Women News Feb 9 2010

Jane: The U.S. Department of Defense announced that the emergency contraceptive Plan B will now be available at all military health clinics and hospitals around the world.According to NARAL, this decision will affect more than 350,000 women.

Joan: Last week we reported on an ad that CBS planned to show at the Superbowl produced by Focus on the Family and featuring Tim Tebow and his mother. Tonight we would like to play for you a response to by former college and professional football player Sean James and Olympic gold medalist Al Joyner. 1 minute, 7 seconds
The ad can be listened to on the Planned Parenthood website.

Jane: The proposed Obama budget would exempt some programs for women and girls from spending restrictions proposed for many other domestic programs According to McClatchy from the Kansas Star, the document -- "Opportunity and Progress for Women and Girls" 15 federal programs that benefit women and girls and would receive 2011 funding increases.." The budget proposal would increase funding for family planning efforts, food aid for low-income pregnant women, infants and children up to age five, for Head Start meals, child care and funding for domestic violence survivors for a total of $535 million. In addition, six programs are broader initiatives that would also benefit men and boys, such as a 1.4% pay increase requested for the U.S. military.

Joan: Last Wednesday, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said that he will sign a decree denying French nationality to a man who acknowledged forcing his French wife to wear a burqa-style veil over her face, declaring that the man had rejected France's core national values of secularism and gender equality. President Sarkozy called the veils degrading to women and unwelcome in France.  It is believed that only several thousand women in France wear the burqa. The move to ban the burqa has drawn fierce criticism from some of France's five million Muslims, who say such restrictions are based in fear and intolerance of Islam.

Jane: According to Reuters, Bishop Michel Santier, warned that if Paris passed a law, banning the full burqa, "the result could be the opposite of what is desired and lead to a reaction that increases the number of women wearing this garment". He continued, "If we want Christian minorities in Muslim majority countries to enjoy all their rights, we should in our country respect the rights of all believers to practice their faith.

The Vatican has long pointed to the rights of Muslim minorities in Western countries when pressing Muslim countries to allow more religious freedoms for Christian minorities there.

French Jewish leaders have also expressed concern about a veil ban.

Joan: According to a report by California Watch, the mortality rate of California women who die from causes directly related to pregnancy has nearly tripled in the past decade, making it more dangerous to give birth in California than in Kuwait or Bosnia.

Fearing that the problem may be occurring nationwide, the Joint Commission, the leading health care accreditation and standards group in the United States, issued a “Sentinel Event Alert” to hospitals on Jan. 26, stating: “Unfortunately, current trends and evidence suggest that maternal mortality rates may be increasing in the U.S.” The alert asked doctors to consider morbid obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes, along with hemorrhaging from C-sections, as contributing factors.

Dr. Jeffrey C. King, who led a special inquiry into maternal mortality for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, believes the decline resulted from a better counting of deaths. To confirm this, Shabbir Ahmad, a scientist in California’s Department of Public Health, organized academics, state researchers and hospitals to conduct a systematic review of every maternal death in California. The group’s initial findings provide that there is a true increase in deaths – not just the number of reported deaths.

There are many factors such as poverty and obesity that are contributing to the rise in deaths, but the researchers in California are most interested in the areas where they have control, such as the high C-section birth rate. Nearly one in three babies is now born by C-section.

Jane: According to a letter to the editor in the Herald Tribune on Sunday, Adrienne Rossi, was told by a female manager in a Lakewood Ranch restaurant that public breastfeeding is “illegal” and “indecent” and that she must cover herself. She quotes the manager as saying, “In this country it is indecent to be naked in a restaurant.”

As a recent resident to Florida, Rossi questioned whether breastfeeding was in fact illegal. She researched the law and discovered that breastfeeding in public is not against the law and that Florida Statutes allows a mother to breastfeed in any public or private location. Other statutes exclude breastfeeding from various sexual offenses, such as lewdness, indecent exposure and sexual conduct.

She concludes, "In 2010 I cannot believe that anyone would be uncomfortable or offended by a mother practicing the most natural form of nourishment and love. Is a mother breastfeeding her child really the equivalent of someone sitting in her restaurant naked?"

Joan: A report released by the Institute for Women's Policy Research shows that federally funded training may reinforce sex segregation and the gender wage gap. The Briefing Paper found that: Women on average earn $1500 to $2000 less per quarter than men after federally funded career counseling or training. After completing services, women earn 79.5 percent of what men earn among adult participants and 74.1 percent of what men can earn among dislocated workers.

The wage gap is not due to less training: on average women received more weeks of WIA-funded training than men. Fewer than 3 percent of WIA participants received training for non-traditional occupations where the opposite sex accounts for at least 75 percent of workers.

The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) is likely to come up for reauthorization this Congress. WIA includes 'self-sufficiency' as a stated objective of training services. The report concludes that unless greater attention is paid to the causes of the gender earnings gap after WIA services, that goal will remain elusive for many women and their families.

Jane: Beyoncé made history at the Grammy's by collecting six trophies, including song of the year for her anthem "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)." In 2004, Beyoncé, won five Grammy's and is mow the first to reach that mark twice. For a complete list of Grammy winners, go www.grammys.org

Joan: United Nations agencies are targeting their relief efforts at Haitian women since 45 percent of Haitian households are headed by women. Roberta Clarke, regional program director for the United Nations Development Fund for Women, or UNIFEM said, "They are the ones who are the economic as well as the psychological mainstay of children and other dependents, the aged and the sick."

The World Food Program, or WFP, has developed women-only centers for food distribution in Haiti. WFP spokesman Marcus Prior said Saturday that 10,000 women a day will be given 55-pound bags of rice at 16 WFP distribution points around the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince. The women can bring family members along to help them carry the rice, but only the women will receive the bags.

Jane: Great News! Costa Rica elected its first female president. Laura Chinchilla, from the National Liberation Party won with close to 46.8% of the vote.

Women News, Feb 2, 2009

Jane:  Over 30 U.S. women's advocacy groups are urging television broadcaster CBS not to air an ad sponsored by the  conservative Christian group  Focus on the Family, during the Super Bowl football championship final because they say it has a strident anti-abortion rights message. This 30-second spot features Florida college football star Tim Tebow and his mother Pam. It costs about $3 million and reportedly has been paid for by "very generous and committed friends" of Focus on the Family and not by the ministry's general fund.

Women's Media Center's objection was written in a letter to CBS. It said, the ad "uses one family's story to dictate morality to the American public, and encourages young women to disregard medical advice, putting their lives at risk."

Joan: Of course, this ad is anti-abortion and not necessarily anti-choice, but it might as well be anti-choice because that is what people are likely to hear. Sarah Palin Defends the Anti-abortion Ad. On Facebook  she urges CBS to " just do the right thing. Don’t cave. Have the backbone to run the ad." She berated women’s groups who were "inexplicably offended" by the ad for their "double standard" and noting that groups like NOW are getting themselves into "a ridiculous situation."

Jane, Palin seems to forget that her daughter and Ms Tebow were allowed to make the choices they did. She fails to value other women’s judgment about their reproductive welfare as much as her own. And that choice is essential.

Jane: While President Obama focused mainly on job creation during his State of the Union Address on Wednesday, he insisted that he would not give up on passing health reform legislation. He told Congress, "Do not walk away from reform. Not now. Not when we are so close," adding, "Let us find a way to come together and finish the job for the American people"

Joan: Abortion-rights advocates fear that the Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling that declared unconstitutional a law barring corporations from involvement in federal elections shows a willingness by conservative justices to overturn longstanding precedents. They fear this might signal openness for upending the 37-year-old Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.

Nancy Northup of the Center for Reproductive Rights said that the court "exhibited a stunning disregard for settled law of decades' standing" and that the decision is "terrifying to those of us who care deeply about the constitutional protections the court put in place for women's access to abortion." She added, "We are deeply concerned [that their] decision shows the court will reach out to take an opportunity to wholesale reverse a precedent the hard right has never liked." But there was an optimistic note in a recent article by Linda Greenhouse, the long time Supreme Court reporter for the New York Times. She wrote about the possibility of Roe v. Wade being overturned. She stated that while she is certain four of the justices wouldn't hesitate to do it, to get that fifth vote for a majority, Justice Kennedy would have to renounce his own statements in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the 1992 decision which reaffirmed the right to abortion and she says there are few things a justice dislikes more than repudiating his own prior vote. But certainly it is a serious worry.

Jane: NARAL Co-founder Ruth Proskauer Smith died Friday at age 102. Smith began her work in the reproductive rights field as a field worker for the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts in the 1940s. In her career she held high positions with several national reproductive rights organizations, including being a founding member of the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws in 1969. The group changed its name to the National Abortion Rights Action League after the Supreme Court ruled on Roe v. Wade in 1973 and adopted its current name in 2003.

