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Soguel
Soguel's Latest Articles
Women Earn Another Penny; GOP Seeks Abortion Ban
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U.S. women now face the smallest wage gap in history, the Census Bureau announced Aug. 26 in an analysis of 2007 data, narrowing the gap by one penny over the previous year. Women now earn 78 cents for every dollar a man earns for equal work. In 1980, women earned 60 percent of men’s pay.
N.Y. Accepts Gay Marriage; Turkey Dress Code Bid
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New York Gov. David A. Paterson instructed all state agencies to revise policies and regulations to recognize same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions, the Associated Press reported May 29. Such issues include family health care plans, joint tax filing, stronger adoption rights and property inheritance. Same-sex marriages have been recognized by courts in California and Massachusetts.
Congress Acts Pro-Woman; VA Services Fall Short
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On May 21, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution sponsored by Rep. Lois Capps, D-Calif., to reduce maternal deaths at home and abroad, her office announced. The resolution makes the United States part of the U.N. Population Fund’s initiative to reduce women’s deaths from pregnancy and childbirth. Since 2002, the Bush administration has withheld funding from the agency because it says it supports coerced abortions in China.
California Moves Ahead; Maryland Lags Behind
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The California Supreme Court ruled that lesbian and gay couples have a right to marry under the state’s constitution on May 15, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Same-sex couples will have the right to marry and "form a family relationship" in 30 days. The 4-3 court decision strikes down a 1977 law banning same-sex marriages.
New High for Political Women; Katrina Hardship Lingers
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The number of women in Congress reached a new record with the April 8 election of Jackie Speier, a Democrat from Hillsborough, Calif., to fill a vacancy. Eighty-seven women now serve in Congress: 16 in the Senate and 71 in the House, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. Of these, 20–or 23 percent–are women of color.
Lesbian Partner Trip OK’d; Database Bans Abortion
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Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., was allowed to bring her partner, Lauren Azar, on a military flight after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., intervened on her behalf, the Politico reported April 1. Baldwin is the only woman who is openly gay in Congress.
