grrrly news 03/14

Justice Dept. Drops Abortion Record Hunt
The Justice Department is dropping its effort to subpoena abortion records from six Planned Parenthood affiliates as part of the government's defense of a new law barring certain late-term abortions, officials said Tuesday.
Government lawyers said they were forced to withdraw the subpoenas because of U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton's ruling in San Francisco last week that the records could not be introduced in a trial of a challenge to the law brought by Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

Gender test ordered in divorce case
Her driver's license indicates she's a man, but Linda Gail Carter insists she's a woman.
On Tuesday, a judge ordered Carter to undergo genetic testing to determine her true sex as part of her lawsuit to dissolve her marriage to another woman.
Following a request by Carter's wife, Constance D. Gonzales, state Family Court Judge Lisa Millard ordered the testing and placed a gag order in the case.

Planned Parenthood Cited in RU-486 Death Investigation
A state of California investigation into the death of Holly Patterson found that Planned Parenthood Golden Gate of Hayward failed to report the death to the state Department of Health. The report by the California Department of Health Services said the center that prescribed the drug didn't obtain the 18-year-old's signature on one of three forms required by the clinic and didn't give her full information and education on how to administer the drug

Study: Use of Girl Soldiers on the Rise
Girl soldiers have been members of fighting forces on a larger scale than previously thought - taking part in conflicts in 38 nations since 1990, said a study released Wednesday.
Girls under 18 have served in the armies of governments as well as rebel and paramilitary units, the study funded by the Canadian government said.
The U.N. Children's Fund estimates that there are about 300,000 child soldiers worldwide. "Based on our work, a conservative estimate would be about a third are girls, and in some cases it's 50 percent," said Dyan Mazurana, the study's co-author.

Girls, boys may soon be able to learn separately
Public schools are about to get broad new freedom to teach boys and girls separately, perhaps the biggest shakeup to coed classrooms in three decades.
The Education Department plans to change its enforcement of Title IX, the landmark antidiscrimination law, to make it easier for districts to create single-sex classes and schools, officials said Wednesday. The move would give local school leaders discretion to expand choices for parents, whether that means a math class, a grade level or an entire school designed for one gender

N.Y. Gay-Marriage Mayor Charged With 19 Counts
The village's mayor was charged Tuesday with 19 criminal counts for performing weddings for gay couples, an act of defiance that thrust the small community into the national debate over same-sex marriage.

Girl Scouts Boycotted Over Planned Parenthood
Some families are boycotting Thin Mints and Do-Si-Dos and other Girl Scout cookies. Troop 7527 is down to just two members after the other girls were withdrawn by their parents. And Brownie Troop 7087 is no more.

Gay marriage momentum stuns both backers and foes
Same-sex marriage -- considered so radical that mainstream gay rights leaders feared its emergence in an election year -- has gained a level of visibility that even its most ardent proponents did not imagine just two months ago.
Whether intentional or not, President Bush's pledge in his State of the Union address in late January to defend traditional marriage touched off a reaction that began in San Francisco and now is rippling across the country.

LA Times says opera 'pro-life' not 'anti-abortion'

This might not end 'til the plus-sized lady sings.
A Los Angeles Times music critic who wrote that a Richard Strauss opera was "pro-life" -- meaning a celebration of life -- was stunned to pick up the paper and find his review changed by a literal-minded copy editor to read "anti-abortion."

Sanctions to shut down pro-life law firm
A California appeals court yesterday upheld a move by Planned Parenthood attorneys to collect an estimated $100,000 from a non-profit law firm known for its many legal challenges against the nation's leading abortion provider

Jensen-inspired bills are scaled back

Several bills buoyed by the Parker Jensen case, which entered the legislative session as reforms to the state's child welfare system, were watered down Wednesday as legislators pushed them through in the waning hours of the 2004 session.
The bills were among a flurry proposed after the state tried to force the parents of then 12-year-old Parker Jensen to treat his cancer with chemotherapy, a treatment the Sandy couple disputed. The state backed down after Daren, Barbara and Parker Jensen refused to follow doctors' recommendations, but the case set off a movement to protect parents and children from state intervention.

Children's services shake-up biggest in 30 years
The government published a bill yesterday to introduce the biggest reform of children's services for 30 years, but was unable to say whether enough money would be available to make the changes work.
Margaret Hodge, the children's minister, launched the bill at a conference of the charity 4Children which called for £3.5bn in extra public spending on childcare and family support

Sperm donor clinic for lesbians
controversial fertility clinic, which will focus on helping lesbian couples and single women to become pregnant using donated sperm, is to set up in Britain.
In a direct challenge to moral conservatives and fertility regulators, the businessman behind two websites offering sperm and human eggs is taking over an existing clinic in Bristol, which will be renamed the Man Not Included New Life Centre

UN warns HIV infections soaring among Asian women

HIV infection rates among Asian women are soaring and being married is one of the biggest risk factors as many women are contracting the disease from their husbands, the United Nations said.
UNAIDS deputy executive director Kathleen Cravero said women's infection rates in the region had jumped 10 percent in the past two years and would likely soon match that of men if governments failed to take action.