Joan: A study by the University at Albany-SUNY's Center for Women in Government and Civil Society found that women currently make up 22% of all federal judges and 26% of state-level judges. Women’s share of the federal bench is at 10% or less in eight states – and nearly non-existent in Montana and New Hampshire. As for state judges, eight states have hit the one-third women mark, but 13 are below 20%. Two states - New Jersey and Connecticut - have achieved a "critical mass" of 33% women among the state's federal judgeships. The 33% threshold says center director Dina Refki is “important because it is the point where women become a critical mass and where their number is large enough to induce change in the normative conception of leadership.”

The report says that the disparity cannot be attributed to a lack of qualified women. According to the American Bar Association, women comprise 48% of law school graduates and 45% of law firm associates. Instead, the report blames a lack of opportunity and access.

Jane: Last Thursday at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., Sandra Day O'Connor, the first US female Supreme Court justice and Elena Kagan, its first female U.S. solicitor general discussed "Women Advocates of the Supreme Court Bar." Justice O'Connor said women are still underrepresented as Supreme Court law clerks -- 11 out of 38 this term. Kagan said that when women are being confirmed for office, there are a set of questions that are different from those asked males. When asked how to deal with the "boy's club" in some legal circles, O'Connor shrugged and said, "Put on the best show." Kagan's answer: "Women's clubs."

Joan: The Gynecologic Cancer Foundation stated Friday that a significant number of young women do not understand the importance of cervical cancer screening. 85 percent of survey respondents said they did not believe they are currently at risk for cervical cancer. Two-thirds of the women did not think they were at risk for the HPV infection, even though 60 to 80 percent of women in this age group are infected with HPV.

"The sheer magnitude of the lack of knowledge was surprising," said Linda Miller, the foundation's cervical cancer campaign specialist. "Lately there has been a lot of discussion about HPV among young women in this age group. We were amazed by the inadequate amount of information out there."

The consequences of not undergoing regular checkups can be serious. Of the women diagnosed with cervical cancer, 50 to 60 percent of them never had a Pap test, according to the Atlanta-based American Cancer Society. About 10 percent had not had a Pap test within the past five years.

Jane: In a recent speech before the staff of the U.S. Department of Labor, First Lady Michelle Obama emphasized the administration’s support for the Healthy Families Act and other work/family policies. The First Lady referred to her own challenges as a working mother and reiterated that workers “shouldn’t have to choose” between taking care of their families and keeping their jobs.

Joan: The proposed Senate health reform bill, in the name of “workplace wellness” creates a loophole that would allow employers and insurance companies to discriminate based on pre-existing conditions. How? First, according to an article in the National Partnership for Women and Families, employers though these loopholes "could raise everyone’s insurance premium and then give a “reduction” to those who meet certain health targets and call it a reward. Those who can’t meet the health targets — for whatever reason — get charged more than their healthier co-workers.

Second, current law says a reward or penalty to an employee under these programs cannot exceed 20 percent of the cost of their health plan.  The Senate bill ups the ante and could eventually allow employers to charge an employee up to 50 percent of their health plan. With the cost of insurance soaring – an average family policy could cost $20,000 by 2016. This means people could be charged as much as $10,000 more for their insurance than their co-workers, simply because they have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or weigh more than they should.   If this sounds like discrimination based on health status, that’s because it is!"

Jane: In a study published last Tuesday in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives a common flame-retardant chemicals called polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDE, appear to be linked to reduced fertility in women. The study found that for each tenfold increase in the blood concentration of PDBEs, there was a 30% drop in the likelihood of becoming pregnant each month.

Earlier studies suggest that 97% of U.S. residents have detectable levels of PBDEs in their blood. In 2008, a  study linked PBDEs with disrupted thyroid levels in men, and a study published this month linked exposure during pregnancy to neurodevelopmental delays in children. Hugh Taylor, an expert on endocrine-disrupting chemicals at Yale University, noted that the studies are association studies and do not prove cause and effect. "But we have cause-and-effect studies in animals, and we have association studies in humans," he said, adding, "I think that is fairly convincing."

These chemicals, which have been used for more than four decades, are found in foam furniture, electronics, fabrics, carpets and plastics. Although use of PBDEs is being phased out in the U.S, the chemicals are still found in household products manufactured before 2004, according to the Times.

Kim Harley, lead author of the new study and associate director of the Center for Children's Environmental Health Research at the UC-Berkeley School of Public Health, said more research is needed to determine how PBDEs relate to fertility. "One of the strongest associations of PBDEs is with thyroid hormone," which appears to play a role in fertility, she said, adding that "PBDEs also seem to mimic estrogen" (Roan, Los Angeles Times, 1/27).

Joan: According to a systematic review published last week by the Cochrane Collaboration there is no evidence to support the widespread practice of not allowing women in labor to eat or drink. The practice came about to prevent Mendelson's syndrome that can occur if the contents of the woman's stomach are drawn into the lungs while she is under general anesthesia, which can be fatal. Joan Tranmer, associate professor of nursing at Queen's University in Ontario and author of the review, said, "With improved anesthetic techniques, we don't do general anesthesia a lot anymore," adding that even when anesthesia is necessary, the techniques have improved, making the risk for Mendelson's "very, very low."

Women News Jan 19, 2010

Jane: Last Friday, education officials determined that Noble High School in North Berwick, Maine, can receive federal funds to pay for contraceptives and the screening of sexually transmitted infections even though the facility does not offer emergency contraception.

Last October, the district school board overseeing Noble High School approved a package of reproductive services for the school’s health center but did not approve any funding for the program. The health center has secured $18,000 in state funding and also is seeking federal money. The center now must submit an application for the Title X funds. Noble High School is the 10th high school in Maine and one of about 500 nationwide to offer reproductive services.

Joan: Wait 'til you hear this one:  Last Tuesday, the First District Court of Appeals in Tallahassee, FL heard arguments in the case of Samantha Burton, who was confined to her bed by a judge last March because she was at risk for a miscarriage.

At the 25th week of pregnancy, Burton started showing signs of miscarrying. Her doctor advised her to go on bed rest, possibly for as long as 15 weeks. She told him that she had two toddlers to care for and a job to keep. She planned on getting a second opinion, but the doctor alerted the state, which then asked the Circuit Court of Leon County to step in.
The court ordered Burton to stay in bed at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital and to undergo “any and all medical treatments” her doctor, acting in the interests of the fetus, decided were necessary. Burton asked to switch hospitals and the request was denied by the court, with the statement that “such a change is not in the child’s best interest at this time.” After three days of hospitalization, Burton had to undergo an emergency C-section and the fetus was found dead.

Burton’s attorney, David H. Abrams, with help from the A.C.L.U. argued that the original decision unlawfully expanded the court’s right “to order medical treatment for a child over a parent’s” objections and applied it to an unborn fetus. The lower court based its decision on the fact that medical intervention is justified in “extraordinary” circumstances. The A.C.L.U. responded that the circumstances Burton found herself in were very ordinary. “It is hard to imagine anything more commonplace than the inability of a mother of two to remain on continuous bed rest which Burton was also ordered to do.

Dahlia Ward, state strategist for the A.C.L.U.’s Reproductive Freedom Project, wrote "Allowing the government to make medical decisions for pregnant women means that literally every decision and every activity a pregnant woman engages in could be regulated by the state." This raises a few questions in my mind, besides the one of calling the unborn fetus a child: didn't the court essentially jail the pregnant woman? And what ever happened to doctor-patient confidentiality? On what grounds did the doctor tell anyone about his patient's condition without her permission? I am so outraged I even struggle with the clear-headed thinking of the attorneys. But clear headed legal arguments are a good thing!

Jane: We have some report cards for the Obama administration: Common Cause, Democracy 21, the League of Women Voters, and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) for the first time issued a report card that gave the administration "A" grades for its restrictions on hiring of lobbyists known as revolving door lobbyists and for  its efforts towards open government, and "B" grades for its lobbyist gift ban, rules restricting lobbyists from serving on advisory boards, and the restrictions on seeking stimulus funds. The groups said the Obama administration's rules "have begun the difficult process of changing the way business is done in Washington," and said the administration deserves both recognition and praise. The groups go on to say that the administration still has to pursue campaign finance reform in order to bring about meaningful change."

Joan: The National Journal examined President Obama's track record on abortion rights in his first year of office and gave him a 33% completion rating for progress on abortion-rights issues. The article notes, that Obama's presidency "has not been without victories for abortion-rights advocates." Obama lifted the "global gag rule" -- which banned federal funding to international family planning groups that offer abortion services or information with non-U.S. funds. He also took steps to repeal the regulation expanding "conscience clauses." In addition, Obama proposed to reduce funding for abstinence-only sex education programs and replace it with a proposal to create a new office to provide evidence-based teenage pregnancy prevention services -- policy changes reflected in the FY 2010 appropriations bill. Obama also raised funding levels for family planning programs and the United Nations Population Fund, and approved the use of city funds for abortion in Washington, D.C. (Poulson, National Journal, 1/11).

