Activists who spent the last week defending abortion clinics, doctors and patients against anti-choice extremists in New Orleans have moved onto the next reproductive rights battleground: Jackson, Miss. There are currently defending the Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the only remaining abortion clinic in the state, and were a presence at the courthouse Monday where the trials of several […]
The battle between pro-choice activists and abortion opponents rages on in the Big Easy. Anti-choice extremists have descended on the city this week, protesting at women’s health clinics and outside of abortion doctors’ homes. On Thursday, in a peaceful response to the harassment and intimidation they’ve faced from extremist group Operation Save America, about 100 activists […]
Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Jackie Speier (D-CA) gathered on the steps of the Supreme Court Thursday morning to demand that the Equal Rights Amendment finally pass. The congresswomen, along with Dr. E. Faye Williams, chair of the National Congress of Black Women, Feminist Majority president (and publisher of Ms.) Ellie Smeal, NOW president Terry O’Neill and […]
Abortion providers in Louisiana are getting hit from all sides this summer. First, Louisiana state lawmakers passed restrictive legislation that, if allowed to go into effect, may force the closures of most clinics in the state. Then, the local Catholic Bishop in New Orleans waged an ongoing campaign to stop the construction of a new Planned […]
On July 19, 1984, U.S. Rep. Geraldine Ferraro (D-NY) accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination to be vice president of the United States, the running mate for presidential candidate Walter Mondale. She told the cheering crowd of delegates, Change is the air, just as surely as when John Kennedy beckoned America to a new frontier; when […]
Affirmative action survived a federal appellate court challenge in Texas on Tuesday. In a 2-1 split, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the University of Texas at Austin can consider race in its admissions process. Writing for the three-judge panel, Judge Patrick Higginbotham wrote, “We find force in the argument that race here […]
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) updated its pregnancy discrimination guidelines this week for the first time in more than 30 years. The new guidelines mirror the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) and classify discrimination against pregnant employees as a form of sex discrimination. The EEOC guidelines make it clear that an employer cannot discriminate against a worker […]
UPDATE: Minutes ago, the Senate voted 56-43 to reject the Protect Women’s Health from Corporate Interference Act of 2014, also known as the “Not My Boss’ Business Act.” It fell four votes short of the required 60 needed to pass the legislation. The Senate will vote today on a bill intended to reverse the Supreme Court’s […]
There was no one scandal that prompted Nowmee Shehab, 22, to become heavily engaged in efforts at Emory University to create a supportive environment for survivors of sexual assault. She readily acknowledges that she doesn’t have a single, all-encompassing answer to the question of why she first got involved. Elizabeth Neyman, 21, will be a […]
For years, civil rights organizations have successfully argued to overturn voter ID laws on the grounds that they disproportionately disenfranchise poor and minority voters. But this week, college students are having their say as well. Lawyers for seven North Carolina college students joined the NAACP, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Department of Justice to […]
