Women News November 10, 2009
Jane: Elections last week were bitter sweet for the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgendered (or LGBT) population. Bitter because Maine took away gay marriage and NJ elected a governor who supports a Marriage Protection Amendment that defines marriage as a union of one man and one woman. But they were sweet because the voters in Washington decided to keep domestic partner benefits and in Kalamazoo, MI 65% of the voters voted to protect gay, lesbian, and transgendered citizens from housing, employment and public accommodations discrimination. Other good news is that 9 openly gay candidates were elected.
Joan: We recently talked about the Florida personhood initiative that would amend the Florida Constitution to ban abortions and possibly birth control. According to their Website, "PersonhoodFL is a Christian grassroots non-partisan organization founded to establish personhood efforts across Florida to create protection for every child by love and by law." Even though PersonhoodFL is backed by the American Life League, a Catholic anti-abortion group, all nine bishops who direct the Florida Catholic Conference oppose this amendment. The bishops also oppose the collecting of signatures for the initiative in any parish or diocese entity in the state.
Jane: Good news for young women. Thanks to the voters in Revere Mass, high school health clinics will continue to make contraception available including condoms and emergency contraception, a policy that Mayor Thomas Ambrosino and the Revere School Committee instituted in February as a way to address the rising number of teen pregnancies in the town. Under the policy, students are allowed to obtain birth control from the school health clinic if they have parental permission. The program is overseen by doctors and nurses from Massachusetts General Hospital. Supertendant Dakin said the program is a "parent-choice policy" that is "for families that are in need, families that see a crisis coming or are in a crisis." He added, "I've renewed my faith in the electorate in their understanding of how important it is to give freedom of choice to parents." Kathleen Magno, who initiated the efforts to overturn the policy, said the opponents would continue to lobby the School Department for more public debate on the issue (Burge/Rosenberg, Boston Globe, 11/4).
Joan: More good news for young women. The Wisconsin Assembly on Tuesday gave preliminary approval to a bill (AB 458) that would require schools that teach sex education to include instructions on contraception, the AP/Sheboygan Press reports. The measure would allow parents to review instructional materials and decide whether to have their child participate in the class. According to the Guttmacher Institute Wisconsin would become the 16th state to require instruction on contraception in sex education if the bill is passed and signed into law.The bill is supported by Planned Parenthood, groups representing nurses and health departments, and the Wisconsin teacher's union. It has drawn opposition from the Wisconsin Catholic Conference and Wisconsin Right to Life, groups that oppose abortion rights and contraception education.
Jane: If you are about to name your daughter, you might want to consider giving her a masculine sounding name. According to a study led by economist Bentley Coffey of Clemson University in South Carolina, women with male names are more successful lawyers and judges than those with more traditional, feminine names. "Despite the fact that women made half of the students graduating from law school in the past 15 years, the legal profession remains a male-dominated world," Coffey wrote. "Consequentially, one would suspect that having a male persona or male moniker might still be advantageous to a career in law." It listed other factors that could contribute to the advancement of women with male names, including the small number of females in law firms in several parts of the United States and that more voters prefer men to women when casting their ballots for judicial positions. Initial results from a follow-on study show that women with male names are more likely to make more money than their more femininely named counterparts, Coffey said.
Joan: Last Monday, The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases announced new findings on doses of H1N1 vaccine for pregnant women. Based on trials, federal officials concluded that a single 15-microgram dose is a satisfactory standard for vaccination for pregnant women. In addition, federal health officials suggested that pregnant women receive the vaccine through injection, even though a World Health Organization expert panel concluded that live nasal-spray vaccines are safe for pregnant women (New York Times, 11/3). Anthony Fauci, director of NIAID, said the findings "should be reassuring news for those women who have already received the vaccine, and it is vital information for those women who have not been vaccinated" (Stein, Washington Post, 11/3).
Jane: More news on H1N1. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is advising companies to waive any requirement that employees provide a doctor's note before returning to work. The CDC argues that doctors just don't have time right now to issue clearing notes for each patient. The CDC says that if someone has been symptom-free for 24 hours without medication, they can return to work. If there is a severe pandemic and the person is severely ill, he or she should stay home for seven days
Since companies have long relied on doctor's notes to ensure that workers are really sick when they say they are, this recommendation by the CDC is a difficult pill for employers to swallow, fearing that doing away with the doctor's note requirement could lead to abuse of leave policies:
Joan: The Florida Secretary of State has certified the TEA Party as an official political party, joining the Democrat and Republican Parties in providing alternatives to Florida voters. Orlando attorney Frederic O’Neal, founder and Chairman of the TEA Party said, “Over the past year or more, we have seen a growing disenchantment with the existing two-party system. The current system has become mired in the sludge of special interest money that seeks to control the leadership of both parties. It’s time for real change,” stated O'Neal. The TEA Party is currently interviewing potential candidates for various statewide positions, including the United States Congress; the Florida House and Senate as well as local positions.
Jane: Thomas Perez, the U.S. Justice Department's assistant attorney general for civil rights, testified before a Senate panel that the “Employment Non-Discrimination Act” (ENDA) is a "top legislative priority" for the administration, even as the White House focuses on health care and global warming. The act would make it unlawful for an employer “to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise discriminate against any individual with respect to the compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment of the individual, because of such individual's actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.
Joan: The Center for Women’s Business Research announced the findings of a study and report that there are an estimated eight million businesses — or 28 percent of all businesses — that are women-owned, and that those businesses create or maintain 16 percent of all jobs in a range of industries like business services, personal services, retail, health care, communications and real estate. Unfortunately, only 4.2 percent of all revenue is generated by businesses owned by women in the United States, according to the report.
Jane: Did you know that November is National Bladder Awareness Month? Or that one in three women is currently suffering from a pelvic floor disorder. This month, a group called The Accidental Sisterhood is educating women about incontinence by making their book, Living with Female Incontinence: Jeanette's Story available to the first 3000 women to ask for it on their website www.AccidentalSisterhood.com and entering the promo code SOLUTION, or by calling 1-866-549-3250 to receive a free copy.
The Accidental Sisterhood Foundation promotes health education for women, with a special emphasis on improving female pelvic floor health. The Foundation supports research and information programs to ensure that women recognize and understand the highly treatable and preventable nature of pelvic floor issues and get the help they need. For more information, visit www.AccidentalSisterhood.com.
Posted by Women Matters at 11/9/2009 8:36 PM 
Categories: Women News
Tags: Personhood female pelvic floor health ENDA names for girls H1N1 TEA Party Revere MA high school contraception policy Election results
Categories: Women News
Tags: Personhood female pelvic floor health ENDA names for girls H1N1 TEA Party Revere MA high school contraception policy Election results
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