Jane: On Jan 8th, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced the US's renewed commitment to ensuring that women worldwide have access to safe and effective reproductive health care.

Joan: Meanwhile, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on Monday said materials opposing the Senate's language on abortion coverage had been sent to parishes nationwide for insertion into church bulletins. The materials urge parishioners to contact their representatives. In addition, Knights of Columbus leader Carl Anderson on Jan. 5 sent a letter to state chapter directors asking them to urge their members to contact Congress. Anderson wrote, "We must prevent this health care legislation from becoming the largest expansion of abortion in our country since Roe v. Wade."

Jane: Last Friday, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R), said that he would fight for "pro-life" legislation if elected to the U.S. Senate, marking a conservative shift from a more moderate stance on the issue. According to the campaign release, Crist now describes himself as a "solid conservative". As a candidate for governor in 2006, Crist said he would "prefer not to change law” but ”would rather change hearts on abortion rights. For this reason, Alex Burgo, spokesperson for Rubio said, "Crist's conservative makeover attempt isn't fooling anyone, especially not pro-life Republicans who are well aware of his pro-choice record, support for maintaining Roe v. Wade and opposition to mandatory waiting periods for abortions" (Farrington, AP/Washington Times, 1/9).

Joan: Last week Nevada Judge James Russell threw out the proposed "Personhood" ballot initiative because the language was too broad and the measure violated a state law that limits ballot questions to one subject, according to an AP/ report in the San Jose Mercury News . The proposed ballot language was filed in October 2009 and challenged by three plaintiffs represented by lawyers for Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the American Civil Liberties Union. According to Lee Rowland, an attorney for ACLU of Nevada, the 14-word addition to the state constitution would have a huge impact on state laws related to issues such as abortion rights, contraception and infertility treatments.

Michael Brooks, a lawyer for the Nevada personhood movement, said that the organization plans to appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court.

Jane: According to Women's Enews, immigrant women far outnumber men in English as a Second Language classes across the states. One big reason is so they will be able to help their school-age children. Another reason is to have better job access.

Joan: According to an article by Kristin Tillotson in the Star Tribune, more older women are coming out as lesbians as they find being gay gains more acceptance in the culture at large. According to census-data analysis from UCLA's Williams Institute 36 percent of women in their 40s with same-sex partners previously had been married to men. That percentage grew to more than half for lesbians in their 50s, and 75 percent for those 60 and older.

Jane: According to the Boston Globe, the Northeastern University and University of New Hampshire hockey teams make hockey history, playing the first outdoor women’s college game at Fenway Park on a rink situated on the infield of the historic baseball park, in front of a full house of 38,000-plus fans and on television.

Joan: Last Tuesday, Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) announced that he would support the nomination of law professor Dawn Johnsen to head of the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel, which could clear her long-stalled confirmation, the Washington Post reports. President Obama resubmit her nomination after the Senate failed to approve her before the expiration date last year. Specter initially did not support Johnsen when her confirmation came before the Senate Judiciary Committee, but he said in a statement Tuesday that he decided to back her after the two held a "second extensive meeting," Politico reports.

Jane: The American Radio Relay League, the largest organization of radio amateurs in the United States, elected its 15th and first female president, Kay Craigie, N3KN, of Blacksburg, Virginia.

Women News, Jan 10, 2010

Jane: Let's start off with some good news! Last Tuesday, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson signed an executive order directing agencies under his control to report annually and remedy any gender pay gaps among their workers, as well as establish a firm schedule and process for private contractors with the state to do the same. This directive begins July 1, and affects vendors and contractors of 10 or more.

“Eliminating the pay gap that all too often prevails between men and women is a top priority of mine,” Richardson said in the press release. “Our actions can serve as a national model. This is an important economic justice and civil rights issue and common sense requires it.”

Joan: Sadly, Mary Daly, a leader in feminist theology, died at 81 last Wednesday. Ms Daly, hailed as a central figure in 20th century feminism (Robin Morgan) was among the first American women to train as a Roman Catholic theologian. In 1968 she published “The Church and the Second Sex” (Harper & Row), in which she argued that the Catholic Church had systematically oppressed women for centuries. Her next book, “Beyond God the Father: Toward a Philosophy of Women’s Liberation” (Beacon, 1973), explored misogyny in religion in general.

Jane: Last Thursday, the New Jersery state Senate rejected a same-sex marriage bill/ The 20-14 vote defeating the measure followed an hour and a half of public debate inside the packed Senate chamber

Joan: Friday, President Obama announce his re-nomination of Dawn Johnsen as his choice for the head of the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel. Though Johnsen was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee in March 2009, the full Senate never voted on her nomination, in part because of criticism from the GOP.

Marge Baker, executive vice president of People for the American Way, said, "President Obama made an excellent choice in Professor Johnsen to lead the OLC."

Obama also re-nominated Louis Butler and Edward Chen, two choices for U.S. district court judgeships (CQ Today, 1/7).

Jane: Friday, Sen. Vince Illuzzi (R), introduced a ‘fetal homicide’ bill in the Vermont Legislature that would establish stiff penalties for the death of a fetus caused by a car accident. The bill is a response to the death of Patricia Blair’s twin fetuses, which were killed in a car accident in August 2009. Vermont does not currently have laws relating to the demise of the fetuses because a fetus is not considered a person under Vermont law.

Critics of the legislation are concerned that it could reopen a debate over abortion rights in Vermont. The American Civil Liberties Union called the legislation is a "slippery slope." State Rep. Rachel Weston (D) said, "Violent crimes against pregnant women are a real problem, but I don't think fetal personhood put forth in this bill is the answer," adding, "There can be unintended consequences both for women's health and fetal health" (WPTZ, 1/6).

Joan: Last week, the Washington Post reported on a controversy over vaginal delivery of breech fetus (bottom down position) versus a C-Section delivery. The Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada have adopted guidelines approving of the vaginal method, in certain cases while the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists opposes vaginal delivery in breech cases. The Americans believe a vaginal deliver has dangers for the infant if delivered incorrectly. In France and Belgium, vaginal breech deliveries are "a common practice."

As the debate continues among experts, the "reality is that few doctors who graduated in the last decade have the skills to deliver a breech baby naturally," according to the Post. In the U.S. medical students rarely perform this procedure though might practice with computer simulations, there are few situations in which residents. Meanwhile, the The Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada has issued a call to older physicians with experience delivering breech infants vaginally to train younger doctors on the skill. (Sutherland, Washington Post, 1/5).

Jane: Here is another controversy, this one regarding mammograms. Last week, the Journal of the American College of Radiology, published guidelines stating that women with an average risk of breast cancer should begin regular mammograms at age 40 and that those with an elevated risk should begin screenings at age 30. These guidelines differ from recommendations released last year by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, which said that women with an average risk should begin screenings at age 50 because the benefits of earlier testing do not outweigh potential harms, such as false positives.

Carol Lee of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, an author of the new guidelines, said, "The significant decrease in breast cancer mortality, which amounts to nearly 30% since 1990, is a major medical success and is due largely to earlier detection of breast cancer through mammography screening."

Joan: Speaking of controversies, this one regards the Senate abortion language. According to The New York Times, the Catholic Health Association, which represents Catholic hospitals nationwide and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, an umbrella group for nuns endorsed the Senate language while the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops staunchly opposes it.

Jane: EMILY's List has a new president, Stephanie Schriock, current chief of staff to Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.). The current president and founder of Emily's List, Ellen Malcolm will continue as chair of the organization's board.

Joan: Friday, Mr. Obama chose a new personal lawyer, Judith Corley to replace Robert Bauer, who began work as the new White House counsel this week. Ms. Corley will represent Mr. Obama in his non-official capacity, both in personal matters and in anything having to do with his political organization, Obama for America.

Jane: Sandra Bullock makes history: Last weekend the 'Blind Side' became the first female-led film to cross $200 million mark at domestic box offices.

Joan: Last Monday, according to the Washington Post, President Obama appointed Amanda Simpson, a transgender woman, to be the Senior Technical Adviser to the Commerce Department. She is the first Presidential appointee who is transgender. Simpson's most recent job was as the Deputy Director in Advanced Technology Development at Raytheon Missile Systems in Arizona.

Jane: A 10-year weight study published in the January issue of The American Journal of Preventive Medicine found evidence that even among childless women, those who live with a mate put on more pounds than those who live without one.

After adjusting for other variables, the 10-year weight gain for an average 140-pound woman was 20 pounds if she had a baby and a partner, 15 if she had a partner but no baby, and only 11 pounds if she was childless with no partner. Notably, there was a steady weight gain among all women over the 10 years of the study.

Interestingly, when the study started women were 18 to 23 years old. By the end of the study, more than half the women had college degrees, about three-quarters had partners and half had had at least one baby, there were fewer smokers and risky drinkers than at the beginning, more women exercised less and a large proportion were without paid employment.

