A response to the previous post and my reply

"I don't really understand the reasoning behind your concern about women not being able to receive abortions from military medical facilities. And yes, I'm a man, so I'll admit I don't understand the female mindset.

I'd like to think (as unreasonable as that may be) that military service should not be a huge sex party, complete with morning-after pills, and emergency abortions. Whatever happened to accepting responsibility for your actions? I also don't understand the theory that any kind of animal testing, or a person wearing a fur coat is a huge crime, but having an abortion is no big deal...just because it's the woman's right to choose. Why are animals protected, and children not? I thought liberals liked to stand up for the little guy. Seems to me that in this age of STDs running rampant, that these folks that love to tell everybody how they should live, could exercise a little common sense in birth control and contraception.

You also might remember back to the wonderful Clinton years, where the military was darn near budget cut out of existence. To heck with equipping the soldiers with what they need to defend our country, we'd rather have abortions on demand for our servicewomen. Give me a break.

Like I said, I'm a man and don't understand the woman mindset completely, but there's my two cents worth.

Garry"

And, my reply to Garry is:

"I'd like to think (as unreasonable as that may be) that military service should not be a huge sex party, complete with morning-after pills, and emergency abortions. Whatever happened to accepting responsibility for your actions?"

*****Many of our service women, even in the year 2007, are subjected to sexual harassment and even rape- yes, I said RAPE- by their fellow soldiers. Pregnancies result- remember Lynndie England, for example. I am sure there are many more.

*****It's also amazing to me how male service members have access to Viagra, and other male sexual enhancement drugs and NOBODY questions THAT; but service women aren't supposed to have access to contraceptive services and abortions which are still LEGAL, despite the efforts of the right-wing women-hating losers.

"I'd like to think (as unreasonable as that may be) that military service should not be a huge sex party"

*****Garry, the MEN are part of the so-called sex party, and should be taking responsibility for their actions, too. Too often, throughout history, men DON'T take responsibility.

"You also might remember back to the wonderful Clinton years, where the military was darn near budget cut out of existence."

*****Garry, actually the Clinton years WERE wonderful, compared to the unholy mess that this county is in now, thanks to Bush and Cheney, and the right-wing agenda. I don't know about the military being cut out of existence. but Bill Clinton brought us 8 years of peace and prosperity. People had jobs; people could make ends meet; many people even had extra money in their pockets. Bill Clinton opened the strategic reserve to keep the cost of gas lower for the working people. Now, people are suffering, both in this country and in Iraq. The only winner of this war will be Halliburton and the subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root, the former of which was Dick Cheney's former employer (GEE! What a coincidence!). I long for those wonderful days when we had a President who cared about the people of this country in office, and not a bunch of robber baron war profiteers.

Why are servicewomen being denied birth control?

Approximately 350,000 women currently serve in the U.S. military, making up almost 15 percent of all active-duty personnel. But federal law does little to protect their reproductive rights: not only are they banned from accessing abortion care at military medical facilities, but some cannot even obtain emergency contraception, which can prevent unintended pregnancy if taken soon after sex, at their base pharmacy.

Don't wait! Please urge Congress to ensure that emergency contraception is stocked at every military health-care facility.

Our government should provide the highest standard of care to women who have volunteered to serve our country, plain and simple. In 2002 health officials at the Defense Department agreed, and approved Plan B® to be stocked at military medical facilities. However, weeks later, President Bush's political appointees overruled the decision without discussion or explanation.

This week, Congress has an opportunity to improve health care for women in the military with a bill sponsored by lawmakers in both parties and on both sides of the choice issue. The Compassionate Care for Servicewomen Act simply adds Plan B® to the list of medications that must be stocked at every military health-care facility.

Please take action today to defend the rights of those who defend us. Urge your lawmaker to support the Compassionate Care for Servicewomen Act to ensure that emergency contraception is available to women on every military base.

A vote could take place as early as tomorrow, and it is going to be very close. Take action today!

Horrendous abuse of Moslem women by their husbands and other male relatives

Muslim feminist fights for women's rights in Italy

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Silvia Aloisi
ROME - Reuters

They may have hoped for a better life in a rich European country, but many Muslim women migrating to Italy suffer abuse by their husbands and live isolated from the rest of society, a Muslim feminist leader says. "We are not integrated at all. Many of the women who came here 15 years ago have not moved one inch forward, they live in a ghetto, they do not speak Italian, they do not go to school and often they do not work," Souad Sbai told Reuters. "Worse, they are often beaten up and abused by their partners: and I do not mean a slap in the face. I mean broken bones, knife wounds and burns with boiling-hot oil," she said.

Unlike in France or Britain, many Muslim immigrants in Italy come from rural regions of the Maghreb, where conservative views about women rights prevail: "Once in Italy, men adopt a do-it-yourself vision of Islam that completely marginalises women."

Sbai, who is 45 and has lived in Italy for 27 years, is the head of the country's Moroccan women's association, a moderate Muslim group campaigning for women's rights and giving legal advice to victims of abuse. Along with other Muslim leaders she helped the Rome government draw up guidelines for immigrants. The so called "Charter of Values", published last week, states that Muslim women should not wear veils that cover their face and reiterates that forced marriage and polygamy are banned in Italy.

