The Frisky

Female Pilot Tosses Passenger Off Plane For Sexist Comments

Jessica WakemanMay 25, 2012 //

A female pilot in Brazil tossed a passenger off her flight because he was making sexist comments about women’s ability to fly airplanes. As much as I understand her desire to kick him off, I wish she’d kept his bigoted ass on that flight and shown him how well she could fly a plane. Everyone is getting way too nuts on airplanes lately. [Feministing]
Five things to know about the Paycheck Fairness Act, which got a renewed push this week. [Think Progress]
Let’s check in on Navy women who serve on submarines two years after the decision to allow them. [ABC News] Keep reading »

Army Women Sue For Frontline Combat Roles

Jessica WakemanMay 24, 2012 //

Two female Army reservists are suing the government to overturn the ban on women in front-line combat roles. The women have pointed out that the ban will restrict their careers and affect future earnings, promotion, advancement and retirement benefits. Elsewhere in the military, the Pentagon has changed policies to open up 14,000 additional positions to women. [San Francisco Gate]
Also, a defense authorization bill proposed in the Senate today would authorize women for frontline combat positions. The proposal was offered by Senator Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY). [Huffington Post]
Senator Barbara Mikulski is pushing an expansion of the 1962 Equal Pay Act, which limits circumstances in which men and women could be paid differently. The bill would also allow employees to sue employers if they can prove they were unfairly treated. [Huffington Post] Keep reading »

Can People Please Stop Saying Abortion Causes Breast Cancer?

Jessica WakemanMay 23, 2012 //

Abortion does not cause breast cancer. The American Cancer Society, the National Institutes of Health and the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists all agree on this point. You can read about it here. But that hasn’t stopped anti-abortion activists from touting a non-existant breast cancer/abortion link to try to scare women away from terminating unwanted pregnancies. In fact, Kansas and New Hampshire have both recently seen bills that would require doctors to tell women about the “link.” WTF, people?! [Slate]
Sixty-four allegations of sexual misconduct have been made against Secret Service agents in the past five years, a Congressional panel heard today. Most of the incidents involved emails, but one involved sexual assault. [BBC]
A New Jersey memorial remembering Korean “comfort women” — i.e. women and girls held as sex slaves by Japanese soldiers during World War II — has become a point of contention for locals. [NJ.com] Keep reading »

Catholic Orgs File Massive Organized Lawsuits Against Obama Administration Over Birth Control

Jessica WakemanMay 21, 2012 //

Earlier today, 43 Catholic dioceses, schools and other institutions filed lawsuits in 12 federal courts over birth control coverage in President Obama’s plans for health care reform. The Obama administration has long touted its compromise that contraception coverage will be provided free by health care insurers if the employer refused to cover it; however, the people filing the lawsuit claim their religious liberty is under attack. Additionally, two Catholic universities recently dropped their student health plans entirely rather than deal with the compromise. [New York Times]
North Carolina pastor Charles L. Worley was videotaped saying that lesbians and gays should be put behind an electrocuted fence and left to die off. “Build a great, big, large fence — 150- or 100-mile long — put all the lesbians in there,” he said. “Do the same thing for the queers and the homosexuals and have that fence electrified so they can’t get out … and you know what, in a few years, they’ll die out … do you know why? They can’t reproduce!” How grossly inhumane. [Huffington Post] Keep reading »

Second Catholic College Drops Student Health Plan Over Birth Control Melodrama

Jessica WakemanMay 18, 2012 //

Ave Maria University in Florida has dropped its student health plan rather than cover birth control in its health plan. I don’t understand why Catholic universities are doing this. It’s pretty clear: under the health care reform compromise, if a religiously-affiliated employer (such as Ave Maria University) objects to covering birth control in its health care plan, then its insurance company will be required to cover it free of charge. See? You don’t have to pay for it. Canceling student health plans just seems like a way to make headlines while pretending to be the victim. [Think Progress]
Congress is debating a so-called “fetal pain” bill that would ban abortions in the District of Columbia after 20 weeks of pregnancy based on the medically unproven claim that fetuses can feel pain after that point. [AP]
The grocery store chain Safeway is doing PR damage control: the senior vice president made a joke about Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi being pigs at the company’s annual shareholders meeting. [Slate] Keep reading »

Missouri Might Let Your Boss Decide If Your Health Insurance Covers Birth Control

