A Dallas newspaper recently brought to light a case in which a Canadian priest accused of sexually abusing minors was moved by the Catholic Church to the United States. This case is the latest reported by the Dallas News, which is publishing the results of a special year-long investigation of priests accused of sexually abusing […]
In a meeting at the Vatican last week, Pope John Paul II praised President Bush for his leadership against abortion rights in the United States. The Pope lauded “his commitment to the promotion of moral values in American Society, particularly with regard to respect for life and the family,” according to the New York Times. […]
The Canadian province of Ontario has approved the use of Islamic law, otherwise known as sharia law, to resolve civil legal disputes, angering Muslim women’s rights activists. According to the Toronto Star, Ontario’s Arbitration Act of 1991 has previously allowed religious groups such as the Hassidic Jews and Catholics to resolve civil disputes. Ontario’s Attorney […]
New Jersey Governor James McGreevey signed into law on Wednesday legislation that will create the nation’s first state-supported stem cell research facility. New Jersey joins California as the only two states to provide funding for stem cell research. Gov. McGreevey plans to have the state fund $6.5 million each year for the next five years, […]
The new Prime Minister of Spain, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, appointed half of his cabinet seats to women and is making female empowerment a top priority. According to Women’s eNews, a leading Spanish feminist hailed the prime minister’s push for women’s equality stating that “we didn’t want them to appoint just any women…we wanted women […]
Two days before the March for Women’s Lives, women’s rights leaders from around the world urged the Bush Administration to reinstate and increase international family planning funding and to repeal the Global Gag Rule. At a press conference on global abortion politics, Feminist Majority President Eleanor Smeal challenged reporters to “go to maternity wards to […]
by Marianne Sarkis As you are reading this article, there are between eight and ten million women and girls in the Middle East and in Africa who are at risk of undergoing one form or another of genital cutting. In the United States it is estimated that about ten thousand girls are at risk of […]
Reproductive rights encompass the right of sexually active persons to choose when, how often, and with whom to engage in sexual activity; how many children to have and when to have them; access to and education about reproductive health and family planning; the freedom from diseases associated with sexual activity; and freedom from sexual violence. […]
Seventeen people, including seven women who were accused of undergoing illegal abortions in Portugal, were acquitted yesterday of breaking Portugal’s strict abortion laws. According to BBC News, the seven women were accused of voluntarily having abortions at a street clinic in Averio, Portugal. A three-judge panel found no proof that the accused women had undergone […]
A survey of US Catholic dioceses conducted by the Associated Press found that 1,341 priests had been accused of sexual abuse since the 1950s, with less than half of the dioceses reporting. A report commissioned by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops is scheduled to be released on February 27 by the John Jay College […]
Portuguese abortion rights activists have collected over 100,000 signatures to force Parliament to consider a decriminalization referendum that would make abortion legal during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. According to Kaiser, a recent poll stated that nearly 75 percent of people favor a referendum on abortion law and more than 67 percent would vote […]
Rio de Janeiro’s municipal government’s decision to start distributing free birth control pills and condoms through the mail to low-income women, men, and minors was dropped due to pressure from the Roman Catholic Church. The mayor of Rio de Janeiro has denied that the Church pressured him to end the program, though his decision was […]
The US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) released a report yesterday on audits conducted to examine church procedures for preventing and dealing with sexual abuse of minors by priests. Advocates for victims of priest sex abuse, including the 4,600-member Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), believe the audits to be “fundamentally flawed.” The […]
The President of Portugal issued a pardon for a nurse who has been in jail since February 2000 for performing abortions. According to Agence France Presse, Mario do Ceu Riberio was one of 42 women put on trial last year for having abortions or for running abortion networks, and the only one to be sentenced […]
Seven Portuguese women are standing trial for having illegal abortions. Public prosecutors are also charging the doctor for having performing the abortions and nine other people as accomplices, including one of the parents of a woman who had an abortion. The trial of these women has led to calls to change Portugal’s highly restrictive laws […]
The Archdiocese of Miami, Florida released a report this weekend revealing that 38 of its priests have been accused of sexual misconduct in the past 45 years. The report also shows that insurers for the archdiocese have paid $9.3 million in settlement fees and legal costs in relation to priest sex abuse claims since 1966, […]
Minnesota Health Department officials are questioning a statement posted on the department’s website to comply with a new law asserting that having an abortion increases a woman’s risk of breast cancer. According to internal emails obtained by the Star Tribune, a department director named Mary Manning circulated an email memo asking staff to tell anyone […]
The Italian Senate approved a bill yesterday restricting assisted fertilization to heterosexual couples and banning the use of donor sperm, eggs, or surrogate mothers. According to Reuters, the bill, which is now approved by both houses of Parliament, will now return to the lower house before becoming law. The opposition’s lawmaker, Giovanna Melandri, is worried […]
The US and Costa Rica are leading an effort to pass a United Nations treaty banning all forms of human cloning, including stem cell research that scientists believe has the potential to treat serious illnesses such as Parkinson’s disease. Wired News reports, a vote on the Costa Rican introduced treaty failed by a vote of […]
A state court rejected a challenge by Roman Catholic groups to a state law requiring employers who offer prescription drug plans to include contraceptive coverage. According to the Associated Press, the Catholic Church is claiming that the law intrudes on the rights of religious organizations. New York State Justice Dan Lamont ruled that the law […]
