Tag Archives: sex and gender

Mississippi’s Last Abortion Clinic Can Stay Open, For Now

by neogrom Posted on April 16, 2013

Mother Jones

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A judge in Mississippi has ruled that Jackson Women’s Health Organization can stay open, for now.

A state law passed in April 2012 threatened to shut down the state’s last abortion clinic, which we recently profiled. But on Monday, US District Judge Daniel P. Jordan III granted a preliminary injunction blocking that law from taking effect, which means that the state cannot revoke the clinic’s license to operate.

The new state law requires doctors who perform abortions at the clinic to have admitting privileges at a local hospital. Given the politics on abortion in Mississippi, all of the local hospitals rejected the applications of the two doctors who work at the clinic, so the state Department of Health had begun the process of revoking the clinic’s license for non-compliance. The Center for Reproductive Rights, which is representing the clinic, asked the judge to prevent the law from taking effect, as it was impossible for JWHO to comply.

In a statement Monday evening, Nancy Northup, the president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, noted that this is just the first step in the legal battle over this law. “While the women of Mississippi may be able to breathe a collective sigh of relief today, this fight is far from over,” she said. “We will continue our work to see this underhanded attempt to ban abortions in Mississippi struck down as a violation of women’s constitutional reproductive rights.”

Read the judge’s decision here.

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Mississippi’s Last Abortion Clinic Can Stay Open, For Now

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Progressives Advise GOP: Back Off On the War on Women

by rikkiqlyons Posted on April 10, 2013

Mother Jones

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It was clear in both the lead up to and the aftermath of the November 2012 election that Republican candidates are not faring well among women voters. From Todd “Legitimate Rape” Akin to Mitt Romney’s 11-point loss among women voters, it became painfully clear that the GOP has a lady problem. A new memo from a pair of liberal groups that pulls together some of the polling figures makes a strong case for paying more attention to this divide.

The memo, from Stephanie Schriock of EMILY’s List and Neera Tanden of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, notes that even the Republican National Committee’s own post-election report found that, “Women represent more than half the voting population in the country, and our inability to win their votes is losing us elections.” But while Republicans have made some effort to soften the party’s positioning on issues like immigration and LGBT rights, the party has not moderated its stance on reproductive rights or other issues of interest to many women voters.

The memo points to the unprecedented attack on access to abortion underway in states like North Dakota and Arkansas, the 160 Republicans that voted against the Violence Against Women Act at the federal level, and the ongoing fights over both contraception coverage and cuts to the federal family planning budget.

NARAL Pro-Choice America’s polling right after the election found that Romney’s view on abortion was the top reason for voting against him that swing-voting women cited in their survey. Planned Parenthood also used this issue to attack anti-choice politicians. Planned Parenthood also used this issue to attack anti-choice politicians. Another post-election poll from Democracy Corps found that 33 percent of unmarried women listed the attacks on Planned Parenthood and women’s preventative health services as a top reason for voting against Romney.

While I’d guess that Republican politicians aren’t looking for advice from CAP and EMILY’s List, the memo ends with some. “If the GOP wants to move forward, help its image and win elections, it should halt its embrace of extreme and out-of-touch policies that attack women and their families,” Schriock and Tanden write. “Ending attacks on abortion rights in the states would be a start.”

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Progressives Advise GOP: Back Off On the War on Women

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Corn on MSNBC: I’m Still Waiting for McConnell to Respond to the Substance of the Story

by aleidasharrington Posted on April 9, 2013

Mother Jones

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Earlier today, Mother Jones released a recording of Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell and campaign aides in a private strategy session discussing how to campaign against actress Ashley Judd, who is rumored to be running against McConnell for Senate. Watch DC bureau chief David Corn discuss the recording, McConnell’s response, and looking behind the curtain at the ugly world of political campaigns on MSNBC‘s Bashir Live:

David Corn is Mother Jones’ Washington bureau chief. For more of his stories, click here. He’s also on Twitter.