Jessica WakemanMay 17, 2012 //

Missouri’s House of Representatives advanced a so-called “conscience” bill that would allow employers to opt-out of providing health care coverage for birth control, abortion, or sterilization if it is against their personal religious beliefs. Supporters of the bill claim it protects the “religious liberty” of employers, but everyone else says it is an intrusion of an employer’s beliefs into their employees personal lives. [Columbia Tribune]
The Army may send female soldiers to its elite Ranger School to put them on par with their male counterparts, which would also help them with future promotions. This consideration is the result of the military deciding to open up more jobs for women. [Chicago Tribune]
Pregnant women may not be getting tested for STDs, despite recommendations by medical professionals, a new study finds. Getting tested for STDs is important for moms-to-be because some can be passed along from mama to baby. [Reuters]
A New York man offered to help a drunk woman who was lost and confused call the police, then took her into an alley and raped her. [New York Daily News] Keep reading »

Coat Hanger Abortions? No Biggie!

Jessica WakemanMay 16, 2012 //

Here’s a lovely comment on the value of a woman’s life from Republican Mississippi State Represenative Bubba Carpenter. In a video filmed a county GOP meeting, Rep. Carpenter is heard saying (emphasis mine), “You have [pro-choice supporters] … like, ‘Well, the poor pitiful women that can’t afford to go out of state are just going to start doing them at home with a coat hanger.’ That’s what we’ve heard over and over and over. But hey, you have to have moral values. You have to start somewhere, and that’s what we’ve decided to do.” Women permanently injuring themselves or even dying from unsafe, illegal coat hanger abortions, just like in the good ol’ days? Hey, no biggie! [Huffington Post]
Human Rights Watch says immigrant female farmworkers are suffering through sex abuse rather than standing up for themselves and possibly facing deportation. [Washington Post]
When so-called “men’s rights activists” are happy with the Republicans’ version of the Violence Against Women Act, you know we’ve got problems. [Think Progress] Keep reading »

Today’s Lady News: Catholic College Drops Entire Student Health Plan Rather Than Cover Birth Control

Jessica WakemanMay 15, 2012 //

A Catholic college in Ohio will drop its entire student health insurance plan beginning in the fall 2012 semester rather than cover birth control under its policy. Franciscan University would have been required to do so under Obama’s health care reform, given how the school is not a religious institution (i.e. it employs many non-religious “civilians”). It is not clear why the school didn’t opt for the compromise proposed by the government, which was to have the insurers pick up the tab if the employer wouldn’t. What a shame that the university would do this to their students. [Huffington Post]
This week marks the official beginning of women soldiers integrating into nine previously all-male units in the Army, which will open up 14,000 jobs. The policy change will eventually go Army-wide. [TIME, Boston.com]
Kansas Governor Sam Brownback signed into law a bill that allows a pharmacist to refuse to dispense a medication that he or she believes would terminate a life, like the morning-after pill. [Kansas City Star] Keep reading »

Today’s Lady News: More Than Half Of Young Adults Misinformed About Birth Control

Jessica WakemanMay 14, 2012 //

Here’s a depressing statistic: 60 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds may not understand how to properly use birth control to prevent pregnancy, according to a new study of 1,800 young adults by the Guttmacher Institute. Shocker of shocks, abstinence-only sex education — which refuses to teach children how contraception works — is being fingered as a prime reason for the misunderstanding. [International Business Times]
Tennessee’s governor signed into law on Friday a bill that bans teaching students about “gateway sexual behavior,” which includes everything from outercourse to hand-holding and hugging. The bill requires sex ed instructors to teach only abstinence and fines teachers $500 for each violation. Clearly this entire state did not read that Guttmacher study. [Feminist.org]
Arizona Governor Jan Brew signed into law on Friday a bill that allows any employer that identifies as “religiously affiliated” to refuse to cover birth control in the company’s health insurance plan. Thankfully, an even crazier original version of the bill was changed. [Feminist.org] Keep reading »

Today’s Lady News: Women’s Experience Of Violence Linked To Risky Sex

Jessica WakemanMay 10, 2012 //

Women who’ve experienced violence — whether it’s watching a violent crime or being abused themselves — are more likely to engage in risky sex, according to a new study. The journal Psychology of Violence found that women who’ve experienced violence are more likely to have unprotected sex and have a high number of sex partners. [Huffington Post]
The House Armed Services Committee advanced an amendment to the 2013 defense authorization bill that will protect service members, including chaplains, from getting in trouble for opposing gays serving openly the military. I see what you are doing there, folks, and it’s sneaky. [Navy Times]
Actresses Julianne Moore and Fran Drescher are two more celebs standing up for Jennifer Tyrell, the lesbian mom who was ousted from her son’s Boy Scouts troop for being gay. [Queerty] Keep reading »