The Single Women's Vote, Unsafe Abortions in Poor Countries Kill 200 Women Daily

General

*Out of all the major studio-financed films released in the United States last year, only three -- Bewitched, Aeon Flux and North Country -- were directed by women.
Source: Miami Herald

*Wendy Wasserstein's "Uncommon Women and Others," which was initially aired during PBS' 1978 Great Performances season, will be rebroadcast in April.
Source: Playbill

*The federal government agreed to stop funding a nationwide program that promotes teen abstinence to settle a lawsuit alleging the money was used for Christian proselytizing. The agreement was reached Wednesday between the Department of Health and Human Services and the American Civil Liberties Union. Under the deal, the Silver Ring Thing program won't be eligible for more funding unless it ensures the money won't be used for religious purposes. "Public funds were being used to fund a road show, really, to convert teens to Christianity," said Julie Sternberg, an ACLU attorney.
Source: AP


Politics

*Unmarried women hold solidly progressive views and would vote overwhelmingly for Democratic candidates if they voted regularly, according to a new poll released this week by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner. The survey was sponsored by the Women’s Voices. Women Vote. Action Fund (WVWVAF) to explore the reasons that 20 million single women did not vote in the 2004 election. WVWVAF is dedicated to raising awareness among single women, who represent a quarter of all Americans of voting age.
Source: Feminist Wire


In the Workplace

*Why women have not achieved parity with men in the workplace continues to bewitch experts. Yet, insights to the mystery may be readily available in the widely popular Harry Potter series.
Source: Christian Science Monitor


Reproductive Rights

*Filling a void left by the Food and Drug Administration's inability to decide whether to make the "morning-after" pill available without a prescription, nearly every state is or soon will be wrestling with legislation that would expand or restrict access to the drug. More than 60 bills have been filed in state legislatures already this year, and that follows an already busy 2005 session on emergency contraception. The resulting tug of war is creating an availability map for the pill that looks increasingly similar to the map of "red states" and "blue states" in the past two presidential elections -- with increased access in the blue states and greater restrictions in the red ones.
Source: Washington Post

*Thousands of women suffer long and short-term disabilities because of complications resulting from illegal abortions performed in private clinics and homes each year. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), in low-income countries, approximately 200 women die each day as a result of unsafe abortions.
Source: Daily Times


International

*The gender pay gap between men and women in Britain is the worst in Europe, with female workers earning on average 17 percent less than their male counterparts, an offical report said.
Source: AFP

*Iraq's interior minister says he believes American journalist Jill Carroll is alive and will be released. The deadline set by the Ann Arbor native's kidnappers passed at midnight.
Source: AP

*Saudi Arabia's oil wealth is not enough to ensure everyone has a job, so young people are encouraged to set up businesses - men and women. So young Saudis are being encouraged to set up their own businesses - and not just young Saudi men.
Source: BBC

*Australian couples are traveling to the United States for in-vitro fertilization so they can select the sex of their baby. The couples are spending up to $25,000 to use a controversial embryo sex screening procedure that is banned in Australia, the Melbourne Herald Sun reported.
Source: UPI

*1091 honor killings were committed in Turkey in the past 5 years, said Turkish Parliamentary Investigation Commission which was set up to probe honor killings. The commission will submit a report on honor killings soon. The report includes the reasons of violence against women and proposals to prevent such violence.
Source: TurkishPress.com