On May 31, 2009, Dr. George Tiller, an abortion provider in Wichita, Kansas was at church, serving as an usher during the Sunday morning service. Anti-choice zealot Scott Roeder shot Tiller through the eye and killed him. Roeder, who publicly confessed to the crime, was convicted of murder. Now Roeder is accused of threatening Julie Burkhart, executive director of the non-profit [...]

Last week, a top general in the U.S. Air Force chocked up the military’s sexual assault epidemic to a “hook up” mentality. This week, Hong Kong’s security minister attributed rape to alcohol, saying that women should avoid drinking too much if they don’t want to get raped. It’s really touching to see how a culture of rape apology can transcend [...]

If you watch TV, read the news, or follow politics, you’ve seen or read or heard Katrina vanden Heuvel, a true icon for the progressive movement and media. Vanden Heuvel is the editor and publisher of The Nation , the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States, founded in 1865.  Vanden Heuvel’s blog “Editor’s Cut,” appears [...]

 In Egypt, Some Women Fight Sexual Harassment With Karate Chops 17 Black Women Bloggers To Know in 2013 North Carolina May Force Teens To Get Notarized Parental Consent Before Getting STD Tests Delaware Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage Rachel Maddow school Politifact on LGBT marriage laws and Martina Navratilova Study: women undervalue themselves when working with men New Canadian fashion magazine Dare celebrates plus-size women NRA courts [...]

In an interesting speech, Pope Francis urged 800 nuns representing  international women’s congregations  to be mothers and not spinsters.

1 : a woman whose occupation is to spin

2: a: archaic: an unmarried woman of gentle family b: an unmarried woman and especially one past the common age for marrying

3 : a woman who seems unlikely to [...]

First, the chief of the Air Force sexual assault prevention unit was arrested for sexual assault. Then the Pentagon released a report showing that sexual assault had jumped from 19,000 cases in 2010 to 26,000 in 2012. Now, we have the Air Force’s top commander, Gen. Mark A. Welsh III, saying that sexual assault happens all the time outside [...]

As Amy  posted earlier today, Margaret Thatcher has died. She was Britain’s first and only woman Prime Minister, crashing the ancient iron gates of patriarchal politics. Though her actions can be seen as a feminist victory, she herself was not a feminist.  She once said,

“The battle for women’s rights has largely been won. The days when they were [...]

Earlier today I blogged about Alabama’s new bill which places major restrictions on abortion clinics. Well, meet the man who will sign this bill into law, the charming champion of the war on women, Governor, Robert Bentley. Bentley is not only the duly sworn chief executive of his state, but a licensed physician, who like all physicians [...]

Bad News:  Alabama passed a bill which pretends to be about protecting women but is actually aimed at shutting down abortion clinics on Tuesday. The governor has said he will sign the bill, ironically called the “Women’s Health and Safety Act,”  which requires that doctors preforming abortions be granted admitting privileges at local hospitals. Some of the doctors [...]

Amazing and moving photos of the amazing and moving lesbian relationship behind today’s DOMA Supreme Court Case. Boston College is threatening to take disciplinary action against students who distribute condoms. ” How Getting Rid Of The Defense Of Marriage Act Will Boost The Economy” Activists in New York City staged a flash mob inside a pharmacy on Tuesday to demand universal [...]

Governor Jack Dalrymple of North Dakota, a Republican, (duh!) signed three bills into law that would ban almost all abortions. Here are the three bills, all of which were passed by the Republican-controlled (duh!) legislature: 1. A requirement that doctors who perform abortions get admitting privileges at a local hospital. This could have the effect of closing [...]

Congress finally passed the Violence Against Women Act ( VAWA) in February, despite massive opposition from House Republicans; and President Obama signed it into law in March. But the International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA) has yet to be passed. It is expected to be re-introduced in Congress in the next couple of weeks. But will it pass? And [...]

The Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments on California’s Prop 8, the law banning same-sex marriage in California. Because legalese is hard to understand, I’ve translated some of the arguments made against marriage equality, and one of the arguments made for it, from yesterday’s hearing. 1. Justice Samuel Alito kvetched to the Solicitor General Donald Verrilli,  [...]

Arizona introduces bill to prosecute transgender people for using the “wrong” bathroom. Esquire editor says women are “ornamental” and like “cool cars.” But it’s cool, because they feature old women like Cameron Diaz. Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus explains that his party lost the women’s vote because they didn’t reach out to “emotional” voters. Thanks. I think I’m [...]

The saddest part of the story is the lost memory of what Iraqi women once were. I grew up in Baghdad with a working mother who drove herself to the office and always told me that I could anything I wanted with my life. My mother’s friends were factory managers, artists, principals and doctors. It has [...]

The release of black smoke, and not white smoke, from The Vatican chimney signified that a new pope had not been named. But what was the meaning of the less visible and less discussed pink smoke released over The Vatican? It was a protest against The Vatican’s refusal to ordain women priests. Erin Saiz Hanna, the [...]

What is it in the Republicans’ drinking water that makes it so hard for them to refrain from making offensive and ignorant comments about rape? And what is it that makes a party, which largely disavows science, think it can speak with any authority about anything related to science. Perhaps, we’ll never know. What we do [...]

You may have heard that, since people are living longer, and marrying, having kids, and establishing their careers later in life, 30 is the new 20. But, according to pyschologist Meg Jay, who “specializes” in 20 -somethings, 30 is just 30. It is most definitely NOT the new 20. So, 30 year-olds who are unmarried….be afraid… be [...]

Infographics show major dearth of female bylines. Conservatives are clearly scared of Ashley Judd’s political potential because they are trying to slut-shame her for her on-screen nude scenes. Oberlin “hot bed of liberal activism” College cancels classes on Monday and holds a “day of solidarity” after a string of hate-related incidents and vandalism. A handy review of the War on [...]

80 years ago today President Franklin Delano Roosevelt named Frances Perkins the Secretary of Labor and the first ever female member of cabinet. FDR was lucky to have Perkins. And, today, we continue to reap the benefits of the policies Perkins pushed through the department of Labor. Some credit Perkins with the New Deal legislation that characterizes the [...]