“I don’t want to minimize it, but if you look at the (news) coverage and the energy and the focus, etc., you would think that’s all we discussed. And let’s face it: A lot of the issues we deal with are pretty mundane but they’re fundamental – they’re making sure people are safe, we’re balancing budgets, we’re providing for education.”
–South Dakota’s Republican House Speaker Matt Michels commenting on the fact that the legislature spent no more than 15 hours discussing South Dakota’s abortion ban with no exceptions for rape and incest
Here’s my latest piece on AlterNet:
No Room in the Big Tent
Anti-abortion Republicans have a lot to celebrate. The confirmation of Samuel Alito and John Roberts, two anti-abortion Supreme Court justices, and the passage of the South Dakota law banning all abortion, have been seen as clear Republican victories. But for pro-choice Republicans, appalled and disgusted by the South Dakota law, the party ended a long time ago. While some say it’s important to speak out and fight for change, others say they’re tired of fighting a losing battle.
“I was a Republican. I did stand up. I got crucified for it and finally said, ‘To hell with it,'” says Elisabeth “Jinx” Ecke, a longtime Planed Parenthood supporter and board member in San Diego, Calif. “I’ve tried to support Republican candidates in the California Assembly, and they swear on a stack of bibles that they’ll vote pro- choice. Then they go to Sacramento and they vote anti-choice. I’m done.”
Reproductive Rights
Mississippi abortion bill dies this session – AP
A bill to ban most abortions in Mississippi died after House and Senate negotiators failed to reach a compromise before a deadline.
Anti-abortionists turn sights on schools and hospitals in US-style campaign – The Guardian
Anti-abortionists inspired by the militancy of the movement in America are adopting tactics associated with animal rights extremists in an escalating campaign of intimidation. The latest victims of harassment by a group called UK Life League are the pupils and teachers at a Catholic girls school in Surrey. The head teacher of Woldingham School, Diana Vernon, has been accused of “child abuse” for providing sex education for her 14- and 15-year-old pupils as required under the national curriculum. Activists are being encouraged to bombard Ms Vernon with hate emails.
Desperate Kenyan women risk last-resort abortions – Reuters
Turn right near the tall acacia tree at the crossroads and a narrow dirt road leads you to Mama Alice’s tin-roofed health clinic.
Mama Alice, a stout woman in her 50s, says bad things happen in the backstreets of Mukuru, a squalid shantytown that is home to about 40,000 on the outskirts of Nairobi. Many women are dying after unsafe abortions by quack doctors in the slum. Mama Alice says she treats two or three women every week for abortion-related complications.
General
Seven ages of woman – The Guardian
When does a woman turn into a feminist? Is there ever a defining moment? Feminists from their 20s to their 80s think back.
Politics
Bush’s support among women falling, poll shows – Scripps Howard
The gender gap is back. Just 30 percent of women approve of President Bush’s job performance, according to the latest Scripps Howard/Ohio University survey of 1,007 adult residents of the United States. The poll found that 44 percent of men approved of him. Overall, Bush’s approval rating was 37 percent. The gender gap is significantly larger than in previous polls.
In the Workplace
Ex-CSFB analyst claims bank pushed her into lesser posts– New York Post
An African-American Wall Street analyst with an Ivy League pedigree said financial behemoth Credit Suisse First Boston executives pushed her steadily down the corporate ladder, replacing her at each step with less experienced white men. According to an arbitration claim filed Tuesday by Anthia Christian, a former senior analyst and stock strategist CSFB, the firm waged a “campaign of pervasive racial and gender discrimination” against her. Christian, who attended Harvard Business School, is seeking over $29.2 million in damages and awards from the firm.
International
A dark season in Afghanistan – Christian Science Monitor
You have only to turn a page or two of Kabul in Winter: Life Without Peace in Afghanistan to understand that this will not be a pretty read.
Author Ann Jones begins her narrative by telling how she flew into Kabul in early 2002. (This is not a trip one sets up with a few keystrokes to Travelocity – Jones had to fly to Dubai and then wait in the airport there until a man with a briefcase briefly turned up to handwrite tickets to Kabul in exchange for hastily offered cash.) Not surprisingly, she was drawn to the plight of women, and during her time in Afghanistan she worked with different national and international organizations to improve conditions for women.
Female Genital Mutilation in Iraqi Kurdistan – Kurdish Media
FGM is a taboo in Kurdistan. In former times, people never talked about this subject. This painful mutilation is usually done to young girls aged between 4 and 12 years. It is a secret act about which people never talk. There is neither present neither party. Women want to get rid of the ‘haram’ (dirty) organs of the girl the most quickly and secretly as possible.
Italian women shun ‘mamma’ role – BBC
EU states are trying to understand why the birth rate is falling – and if anything can be done to stem the decline. All this week, the BBC News website is asking women in various countries about how they feel about being asked to have more babies, and how easy or difficult they find combining motherhood and work. Here, the BBC’s Rome correspondent Christian Fraser asks why Italy – a predominantly Roman Catholic country that has always loved children – has stopped having them.
Italian Rights Movement Nervously Awaits Election – Women’s eNews
Women’s issues and reproductive rights are a wild card in the April 9 elections in Italy, where discontent over government moves to limit abortion and civil unions smoldered until a journalist’s e-mail ignited public demonstrations.