Joan: According to scientists at King’s College London who surveyed more than 900 pairs of British female twins ages 23-83, there is no evidence for the existence of the G-spot — that illusive cluster of internal nerve endings that produce female sexual pleasure. According to Tim Spector, professor of genetic epidemiology, who co-authored the research. “the idea of a G-spot is subjective.”
The quest for the G-spot will not be abandoned. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, which is publishing Burri’s and Spector’s work this week, is planning a debate, with publication of research from the pro and anti G-spot camps.
Meanwhile, David Matlock, a Beverly Hills cosmetic surgeon, is credited with creating an artificial version of the G-spot. In some cases this has resulted in an over-sensitive zone which induces orgasms when, for example, women drive over bumps in the road.

Well, Jane, I thought cell phones were a distraction when driving….

Women News Dec 29, 2009

Jane: Mexico City, this week legalized same sex marriage. David Razu, a legislator from the Social Democratic Party who promoted the law, told Reuters "We are putting an end to segregation and stigmatization of a sector of society, giving access to full marriage rights," The bill must now be signed by the city mayor.

Dennis: Last month Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo said female solders who became pregnant and the male soldier who impregnated her would be punish even, if they were married.

Last Tuesday, four senators sent a letter to Secretary of the Army John McHugh saying that the order was "deeply misguided" and demanded that it immediately be rescinded. "We can think of no greater deterrent to women contemplating a military career than the image of a pregnant woman being severely punished simply for conceiving a child," said the letter, signed by Senators Barbara Boxer, (D-California) , Barbara Mikulski, (D-  Maryland), Jeanne Shaheen, (D-New Hampshire), and Kirsten Gillibrand,  (D-New York).

Groups such as the National Organization of Women (NOW) also condemned Cucolo’s order. In an interview with Truthout, Terry O'Neill, NOW’s president, said it’s "not up to the United States military to determine when and how often women will become pregnant, or determine whether a women carries a pregnancy to term or not."

This week, Gen. Raymond Odierno, the top US commander in Iraq, reversed the order.

Jane: Beatrice "Bea" Hanson, a nonprofit administrator from New York City has been nominated as director of the Office for Victims of Crime at the U.S. Justice Department. She is currently the chief program officer for Safe Horizon, which provides services to more than 350,000 victims of crime or abuse each year, primarily in New York City, according to the group’s Web site

Dennis: This one snuck by us. On November 17, 2009, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops published the directive for Catholic health care "Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services. The 72 directives itemize the services that requires every hospital, nursing home, assisted living center, etc., with a Catholic charter to abide by a set of rules that conform to Catholic doctrine, as promulgated by the Holy See and enforced by its Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

Directive #58 says that everyone who needs a feeding tube to stay alive must have one surgically implanted, and must keep it indefinitely. This directive applies to anyone in a permanent coma from stroke or trauma, in a persistent vegetative state or with advanced dementia, having lost the ability to eat along with other sentient activity. It will apply irrespective of religious faith, stated wishes in an advance directive, or the instructions of the family.

Approximately 30% of Americans receive healthcare or reside in Catholic institutions.

Jane: Last week, President Obama signed into law restriction on arbitration clauses

Most military contractors will no longer be able to enforce mandatory arbitration clauses in their employment contracts under a provision signed into law over the weekend.

Jamie Leigh Jones, a former employee of defense contractor Kellogg Brown & Root, has been a public face for arbitration opponents for more than a year, after she reported being raped by her coworkers in Iraq. KBR and its former owner Haliburton sought to handle her case in arbitration, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit ruled in September that Jones could take some of her claims to court. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) spoke about Jones’ case on the floor of the U.S. Senate in October, and he sponsored the new provision.

Dennis: A Win for Women in Baltimore. On December 4, the Limited Service Pregnancy Centers Disclaimers bill was signed into law in Baltimore City. This is the nation's first enacted law requiring crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) to disclose the limited nature of their services to their clients.

In essence, this bill requires truth in advertising by requiring CPCs to inform their clients if they do not provide or refer for abortion or comprehensive birth control by posting a sign in English and Spanish.
 
Jane: The non-profit, International Women's Health Coalition, issued "Top Ten Wins for Women's Health and Rights", a publication highlighting those achievements. With this list, Dennis and I "hope to both acknowledge and celebrate the positive developments for women that have happened all over the world this year, as well as to emphasize the interconnectedness of global efforts for change."

Though this list highlights positive developments from 2009, it doesn't mean that the work surrounding those issues is "over". As we these celebrate victories surrounding women's rights and health, it's also important to acknowledge when there's still much more work to be done.

10) United Kingdom Upholds Women's Right to Safe Abortion
In October, the UK Department for International Development (DFID) released its updated policy on safe and unsafe abortion, stating that access to safe abortion is both a "right" and "necessary."

Dennis: 9) Sonke Gender Justice Network Challenges Anti-woman Hate Speech in Court
In January, ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema told a group of 150 University students that South African President Jacob Zuma's rape accuser must have enjoyed having sex with him. "When a woman didn't enjoy it, she leaves early in the morning," Zuma said. "Those who had a nice time will wait until the sun comes out, request breakfast and ask for taxi money." As an organization that supports men and boys to act against domestic and sexual violence, Sonke formalized their hate speech complaint against Malema in Equality Court in May.

Jane: 8) Law to Combat the Harmful Practice of Child Marriage Introduced in Yemen
In February, members of the Yemeni national Parliament endorsed a new law to combat the dangerous cultural practice of child marriage. Under the new provision, the minimum age of marriage for both boys and girls was set to 17.

Dennis: 7) Cameroun Ratifies Crucial Women's Rights Protocol
On May 28th Cameroun joined 27 other African countries in ratifying the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, better known as the Maputo Protocol, which calls on countries to eliminate discrimination against women and girls, and uphold their rights to dignity, life, education and training, and health, including reproductive rights.

Jane: 6) Indian Parliament Strikes Down Sex Work Criminalization
In February, the Indian Parliament dropped the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Bill, which would have further stigmatized sex workers by criminalizing the purchase of sexual services.

Dennis 5) Young People Advocate for Their Rights in International Fora
A strong new class of visionary youth activists advocated on behalf of the largest generation of youth ever (over 1.2 billion!) at high-level international conferences.

Jane:4) World Governments Reaffirm Commitment to Sexual and Reproductive Rights
In April 2009, a new UN resolution placed an unprecedented emphasis on human rights, including in regard to sexuality, and included a new commitment to "comprehensive education on sexuality and gender equality," access to male and female condoms, reproductive health services for adolescents, and the importance of sexual and reproductive rights and health to stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Dennis 3) New Bolivian Constitution Guarantees Sexual and Reproductive Rights
The new Constitution specifically entitles men and women to sexual and reproductive rights, and states that life is not defined as "starting at conception," which would have outlawed abortion in the country. Additionally, the strong language of the document enforces the right of women to live free from discrimination, violence, sexual coercion, and emotional abuse.

Jane: 2) U.S. Acts Swiftly for Women's Health and Rights.
Three early actions by the Obama Administration signaled a revitalized U.S. commitment to realizing the sexual and reproductive rights of women and girls worldwide: the repeal of the Global Gag Rule, the restoration of funding to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and the appointing of Hillary Clinton as U.S. Secretary of State (which led to the creation of a new office for Global Women's Issues).

Dennis 1) Activists in India Achieve an Historic Win for Gay Rights; In Nigeria, a Step Forward
At the beginning of July, the High Court of Delhi, India struck down Penal Code 377, overturning a colonial-era law criminalizing consensual gay sex. In March, a similar law banning all expression of homosexuality in Nigeria stalled in the country's lower house of parliament. Both instances represent huge victories for local activists, who have been fighting criminalization among hostile environments for years. But the fight is far from over: New, similar anti-gay legislation is being being proposed in Uganda that would egregiously violate basic human rights if enacted.
In January, ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema told a group of 150 University students that South African President Jacob Zuma's rape accuser must have enjoyed having sex with him. "When a woman didn't enjoy it, she leaves early in the morning," Zuma said. "Those who had a nice time will wait until the sun comes out, request breakfast and ask for taxi money." As an organization that supports men and boys to act against domestic and sexual violence, Sonke formalized their hate speech complaint against Malema in Equality Court in May.

Women News Dec 23, 2009

Jane:  The following analysis of the Senate Health was written by Patricia Murphy, columnist. Changes you should know about:

The Public Option was officially dropped from the Senate bill and was replaced with a plan to create two national or multi-state health insurance exchanges, which will be run by the Office of Personnel Management. Although senators had talked about replacing the public option with an expansion of Medicare for uninsured Americans over 55, objections from Joe Lieberman, Ben Nelson and other Democrats kept that from happening.

Joan: New abortion funding language now separates federal funding from private funding for abortion services on the exchanges, and lets states choose not to allow insurance companies to cover abortion on their health exchanges. This change left both pro-life and pro-choice groups unhappy, with the National Right to Life Committee and NARAL Pro-Choice America vowing to work to defeat the bill without changes.

