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Criminalizing Sex Work to Combat Trafficking: Rhode Island Considers the Wrong Solution to the Wrong Problem

By Andrea Ritchie, Sex Workers Project, Urban Justice Center

September 3, 2009 - 7:00am

The State of Rhode Island seems poised to take a significant step backwards on its legal treatment of both sex work and trafficking when legislators resume their session this fall.

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News & Commentary

1 Greater Equality for India's Muslims Can Mean Greater Equality for Muslim Women

By Aziza Ahmed on Nov 24, 2009 - 7:00am | comments (1)

Muslim women in India are caught between the strictures of family and personal law and persistent discrimination against them as women from both the Indian government and society writ large.

Senate Bill More Closely Preserves Abortion Status Quo

By Jessica Arons on Nov 24, 2009 - 7:00am | comments

Opponents and supporters of women's choices in childbearing agreed early on, in theory, to maintain the “status quo” with "abortion neutral" health care legislation. The Senate bill achieves this goal; the House bill does not.

Ending the Epidemic of Sexually Transmitted Infections Starts with Talking

By Amanda Marcotte on Nov 24, 2009 - 7:00am | comments

An epidemic of sexually transmitted infections in the U.S. disproportionately affects blacks, youth, gays and the poor. Talking openly about sex is the first step in prevention.

2 Pregnant, Jailed and Denied Care

By Amie Newman on Nov 24, 2009 - 8:00am | comments (1)

Bethany Cajúne, pregnant and in a substance abuse recovery program, was jailed for 19 days for traffic violations. But officials repeatedly denied her a drug necessary to her recovery, putting her health and the life of her fetus at risk.

Mr. Stupak: Here’s a Senate Speech You’ll Need To Hear

By Rebecca Sive on Nov 23, 2009 - 8:00am | comments (2)

No one reading this has forgotten that the House passed a healthcare “reform” bill that includes the Stupak Amendment. Here's a speech Congressman Stupak needs to hear.

Anti-choice Groups Denounce Nevada "Egg-As-Person" Amendment

By Wendy Norris on Nov 23, 2009 - 8:00am | comments (10)

In a strange twist, Nevada anti-choice groups, complaining that the wording of a "personhood" amendment to establish civil rights for fertilized eggs is too vague, are on the same side as Planned Parenthood and ACLU.

3 Today is the Transgender Day of Remembrance

By Tara Sawyer on Nov 20, 2009 - 6:59am | comments (3)

I'm a transgendered sex worker, and I want to not get killed for who I am or what I do. As our death count rises, I beg that you consider your prejudices around gender, and let us live in peace. I'm literally begging for my life.

The Real Victims of Stupak-Pitts

By Dr. Suzanne Poppema on Nov 20, 2009 - 7:00am | comments (51)

In examining rooms, we see women in terrible pain, but their suffering doesn’t count in Stupak/Pitts world. By banishing abortion from the reform bill, the amendment punishes women who need to end unwanted or unhealthy pregnancies.

Precious, Stupak, and the Erasure of Women's Lives

By Sarah Seltzer on Nov 20, 2009 - 7:00am | comments

With the Stupak amendment literally and symbolically stripping women of equal status, the movie "Precious" presents, in grim detail, the way race, class and bias render a woman's body simultaneously invisible and subject to abuse.

4 Get Real! I'm Becoming a Christian: How Can I Reconcile My Faith With My Sex Life?

By Heather Corinna on Nov 20, 2009 - 7:00am | comments (13)

Form-based ethics teach the Christian to ask the question “Am I allowed to do this?” Content-based ethics teach the Christian to ask “Am I truly loving the person or persons with whom I am doing this, including myself?”

Truth Is Indeed One of the First Casualties of War

By Jon O'Brien on Nov 19, 2009 - 9:37am | comments

I agree with Jim Wallis that the truth has become a casualty in this war--because both Jim and the Catholic Bishops have twisted it. And if Jim Wallis and his conservative allies have their way, women will become another casualty.

Two New Analyses Show Women Have "Much at Stake" Under Stupak Amendment

By Jodi Jacobson on Nov 19, 2009 - 7:00am | comments (10)

Two new studies show what many have already argued: Implementation of the Stupak-Pitts Amendment would likely result in the almost total loss of coverage for abortion care, including in situations where life and health are at risk.

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Former Kansas Atty General Chief of Staff Under Investigation for Ethics Violations in Tiller Case

Jodi Jacobson, Senior Political Editor
Nov 23 2009 - 4:47pm | comments (1)

The Wichita Eagle reports today that Eric Rucker, former top assistant to Kansas State Attorney General Phil Kline, faces a formal ethics complaint that he made misleading comments before the Kansas Supreme Court in attempts to prosecute Dr. George Tiller for violations of Kansas law for which Tiller was repeatedly found innocent.
In 180 Degree Shift, Roeder's Attorney Protests Efforts by Prosecutors to Ban "Necessity Defense."

Jodi Jacobson, Senior Political Editor
Nov 23 2009 - 4:41pm | comments (2)

After vociferously denying a "necessity defense" could be mounted in the case of Scott Roeder, the man accused of shooting Kansas doctor George Tiller in May, the public defender representing Roeder is fighting prosecutors' efforts to ban the so-called necessity defense from his trial.
Connie Shultz: Reproductive Health Is Not A "Social Issue"

Jodi Jacobson, Senior Political Editor
Nov 23 2009 - 4:10pm | comments

"When has a medical procedure exclusive to men ever been held to a vote on a floor of the United States Congress?" asks Connie Shulz. "Oh, wait, just remembered: Never."

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Standing Up For Women’s Rights

by LeahStern
Nov 19 2009 - 11:31pm | comments
VIDEO Take Women's Health Forward: Stop Stupak!

by PlannedParenthoodAdvocate, Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota Action Fund
Nov 18 2009 - 5:43pm | comments
Senator Maria Cantwell: Champion for Reproductive Justice

by Alison Cole
Nov 14 2009 - 3:05pm | comments

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Transgender Day of Remembrance

by Melissa Ditmore
Nov 20 2009 - 11:14am | comments (1)
Standing Up For Women’s Rights

by LeahStern
Nov 19 2009 - 11:31pm | comments
State of World Population 2009 by the U.N. Population Fund

by Jane Roberts, 34 Million Friends of UNFPA
Nov 18 2009 - 7:50pm | comments

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