Tag: justice

Planned Parenthood is calling for Missouri Governor Matt Blunt's "Task Force on the Impact of Abortion on Women" to be disbanded.  The task force is stacked with anti-choice members.  A list of the members and their anti-choice affiliations are listed in the article

Scott Swenson expounds on the changing political landscape of abortion and notes that candidates are sometimes out of touch with voters' real views.  He maintains that candidates not supporting reproductive health will have trouble wooing women voters

Hillary Clinton has accused Barack Obama of skipping votes on abortion and gun control in the Senate.  He voted "present" instead of taking a position for or against proposed bills.  On some occasions, Senators were encouraged to vote "present" (by pro-choice groups like Planned Parenthood) in hopes that the bill would fail without enough votes

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney responds to recent ads (by Republican pro-choice and gay rights advocacy groups) at a public event.  He is accused of "flip-flopping" in his views on abortion and gay rights

Cristina Page, re-examining answers given by Republicans at last week's debate, expands on the possible ramifications to abortion rights if any of the candidates were to be elected

A woman from the Philippines has taken her sexual assault case to the United Nation's Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), alleging that when her case was originally heard in the Philippines, the judge blamed her for being raped and handed down a sexist verdict.  Karen Verdito was a high-level executive at the time of her assault; she was raped by her boss.  She believes that jokes and stereotypes are contributing to a culture of injustice for rape survivors and hopes that by taking her case to the UN, judicial reforms will be implemented

Amie Newman - blogging for RH Reality Check - posts a run-down of last night's CNN/YouTube Republican debate, detailing the candidates' answers regarding abortion

Pro-choice groups are urging Congress to pass legislation before the New Year that would reduce the cost of birth control pills and support family planning.  Advocates say that congress members have been supportive, but no vote has yet been scheduled

A week following the UK's "Reclaim the Night" events, reforms to the justice system have been announced.  Packages aimed at dispelling "rape myths" will be given to juries in an attempt to boost the conviction rate of rapists.  Victims may also be allowed to submit taped interviews with police as their primary evidence

The Seattle Times published an article today examining the misogynist roots of some attacks against presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.  Focusing mainly on internet posts, the article draws attention to the large membership of Facebook groups such as "Hillary Clinton: Stop Running for President and Make Me a Sandwich"

An older woman approached me in Iowa yesterday and asked to speak to me.

She said, "You're a minister, right?" I said yes.

Woman: "And you believe gay people should have the right to marry?"

September always feels like the beginning of the New Year to me, much more than the dark days of January. As the mom of school age children and as a minister of a church that begins its year in September, it is now that I gear up, make plans, create new resolutions, and one more time, begin anew.

It feels like a new year in this country, with true possibilities for sexual justice.