Women's eNews (https://womensenews.org/author/nancy-cook-lauer/)
Female judges are certainly nothing new. But it was still noteworthy when Hawaii’s first female governor tried and failed earlier this month to name the first woman chief justice to the Hawaii Supreme Court.
Hillary Clinton once hoped to address the Democratic National Convention as the party’s presidential nominee. Last night she pressed for party unity, but some supporters noted that the ceiling she cracked still stands.
World Breastfeeding Week encourages nursing mothers in a practice recommended by leading health authorities. But legislative battles across the U.S. show that the right to engage in this natural mother-child act is still challenged.
A move to declare placentas “infectious waste” angered Hawaiians who use the placenta in religious ceremonies, highlighting the conflict between modern medicine and traditional culture. A law now guarantees women the right to take the placenta home.
Police at the Houston Astrodome were instructed to start accepting rape reports from women displaced from Louisiana. But now coastal Texas deals with its own evacuation while the New Orleans evacuees are being moved out.
The rape report of New Orleans’ singer Charmaine Neville is one of the few coming out of the beleaguered Hurricane Katrina area. Advocates for sex-assault victims say they are collecting plenty of stories, but no reporting process is in place.
Officials say that lessons already learned in Florida could have reduced the suffering of storm refugees in Louisiana. Nancy Cook Lauer reports on the reaction to rapes and other assaults in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
As she struggles to win a seat in the U.S. Senate, Betty Castor is in the fight of her career. In the latest debate, the EMILY’S List favorite challenged her opponent by voicing support for choice and stem-cell research.
Martha Stewart may be the headline-grabber, but numerous other women also make their home behind bars. In fact, women are the fastest-growing segment of the population in federal penitentiaries and state prisons.
Controversy has erupted in a key Senate race in Florida. EMILY’s List, the political action committee that supports pro-choice female Democrats, is being charged with illegally coordinating campaigns with Democratic front-runner Betty Castor.