Jane: To raise revenue, the Medicare payroll tax increase went up from 0.5 percent, as was proposed, to 0.9 percent for income over $250,000 for a family.

Joan: To save money, senators will cut reimbursement rates for doctors from the federal government by 21 percent, beginning in 2010.

Jane: What Stays the Same:

Joan: Insurance reforms stay the same as the first Senate bill. Insurers will be prohibited from denying or stopping coverage based on the cost of care or the health of the customer.

Jane: Children up to 26 years old will be able access coverage through their parents' insurance.

Joan: The mandate that all individuals purchase health insurance by 2014 remains the same, as do penalties for employers who do not offer insurance to their workers. Businesses with fewer than 50 workers are exempt.

Jane: The 40 percent "Cadillac" tax on high-dollar insurance plans does not change and will go into effect in 2013.

Joan: The federal government will subsidize the cost of insurance for families who make between 133 percent and 400 percent of poverty level.

Jane: New federal insurance for Long Term Care will be offered.

Joan: What's Ahead:

* With Sen. Ben Nelson's announcement that he will support the bill, Democrats will have votes from 60 senators and can defeat Republicans' ongoing efforts to filibuster the health reform. That means the Senate will move quickly through a series of procedural votes on the bill, beginning at 1 a.m. Monday morning, and likely finishing at 7 p.m. on Christmas Eve.

Jane: After the Senate passes its bill, Democratic leaders from the House and Senate will negotiate a compromise between their versions of health reform. Major differences remain, with the most significant being the creation of a public option (the House does it, the Senate does not), and who will pay higher taxes to pay for the expanded coverage. The House raises taxes on the wealthy with a five-percent income tax increase on people making more than $500,000. The Senate increase the Medicare payroll tax and creates the "Cadillac tax," which could hit middle-class workers by taxing expensive health plans.

Joan: If the conference committee reaches a compromise, the House and Senate will both vote on the new and final version of the bill. Democrats have said they want President Obama to sign the measure before his State of the Union address at the end of January.

Jane: All told, the Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill will cost $871 billion over 10 years, but the CBO also says the bill could actually reduce the deficit by $132 billion in the same time frame because of tax increases and lower payments to doctors, if the Senate sticks to its commitment to enforce those changes. Joan and I hope this analysis helps you better understand the implications of the Senate Health Reform Bill.

Joan: Nine years ago, the U.S. Department of Justice reported that one in five college women would be raped, or experiences an attempted rape, before graduation. Federal laws require schools to act on these allegations and look out for the rights of victims. But a 9 month investigation by the Center for Public Integrity, a Washington-based nonprofit found that the federal records on campus sex offenses fail to capture the extent of the problem. Kristen Lombardi, the center's lead reporter, said that "The biggest sin is one of omission. They're just not dealing with this issue head-on in a public manner with their student bodies."

Similarly, under-reporting is a problem at the nation's three major military academies: West Point, Annapolis, and Colorado Springs. Last Friday, the Defense Department stated that the number of reported sexual assaults has dropped, noting that under-reporting could be a reason for the decrease. Reasons for not reporting an incident include shame, fear of not being believed, fear of impact on their career, not wanting to relive the episode and concern over the reaction from other students.

Jane: This problem of rape does not exist only in colleges and military academies. Last week a 12-year-old girl claimed she was raped by a 14-year-old in the school hallway. Even though two witnesses rescued the 12-yr old from rape, a security guard, claimed she wanted it. Police and prosecutors maintain that what happened at Portola Middle School in El Cerrito, CA was in fact, a serious sexual assault. Others, employees of the school in El Cerrito, claimed, "It was hormones going wild." Both the school principal and vice-principal have been put on paid administrative leave.

Joan: On a more positive note. This winter, 22 year-old Katie Spotz plans to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a row boat in attempt to raise money for Blue Planet Run, a foundation that finances clean drinking water projects around the world. She won't even have a tarp to protect her lest she be tempted to use it to catch the wind. The 2,500 mile trip is expected to take between 70 and 100 days. If Spotz succeeds, she will become the youngest person to cross an ocean in a rowboat, and the first American to row solo from mainland to mainland.

Jane: In 2010, there is a good chance that Florida will have its first women gubernatorial candidates. Alex Sink, the state's chief financial officer will most likely be the Democratic nominee. State Sen. Paula Dockery is battling with state Attorney General Bill McCollum for the Republican nomination.

Dockery acknowledges the gender factory, saying she represents a better hope for the GOP against Sink than would another "middle-aged white male." She believes that if she wins the Republican nomination, it will neutralize the advantage Democrats would otherwise have by trumpeting the state's first female nominee.

If Dockery wins the primary, it will set up an all-female general election battle for governor, which has only happened twice before in American history: In Nebraska in 1986, and in Hawaii in 2002.

Joan: On a similar theme, MSNBC reported that female executives are emerging as serious contenders for statewide offices, not only in Florida but also in Connecticut and California. Finally, political parties, particularly the GOP are broadening their candidate pools to include women!

Chris LaCivita, a Republican political consultant said the timing is right for contenders with the type of business backgrounds of Carly Fiorina, Meg Whitman, Linda McMahon and Alex Sink.

For women this is a first time leap from corporate to political leadership. Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, and Whitman, the former CEO of the eBay online auction site, are running in California for Senate and governor, respectively. McMahon, until recently the CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, is running for Senator in Connecticut. As we mentioned, Sink, former president of Florida Operations at Bank of America, is running for governor in Florida.

Jane: If you can't trust the CDC, whom can you trust? Friday, Daniel R. Levinson, the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services reported in 2007 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention failed to ensure that the experts adequately completed forms pertaining to their financial ties to companies that could profit from CDC decisions. As a result it was determined that sixty-four percent of the advisers hired by to serve on panels evaluating cervical cancer and flu vaccines had potential conflicts of interest. The NY Times reports that Thomas Frieden, the CDC Director said, "Since the period covered in this review, CDC has strengthened the financial disclosures and conflict-of-interest process by instituting improved business processes and realigning responsibilities and oversight."

Joan: The EEOC will get $23 million to reduce 70,000-case backlog. The resource-starved EEOC recently saw a 35% jump in its backlog, and a record number of discrimination complaints in 2008. Nearly two-thirds involved racial or gender discrimination.

Jane: New York City is holding a condom wrapper design competition for the "NYC Condom," which is given out at no cost to millions of people each year. NYC is looking for a design that will "capture the city's distinctive culture while promoting safer sex."

The winning wrapper design will appear on hundreds of thousands of the city's condoms and might be featured in safer-sex promotional materials. The contest is open to any city resident ages 17 or older and those younger than age 17 can enter with written consent from a parent or guardian. The finalists will be selected by the health department in February 2010, at which point the public will be allowed to vote online for the winning design (Kugler, AP/New Orleans Times-Picayune, 12/15).

Joan:Only in New York City! You gotta love it!

Women News December 15, 2009

Jane: Good News. The US now has its 210th female mayor. Annise [Ahh- nees'] Parker was elected Mayor of Houston. She is the current Controller of the City of Houston, handling Houston's financial investments and managing its tax dollars. Upon taking office as mayor in January, Parker will be the city's second female mayor, as well as the first openly gay mayor of a major American city.

Joan: Speaking of women running in Texas, U.S. senator Kay Bailey Hutchison is running as a republican candidate in the gubernatorial primary. Ms Hutchison believes that her campaign will restore comity to governance and thereby make the ever-shrinking Republican Party more attractive to moderates. This race is interesting because the central question is whether a highly popular general-election Republican (Hutchison) can defeat a less-popular but incumbent governor, Rick Perry in the primary. Despite his lack of general popularity, Perry knows how to excite conservative primary voters and get them to the polls.

Jane: More good news about women and politics. Martha Coakley won the Massachusetts primary last week and will be the Democratic candidate for the Senate in the January 19th special election. If elected she will replace the late Senator Kennedy and will be the 16th pro-choice woman in the Senate.

Joan: On Sept. 11, 2007 Pvt. Bethany Smith, fled the army for asylum in Canada after receiving an anonymous threatening note directed at the fact that she is a lesbian. "It [the note] said that they were going to break into the supply room and get the keys to my room and beat me to death in my bed," Smith said, adding "It was at that point that I knew I was more afraid of the people who were supposed to be on my side than people we were supposed to be fighting overseas."

