Get Well Soon Ruth!

I found this nice NYT piece about Justice Ginsburg's increasing dissatisfaction with the direction the Supreme Court has taken over the past few years. Let's hope she has a full and speedy recovery from her recent surgery so that she can resume her role on the Court.

Given the age of a number of justices on the court, it seems likely that our new President will have to make at least two appointments during his term. Lucky for us!

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Your tax dollars promoting "absitence until marriage"

This just in from Feminist Daily News Wire:

"Healthy Marriage" Funds Improperly Used to Promote Abstinence

A report issued on October 27 by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that some recipients of grants from the Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood Initiative—run by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)—have used the funds impermissibly for abstinence-only education.

"HHS officials told us that abstinence education was not allowable under the Healthy Marriage program," reads the report, "but we observed during our site visits and review of grantee data several Healthy Marriage grantees operating programs that focused on abstinence education."

The study, which was requested by Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), also found that HHS—operating under a shortened deadline process—"did not fully examine grantee's programs as described in their applications."

Both programs are designed to serve low-income and minority groups. The Healthy Marriage programs, targeting teenaged youth primarily, are supposed to promote marriage and relationship activities; the Responsible Fatherhood programs, targeted at incarcerated parents, are designed to provide parenting skills. The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 appropriated $150 million in grants each year from 2006 through 2010 to implement the Initiative. But it diverted funds from programs designed to support those living in poverty, such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), to programs promoting marriage.

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Paris Does D.C.

I'm a latecomer to this whole McCain v. Paris Hilton wrangle. I just read up on the face-off on The Nation, and I watched Paris Hilton's comeback to McCain's put-down of her. I never thought I'd hear myself say this but, I *heart* Paris Hilton!

Good News: A Step Toward Pay Equity!

Via The Gavel:

House Passes the Paycheck Fairness Act

July 31st, 2008 by Jesse Lee

The House has just passed the Paycheck Fairness Act, H.R. 1338, by a vote of 247-178. Although the wage gap between men and women has narrowed since the passage of the landmark Equal Pay Act in 1963, gender-based wage discrimination remains a problem for women in the U.S. workforce. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, women only make 77 cents for every dollar earned by a man. The Institute of Women’s Policy Research found that this wage disparity will cost women anywhere from $400,000 to $2 million over a lifetime in lost wages. Furthermore, loopholes created by courts and weak sanctions in the law have allowed many employers to avoid liability for engaging in gender-based pay discrimination. The Paycheck Fairness Act, introduced by U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), will strengthen the Equal Pay Act and close the loopholes that have allowed employers to avoid responsibility for discriminatory pay.

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Massachusetts leading the way

I'd like to take the opportunity to give a shout-out to my home state of Massachusetts. Was proud to hear that the State legislature repealed a century old law that prohibited non-residents from getting married in the State. This opens the door for lesbian and gay couples from other states to be married in the Bay State, where same-sex marriage is no longer illegal. The Catholic Church, naturally, opposed the measure. Like anyone should be looking to the Massachusetts Diocese for guidance on morality.

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Concerns with Gardasil

Gardasil, the relatively new vaccine for HPV, is under fire after complaints that several young girls that were administered the vaccine suffered paralysis. This is a disturbing development, if true, that requires further study and review. The makers of Gardasil have been campaigning for the FDA to approve the vaccine for boys - since men are often carriers of HPV.

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Mother-Daughter Schism

In case you haven't heard, the latest buzz in feminist circles is about an ongoing spat.. or shall we say war -- between Rebecca Walker and her famous mom, Alice.

Read about it here.
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New: Blog of Rights

Check it out!

The ACLU has just launched the Blog of Rights, to keep you up to date on the latest threats to and victories in our civil liberties.

The Rights are organized by category - of particular interest to Cowgrrl Up! readers are Women's Rights and Reproductive Rights, not to mention LGBT Rights, Immigrant Rights, Racial Justice, U.S. Supreme Courts, and more!
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Wage Gap Blues

As we know, Wyoming women suffer the worst gender wage gap in the nation. But just in case you're raising a daughter who you hope to have better luck elsewhere when she graduates from college, think again.

According to a recent Economic Policy Institute report, recent women college graduates made, on average, $2.92 less than their male counterparts in 2007. Gee, makes the 44 cents difference in Wyo. sound like a bonus.

Check Feminist Daily News for more on this issue.
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Native American Woman Honored

I'm glad to share some good news, good news born out of tragedy, that is. The first-ever Native American woman to die in combat on foreign soil, Lori Piestewa, has been honored by renaming a mountain in Arizona after her. Fittingly, the peak once called "Squaw Peak" is now Piestewa Peak, a big step forward in undoing racism and celebrating courageous women.