More than 1 million Muslim immigrants live in Italy, mostly from North Africa, and about 40 percent of them are women who often joined their husbands a few years after they came to start a new life. But while the men in the family usually find a job and learn at least some Italian -- moving up the integration ladder -- their wives tend to stay at home and look after the children. Many end up depending entirely on their partner who may have conservative views on whether they should go out or find a job.

Statistics show that the percentage of legally registered Muslim women in Italy is much lower than that of men. In the case of Moroccans, the biggest group of Muslim immigrants in Italy, 86.5 percent of those who registered to live and work legally here were men against 13.5 percent of women. Among Tunisians, the percentages were 95.4 for men against just 4.6 for women.

"INVISIBLE"

"Many women become the property of their husbands, who often take their documents or don't get them residence permits, so they do not legally exist in Italy and they cannot go back home," said Sbai. "To the rest of society, these women are invisible. You will not see them dining in a restaurant, or queuing up at the doctor or going to the hairdresser. You will not see them doing the kind of stuff that would be normal in their own country."

She takes the example of Najat Hadi, a 46-year old Moroccan who sought Sbai's help after her Egyptian husband, beat her up repeatedly, including lacerating her breast with a spiked club, because she rebelled against his authority and did not accept the second wife that he brought home one day. The husband has since disappeared with two of Hadi's children.

Shocking statements from presidential candidates

The 2008 presidential race is off to a roaring start. Can you believe that during last week's debate, when asked if the day when Roe v. Wade is repealed would be a good day for America, Rudy Giuliani replied that "It would be OK to repeal" Roe?

I can. It was only three weeks ago that Giuliani and the other major Republican presidential candidates applauded the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the Federal Abortion Ban.

The Court's decision is a perfect example of why next year's presidential election matters so much. An anti-choice president and Congress pushed this ban all the way to the Supreme Court. And now President Bush's appointees to the Court have rolled back protections for women's reproductive rights.

But we have a chance to stop this backward trend by sending a pro-choice president to the White House in 2008. NARAL Pro-Choice America supporters like you are already working hard to do just that.

During last week's debates alone:

• An estimated 5,000 supporters attended more than 400 house parties around the country.
  
  
• 15,255 supporters signed our petition thanking the Democratic Party for maintaining its pro-choice platform and encouraging it to support the Prevention First Act.
  
  
• 15,127 supporters signed our petition telling the Republican Party to change its platform opposing legal abortion and to support a Prevention First plank.

We need you to add your voice to these petitions to help us send a strong message to the Democratic and Republican Parties - please click here to sign the petition to the Democratic Party and then click here to sign the petition to the Republican Party.

We have had an incredible start to the 2008 election season, and, rest assured, NARAL Pro-Choice America will continue to research the candidates' positions on a woman's right to choose and keep you informed. You can keep learning more by reading what several of the candidates had to say about the Supreme Court's decision last month. We will also work hard to keep women's reproductive rights in the center of the 2008 debate.

There is much at stake in 2008, but, by working together, we will elect a pro-choice president!

Sincerely,

Nancy Keenan
President, NARAL Pro-Choice America

A formula that works | Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | News: Education

A formula that works | Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | News: Education

A formula that works

DISD school has competitive admissions, high test scores - and no boys

12:00 AM CDT on Sunday, May 13, 2007

By TAWNELL D. HOBBS / The Dallas Morning News
tdhobbs@dallasnews.com

Round any corner at the Irma Rangel school for girls, and you'll find evidence that learning is a serious mission.

JIM MAHONEY/DMN

Teenage girls swarm the halls at the Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women's Leadership School, DISD's only single-sex school. Opened in 2004, the high-performing school is unusual for reasons other than the absence of boys: Student activities include a lacrosse team and a handbell choir.

Student artwork – from paper quilts depicting different eras to student-made books to intricate drawings – is displayed throughout. A bulletin board is packed with college information. Teachers' academic credentials are posted on classroom doors. Another bulletin board provides information on famous "women of science."

And the girls at the Dallas school district's first single-sex school – turned out in their plaid uniform skirts and white blouses – exude confidence. They don't miss the pressures common at traditional schools – mainly those involving boys.

JIM MAHONEY/DMN

From left: Irma Rangel students Laura Payne, 16, Jennita Warren, 16, and 15-year-old Rosalina Tovar carry life-size baby dolls during their Spanish class as part of a two-week health-class project designed to reinforce the responsibilities of motherhood.

"You get to be yourself," said 13-year-old Adela Sanchez, taking a break from a robotics experiment using Legos. "When you're in a school with guys, you worry about what guys think."

The Dallas Independent School District opened the Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women's Leadership School in 2004 to try out the concept. It's now part of a growing trend. The number of single-sex schools across the country is still small, but it has more than doubled in just a few years. And last year, the U.S. Department of Education issued rules that will make it easier for school districts to create single-sex schools and classes.

Texas has three single-sex public schools – Irma Rangel and two schools in Houston for boys, according to the National Association for Single Sex Public Education. At least one other district, Austin, is adding a school.

Irma Rangel's early successes have led some DISD trustees to suggest that the district consider opening an all-boys school, though no one has made a formal proposal.

Rangel, which is near the Women's Museum in Fair Park, has grown from 126 seventh- and eighth-graders when it started three years ago to 329 students in grades six through 10. A grade is being added each year until the school reaches 12th grade in 2008-09.