According to Wency Leung of Women's E-news, More than 12,000 service members have lost their jobs because of the U.S. military's so-called "don't ask, don't tell" policy. A disproportionate number of those discharges have been women, according to 2008 statistics gathered from the government in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by the Washington-based Service members Legal Defense Network. Last month a Canadian federal court judge decided Smith's case which had previously been denied should be reconsidered by the country's refugee board. Jamie Liew, Smith's lawyer believes that this case is a first, based on anti-homosexual persecution within the U.S. military, rather than on reluctance to serve overseas, as has been the case for a multitude of other U.S. soldiers who have fled to Canada to avoid serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Jane: Have you heard of the "Bo-Tax"? The Bo-Tax is a provision in the Senate Health Care bill that would impose a 5 percent tax on elective cosmetic surgery. This provision has become controversial among women. Judith Warner of the New York Times writes this "sounded like a refreshingly good idea to me". Terry O'Neill, the president of the National Organization for Women, and Gloria Steinem are against it for two reasons. First, according to ABC News "86 percent of cosmetic surgery patients are working women between the ages of 35 and 50, with an average income of $55,000 a year." This makes the Bo-Tax a tax on women. Second, some women feel they must undergo cosmetic surgery to remain competitive in the workforce, thus making the Bo-Tax an unfair tax on women who are only doing what they need to do to survive in a sexist, ageist workforce. Joan, what at first glace may same frivolous is actually political.

Joan: That is troubling. For one thing, who determines what is elective. But for another thing, when will we stop placing so much value on the physical appearance of women. But there is no question society does, and this is an employment issue. And then, I wonder where insurance companies will come into this. I have a friend who gets bo-tox injections for a serous neurological condition. Will these injections now be denied?

According to the Legal Times, former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is teaming with the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System at the University of Denver to advocate against the use of elections to pick state judges. O’Connor said “No other nation in the world elects their judges in popular elections. We are alone in that regard.”

In 2006 the former Colorado Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Love Kourlis founded the institute. The advisory committee includes 7 women and 4 men. They are:
•    Chairwoman: Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (retired)
•    Justice Rebecca Love Kourlis of the Colorado Supreme Court (retired)
•    Chief Justice Ruth McGregor of the Arizona Supreme Court (retired)
•    Meryl Chertoff, director of the Sandra Day O’Connor Project on the State of the Judiciary at Georgetown Law
•    Diane Gates Wallach of Cody Resources, liaison to the institute’s board
•    Mary Wilson, president of the League of Women Voters
•    Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson of the Texas Supreme Court
•    Chief Justice Thomas Moyer of the Ohio Supreme Court
•    Ramona Romero, corporate counsel, logistics and energy, at DuPont
•    Larry Thompson of PepsiCo and
•    H. Thomas Wells, past president of the American Bar Association

Jane: Last Thursday, this year's Nobel Prizes were awarded in Oslo, Norway. Of the 13 recipients, 5 were women. This was a record number and included a writer who depicted life behind the Iron Curtain and researchers who showed how chromosomes protect themselves from degrading. In total, only 40 women have won the prestigious prizes, including Marie Curie who took the 1903 physics prize and the 1911 chemistry prize.

Joan: Today in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, Michael Newdow, an atheist lawyer and physician, challenged the custom of concluding the presidential oath of office with the line “So help me God.” Newdow and attorney Robert Ritter of the American Humanist Association argue those words violate the establishment clause of the First Amendment. Last week, in preparation for today's appeal, Newdow filed a motion to block the clerk at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit from making the customary opening cry to stand, ending with the line "God save the United States and this honorable court. Newdow did not want the clerk reading that line when the three-judge panel took up his case today. The request was rejected.

Jane: The L.A diocese has elected a gay Episcopal bishop, Rev. Canon Mary D. Glasspool. Now that the diocese has elect her, Rev/ Glasspool must be confirmed by a majority of votes from bishops and standing committees of clergy and lay leaders in the Episcopal Church, the U.S. branch of the worldwide communion. That voting process will take place over the next four months. Her contender is Rev. Canon Diane M. Jardine Bruce, who was picked for a second "suffragan," or assistant bishop post in Los Angeles.
After receiving press from overseas Anglicans, the U.S. Episcopal leaders agreed in 2006 to refrain from electing additional gay bishops. This July at their national convention, the U.S. Episcopal leaders reversed the moratorium, despite a plea from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, who is the head of the Anglican Communions. The Los Angeles diocese is the first to test the more lenient policy.

Joan: A study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Assn., says that soy foods do not appear to increase the risk of breast cancer recurrence among survivors of the disease and may even confer some health benefits. Dr. Xiao Ou Shu, a professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University and lead author of the paper said, "Our findings are important because, nowadays, it's very difficult to avoid soy exposure. Soy flour and soy protein has been added to many foods in this country. Women may consume it and not even know it." Shu and her colleagues analyzed data from the Shanghai Breast Cancer Survival Study of 5,042 women in China. The breast cancer survivors were ages 20 to 75 and were followed for an average of four years. One thing that bothers me about the study is this question: will these results translate to the United States diet and environmental conditions. It will be interesting to see.

Women News, Dec 8, 2009

Jane: Last Wednesday the New York State Senate rejected a bill that would have allowed gay couples to marry. Proponents were startled by the 38-to-24 vote; they believed they had enough supporters going into the vote. “This is the worst example of political cowardice I’ve ever seen,” said Senator Kevin S. Parker, a Brooklyn Democrat. “Clearly people said things prior to coming to the floor and behaved differently.”

All 30 Republican senators opposed the bill. Support was heaviest among members from New York City and Westchester County and among the Senate’s 10 black members. Seven of the Senate’s 10 women voted for it. Said Senator Liz Krueger of Manhattan, “I’m a woman and a Jew and so I know about discrimination.”

The state’s Roman Catholic bishops had consistently lobbied for the bill's defeat.

Joan: On Wednesday, almost 1,000 women rallied on Capitol Hill to urge the Senate to pass health-care reforms that protect and address women's health care needs, including reproductive health and abortion options. The rally was part of a National Week of Action to get women to lobby against the Stupak-Pitts amendment -- which could prohibit women from purchasing private health insurance that would cover abortion. They might be able to purchase a separate policy for the sole purpose of abortion, if they purchased it with their own funds, exclusively. I'm afraid most women would think “I'll be careful,” before purchasing such a policy, forgetting—or hoping it wouldn't happen-- that sometimes intentional pregnancies cannot safely be carried to term.

Jane: On Thursday, the Boston Globe reported that Linda Griffith, a pioneer in tissue engineering at MIT, will lead a new Center for Gynepathology Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, devoted to better understanding and ultimately finding treatments for endometriosis which afflicts 5 to 10 percent of women, often at a young age.

Joan: On Thursday, the Senate approved a Health Care Reform Bill amendment introduced by Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) that would require insurance companies to offer women's preventive care services at little or no cost to patients. Among the preventative services covered are screenings for cancer, diabetes and heart disease, as well as domestic violence and postpartum depression. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the amendment would cost $940 million over 10 years, which Mikulski said would be offset by surplus funds in the bill (CQ Today, 12/3). And there is language in the amendment basically saying to disregard the recent new findings of the preventive task force that would have limited mammograms and other regular testing.
According to Mikulski, she wrote the amendment because the "unique needs of women were not adequately addressed in the legislation". The amendment "would eliminate one of the major barriers to care by getting rid of high co-payments and deductibles," potentially saving lives." (New York Times, 12/4).

Jane: World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) announced that at least 88 journalists have been killed so far this year, with hundreds more media employees arrested. Last week's massacre in the Philippines, accounted for 30 deaths, making it the world's most dangerous country for media workers. According to the report there are at least 170 journalists in jail

Joan: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released its Abortion Surveillance report. The report lists how many abortions were performed in this country in 2006, at what gestational age, and with what medical procedure and breaks the statistics down by age, ethnicity and race. According to the report there were 846,181 abortions reported to CDC in 2006, a decrease from the previous years. The report attributed the decline to the "decline in the availability of abortion providers; the adoption of legislative restrictions and barriers to abortion services like mandatory waiting periods and parental involvement laws; and increasing acceptance of nonmarital childbearing."

The report also said, "Providing women with the knowledge and resources necessary to make decisions about their sexual behavior and use of contraception can help women avoid unintended pregnancies and thus reduce the number of abortions performed in the United States." So making abortion unavailable does have its desired effect: forcing women to continue pregnancies against their will.

And if the Stupak Amendment to the House Health Care bill passes, and Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska is trying to introduce a similar amendment to the Senate bill, so if that carries and the two are folded into the final form of the bill, nearly a million women each year might be forced to carry unwanted or dangerous pregnancies to term. A few wealthy women might be able to find an abortion but women living in poverty, who can least afford it, will have no choice, and they will be punished for being poor. A woman who is forced to carry an unwanted or threatening pregnancy to term because laws prohibit abortion essentially means is being placed in involuntary servitude as an incubator by the government for nine months plus, however long it takes to recover from delivery, if she recovers in the case of a dangerous pregnancy. I believe that is a violation of the 13th amendment which reads: Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

Jane: The Women's Media Center (WMC) announced that the New York Women’s Agenda (NYWA) will recognize WMC Co-founder Jane Fonda for her outstanding achievements in activism and social change. Gloria Steinem will present Ms. Fonda with the prestigious award.

