Feminist Daily News

FDA Approves Single-Dose Plan B Emergency Contraceptive

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a single-pill version of the Plan B emergency contraceptive, which is currently available as a two-pill dose. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd announced yesterday (see

Obama Appoints Regina Benjamin as Surgeon General

President Obama announced yesterday his appointment of Regina Benjamin, MD to the position of surgeon general. The President commented that Dr. Benjamin, who has lost relatives to diabetes, high blood pressure, and blood cancer, has a deep understanding of the health needs facing the United States. ...

Sotomayor Hearings Commence

Judge Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearings for the United States Supreme Court began yesterday. Though the first day of hearings was dominated by the Senate Judiciary Committee's opening statements, Sotomayor made a brief introductory statement at the close of the proceedings. In her opening ...

Law Protecting Clinic Buffer Zone Upheld

The US 1st Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Massachusetts law on Friday, allowing a 35-foot safety buffer zone between protestors and abortion clinic entrances. The law, established in 2007, protects clinic patients and staff from harassment. Five anti-choice protesters

Appeals Court Rules Pharmacists Can't Refuse Plan B

The US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that pharmacists in Washington State must dispense Emergency Contraception (EC), also known as Plan B, even if they have personal religious objections to the medication. The ruling overturned a temporary injunction from the US District Court in Sea...

Abstinence-Only Funding Removed from Appropriations Bill

On Friday, the House Appropriations Committee's subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (Labor HHS) eliminated traditional sources of funding for abstinence-only programs by passing an appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2010. The measure does not include funding for abstinenc...

Irish Women Challenge Abortion Ban

Three Irish women are challenging Ireland's abortion ban in the European Court of Human Rights. Ireland has restrictive laws that prevent abortion in almost every circumstance except when a woman�s life is in jeopardy. The three women claim in their lawsuit, ABC v. Ireland, that their well-being and...

Senate Moves on Permanently Banning Global Gag Rule

The Senate Appropriations Committee passed an amendment to the foreign aid appropriations bill yesterday that would permanently ban the Global Gag Rule. The amendment, which passed 17-10 with one member voting present, stipulates that foreign NGOs must not be prevented from receiving US aid on the b...

Afghanistan Amends Shia Law

Afghanistan's Justice Ministry yesterday released a revision of the controversial Shia law that legalized rape within marriage, among other provisions. The Associated Press reports that ...

Massachusetts Sues US over Discriminatory Marriage Law

Massachusetts filed a lawsuit against the federal government yesterday, challenging the legality of the Defense of Marriage ACT (DOMA). Passed in 1996, DOMA defines marriage as between one man and one woman and denies federal recognition of same-sex marriages. The lawsuit, filed by state Attorney Ge...

UN Envoy Calls on Afghanistan to Fight Violence Against Women

Kai Eide, the United Nations Special Envoy to Afghanistan, urged Afghan leaders to fight violence against women at a meeting in Kabul where he announced a new UN report on the subject. The report, entitled "Silence is Violence" (see

NIH Issues New Stem Cell Guidelines

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) issued new regulations Monday that ease restrictions on stem cell research. The new guidelines allow the use of embryonic stem cells that have been discarded from in-vitro ferti...

House Appropriations Committee Rejects Abortion Ban Amendment

The House Appropriations Committee rejected an amendment yesterday to the federal appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2010 that would have enabled the continuance of a ban on using local funds to help low-income women in Washington, DC access abortion services. The Tiahrt-Davis Amendment failed on a...

Number of Homeless Female Veterans Rising

The number of homeless female veterans has doubled in the past decade, according to the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA), even though the overall number of homeless veterans has decreased. Current estimates indicate there are 6,500 homeless women veterans. Women veterans are now two to four ti...

Alabama School District Ends Single-Sex Classes

School officials in Lawrence County, Alabama, have agreed to end single-sex classes. The school district reached a settlement after being notified by the American Civil Liberties Union that its sex segregated programs ...

Uganda to Ban Female Genital Mutilation

A law will be passed banning female genital mutilation (FGM) in Uganda, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni announced Friday. In his announcement, Museveni referenced a resolution passed last year by the United Nations that declared FGM a violation of women's rights. President Museveni said in his...

DC To Begin Recognizing Out-of-State Same-Sex Marriages

The District of Columbia officially began recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states this morning. Congress had a 30 day review period after the bill was signed by DC Mayor Adrian Fenty to reject the measure. The review period expired early this morning, reported the

Appropriations Bill Could Eliminate DC Funding Bans

The federal appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2010 includes several items that would end funding bans affecting several different issues in Washington, DC. If passed in its current form, the bill would eliminate a prohibition on using DC-raised monies for abortion, would end a ban that prohibits t...

Syria Increases Minimum Sentence for Honor Killing

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad issued a decree last week that increased the penalty for honor killing to a minimum prison sentence of two years. The law previously limited the maximum sentence to one year. According to the

ACLU Challenges Arizona Restriction on Inmates' Abortion Rights

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is again asking an Arizona court to stop Maricopa County Sheriff Joseph Arpaio from preventing female inmates from accessing abortion services. A 2005 lawsuit struck down the Sheriff's policy of prohibiting jail officials from transporting a prisoner for an ...