Tag Archive for "Policy"

Posts Tagged Policy

‘God intended rape pregnancies’ and other unsurprisingly misogynistic GOP opinions

UPDATE: Planned Parenthood Action Fund has called on Romney to revoke his Mourdock endorsement.

UPDATE ADDENDUM: Romney ‘Disagrees’ with Mourdock’s comments, but stands by him as a candidate and will not pull his endorsement ads

Good morning! It’s October 24, 2012, and Republicans still don’t believe that you should have any control at all over what happens to your own body.

Case in point, the video below, in which Indiana Republican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock said Tuesday that when a woman is impregnated during a rape “it’s something God intended” after being asked whether abortion should be allowed in cases of rape or incest. Check it out if you’d like to have your entire morning ruined by ignorance!! Otherwise just ...

UPDATE: Planned Parenthood Action Fund has called on Romney to revoke his Mourdock endorsement.

UPDATE ADDENDUM: Romney ‘Disagrees’ with Mourdock’s comments, but stands by him as a candidate and will not pull his endorsement ads

By Lori Adelman • 11 years ago

Need paid sick leave? Feminists got your back.

“I was forced to ask my boss for some time off so I could take care of my sibling. When I asked for a few days of leave, my boss told me flat-out: if you go, don’t bother coming back.”

These are the words of Ai Elo, a restaurant worker from Brooklyn and member of the Restaurant Opportunity Center, who told her story about getting fired when she needed to take care of her younger brother at a rally held a few weeks ago to mark the launch of a new Women for Paid Sick Days Initiative. Sadly and unfairly, Ai’s story is not unique in New York City, where I live, and around the world. There are about a million workers ...

“I was forced to ask my boss for some time off so I could take care of my sibling. When I asked for a few days of leave, my boss told me flat-out: if you go, don’t ...

By Jos Truitt • 12 years ago

Closing the gender wage gap at the federal level

The federal wage gap is slightly better than the gap for all employees in the US – federally employed women earn 89 cents for every dollar men earn, instead of 77 cents. I know, winning!

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) released a joint memorandum Tuesday committing to “ensure the most rigorous possible enforcement of our federal equal pay laws,” as the Washington Post reports.

Representatives from EEOC and OPM are working with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) “to identify the reasons for this wage gap and ways to close it.” The GAO says 7 cents of the 11 cent wage gap still can’t be explained after controlling for factors like occupation, ...

The federal wage gap is slightly better than the gap for all employees in the US – federally employed women earn 89 cents for every dollar men earn, instead of 77 cents. I know, winning!

The Equal ...

By Chloe Angyal • 12 years ago

Quick hit: the problem with New York City’s new mandated sex ed programs

Earlier this week, we wrote about the announcement of a mandatory sex ed program in New York City public schools. Mayor Bloomberg’s new law require that comprehensive (which is to say, not abstinence-only), and will be taught in all NYC public high schools and middle schools. This is great news!

However, Anna Lekas Miller at The Nation sees a problem, and it’s one of enforcement and accountability. Namely, there’s no way to check if schools are actually teaching the new sex ed program and, given the current rash of budget cuts in public schools, sex ed will probably be one of the first things to get cut. Lekas Miller writes:

On the surface, Bloomberg’s sex education mandate seems to have it ...

By Courtney • 12 years ago

Will today be the day, New York?

There is a lot of buzz in the New York area this morning about the possibility of getting marriage equality by day’s end. My fingers are certainly crossed (which, yes, makes it hard to type). New York is bigger by population than previous legalizing states combined, so the number of Americans that live with marriage equality would more than double.

In honor of our hopes, check Mayor Bloomberg’s important speech, grounding this issue in a long and important history, from a few weeks ago at Cooper Union:

By Vanessa • 13 years ago

The FBI’s “forcible rape” definition

While the GOP tries to redefine rape and exclude survivors in their anti-choice ventures this year, it looks like the FBI has been way ahead of the game on that front.

Yep, the definition of rape used in the bureau’s Uniform Crime Report is pretty damn vintage. And not vintage like 70s vintage — this jammy hasn’t been updated since 1929, Kate Sheppard reports. And oh, is it problematic. Here is the language:

The carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will. Included are rapes by force and attempts or assaults to rape. Statutory offenses (no force used–victim under age of consent) are excluded.

This is not to mention it excludes victims ...

While the GOP tries to redefine rape and exclude survivors in their anti-choice ventures this year, it looks like the FBI has been way ahead of the game on that front.

Yep, the definition of rape ...

By Courtney • 13 years ago

Republicans block DADT repeal

Democrats were 3 votes short of the 60 they needed yesterday to prevent a filibuster and approve the Defense Appropriations bill, containing the provision ending DADT. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called it like it is, before calling out the vote: “It’s quite clear that they’re trying to run out the clock.”

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told reporters that he was “disappointed, but not surprised.” He also indicated that he wouldn’t move forward on any other military initiatives, like a new education plan, until DADT is sorted out: “I think it would be a serious mistake to start training and preparing before the law is changed because I think it will just confuse the troops,” he said. “What is ...