Jane Fonda, co-founder of the Women’s Media Center has long been known for activism and advocacy on human rights and the empowerment of women and girls. She is a member of the Women & Foreign Policy Advisory Committee of the Council on Foreign Relations and sits on the board of V-Day: Until The Violence Stops, a global effort to stop violence against women. An Emmy winner, two-time Oscar winner, and Tony Award nominee, Ms. Fonda has enjoyed tremendous success as a stage and screen actor, with many producing credits as well, including a film, in collaboration with the International Women's Health Coalition, entitled "Generation 2000: Changing Girls' Realities.” In May 2005, Random House published Fonda’s memoirs, My Life So Far, which immediately went to #1 on The New York Times Best Sellers list.

Joan:. DoubleX, a seven-month-old website devoted to "What women really think," announced that their site would be folding into Slate, the 13-year-old news and commentary site from which it grew. The move is a result of the recession. Jacob Weisberg editor in chief at Slate said, "Bringing DoubleX back into Slate should make it easier to develop both the editorial and business sides of the project while reducing our costs significantly."
With DoubleX folding back into Slate there has been a lot of controversy about creating websites just for women. Jezebel's Anna North, in a post headlined Do We Need Websites For Women? asked what was the purpose of a woman's blog. Over 200 commenters weighed in on the topic, confirming that women's blogs are popular. Jezebel's gets 1.17 million page views a day. Feministing's founder and editor Jessica Valenti recently told the New York Times Magazine that her site brings in 600,000 readers a month.
In 2008, the New York Times' reported a 35 % growth in sites aimed at women, "faster than every other category on the Web except politics", according to comScore, an Internet-traffic measurement company.

Jane: Today Massachusetts is having an election which could lead to the election of the first Massachusetts female US Senator. Martha Coakley is a true progressive and is the only candidate in this race to stand up for reproductive rights during the recent health reform debate. She has also been a true leader on marriage equality. Her chances of winning depend on getting the voters out to vote. Unfortunately, recent polling has shown that 93% of Massachusetts voters don't know the date of the election.

Joan: Paula Hawkins, the first woman elected to a full Senate term without being preceded in politics by a husband or father died Friday in Orlando. She was 82 and lived in Winter Park, FL.

Paula Hawkins was a conservative Republican who served a single term as a senator from Florida during the Reagan years. Her opposition to abortion rights and the Equal Rights Amendment made her anathema to the National Organization for Women, which picketed her appearances and accused her of embracing positions strictly in accordance with her Mormon faith.

Mrs. Hawkins was the leading sponsor of the Missing Children's Act of 1982, which created a national computer database of descriptive information on missing children. Mrs. Hawkins supported get-tough laws against drug traffickers. She fought for legislation to help stay-at-home women enter the job market after being widowed or divorced and to take into account years spent at home raising children when calculating women's pension benefits. In 1984, she was co-chairwoman of the platform committee at the Republican National Convention.

Jane: Good news for veterans. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that a federal agency that violates a veteran's preference rights in competitive hiring must give the veteran the job for which he or she applied and that the agency must pay any wages or benefits lost because of the violation.

The court's ruling stemmed from an appeal by Raymond Marshall, a 20 percent disabled veteran who in 2004 applied for a job with a division of the Department of Health & Human Services. An audit two years later revealed that the department had violated his preference rights by passing over him and selecting someone else for the budget analyst position.

Women News December 1, 2009

Jane: Last Wednesday was the International Day of Elimination of Violence Against Women. In honor of the 10th anniversary of the founding of this day, the UN unveiled a network of men leaders who are to act as male role models in a campaign opposing violence against women. The UN urges all men to join the campaign, saying about 70% of women experience some form of physical or sexual violence from men.

The 14 men currently in the have all demonstrated a commitment to oppose violence against women. Mr. Ban, the UN secretary-general called on men and boys around the world to "Break the silence. When you witness violence against women and girls, do not sit back. Act. Advocate. Unite to change the practices and attitudes that incite, perpetrate and condone this violence."

Joan: The Stupak-Pitts Amendment is not the only issue concerning women and reproductive rights in the House health care bill. There is a provision affecting Medicaid recipients who are pregnant for the first time or who have a child under two years of age. Section 1713 allows states to use Medicaid funds for non-medical home visits by nurses to improve maternal or child health and pregnancy outcomes or to increase birth intervals between pregnancies, reduce maternal and child involvement in the criminal justice system, increase economic self-sufficiency, and reducing dependence on public assistance."

To me, and I have read the relevant parts of Section 1713, the home visitation provision appears supportive of women. In fact I think they are something women have pushed for and have found an attractive benefit of certain European Health Plans. But, in an article published on StopFamilyViolence.org, Gwendolyn Mink and Dorothy Roberts say that they believe the goals of the home visitation program have nothing to do with providing health care but are "eugenicist, deceptive, discriminatory against low-income women, and utterly inappropriate to the medical work of nurses."

To me this says how important it is that we read the references and really come to our own conclusions.

It is their interpretation that "The House health care bill codifies some of the worst stereotypes of low-income mothers, suggesting that bad reproductive choices and misguided family practices make their families poor. Similarly, the provision blames low-income mothers for raising criminals and accuses them of maintaining unstable and neglectful home lives for their children". "Section 1713 interprets literally the language of "pathology" from the welfare debate in its plan to "cure" the putative effects of poverty by curing poor mothers' fertility and motherhood". They urge lawmakers to "support a vision of reproductive justice that extends beyond abortion and respects the childbearing decisions and mothering of all women.

To me this interpretation is somewhere up there with the notion that a Living Will and Medical Directives are the equivalent of Death Panels--that is., I think they are a lot of agitation and uproar seriously misreading the section. What the section does is provide the State with the funding to provide home visits by nurses to those pregnant women and new parents who want them. Then it gives a variety of ways to evaluate whether the visits are worth the money. They need satisfy only one criterion. And improving maternal and newborn care are right there at the top. Other criteria do include those that upset the writers at StopFamilyViolence. But let’s look: Medicaid is for people living in poverty. This section doesn’t say those issues are problems for the poor only, they are simply saying that Medicaid can address issues among the poor. These issues do exist across all of society and perhaps Health Insurance providers will pay for them and evaluate them in the same way. But again, Medicaid doesn’t say the problems it tries to solve exist only with the poor just that they sometimes do exist among the poor. Remember Susan Smith who killed her children, as I recall in an altered state which they attributed to post-partum problems. That certainly resulted in child abuse and an encounter with the criminal justice system. We were all saying “If only someone had been dropping in on her regularly to see that everything was okay.” But the real goal of these visits is to help improve health care. But that is just what I think. I wonder what our listeners think, and what do you think Jane?

Jane: Sarasota recently had a Maternal Health Care Forum and one of the solutions for improving maternal health was having post partum nurse visitations. Seems like the intent of the bill is to help new mothers. Thank you for your interpretation of that article.

There is a lot of controversy about the new Florida State University campaign to promote its women's basketball team. Featuring highly stylized glamour shots of the players, the campaign is designed to highlight the players' "beauty." But this issue is not sexism as you might expect since beauty has nothing to do with sports. Instead, the controversy is about homophobia aka fear of lesbians.

Often women basketball players appear big and muscular. The photos of the FSU players show them dolled-up in satin dresses and make-up, presumably to sexualize the players. Actually, probaby hetero-sexualize them! But the Seattle Times basketball columnist Jayda Evans says, "I'm just concerned the sexualized look continues a different, damaging constant in women's hoops -- homophobia."

What is disturbing is the press release by FSU coach Sue Semrau who defends the marketing campaign saying, "We feel it is important to set ourselves apart as much as we can... We wanted to have a product that would stand out to the people we are trying to reach." To her, the team is now objectified, a "product" to be promoted to its viewers. This FSU campaing is another example of women being objectified and sexualized, sex sells.

Joan: I understand the concern, but sometimes I feel as if people are looking a little too hard for undercurrents of sexism, but, awareness is important. According to AVWeb/Insider women make up only about 6 percent of the total U.S. pilot population. Amazingly women have made no gains in this area since 1935 when there were about 800 women flying, and that was also about 6 percent of all pilots.

There are multiple factors keeping women out of the aviation world some sexist, some societal (women don't want to be away from their families that much). Most likely, it stems from the lack of teaching science, technology, engineering and math to girls. Hopefully with the promoting of these disciplines to young women, we will see more female pilots.

Jane: According to the London Telegraph, women are now better with gadgets then men. A poll commissioned by the retailer Comet found that "48 per cent of women now feel comfortable tackling technological tasks around the home, compared to 47 per cent of men." Amazingly, the report continues, "85 per cent of men no longer considering themselves the most competent member of the household."