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Corn on MSNBC: I’m Still Waiting for McConnell to Respond to the Substance of the Story

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Nearly Four Years After Dr. Tiller’s Murder, Wichita Has An Abortion Clinic Again

by gammak Posted on April 3, 2013

Mother Jones

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For the first time in nearly four years, women in Wichita have access to an abortion clinic. South Wind Women’s Center plans to open its doors this week, and will provide abortions in the city for the first time since an anti-abortion extremist murdered Dr. George Tiller in May 2009.

The clinic, run by former Tiller spokeswoman Julie Burkhart, will provide abortions up to the 14th week, along with gynecological services like pap smears, breast exams, birth control prescriptions, and prenatal care. I talked to Burkhart in February about reopening the clinic:

Mother Jones: Wichita has been the subject of so much attention from both anti- and pro-choice activists. What is the significance of reopening the clinic?
Julie Burkhart: First and foremost, we want to make sure that women who need to see us, want to come see us, are able to access care. We’re looking at a few thousand women who now have to travel outside the area each year. Secondly, what it says is that no matter where you live in the United States of America, women will have access to reproductive health care. This community has just been so embroiled in the abortion…I hate to say the abortion “debate,” but just the turmoil. Some people would say, “Just leave it alone and let it go.” However, we can’t really have true freedom in this country until everyone can access that right.
Why, just because we live in Kansas, in the middle of the country, should women be faced with more hardship? Why should it just be women on the coast where the laws are typically more liberal that have access to abortion care? I hope that’s what people get out of this—that no matter where you are as a woman, you’re entitled to that right.

Read the full interview here.

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Nearly Four Years After Dr. Tiller’s Murder, Wichita Has An Abortion Clinic Again

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Donglegate: How One Brogrammer’s Sexist Joke Led to Death Threats and Firings

by Shelby Morris Posted on March 22, 2013

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Another day, another boneheaded sexist misstep igniting a blamestorm in the tech world. The latest incident played out at the annual Python developer conference, which ended yesterday with multiple people getting fired, a woman of color enduring hundreds of violent and racist threats, apparent DDoS attacks knee-capping at least one website, and tech community outrage that’s attracted national attention.

It all started on Sunday at the PyCon event in Santa Clara, California, when Adria Richards, a female conference-goer and a technology consultant, overheard a conversation with a guy seated behind her at a panel. Richards claims their otherwise unremarkable techie chat turned sour when a neighboring guy joined in with a couple of jokes. They had to do with “forking” (copying someone else’s code) and “dongles” (little pieces of hardware), but in a way Richards found suggestive and inappropriate. Richards snapped a picture of the guys making the jokes, and posted it to Twitter. PlayHaven, a mobile-gaming site, confirmed to Mother Jones that both of the men photographed by Richards were PlayHaven employees at the time.

Richards also tweeted her seat location, a plea for someone to come by and talk to the guys in question, and a link to the PyCon Code of Conduct page, which defines unacceptable behavior at the conference (more on this later). Minutes later, a PyCon staffer came by and Richards spoke with him and a few other staffers in private. There are conflicting accounts of what happened next. In a blog post Richards posted the next day, she writes that staffers “wanted to pull the people in question from the main ballroom” and that they were escorted out. She doesn’t mention seeing them again. It was later widely reported across Twitter and tech forums that the two guys Richards pointed out to staffers were kicked out of the conference. Not so, lead conference organizer Jesse Noller told us in an email: “They were pulled aside, spoken with, and then returned to their seats to the knowledge of the staff and myself.” Noller says no one was removed from the conference due to this incident; someone was kicked for using drugs in public, indoors, but that was two weeks ago, and no one’s been removed since.â&#128;&#139;

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Donglegate: How One Brogrammer’s Sexist Joke Led to Death Threats and Firings

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Even These Republican Women Lawmakers Think ND Went Too Far

by f3x43zg0 Posted on March 22, 2013

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North Dakota won our Anti-Choice March Madness tournament, but apparently the state’s anti-abortion laws have gone too far for even some Republican lawmakers.

