2012 has been a huge year for marriage equality. In May, President Barack Obama declared support for the right of lesbians and gay men to marry–and then he resoundingly won re-election. Three new states approved gay marriage rights in ballot initiatives, and another defeated a constitutional ban. As December marches on, so, too, does the [...]
Are you or someone you love in a committed same-sex relationship, hoping to get married? The national debate over marriage equality is about to enter a new phase, as multiple cases make their way to the United States Supreme Court. SCOTUS begins a new session next Monday, and today, in private conference, the Court will [...]
The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals handed anti-choice advocates a major victory on July 24, upholding a provision of a South Dakota law that mandates doctors tell women seeking abortions that the procedure will cause an increased risk of suicide. The decision marks a turning point in a battle over a bill that started in 2005. Planned Parenthood Minnesota, South Dakota [...]
[TRIGGER WARNING for sexual assault survivors] After-rape is to be consumed by emptiness, isolation, fear, shame and anger. After-rape at college is to be confronted by my rapist every day—on the quad, in the library, at breakfast. It is to be ceaselessly reminded of the moments in which power and control were stripped from me, [...]
The Feminist Majority Foundation and Ms. magazine are elated that the Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act–the most important advance for women in nearly 40 years. Feminists are determined to protect the gains of the Affordable Care Act, which will protect the lives and health of millions of women and [...]
College campuses and high school hallways look vastly different today than they did 40 years ago. Gone are the gender-biased home-ec classes, “Mrs.” degrees and science lecture halls with one token female in attendance. In its place is the opportunity for education equity for girls and women at any and all points in their academic [...]
Every few weeks, opponents of birth control manage to garner some media attention by objecting–again–to the federal contraceptive coverage rule [as mandated by the Affordable Care Act], which ensures that millions of women will have affordable insurance coverage for contraception without extra out-of-pocket costs. But time after time, it’s just more of the same. This [...]
The Violence Against Women Act, or VAWA, initially passed in 1994 and reauthorized in 2000 and 2005, is up for reauthorization again. To many, reauthorizing VAWA seems like a no-brainer. The federal law (a) declares that domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking are federal crimes (b) aids criminal justice and community-based responses to such violence [...]
Last week, U.S. district judge Lynn Hughes set an important legal precedent in the fight against human trafficking in the U.S. He ruled that five teenaged survivors of sex slavery in Houston will receive the entire proceeds from the sale of their traffickers’ property. As U.S. prosecutors have until now been mostly unsuccessful in getting traffickers’ assets seized, this [...]
Two years ago this month, Congress finally responded to the American public’s demand for better health care and passed the Affordable Care Act (ACA). I would prefer to celebrate the birthday of this landmark legislation, which conveniently falls during Women’s History Month, by recalling the enormous gains this legislation has made for women. Instead, I wait [...]