Joan: There law that prohibits employers from hiring or firing based on a person's genetic makeup took affect last week. The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act signed by President Bush in May 2008 also disallows health insurers from considering a person's genetics -- such as predisposition for Parkinson's disease â “ when setting insurance rates or denying coverage. Stuart J. Ishimaru, acting chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, said, "No one should be denied a job or the right to be treated fairly in the workplace based on fears that he or she may develop some condition in the future

Jane: According to Caryl Rivers a commentator at WeNews, "women are still shut out of the world of ideas. She came to this conclusion after looking at three areas: The Publishers Weekly, or PW top-10 list, news anchors, and Sunday "egghead" shows. PW came out last week with a list of top 10 books that was all male. This is in a year that saw new books by Margaret Atwood, Louise Erdrich, Alice Munro, Jayne Anne Phillips, Helen Benedict and Barbara Ehrenreich.
Even thought Diane Sawyer will soon be network news anchor at ABC and Katie Curic is at CBS, the purveyors and arbiters of "important" information on both networks and cable are still predominately white men.
The watchdog group Media Matters for America finds that on the Sunday talk shows, men outnumber women 4-to-1. On cable, Media Matters found that of the 35 hosts and co-hosts, 29 were men, and all were white. Women did not make up at least half of the guests on a single one of the three cable networks, and on some networks they were as scarce as 18 percent.

Joan: Accrording to the Washington Times,| Virginia Military Institute (VMI) is being accused of having policies that are "sexist and hostile" toward female cadets. Though VMI says it has recruited women, women remain a small minority. Of the 1,500 cadets only 126 are women. In June of 2008, the Education Department complained that "The language and terminology that is used and considered acceptable by VMI in the barracks reflects a climate and culture that is derogatory and discriminatory toward the women that are required as cadets to live in the barracks."

Jane: On Nov. 23rd, the District of Columbia agreed to pay $13.7 million to settle a class action suit brought by protesters wrongfully arrested during an April 15, 2000 demonstration "the prison industrial complex". The plaintiffs alleged that police officers detained nearly 700 people attending the march, which was timed to overlap with an IMF / World Bank meeting. Mara Verheyden-Hilliard of the Partnership for Civil Justice, which filed the suit in 2001 said, :It sends a message to every city and every law enforcement officer that there is going to be a steep price to pay for violating protesters' First Amendment rights."
 
The case is the second major protester suit the District has settled in recent weeks. It agreed earlier this month to pay $450,000 to eight individuals who were allegedly interrogated by police during a 2002 demonstration related to the Iraq War.

Joan: Men have Viagra (which generated nearly $1.8 billion in sales last year in the United States) and women may soon have Flibanserin, a prescription medication poised for review as a sex enhancer by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Although Flibanserin received major hype last week at international scientific conferences held in San Diego and Lyon, France, after the drug tested well in clinical trials in North America and Europe , some health experts question the safety of having to take the medication every day. Opponents of drug therapy said the medication has such seemingly narrow benefits that women should look for help outside the realm of medication.

Studies are still required and it is not clear when and if the company, Boehringer Ingelheim will seek FDA clearance for flibanserin.

Women News Nov 24, 2009

Jane: There has been a lot of analysis and spin on the Stupak- Pitts amendment, trying to guess what claims for coverage will be denied by insurance companies. The George Washington University Medical Center analyzed the implications of this amendment for coverage of medically indicated abortions. They concluded "that the treatment exclusions required under the Stupak/Pitts Amendment will have an industry-wide effect, eliminating coverage of medically indicated abortions over time for all women, not only those whose coverage is derived through a health insurance exchange." They also concluded that there would be "spillover effects" such as a plan administrator's denying coverage not only for the excluded treatment but also for related treatments that are intertwined with the exclusion. The study concludes that the "cumulative effect of the provision, in combination with existing federal laws governing Medicaid and federal employee health benefits (as well as the law of certain states) inevitably can be expected to move the entire health benefits industry away from its current inclusive coverage norms and toward a new norm of exclusion." GW University Report (PDF) 

Joan:  Meanwhile the Senate Health Reform bill is a tiny bit better. The Senate bill will separate federally subsidized premiums from privately paid premiums--this is what they call the firewall-- and no abortions will be paid for from the federal pool of money. This is pretty much the same way faith-based groups handle the money when they get a federal grant for a faith-based initiative. That money cannot be used in limited ways as described in federal law. Private donations on the other hand can be used for religious purposes. It is called a firewall because it supposedly totally separates the two accounts and arguably the two collections of money. It is an accounting procedure. I sometimes call the firewall a smoke screen, because it is mostly imaginary. My problem with this whole approach is that in my experience, people pay premiums to the insurance company. The insurance company pools that money and invests it for what they hope will be a good return and they pay claims from that larger pool of money. So they would have two totally separate accounts, one for federal funds and one for private. The private funds could pay for abortions but the Federal funds could not. One question that isn’t clear is whether the insurance company could use the private account moneys to pay for abortions for people insured by public policies. I would think not, but as I say, it isn’t clear from the language of the legislation. One piece of somewhat good news: There are 17 states that pay for abortions for poor women. And the health reform bill from the Senate states it shall not pre-empt state laws. There is a lot of work to be done to clarify what will be paid for but there is optimism that the firewall approach will be in the signed bill.

Jane: Sarah Palin is certainly doing a good job of keeping herself in the news. Recently she criticized the Senate Health Care Vote. On Friday she wrote on her Facebook page, "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is pushing for yet another weekend vote (commonplace now for the party of "transparency") because he knows that the American people will be none too happy about the Democrats' proposal the longer they have to look it over." She went on to say that the bill ignored responsible tax reform, and massive new government spending. She concluded, "Let's put a stop to Obamacare before it goes any further."

Joan: Barbara Glickstein a public health nurse executive, health policy expert and broadcast journalist states in an exclusive Women’s Media Center report why she supports the new breast cancer screening guidelines for both mammograms and self-examination. As a feminist health activist who has followed the mammography debates since the 70's, she believes that women have been oversold the benefits of mammography. She urges women to read the recommendations objectively. The new baseline recommendation is 50, not 40 years old.

She said that while most lumps are indeed found by the woman herself, they are usually found randomly in the shower or when dressing than through monthly self-breast exams. And these new guidelines of course are for women without special risk factors.

Jane: The CDC reported that there is an increase especially among teenagers of the three most common sexually transmitted infections in the U.S. -- Chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis. John Douglas, director of the sexually transmitted disease division at CDC, said improved sex education could help curb the rising STI rates. All of these sexually transmitted infections can be treated with antibiotics.

Joan: Eve Ensler, creator of the Vagina Monologues, débuted a new play in India on November 12. The play, titled: “I Am an Emotional Creature: The Secret Lives of Girls” speaks of the oppression faced by girls worldwide. The play received mixed reviews, some praising its message and others saying it was more like a rant.

Jane: The White House Project's just-published study, Benchmarking Women's Leadership states that even though Americans are comfortable with women leaders, women hold only 18% of leadership positions across the 10 sectors they examined, including politics, business, law, sports, academia, journalism, religion, film/TV, nonprofit, and military. Women are far from achieving parity especially in positions of leadership. The report states that "contrary to the popular talking points of today, the cultural ideal for women has not shifted to an all-encompassing and gender-neutral space, but remains firmly embedded in models of wifedom and motherhood."

Joan: Effective Dec the federal government will no longer mandate HPV vaccine for immigrant women. Under the current policy, female immigrants ages 11 through 26 seeking permanent residence in or entry to the U.S. are required to be vaccinated at their own expense. The National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum has been instrumental in eliminating this requirement.

Jane: In 2009 fashion magazines lost on average about a quarter of their pages. High-end fashion magazines had the higher losses; Vogue lost a third of its paging this year. Many reasons for this decline are sited, including the economy, online advertising, as well as Facebook and Twitter accounts or Web sites. As a result, spending for ads in fashion magazines fell 1.7 percent across all media through the third quarter, according to media research firm TNS Media Intelligence. There are some positive signs for 2010 as the fashion magazines look to evolve their approach, add flexibility and create different models and standards. It'll be interesting to see what happens.

Joan: Here’s an interesting bit of statistics: Recent census data reveal that 30 percent of farmers in the U.S. are women, and women are by far the majority of farmers in the developing world. The number of female farmers increased in the U.S. and now there are more than a million women farmers. Carolyn Sachs, head of the Department of Women's Studies at Penn State said, "Although some women are farming in large-scale conventional agriculture, various studies have also found that women farmers are more likely to be in sustainable agricultural production than males."

Jane: Several weeks back we talked about the controversial American Girl doll, Gwen Thompson whose story is that she is homeless and which sells for $95. Tonight I want to tell you about Burka Barbie by Mattel. This doll was designed by Sotheby and Italian designer Eliana Lorena for a Save The Children charity. Mattel is backing the exhibition which includes more than 500 Barbies.
Designer: Eliana Lorena said 'I know Barbie was something seen as bad before as an image for girls, but in actual fact the message with Barbie for women is you can be whatever you want to be." The money from the auction of Burka Barbe will go towards the Rewrite the Future campaign which helps millions of children around the world affected by conflict.