grrrly news 6/29

Shot forced on newborn
over parents' objections
What was supposed to be a joyous occasion – the birth of their first child – turned out to be an Orwellian nightmare for a young Colorado couple whose newborn was vaccinated for hepatitis B over their religious and philosophical objections, while armed guards stood by to prevent them from intervening.

Experts: Could Be Hillary vs. Condi for Prez in '08
No woman has ever received a major party nomination for the presidency, but some have speculated that in 2008, not one, but two women could be competing for the White House.

Hamilton school to offer single-sex classrooms
An Ontario school is giving parents an option rarely offered in the public school system -- all-girl and all-boy classes.
Starting in the fall, parents of Grades 7 and Grade 8 students at Cecil B. Stirling School in Hamilton will have the choice of keeping their children in a co-ed classroom or moving them into single-sex classes, which have traditionally been limited to private schools.

Pro-Lifers Push Boston Globe to Change Policy on Abortion Stories
The Boston Globe, one the nation's most influential newspapers, is operating under a new set of guidelines - favorable to the pro-life movement - on stories about partial birth abortion.
Ombudsman Christine Chinlund recommended the guidelines, which are not the paper's official policy, after complaints from the National Right to Life Committee and like-minded pro-lifers. One of her suggestions is to use the term "partial birth abortion" - accepted by pro-life advocates, but strongly opposed by abortion supporters

Britain's first 'designer baby' prompts call for law change
Eight more British families are to sidestep the law by following the example of a couple who travelled to America to use selective embryo screening to create a so-called "designer baby" to help save the life of their first child.

Child support faces overhaul
In a public hearing Thursday, the Supreme Court will take comments from parents, lawyers and county court officials on the most dramatic child support proposal in more than 15 years. The revisions would apply to 70,000 new divorce cases flooding state courts every year, not to mention many of the 837,364 active court orders affecting the parenting duties of divorced fathers and mothers.

Evidence in 31 rapes untested for months
Miami police sent only nine of 40 rape kits to the county crime lab this year for critical DNA analysis -- a lapse top commanders are scrambling to correct.

DCF Steps Up Child Removals
State investigators are asking courts to remove children from their homes at skyrocketing rates following the highly publicized beating death of a 10-month-old Hartford boy last month.

Child advocates fear it is the start of a foster care panic that may be doing the children more harm than good.

Girl's lemonade stand back in business
Media from all over the United States have swarmed to now-famous Avigayil Wardein — a brown-haired, 6-year-old who just lost two front baby teeth.
Naples police busted Avigayil on June 13 for selling lemonade without a city permit. The story filtered through the news wires and quickly became a topic on CNN, MSNBC and Fox news networks, as well as the "Today" show and "Inside Edition."

Studies shatter myth about abuse
It is not just men who hit women. Women hit men, too. And the latest research shows that ignoring the role women play in domestic violence does both women and men a disservice.

U.S. upholds affirmative action
Giving preference to students on the basis of race is justified as long as the aim is diversity and the admissions process does not automatically favour a minority applicant, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday in a pair of split decisions that reflect a sharply divided court and a nation still struggling with its racial fault line.

Public libraries must block Internet porn
The Supreme Court yesterday rejected claims of censorship and upheld a federal law that requires federally funded libraries to block Internet pornography sites from children by equipping its computers with filtering software.

Crucial Line Between Public, Private Discrimination Missing from Law
Sometime this month the Supreme Court will tell us whether the University of Michigan's preferential admissions policies, known commonly as "affirmative action," are permitted by the Constitution's promise of equal protection under law. The basic principles at issue reach far beyond academic admissions, of course. Here's a brief look at them, and a look too at how we got into this discrimination quagmire, all the while claiming we were fighting discrimination.

Kids lose as dads fear to coach
The stigma of pedophilia is deterring parents from acting as role models in children's sport, writes Miranda Devine.

Catholic Presses Women's Claim on Priesthood
As the Catholic Church struggles with its sex-abuse scandal, German theologian Ida Raming--who received what authorities called an illicit ordination last year--calls her excommunication fraudulent and presses the cause of women in the priesthood.

Female Leaders Hail Affirmative Action Ruling
Women's-rights activists celebrated the Supreme Court's decision on affirmative action. They said the principle upheld Monday was still necessary to confront the "occupational segregation" of women. Also, a High Court ruling Thursday bars anti-sodomy laws

Volunteer Drivers Hold Keys to Abortion Access
As access to abortion declines for women across the country, a network of volunteer drivers in Georgia represents a growing trend among choice advocates to personally transport and accompany women to clinics.

At Graduation, Dad Recalls Lessons from Daughter
After his daughter's graduation, a father looks back on how she helped him find an inner well of tenderness. He also looks around at other fathers his age and sees many who are more nurturing than fathers a generation ago.

More Health Risks from Hormone Replacement Reported
Of the estimated 3 million women who take combined hormone therapy, about 120,000 of them may have abnormal mammograms solely due to their hormone treatment, reports a new study done by the Women's Health Initiative just published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Black Women Mental-Health Needs Unmet
Sixty percent of African American women suffer from depression, but few seek professional help because of the communal stigma and because there are few providers specializing in African American issues. Now, new mental health initiatives are reaching out

Spain Tries to Deter Parent Kidnappers
Spain passes a new law that makes parental kidnapping a crime. The offence is occurring more and more as Spanish society grows ethnically richer.