women's rights

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High Court Sounds Conflicted on Contraceptive Case

Women justices and conservative justices at odds over health care mandate

(Newser) - The Supreme Court sounded deeply divided today as it heard arguments in a politically charged challenge to the Affordable Care Act's contraceptive mandate , with its women on one side and its conservatives on the other. The hearing combined two cases—Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties v....

In Afghanistan, Women's Progress in Freefall

As US exits, signs of trouble emerge: Human Rights Watch researcher

(Newser) - Women's rights have come a long way in Afghanistan over the last decade, but a Human Rights Watch researcher sees disturbing signs that the bad old days are poised to return as the US military exits. Violence against women has spiked in the last year, conservative lawmakers want to...

Dozens of Saudi Women Drive Cars in Protest

Organizers say they've gotten videos and phone messages, though confirmation is tricky

(Newser) - Saudi activists said more than 60 women claimed to have answered their call today to get behind the wheel in a rare show of defiance against a ban on female driving in the ultraconservative kingdom. Saudi professor and campaigner Aziza Youssef said the group has received 13 videos and another...

In El Salvador, a Miscarriage Is Considered Murder

Women jailed for decades on charges

(Newser) - Glenda Xiomara Cruz hadn't known she was pregnant when the pain and bleeding started last October. The 19-year-old went to the nearest public hospital, where she had a miscarriage, and had to undergo two operations to save her own life. Then, before she was even out of the hospital...

Advisers to Saudi King: Let Women Drive

Council's transport committee to mull proposal

(Newser) - This year, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah appointed 30 women to the advisory Shoura Council—the closest thing the country has to a parliament, Reuters notes. Now, women on the council are urging the king finally to allow women to drive. When a member of the panel, Latifa al-Shaalan, called...

Saudi Cleric: Driving Hurts Women's Ovaries

And their children will have problems, he claims

(Newser) - There are some solid medical reasons behind Saudi Arabia's ban on women drivers, according to a conservative Saudi cleric who has become an international laughingstock. "If a woman drives a car, it could have a negative physiological impact," Sheikh Saleh al-Loheidan told an interviewer. "Medical studies...

City Councilor Considered 'Too Hot,' Denied Seat

Nina Siahkali Moradi may have upset Islamic conservatives

(Newser) - Is Nina Siahkali Moradi too sexy for Iranian politics? The 27-year-old candidate won a city council seat in the city of Qazvin, but has been mysteriously disqualified at the last minute, the Independent reports. A senior Qazvin official said that "we don't want a catwalk model on the...

Woman: 16 Days in NJ Jail a 'Death Sentence'

Topless-rights activist Phoenix Feeley threatens hunger strike

(Newser) - Phoenix Feeley thinks that conditions at Monmouth County Jail in New Jersey are so bad that a 16-day stay there amounts to a "death sentence." Feeley, a 33-year-old professional fire-eater, has been locked up for refusing to pay a $816 fine for going topless at Spring Lake beach...

Young Afghans Like Western Clothes, Not Western Ideas

Women's rights not catching on

(Newser) - Young people in Afghanistan are sporting more Western clothes and haircuts these days, reports the New York Times , but one trapping they haven't picked up in a decade of Coalition troops on their streets: Western ideas. In particular, women's rights, which many young Afghan men—and women—continue...

Cokie Roberts&#39; Iconic Mom Dead at 97
 Cokie Roberts' Iconic 
 Mom Dead at 97 
obituary
Jul 27, 2013 12:29 PM CDT

Cokie Roberts' Iconic Mom Dead at 97

Former congresswoman Lindy Boggs pushed women's rights

(Newser) - The name Lindy Boggs may not be of the household variety anymore, but the political obituaries rolling in for the former Louisiana congresswoman (and mother of ABC's Cokie Roberts) make clear why it once was. Boggs, 97, first helped her husband rise through the ranks of Congress, then won...

Women's Rights Bill Deemed Too Offensive in Afghanistan

Religious lawmakers call measure 'un-Islamic'

(Newser) - Religious lawmakers in Afghanistan blocked legislation today aimed at strengthening provisions for women's freedoms, arguing that parts of it violate Islamic principles and encourage disobedience. The law criminalizes, among other things, child marriage and forced marriage, and bans the traditional practice of exchanging girls and women to settle disputes....

Iran Vetoes Every Woman Running for President

There were 30 among the field of 686 hopefuls

(Newser) - A whole heck of a lot of people are running for president of Iran—and after today, they'll all be dudes. In a single pronouncement, Iran's ruling clerics struck all 30 women who had registered for the race from contention, with one telling a semi-official news agency that...

Worst Place to Be a Mom Is...

Democratic Republic of Congo, according to new report

(Newser) - The toughest place in the world for mothers? The Democratic Republic of Congo, according to a new report from Save the Children. The nonprofit organization looked at factors including health, education, income, and child mortality in 176 countries, the BBC reports. The bottom 10 are all in sub-Saharan Africa, where...

Topless Tunisian Activist Safe After Death Threats

Lawyer denies reports she was sent to psychiatric hospital

(Newser) - A Tunisian woman who prompted an outcry and death threats by posting provocative topless photos of herself online is safe at home, her lawyer tells Tunisia Live , contradicting reports that she'd been sent to a psychiatric hospital or worse. Amina Tyler, 19, started a firestorm two weeks ago by...

UN Cancels Gaza Race After Hamas Rejects Women Runners

Annual marathon is called off over dispute

(Newser) - An annual Gaza marathon race is now kaput because Hamas thinks it's immoral to have male and female runners on the same road. The UN called off April's race after failing to convince Hamas leaders to budge, reports the BBC . More than 800 runners had signed up to...

We Waste $24M a Year on the Draft: Lawmakers

Representatives push to do away with it—as women may have to join in

(Newser) - Two lawmakers are battling against what they deem an unnecessary tool of war: the Selective Service System—the organization that keeps records for any future draft. Reps. Peter DeFazio (a Democrat) and Mike Coffman (a Republican) say the success of the all-volunteer force has rendered the agency moot, and that...

Malala Thanks Supporters: 'I Can See You'

Pakistani teen activist will keep working for education

(Newser) - Malala Yousufzai has released a video expressing her appreciation for prayers directed her way from around the world after she was shot by the Taliban. Following multiple surgeries , "today you can see that I am alive," she says in the clip, via NPR . "I can speak, I...

Paris Women Now Legally Allowed to Wear Pants

Minister of women's rights revokes archaic law

(Newser) - No more skirting the issue: A French official announced Friday that women are legally allowed to wear pants in Paris, Global Post reports. Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, the minister of women's rights, revoked a little-noticed 200-year-old law banning the practice: "This law is incompatible with the principles of equality between...

To Fight African Terrorism, Start by Educating Girls

Military-only strategy is doomed to fail: Malcolm Potts

(Newser) - The US and the entire world ought to be very worried about what's going in in Mali , Algeria , and the rest of the Sahel region in Africa, because things are going to get much worse without "radical new policies," writes obstetrician Malcolm Potts in the Los Angeles ...

Wounded Vet Duckworth: 'I Didn't Lose My Legs in a Bar Fight'

She and others say women already are in combat; critics still hate move

(Newser) - Here's a look at some of the yays and nays regarding the Pentagon's decision to lift the ban on women in combat:
  • Rep. Tammy Duckworth: The Illinois congresswoman who lost both her legs as a helicopter pilot in Iraq praises the move as "long overdue" because it
...

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