A new Census Bureau report shows that, from 2001-2008, the percentage of first-time mothers receiving paid leave before and after childbirth leveled off at a mere 50 percent. As usual, the most vulnerable women–low-income women, women of color, young women and less-educated women–had the least access to paid leave. By the numbers: 50.8 percent: From […]
Month: November 2011
In Mississippi, and in Every State, We ARE a Pro-Choice, Pro-Birth Control Nation
I just returned from the front lines in Mississippi, where students on campuses across the state united and mobilized to defeat the so-called “personhood” amendment. In the beginning, many political pundits made it sound as though Initiative 26 was a fait accompli. From the day I landed in Jackson to stay at my Aunt Patsy’s […]
NEWS BRIEF: Personhood USA Likens Itself to Civil Rights Movement
Personhood USA, the group behind the anti-abortion ballot initiative strategy so absurd that it has never come close to passing, wants you to know it’s not giving up. The group, which agitates for fertilized eggs to be declared “people” with full legal rights, is undeterred despite Tuesday’s defeat of such a “personhood” amendment by a margin […]
One Step Closer to Repealing the Federal Gay Marriage Ban!
Yesterday, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 10-8 in support of the Respect for Marriage Act [PDF], a bill that would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) banning gay marriage and end 15 years of discrimination against same-sex couples. The vote fell along party lines, with Democrats in favor. Senator Diane Feinstein, who introduced the […]
This Veterans Day, Honor the Sexually Assaulted Service Members Who Have Been Silenced
Every year, thousands of service men and women are sexually assaulted, and the vast majority does not report it. Victims fear reprisals and retaliation and suspect that their confidentiality will be violated. This Veterans Day, it is important to shed light on these individuals silenced for fear not of the enemy but of their fellow […]
In Absence of Firm Policy, Facebook “Rape-Joke” Pages Spring Back Up
Several new rape-humor pages have already popped up on Facebook in the days since the original pages were removed. Several more were never taken down in the first place, reports the Huffington Post. The newly created pages include such “jokes” as “you know she is playing hard to get when she resists the chloroform” and […]
How Students at Historically Black Colleges Drove the Mississippi “Personhood” Defeat
When I was asked to come to Mississippi about three weeks ago to organize students against Initiative 26, or the so-called “personhood” amendment, I honestly did not know if we even had a chance of winning. The amendment could have made abortion illegal and banned hormonal birth control, including the Pill. Because Mississippi, the bedrock […]
Around the World, Grassroots Women Leaders Rise Up
The video footage is jerky and grainy, but the action is breathtaking. Women in a Sudanese jail, protesting their sentences of flogging for such trespasses as wearing pants and committing adultery, are rising up and chanting, their voices jubilant and strong. “My heart sings out,” they say as they clap and dance. “You can’t stop […]
Everyone Has the Right to Occupy Space, Safely
One inadvertent effect of the Occupy movement has been to call attention to the fact that public space is not always safe space for women, nor for queer and trans people. Fittingly, anti-street-harassment group Hollaback! has stepped up to tackle the issue of sexual violence at Occupy. In a official statement written collectively with Occupied Wall […]
Defeating Personhood: A Critical But Incomplete Victory for Reproductive Justice
The headlines all say it: “Personhood defeated in Mississippi!” This was a tremendous victory for the pro-choice movement, one that started campaigning on the ground only September 8, years after proponents of the “Yes on 26” ballot initiative flooded the state with a superbly orchestrated campaign that included well-financed organizing and petition drives. As of this writing, […]