Women forced to have abortions?
According to RPI, William P. Egherman, who has performed more than 10,000 abortions and been addicted to alcohol and opiates, began the procedure by attempting to dilate the woman's cervix.
But the woman had a change of heart.
"My God, you're hurting me" the woman began to scream. "You're killing me, I'll never be able to have babies. ... Stop!"

40m bachelors and no women ... the birth of a new problem for China
China, the most populous nation on Earth, could find itself dealing with the combined frustrations of as many as 40 million single men by 2020 because its one-child policy is creating a shortage of female babies

Files of Roe V. Wade Author to Be Unsealed
The public gets a behind-the-scenes view into the private Supreme Court this week with release of the personal files of the late Harry A. Blackmun, the justice who authored the 1973 decision that legalized abortion.
Blackmun's paper legacy, filling more than 1,500 boxes, will be unsealed Thursday on the fifth anniversary of his death.

Court Upholds Sixth Amendment Rights
The Constitution guarantees a criminal defendant may confront his accusers, and that right means prosecutors can't use a wife's taped statement to police to try to undermine her husband at trial, the Supreme Court ruled Monday

High court spurns appeal by Scouts
The Supreme Court yesterday refused to hear the Boy Scouts of America's appeal of a lower court ruling barring the organization from sharing in the proceeds of a Connecticut-run charity because of the Scouts' ban against homosexuals.
In July 2003, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Connecticut state Comptroller Nancy Wyman acted properly when she prohibited the Boy Scouts from a state workplace charitable campaign because it excludes homosexuals from membership and employment opportunities.

Bush's gay marriage stand not to be big vote grabber
Remember when conservatives used to be against tampering with the Constitution?

Remember when they used to go on and on about how we shouldn't resolve political battles by amending the Constitution, and how the Founding Fathers made it difficult to do on purpose?

That was when the issue was the Equal Rights Amendment. They defeated that./i>

Smacking adults

For years, I have been collecting head-shaking stories - such as the one of a Colorado mother who was supposed to understand when her six-year-old son was suspended for giving a classmate candy, because school officials concluded that 'a child who brings candy to school is comparable to a teen that takes a gun to school'. And the story of a Canadian student who was charged with assault after his water-filled balloon accidentally hit a teacher.

These stories hint at the serious issue of violence, but they aren't about violence. The candy was a gift; the balloon was a prank. These incidents should be the stuff of laughter, shrugs or disapproving looks.

Isolation Awaits French Girls in Headscarves
The French law banning headscarves and other visible religious symbols takes effect next September. But for some female Muslim teens who choose to wear the scarf, school is becoming such a zone of harassment that they are staying home

U.S. Isolated on International Women's Health
At a U.N. conference on Latin America last week, the U.S. tried to weaken support for an international agreement that puts women at the center of development methods. Instead, the U.S. was left isolated as delegates strengthened their support

Iraq's Shiite Mosques Reach out to Women
Women's religious education classes in Shiite mosques are gaining momentum and new students in Iraq. But activists there question whether newfound Shiite freedoms in the country will serve to empower women.

U.N. Confers on Protecting Women from War's Toll
As the 48th annual meeting of the U.N. Conference on the Status of Women winds down, participants are dismayed by the weak implementation of a 2000 resolution calling for special protection to women and children in conflict.

A Mother's Place Is in the Women's Movement
In observance of Women's History month, Elizabeth Bauchner looks at how early feminism spearheaded social reforms, but left women in the home. The second wave focused on the work force. Now, she says, it's high time to fight for mothers' rights

Scorecard on Bush Finds Rhetoric Gap
As women's rights groups observe International Women's Day today, a quarterly scorecard on the Bush administration's international gender-linked polices gives low marks to the U.S. government in the areas of HIV/AIDS and Afghanistan.

Women Sharpen Views on Social Security
With women having the most to win or lose from changes in Social Security, legal experts and other activists are sharpening their arguments about a major issue in the presidential campaign

Air Force Seeks Rape Info; Senate Drops Child Care
Air Force General William Begert initiated a five-month investigation into the military's system of dealing with sexual assault and has revealed information forcing the military to reform its methods.
The Denver Post reported that Begert has ordered improved training for crisis intervention among Air Force staffers and vigilant coordination between victim liaisons and law enforcement upon finding that many accused rapists in the military have not been legally punished
The U.S. Senate Budget Committee's proposed budget resolution for the Fiscal Year of 2005, includes no increases for child care and Medicaid, the health insurance for millions of families with low incomes.
The National Women's Law Center reported that this is the third year that the Senate budget failed to include increases in the Child Care and Development Block Grant that provides funding assistance for low income adults who require child care to work. The neglected Medicaid budget will affect the nation's low income heads of households who are already excluded from many health care programs.

Hardware stores attract women
Sheila Miller grips the black rubber handle of a circular saw, struggling to drive the blade through a tough piece of laminated wood flooring. Cheered on by her two daughters and three dozen women attending a Home Depot Do-It-Herself workshop, Miller finishes the job and shakily turns over the saw to Wendy Tijerina, the manager of the flooring department.
"I just moved into a new house, and there's a lot of things to be done," Miller, 42, said, noting that she had already completed some of the easier home-improvement tasks.

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