Closely following the 50th anniversary this past Sunday of Russian Valentina Tereshkova becoming the first woman in space and the 30th anniversary of Sally Ride’s famous flight today, NASA has named four women to be among its class of eight new astronauts trainees—the first time that the U.S. space agency has achieved gender parity in a [...]
Today, the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in favor of invalidating Proposition 200, an Arizona state law that required voters to provide proof of citizenship in order to register to vote. The Court decided that the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which only requires voters use a federal approved registration form, overrules the state law. [...]
In a unanimous decision (written by Justice Clarence Thomas, of all people), the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that human genes can’t be patented. However, a manipulated gene that creates something not found in nature can receive patent protection. The case was Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, No. 12-398, which involves the BRCA [...]
Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) announced on Tuesday he is replacing a measure proposed by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) that would have removed military sexual assault crimes from being handled within the military chain of command. Levin’s replacement measure would keep authority on major military crimes with senior officers. Gillibrand’s measure, part of a defense spending bill, was [...]
Last weekend marked LGBT Pride around the U.S. With glitz and glam and thousands of colorful spectators at parades, Americans celebrated how far gay rights have come in many parts of this country. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of gay rights in other parts of the world. Yesterday in Russia, the State Duma passed [...]
Late on Monday, the Obama administration said it will comply with a federal district court order to allow over-the-counter sales of emergency contraceptives. Although the Department of Justice initially appealed the court’s ruling, it has since withdrawn its challenge. This means that Plan B One-Step, which previously had an age restriction of 17 and older, [...]
Today, the Boy Scouts of America’s National Council voted to allow openly gay Boy Scouts in their program—but openly gay adult leaders are still banned. The decision, supported by more than 60 percent of the council, is a step in the right direction, but still sends the wrong message about gay adults. The new policy [...]
On Tuesday, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down Arizona’s ban on abortion at 20 weeks, calling it unconstitutional because a woman has a legal right to terminate a pregnancy before fetal viability. The law, signed by Gov. Jan Brewer in April 2012, caused Arizona to be one of the most restrictive states in [...]
UPDATE 5/13/13: Cutting it close to deadline, the Obama administration has filed an appeal to delay sale of emergency contraception over the counter to all ages. Stay tuned. UPDATE 5/10/13: Judge Korman refused to put on hold his order to make EC available over the counter to all ages. He has extended the implementation of his [...]
The last abortion clinic in Mississippi, Jackson Women’s Health Organization, has won a temporary injunction against the enforcement of a 2012 state law that would have required it to shut down. Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Daniel P. Jordan III blocked the state from closing the clinic as it attempts to comply with a TRAP law [...]
