January, 21 2009, 09:16am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Mai Shiozaki, 202-628-8669, ext. 116; cell 202-641-1906
Marking 36 Years of Roe v. Wade: A New President, a New Commitment to Protecting Women's Reproductive Rights
On Thursday, Jan. 22, the National Organization for Women (NOW) will
hold its annual vigil at the U.S. Supreme Court, commemorating and
celebrating the 36th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision affirming women's constitutional right to abortion.
"We are celebrating 36 years of Supreme Court recognition that the
Constitution protects women's right to legal abortion. But not a day
goes by without threats to our reproductive freedom," said NOW
President Kim Gandy.
WASHINGTON
On Thursday, Jan. 22, the National Organization for Women (NOW) will
hold its annual vigil at the U.S. Supreme Court, commemorating and
celebrating the 36th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision affirming women's constitutional right to abortion.
"We are celebrating 36 years of Supreme Court recognition that the
Constitution protects women's right to legal abortion. But not a day
goes by without threats to our reproductive freedom," said NOW
President Kim Gandy.
"The promise of Roe is already denied to many women, and
recent restrictions limit access to birth control and emergency
contraception as well. We look forward to quick action by the
Obama-Biden administration and a new Congress to undo the damage and
strengthen women's reproductive healthcare," said Gandy.
WHAT: NOW's annual vigil commemorating the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade
WHEN: Thursday, January 22, 2009
WHERE: In front of the U.S. Supreme Court
TIME: 5:00 PM
The National Organization for Women (NOW) is the largest organization of feminist activists in the United States. NOW has 500,000 contributing members and 550 chapters in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
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While applauding the U.S. House of Representatives' bipartisan passage of a bill to ensure that "law enforcement and intelligence agencies can't do an end-run around the Constitution by buying information from data brokers" on Wednesday, privacy advocates highlighted that Congress is trying to extend and expand a long-abused government spying program.
The House voted 219-199 for Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act (FANFSA), which won support from 96 Democrats and 123 Republicans, including the lead sponsor, Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio). Named for the constitutional amendment that protects against unreasonable searches and seizures, H.R. 4639 would close what campaigners call the data broker loophole.
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Wednesday's vote followed the House sending the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act to the Senate. H.R. 7888 would reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which allows for warrantless spying on noncitizens abroad but also sweeps up Americans' data.
The House notably included an amendment forcing a wide range of individuals and businesses to cooperate with government spying operations but rejected an amendment that would have added a warrant requirement to the bill, which the Senate could vote on as soon as Thursday.
Noting those decisions on the FISA reauthorization legislation, Ruddock stressed that "today's vote is a victory but follows a recent loss and ongoing threat as that Section 702 bill moves to the Senate this week too."
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Jeramie Scott, senior counsel and director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center's Project on Surveillance Oversight, also praised the House's FANFSA passage on Wednesday.
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Kia Hamadanchy, senior policy counsel at ACLU, similarly said Wednesday that "the bipartisan passage of this bill is a flashing warning sign to the government that if it wants our data, it must get a warrant."
Hamadanchy added that "we hope this vote puts a fire under the Senate to protect their constituents and rein in the government's warrantless surveillance of Americans, once and for all."
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Since 2011, the U.N. Security Council has rejected the Palestinian Authority's request for full member status. On April 2, the Palestinian Observer Mission to the U.N. requested that the council once again take up consideration of its membership application. According to the first State Department cable, U.N. meetings since the beginning of April suggest that Algeria, China, Guyana, Mozambique, Russia, Slovenia, Sierra Leone, and Malta support granting Palestine full membership to the U.N. It also says that France, Japan, and Korea are undecided, while the United Kingdom will likely abstain from a vote.
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"After a year of preparation, we finally open the doors to our new research consortium, exposing the global network of reactionary forces that corrode our democracies, destroy our planet, and drive us closer to world war," the group added.
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