Laura Bassett reports at Huffington Post that several Republican women lawmakers plan to attend a rally next week protesting the state’s latest abortion law, which will make it the most restrictive state in the country:

“It’s to say, hey, this isn’t okay. We have stepped over the line,” said state Rep. Kathy Hawken (R-Fargo) in a phone interview with The Huffington Post. “One of the key tenets of the Republican Party is personal responsibility. I’m personally pro-life, but I vote pro-choice, because you can’t make that decision for anyone else. You just can’t.”

Now would be a good time to raise that point to fellow Republican lawmakers, who are currently considering two even more restrictive fetal “personhood” measures as well.

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Even These Republican Women Lawmakers Think ND Went Too Far

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North Dakota Passes Ban on Abortions After 6 Weeks of Pregnancy

by Sheeritwern Posted on March 15, 2013

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The North Dakota legislature approved the most restrictive abortion laws in the United States on Friday, cutting off abortion access as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. The bill, HB 1456, makes it illegal for doctors to perform an abortion if a heartbeat is detectable in the fetus—something that can happen as little as six weeks after conception. It passed the Senate by a vote of 26 to 17, and will now head to the desk of Republican Gov. Jack Dalrymple.

North Dakota lawmakers have been considering a variety of anti-abortion bills. While this wasn’t their most extreme option—another bill would have outlawed all abortions, period—it does mean that North Dakota now has the most restrictive abortion law in the country. This comes just over a week after Arkansas claimed the crown for most restrictive abortion laws, passing a twelve-week ban.

The law will almost inevitably be challenged in court, as it takes a clear shot at Roe vs Wade‘s protection of a right to an abortion up until the point the fetus is viable. But legal groups challenging state restrictions have a lot on their hands as states undertake what Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood, called a “state-by-state race to the bottom on women’s health” in an email after the North Dakota vote.

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North Dakota Passes Ban on Abortions After 6 Weeks of Pregnancy

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Pope Francis I is Really, Really Opposed to Gay Adoption

by NielPostma231 Posted on March 13, 2013

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We have a winner. On Wednesday, about an hour after white smoke emerged from the Sistine Chapel, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was formally announced as the new head of the Catholic Church, replacing the recently retired Pope Benedict XVI.

So what does it mean for the Church? We have no idea—we don’t write for the National Catholic Reporter. But John Allen Jr., who does, has a pretty useful quick guide to Bergoglio that is worth checking out. This part stood out:

Bergoglio is seen an unwaveringly orthodox on matters of sexual morality, staunchly opposing abortion, same-sex marriage, and contraception. In 2010 he asserted that gay adoption is a form of discrimination against children, earning a public rebuke from Argentina’s President, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.

Bergoglio was considered a top candidate for the job the last time there was a conclave, in 2005, when he was subjected to this bit of last-minute research. Here’s the Associated Press press reported it:

Just days before Roman Catholic cardinals begin meetings to select a new pope, a human rights lawyer filed a criminal complaint against an Argentine mentioned as a possible contender, accusing him of involvement in the 1976 kidnappings of two priests.

Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio’s spokesman on Saturday called the allegation “old slander.”

The complaint filed in a Buenos Aires court Friday accused Bergoglio, the archbishop of Buenos Aires, of involvement in the kidnappings of two Jesuit priests by the military dictatorship, according to the Buenos Aires newspaper Clarin.

The bar for Worst Pope Ever is pretty high; here’s hoping Pope Francis I comes nowhere near it.

