Komen Reverses Course; Virginia OKs Abortion Bill

By WeNews staff

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Page 2 of 3

Planned Parenthood has raised close to $3 million since Tuesday, reported the National Journal Feb. 3, which is at least six times the amount of the grant Planned Parenthood received from Komen last year.

Read about the uproar in WeNews' "Controversy Engulfs Susan G. Komen for the Cure."

More News to Cheer This Week:

Pakistan's Senate passed a women's rights protection bill, which had already passed in the country's National Assembly, Islamabad's The Nation reported Feb. 3. The bill creates a National Commission on the Status of Women.

Women's rights activists marched to the Serail, the Lebanese prime minister's headquarters in Beirut, with a list of demands for him, reported Lebanon's The Daily Star Feb. 3. The march occurred after the close of the New Arab Women Forum, which this year focused on women's roles in the Arab Spring.

Feb. 1 was National Girls and Women in Sports Day, which marks the anniversary of Title IX, reported Forbes. While Title IX never specifically mentions sports, it is often used to ensure that schools provide equal opportunities for women in athletics. Since its passage in the early 1970s, there are over 11 times as many female athletes in high school sports programs.

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood announced that it would not impose a veil requirement on Egyptian women, Bikya Masr reported Feb. 1. The Islamist party added that it would adhere to upholding personal freedoms for all citizens.

Jan. 29 marked the three-year anniversary of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which established that the 180-day statute of limitations on filing pay discrimination lawsuits begins anew with each discriminatory paycheck.

Big pay raises for more than 150,000 community sector workers will help narrow the large salary gap in Australia after a historic decision by the workplace tribunal, reported the Sydney Morning Herald Feb. 1. Fair Work Australia, an independent body charged with making decisions on wage and employment conditions, decided that those working in the sector were paid less because the field was dominated by women. The workers will receive pay increases of anywhere between 19 to 41 percent, which will be phased in over the next eight years.

U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan has announced the publication of a new Equal Access to Housing Rules that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation, according to HUD's blog Jan. 30.

The Obama administration defended its decision to require most religiously-affiliated employers to cover the cost of birth control in their health insurance plans, CBS News reported Jan. 31. President Obama and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius believe the policy "strikes the appropriate balance" between protecting religious freedoms and providing women with access to preventive health services, White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters.

Girl Scouts USA launched a campaign to cultivate the female leaders of tomorrow in order to create equal representation of women and men in all leadership sectors of society within a generation, The Washington Post reported Jan. 31. The Girl Scouts took the initiative after a study showed girls are afraid to take leadership.

Taiwanese health authorities said that tougher checks on illegal gender-selective abortions prevented nearly 1,000 terminations of female fetuses last year, Asia One News reported Jan. 31. Government figures showed that 108 male babies were born for every 100 female babies in 2011, down from 109 to 100 in 2010. The normal sex ratio at birth globally is 104-106 males to every 100 females.

The United Arab Emirates will host the first Arab Women's Sports Tournament at the Sharjah Ladies Club from Feb. 2-12, Bikya Masr reported Jan. 30. Clubs from 12 countries will compete in an array of events including basketball, volleyball, shooting and table tennis.

Saudi women will be allowed to attend sport games in a new stadium due to be completed in Jeddah in 2014, The Digital Journal reported Jan. 30. The new venue "will include a family section with private cabins and balconies for women who wish to attend the games."

Jeers

thumb pointing down The Republican-led Virginia Senate passed a bill by a vote of 21-18 that would require women to undergo an ultrasound before having an abortion, The Washington Post reported Feb. 1. The Senate, which for years had killed similar measures, voted largely along party lines.

The state House of Delegates, with a large GOP majority, is expected to pass the bill and Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell said he would sign it, making the new anti-choice law all but inevitable in Virginia.

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3 COMMENTS | Login or Sign Up to post comments

Despite the drama over Komen's decision to sever funding to Planned Parenthood, I think we have to focus on the one very large positive from this public debacle: the intense opposition from women all over the country. I’ve been reading Susan Faludi's "Backlash," about the undeclared war against women in the US, and this gives me great hope that women can successfully fight the backlash. In our society right now, women's rights are being pushed back. Rappers rap about "bitches" and "whores," there is new controversy over Roe v. Wade, and the number of women being elected into office has stagnated. But perhaps Komen's decision to cut Planned Parenthood funding is the beginning of the end of this backlash. The huge opposition to the funding severance not only united women against a common cause; it brought them to act. Social media exploded with criticism of the highly political move, and people were talking about it everywhere - on the news, with their friends, on the internet. It was truly remarkable for me to see, especially in an era where I've felt that many women have stopped fighting for their rights. I sincerely hope that this event marks a change in women's fight for equality, and that the women who opposed this decision and pushed Komen to reverse it stay involved and educated. This very public debate put women's rights in the limelight. These issues are important, and maybe this battle was just what women needed: a strong victory against those who have put women's rights on the backburner. I have hope that this event will lead to more like it. Women need to re-embrace their power to effect change. We've got about a thousand more battles to fight, but this victory may be the one to get us back on our feet and fighting.

Submitted by IxChel (1 year ago)

Regardless of the Susan G. Komen Foundation's backtracking on the issue of the grants to Planned Parenthood I do not think they merit a "Cheer" when they are apparently pursuing what I would call an anti woman agenda. I say this because they have withdrawn funding for stem cell research and have several people in either top management or their board who are anti-abortion.

Please take a look at this article I found and see if you don't agree . . .

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/02/03/1061552/-Komen-Antiabortion-Age...