Pro-Choice South Dakotans Mobilize Across the State

Women protest in Paris against South Dakota's new abortion ban. The showdown could have ramifications far beyond the state. (Pierre Verdy/Getty Images

Reproductive Rights

Battle lines drawn over S.D. abortion ban - Minneapolis Star Tribune
Without breaking her stride, a woman glared at Justin Huck as he approached her outside the Minnehaha County Courthouse last week and asked her to sign a petition to let voters decide on South Dakota's new abortion ban. Be ashamed, she told him. For a moment, the 26-year-old collegian from Spearfish shelved his "we're all South Dakotans" smile and glared back.
With raucous rallies and with promises of outside help in cash and zeal, abortion foes and supporters are mobilizing across South Dakota for a showdown that could have ramifications far beyond the state.

New and improved Plan B bill - Denver Post Editorial
An effort by state lawmakers to make it easier for women to obtain a safe and effective form of emergency birth control is in the governor's hands for the second consecutive year. The bill would help women prevent unwanted pregnancies and reduce the number of abortions stemming from sexual assault. Advocates changed the provisions of the bill in an effort to overcome Gov. Bill Owens' objections and we urge him to sign the bill or allow it to become law without his signature.

Group blames Senate leader for abortion bill's demise - AP
An anti-abortion group blamed the longtime Republican leader of the state Senate on Wednesday for killing legislation that would have required women seeking abortions to be told that life begins at conception and a fetus might feel pain. The Indiana Right to Life Political Action Committee said Senate President Pro Tem Robert Garton, R-Columbus, refused to ensure that a floor vote on the bill was taken before midnight on March 14, the deadline for the 2006 session to end. The group coupled its accusation with an endorsement of Garton's Republican primary opponent, Columbus accountant Greg Walker, and pledged to make it a major campaign issue.

Kan. abortion foes petition for grand jury - AP
Abortion foes are invoking a seldom-used Kansas law to try to force a grand jury to investigate the case of a mentally retarded woman who died after receiving a late-term abortion. The case represents the latest skirmish over abortion in Kansas, which has become a major battleground, in part because of Dr. George Tiller, one of the few physicians in the country to perform abortions late in pregnancy. On Friday, abortion opponents plan to present Sedgwick County with a petition signed by nearly 7,000 local residents asking a grand jury to look at the circumstances surrounding the death of Christin Gilbert, a 19-year-old woman from Keller, Texas, whose family brought her to Tiller's clinic in Wichita for an abortion in January 2005.


General

Women's group slams Exxon for sponsoring Masters - Reuters
A group of Exxon Mobil Corp. shareholders said on Wednesday it has filed a resolution accusing the oil company of discrimination against women for sponsoring the Masters golf tournament. The leading proponent of the resolution, which now must be voted on by shareholders, is Martha Burk, head of the National Council of Women's Organizations. She has waged a long-running battle with the Augusta National Golf Club, host of the Masters, over its refusal to admit women as members. Exxon confirmed the resolution had been filed and will appear in the company's proxy, which will be filed with U.S. regulators next week.


International

AFGHANISTAN: Female farmers rebuilding orchards - IRIN
For the first time in her life Maruim is sowing seeds and planting fruit trees in nurseries close to her simple house near the town of Balkh in the province of the same name in northern Afghanistan. Traditionally the work of men, a new programme is getting women out of the home and into the fields and orchards in order to improve food security and boost rural incomes. "I feel happy while working in the fields planting apricots, almonds and walnut trees, soon the money will come in as a result" said the 35-year-old mother of six.

Feminist Activist Murdered in Philippines - Feminist Wire
Women's rights activist Inday Estorba, 31, was shot and killed and her husband was seriously wounded in their home in the Philippines on April 3. According to Representative Liza Largoza Maza of the Philippines' Gabriela Women's Party, Estorba is the sixty-eighth woman activist to be murdered under the administration of President Gloria Arroyo, whose presidency has been marked by accusations of corruption and fraud. Estorba was a member of the Gabriela Women's Party and an employee of the Women's Development Center. Maza asserts that the murder fits into Arroyo's plan to impose martial law by silencing critics and progressive activists. She stated, Inday Estorba, for being an active Gabriela member and an advocate for women's rights has been identified as a target of Arroyo's military."

India's 'bride buying' country - BBC
Anwari Khatoon came visiting a relative in the northern Indian state of Haryana eight months ago, but ended up getting married against her will to a local man with six children from a previous marriage. A man from her village in eastern Jharkhand state had accompanied the 22-year-old woman on her journey to Haryana. Anwari is among the several thousand young women from all over India who are literally sold-off to men in Haryana, a state notorious for its low ratio of girls to boys. The going rate for buying a girl in the state is anything between 4,000 and 30,000 rupees ($88 to $660).

China-made condoms fail to establish int'l reputation - People's Daily Online
Some one billion condoms exported by China every year reach foreign consumers without Chinese labels and only the product origin. A condom only costs 0.02 to 0.03 euros when it leaves the factory in China, but its price soars to at least 0.5 euros or even 3-5 euros, after being labeled with different American and European brands. "Few people in American and European countries notice that the condoms labeled with their familiar brands in neighborhood stores are made in China," complained Jiang Youpan, chief engineer of Guilin Rubber Factory.