Attacking Roe v. Wade, Chile's First Female President?

GENERAL

Faculty: Professors publishes feminism books - College Heights Herald
Kentucky isn't known for its feminists, but several Western faculty are trying to change peoples' minds through writing. "I to I: Life Writing by Kentucky Feminists," a collection of memoirs and essays published in November 2004, is the third book in the Kentucky Feminist Writers series.


REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS

High Court Case Takes Aim at Heart of Roe - Women's eNews
It was easy to get lost in last week's oral arguments in the first abortion case to reach the Supreme Court in five years. But Gloria Feldt says Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood is nothing less than an attack at the heart of Roe v. Wade.

Mass. faces decisions on morning-after pill law - AP
The Romney administration is set to exempt Catholic and other privately run hospitals from Massachusetts' new emergency contraception law, a decision that could trigger a legal challenge. The law takes effect next week and requires all hospitals to make the so-called "morning-after pill" available to rape victims. It also lets pharmacists distribute the pill without a prescription. But Public Health Commissioner Paul Cote Jr. said Tuesday that the new law does not trump an existing statute that says private hospitals can't be forced to provide abortions or contraception.

Sexual history no longer taken for morning after pill - Toronto Star
Ontario pharmacists will be asked to stop collecting sensitive information about a woman's sexual activity before they dispense the so-called morning after pill. The Ontario College of Pharmacists agreed yesterday to advise pharmacists not to use a controversial screening form to collect the information after privacy commissioner Ann Cavoukian complained following a report in the Toronto Star last week. The form, which pharmacists gave women to fill out, asked for their name, address, phone number, the date and time they last had unprotected sex, the number of times they had unprotected sex since their last menstrual period and what form of birth control they used. Pharmacists stored the information in their computers. Cavoukian said in an interview she was unaware of the form until she read about it in the Star and "I was taken aback. It struck me that a lot of information that was being collected was very personal. It looked excessive and I was alarmed."

Stress abstinence and contraception - Wisconsin State Journal Editorial
Is anyone in favor of middle and high school students having sex, other than perhaps certain middle and high school students? Of course not. So stressing abstinence in school sexual education classes should be a given. Yet so should giving students accurate, scientific information about contraception. That way, if they do have sex and many do, even those who take abstinence pledges they're less likely to have an unplanned pregnancy, an abortion, catch gonorrhea or die from AIDS.
The Republican-run Legislature is pushing a bill to require Wisconsin public school districts with sex education programs to "present abstinence from sexual activity as the preferred choice of behavior." That's fine, so long as local districts also can tell students about the facts surrounding the facts of life. Stressing abstinence alone won't work for most students whose hormones blossom faster than their ma turity.


INTERNATIONAL

Chileans set to elect a woman - Christian Science Monitor
A crescendo of female voices fills the Diego Portales Convention Center at a recent presidential debate on women's issues. "Michelle" is the rallying cry, as a predominantly female crowd of 3,000 cheers on Chile's sole female contender. "It's inspiring," says Magdalena Correa, to the wide-eyed approvals of two friends. "We came to support Michelle because we're women, heads of the household, self-employed, and we want there to be a stronger voice for women in Chile." Heading into this Sunday's presidential election, Michelle Bachelet is leading all polls and appears poised to become Chile's first female president. In a country long considered the most conservative in Latin America, observers say Mrs. Bachelet's popularity, coupled with progressive reforms enacted during her time in government, are signs of a profound cultural change.

Growing gender pay gap unacceptable - Otago Daily Times
It is unacceptable that equal pay and equal employment for men and women are still not embedded in New Zealand society, the chief executive of the Ministry of Women's Affairs says.

New cab project with women in driver's seat - The Times of India
Delhi will get women cabbies soon. The change may well be for the better given that instances of commuter harassment and molestation of women are all too common in this city where lack of a safe and reliable public transport system has added to the woes of Delhizens. The unique project called 'Priyadarshini' will be officially launched by Union tourism minister Renuka Chowdhury on Friday. It would be initially implemented in Delhi as a pilot project and expanded, in phases, in all major tourist destinations across the country. It may be a while before women cabbies are as common as they are in London, but the project authored by the tourism ministry, seeks to empower women and make them a part of the tourist economy.

Health aid 'is failing the poor' - BBC
Health programmes aimed at helping the poorest people in developing countries are more likely to benefit the wealthier groups in their society. That is the stark warning of a study by the World Bank into the impact of such schemes across 20 nations in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The report found health programmes "usually end up reaching people in better-off groups more frequently". The richest 20% of the population received more, or as much as, of the government's subsidised maternal and child healthcare services as the poorest 20%, said the report.