Feministing has a great post about this.

Some of you may be familiar with Lori's name. She's the soldier that media/govt. victim Pvt. Jessica Lynch credited with being the true hero of the day when Lynch's unit came under attack.

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Fair Pay Action Alert

This just in from the ACLU:

Don't Let Employers Get Away With Pay Discrimination

Last May, the Supreme Court ruled in Ledbetter v. Goodyear that employees who have suffered years of pay discrimination cannot have their day in court if they don’t discover the discrimination within 180 days of their employer’s initial discriminatory pay decision.

The Ledbetter decision not only reversed years of employment law, it also ignored the realities of a workplace. Often employees don’t know what their co-workers are paid. Further, expecting that they learn that information within the first 180 days of a pay decision is unreasonable. Unless Congress intervenes, companies will be able to discriminate for years and unjustly profit from paying women, minorities, the elderly, and people with disabilities, as long as it keeps the discrimination secret for a few months.

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed legislation to correct this problem, and to ensure employers do not profit from years of discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, and disability, simply because their employees were unaware of the discrimination for 180 days. The bill clarified this wage discrimination is not a one-time occurrence, but rather, that each discriminatory paycheck an employer issues represents an ongoing violation of the law.

A similar bill, the Fair Pay Restoration Act (S.1843), is now before the U.S. Senate. The time has come for the Senate to correct this wrong and let American workers keep their hard-earned dollars.

Click here to take action.

God wanted this?

You've probably heard the news about the 401 Fundamental LDS children taken into protective custody by the State of Texas. The children were removed from a compound run by the family of Warren Jeffs, the "prophet" leader of the sect currently serving two consecutive prison terms of five years to life for his conviction on two counts of being an accomplice to rape. The State had received reports of abuse from former members and children inside the compound, including that a 15 year old child bride had given birth.

A brief commercial interruption: Haven't read Under the Banner of Heaven yet? Read it.

The sect is claiming the State has violated their right to freedom of religion by taking the children. What is free about forcing 15 year old girls to marry and have sex with men more than twice their age? This "religion" isn't about freedom - it's about power. More specifically, it's about men having power over women under the guise of religion. "God told me to." How very convenient that their "God" has told them to take as many wives as possible and to procreate ad nausea and to beat and molest children and threaten anyone who speaks out or complains with eternal damnation. Sounds like a pedophiliac's/sadomasochist's wet dream until you slap the religion label on it and now it's an oppressed minority just trying to "lead a righteous life". What child exposed to such hellfire and damnation rhetoric and abuse since birth could freely choose anything?

Here's hoping these children get access to some high quality medical and psychological care. They have been brainwashed and traumatized for years.

However, this brings me to my problem with religion. As a reviewer of Krakauer's book notes more eloquently than I could: "What makes one person's claim of revelation from God valid, and another's nonsense?" Exactly. Obviously most people dismiss Warren Jeff's revelation as total BS. But is that only because it is so outside the mainstream?

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Call your senators

From Feminist Newswire:

Senate Bill Targets Deceptive Advertising by Pregnancy Crisis Centers

Senator Robert Menendez introduced a bill in the Senate yesterday that would regulate the misleading advertising practices of Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPCs). Stop Deceptive Advertising for Women’s Services Act would require the Federal Trade Commission to create and enforce rules to prohibit CPCs' deceptive advertising practices, such as advertising under the term "abortion services." The act expressly defines abortion services to mean "providing surgical and non-surgical procedures to terminate a pregnancy, or providing referrals for such procedures."

House Representative Carolyn Maloney introduced the Stop Deceptive Advertising for Women's Services Act in the House last summer.

Rep. Maloney said, "Although I may disagree with their views, many crisis pregnancy centers are forthright and respectful and they have a right to exist. Unfortunately, some take a more underhanded approach to lure in women seeking abortions by using tactics that should be illegal. Many women who face unwanted pregnancies find themselves in a very difficult, very personal situation. They shouldn't have to face the added stress of deciphering whether or not the clinic they choose offers legitimate medical services."
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Fabulous LBT Women Leaders!

The National Gay & Lesbian Task Force celebrated Women's History Month in March by putting together an ever-growing list of lesbian, bisexual and transgender women who are leading the way to full equality in the queer liberation movement.

It's such an inspiring list! Check it out here.

(The photo is of Katherine Acey, Executive Director of Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice.)
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