In Kansas, Dr. Herbert Hodes, and his daughter, Dr. Traci Nauser, who sought an injunction in July in an effort to keep their medical practice open, indicated that they would consider dropping their lawsuit if Kansas state health officials withdrew some of the state’s arbitrary and hastily-imposed regulations for abortion providers. In July, US District […]
On Tuesday, Rep. Tammy Baldwin ( D-Wis) announced her bid for U.S. Senate which, if successful, would make her the first openly gay senator in U.S. history. Baldwin is a champion of the rights of the middle class, stating, “I’ve decided to run for the US Senate because I believe Wisconsin families need a senator […]
While visiting refugee camps in Kenya late last week, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehin emphasized the dire situation of women as a result of the famine in the Horn of Africa. According to the UNFPA “12.4 million people have been affected by severe drought,” and 3.7 million people have been displaced […]
In California, volunteers for the Stop SB48 campaign have begun to collect signatures for a ballot referendum to repeal the Fair, Accurate, Inclusive, and Respectful (FAIR) Education law, which will require that school curricula and textbooks include information about gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Americans. In order for the referendum to appear on the ballot, […]
On Friday, the 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals overturned US District Judge Karen Schreier’s ruling to block a provision in a South Dakota law requiring that doctors tell women seeking abortions that they have “an existing relationship with that unborn human being and that the relationship enjoys protection under the United States Constitution and […]
In Idaho, Jennie Linn McCormack filed the first-ever lawsuit in the country challenging the state’s “fetal pain” law, which bans abortions in the state after 20 weeks gestation. McComark, noting the lack of accessible abortion providers for women in southeast Idaho, contends that Idaho’s law unconstitutionally restricts women in the region from accessing abortion services. […]
On Tuesday, US District Court Judge Thomas Marten ordered the state to resume federal funding for Planned Parenthood, with funding to be allocated on a quarterly schedule, and not a monthly schedule, as requested by the state. The ruling comes after Planned Parenthood indicated that it would close down its clinic in Hays, Kansas if […]
On Tuesday, the California state Senate voted 21 to 12 to pass the Toxin-Free Infants and Toddlers Act, which would ban the use of bisphenol A (BPA) from children’s feeding containers. The ban will apply to all baby bottles and sippy cups made or sold after July 1, 2013. Executive Director of Physicians for Social […]
US District Judge Sam Sparks blocked a provision of a Texas anti-abortion law requiring that doctors describe ultrasounds in detail and play the sound of the fetal heartbeat, if a heartbeat is present, to women seeking abortions. Judge Sparks also blocked enforcement of the provision of the law that would revoke doctor’ medical licenses if […]
A new study released August 26 by the Pew Internet & American Life Project shows that young women are among the top users of social networking sites, including Facebook, MySpace and Linkedin. The study finds that young women are the “power users” of social media sites, with 69 percent of all women using social media […]
A poll conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation that only about 50 percent of uninsured, non-elderly Americans understand the benefits of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including the tax credits for people with low and middle incomes. According to the poll, 31 percent of people believed that the law would help them, while 14 percent […]
Yesterday, the US 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, Ohio decided with a 2-1 majority that the mandated minimum coverage provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), which requires that a person purchase minimum health coverage or face a modest monetary penalty beginning in 2014, is constitutional under the Commerce Clause. […]
Yesterday the Rhode Island Senate voted 21 to 16 to pass a bill that would allow same-sex couples to enter into civil unions and attain some of the same benefits enjoyed by married couples, such as the right to visit a partner in the hospital and make decisions about the partner’s medical care and the […]
Opponents of a controversial anti-union law in Ohio have collected more than five times the necessary signatures to put repeal question in front of voters on the November ballot. Union members and supporters paraded triumphantly through Columbus to the Secretary of State’s office behind a truck carrying some 1,500 boxes of petitions. The number set […]
At least five women were arrested in Jeddah, on the country’s western coast, for violating Saudi Arabia’s ban on female drivers, according to rights activist Eman al-Nafjan. The arrests come nearly two weeks after Saudi women began campaigning for the right to drive. “This is the first big pushback from authorities it seems,” Nafjan told […]