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Pope Francis I is Really, Really Opposed to Gay Adoption

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11 MoJo Must-Reads on Women

by gerdi Posted on March 8, 2013

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The last year has been a pretty triumphant one for women, particularly in politics: Single women were key to Obama winning a second term (apparently “binders full of women” voted for him rather than the other guy); a record number of women got elected to Congress, free birth control kicked in, and the electorate made clear that comments about “legitimate,” “emergency,” and divinely-ordained rape will almost definitely lose you elections. Hell yes.

In honor of International Women’s Day 2013, we’ve gathered some of our favorite Mother Jones coverage of women’s issues from the past year, in politics and beyond. We’ve covered some intriguing history, built some fun interactives and charts, and, of course, been all over the serious policy stories, too:

Women in Congress: After the 2012 election, we charted the record-breaking gains made by women of the 113th Congress, including four states that elected their first female senators, and New Hampshire’s all-female congressional delegation—a national first.

Women in Sports: Politics wasn’t the only area where women have been on a roll. Forty years after Title IX, women have made extraordinary gains in athletics, with participation at the college level increasing by over 600 percent. And while the playing field is still far from level, as our Title IX charts showed, female Olympians kicked some serious ass in the 2012 games.

Birth Control: When Rick Santorum and some of his GOP colleagues claimed that birth control basically grows on trees, we made a birth control calculator showing just how much contraceptives can cost (pre-Obamacare) over the span of a woman’s child-bearing years. Not pretty, even with insurance.

Just a month later, Rush Limbaugh spent three days railing on Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke, starting “the national conversation about sluts of 2012” and raising a burning question: Who, exactly, qualifies as a “slut”? We gave inquiring women the chance to find out for themselves, with this handy slut flowchart.

Recalling the dark ages: After Todd Akin-gate, Mother Jones documented the age-old tradition of men defining rape, from the dudes behind the Code of Hammurabi to tough guys at the FBI. We also traced some intriguing theories about female “hysteria” and some of the toys and bulky contraptions used to “treat” it. A lot less amusing was the look we took back at a not-so-distant time when women, lacking proper access or knowledge of birth control, used Lysol to stay baby-free.

Abortion: Recently, MoJo reporter Kate Sheppard met some of the country’s most fervent abortion supporters and foes. She wrote about the small, tireless team operating Mississippi’s last abortion clinic, and interviewed the late Dr. George Tiller’s assistant, Julie Burkhart, as she readied his old Wichita clinic for reopening this spring. Earlier last year, Sheppard profiled Americans United for Life, which is quickly becoming one of the most successful pro-life organizations in the country.

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11 MoJo Must-Reads on Women

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10 MoJo Profiles of Fierce Women

by DenaeTina858 Posted on March 8, 2013

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In the early ’90s, a guy at Sony told a female singer that she was “too black, too fat, too short, and too old.” Lucky for us, she stuck with music, and twenty years later America finally discovered singer Sharon Jones. Now known as the “Queen of Funk,” Jones recently played with Prince in Madison Square Garden. (We interviewed her in 2011). In honor of International Women’s Day, we’re taking a moment to highlight ladies like Jones, who, whether in politics, show biz, or coding, have managed to defy or ignore expectations. Below, a sampling from Mother Jones‘ archives of smart, fearless, and “sassy” women.

Jack Hitt takes on the Rorschach-blot-like figure of Hillary Clinton, in which Americans see many things. “More than any other public figure,” writes Hitt, “Hillary forces us to acknowledge that the path to power for American women is not all that clear, more an odyssey than a march.”

New Yorker writer George Trow once described Jamaica Kincaid as “our sassy black friend,” a moniker Kincaid seemed to delight in when she talked to Mother Jones about her beloved Obama T-shirt, juggling motherhood and writing, and her newest semi-autobiographical novel.

Jen Pahlka left behind rock-star status in the computer-gaming world to launch Code for America, which places fellows in broke cities so they can build apps to conquer civic problems. We caught up with Pahlka last year to talk about breaking down barriers between the public and private sectors and solving Silicon Valley’s sexism problem.

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10 MoJo Profiles of Fierce Women

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