Anti-Union Law Struck Down; Saudi Driver Detained

By WeNews staff

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Page 2 of 2

Noted:

DNA taken from former International Monetary Fund leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn matches material on the uniform of a hotel worker who says he sexually assaulted her, two people familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press. On May 21, French feminist organizations spoke out and criticized public figures for downplaying the New York hotel worker's sexual assault charges against Strauss-Kahn, reported Reuters. For more information on this case, check out WeNews' "If Money Talks, DSK Scandal Could Go'Poof'" and" DNA Seen Key to Rape Charges Against IMF Chief."

Protests in Manhattan took place May 27 in response to the acquittal of two New York City police officers charged with the 2008 rape of a woman in her East Village apartment, according to a special announcement on a Facebook page.

The Older Women's Economic Security Task Force, part of the National Coalition of Women's Organizations, in a letter May 24 to President Barack Obama called for the concerns of women to be considered in budget talks to reduce the deficit.

The abortion rate in the United States dropped 8 percent between 2000 and 2008, while rising nearly 18 percent among the country's poorest women--a trend that researchers believe might reflect tough economic times, ABC News reported.

A class action suit alleging that Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals discriminated against female employees has been expanded to include female pharmaceutical sales representatives and all women in Bayer HealthCare's Consumer Care unit, The Pittsburg Post-Gazette reported May 26.

In Nebraska, minors will need written, notarized parental consent for an abortion under a measure Gov. Dave Heineman signed into law May 26, while in Minnesota, Gov. Mark Dayton vetoed two abortion-related bills this week.

Eighty percent of pregnant women in the U.S. use at least one prescription or over-the-counter medication, even though the safety of those drugs during pregnancy is not always clear, according to a 2008 Boston University Schools of Public Health and Medicine study, Fox News reported.