By Jessica • 18 years ago

Supreme Court decision a win for violent anti-choicers

The Supreme Court ruled today that federal racketeering and extortion laws can’t be used to stop anti-choice extremists from obstructing access to clinics, damaging property or using violence. (Legal Momentum has a history of the case, Scheidler v. National Organization for Women)
This case has been going on since 1986, when the National Organization for Women (NOW) brought a class action suit against violent anti-choice groups in violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).
Unfortunately, violent protests are not a thing of the past. From NARAL:

Among other acts, in the past year there has been an attempted firebombing at a Louisiana clinic and one incident of arson in Florida. ...

The Supreme Court ruled today that federal racketeering and extortion laws can’t be used to stop anti-choice extremists from obstructing access to clinics, damaging property or using violence. (Legal Momentum has a ...
By Ann • 18 years ago

So that’s why there’s no male birth-control pill

After years of news reports that male birth control is on the way, now there’s some support for what feminists have always suspected. It’s not science that’s holding up the creation of a Pill for men– it’s society.
The original developer of male birth-control pill says they stopped work on it because men wouldn’t use it.

“It would be possible to make a male pill today. We know how hormones work and we could use the same principles that are used to make the female pill,” Carl Djerassi, 82, told weekly news magazine “Sabado”.
“The problem is that men are afraid to lose their virility. Even if taking a pill carries ...

After years of news reports that male birth control is on the way, now there’s some support for what feminists have always suspected. It’s not science that’s ...
By Ann • 18 years ago

Baseball Hall of Fame inducts first woman

Give it up for Effa Manley, the first female Baseball Hall-of-Famer. She co-owned a Negro League team with her husband, and ran the business end of the team for more than a decade.

Manley used baseball to advance civil rights causes with events such as an Anti-Lynching Day at the ballpark. She died in 1981 at age 84.
“She was a pioneer in so many ways, in terms of integrating the team with the community,” said Leslie Heaphy, a Kent State professor on the committee. “She’s also one of the owners who pushed very hard to get recognition for Major League Baseball when they started to sign some of their players.”

Awesome.

Give it up for Effa Manley, the first female Baseball Hall-of-Famer. She co-owned a Negro League team with her husband, and ran the business end of the team for more than a decade.

Manley used baseball ...
By Jessica • 18 years ago

Feminist dating etiquette

Rachel Kramer Bussel at the Village Voice takes on the question of hetero dating and who pays–is it sad that I really didn’t know this was still a dating issue? I thought at least with younger folks this wouldn’t really even be a question. (My boyfriend insists that I must live in an alternate universe.)
Apparently–and I really do feel kind of foolish admitting that I thought otherwise–it’s still considered pretty standard for the guy to pay for dates.

Most women claim the guy should pay, regardless of who asked whom out or who makes more money. Like it or not, the tradition’s a stubborn holdover from past eras when women couldn’t afford to go halfsies. Lauren Henderson, ...

Rachel Kramer Bussel at the Village Voice takes on the question of hetero dating and who pays–is it sad that I really didn’t know this was still a dating issue? I thought at least with ...
By Jessica • 18 years ago

Women making gains in decision-making

A report by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) says that worldwide, women are making progress in national parliaments but that true equality is a long way off.

Women fared best in Rwanda, Norway and Sweden, but there are no women MPs in nine countries, including Saudi Arabia and Kyrgyzstan.
On average, women made up about 20% of the deputies elected in the 39 countries which held parliamentary elections last year, the IPU report said.
The numbers fall short of UN targets set in 1995 of a minimum of 30% women lawmakers in all parliaments.

Don’t forget, this year’s CSW is focusing on women and decision-making. For more information on women’s political representation, check out ...

A report by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) says that worldwide, women are making progress in national parliaments but that true equality is a long way off.

Women fared best in Rwanda, Norway ...
By Jessica • 18 years ago

Development linked to women’s rights, says UN official


At the opening of this year’s CSW, Louise Frechette, the deputy secretary-general, said that “the world is starting to grasp that there is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women and girls.”
“Study after study has taught us that no policy is as likely to raise economic productivity or to reduce infant and maternal mortality,” she continued.
A cool thing: Featured in one of the UN buildings (to help celebrate CSW) are pictures and bios of 1,000 women activists from around the world. This project is a part of 1000 Peacewomen Across the Globe, which was started to demonstrate how many women worldwide are worthy of the ...


At the opening of this year’s CSW, Louise Frechette, the deputy secretary-general, said that “the world is starting to grasp that there is no tool for development more effective than the ...
By Ann • 18 years ago

Who has the right to refuse?

Dahlia Lithwick has a great op-ed about how pharmacists who refuse to fill emergency contraception prescriptions are different from doctors who won’t participate in executions.

The similarities between the doctors and the pharmacists are striking: Both are refusing to participate in the performance of services acknowledged to be lawful — capital punishment and abortion/contraception. Both cite as grounds for refusal their professional interest in promoting, as opposed to ending, human life.

Then she notes two reasons why the pharmacists can’t refuse but the doctors can. One is that doctors have taken a Hippocratic Oath to “do no harm.” The other?

One reason doctors have generally been kept away from lethal injections is the historical anxiety about the ...

Dahlia Lithwick has a great op-ed about how pharmacists who refuse to fill emergency contraception prescriptions are different from doctors who won’t participate in executions.

The similarities between the doctors and the ...

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