Women's Issues

Tuesday was a day for Q and As with Norm Coleman, Michele Bachmann and Tom Petters. Coleman in the Harvard Crimson: “No regrets.” Bachmann in City Pages: “I’m proud.” Petters in federal court: “I apologize.” Al Franken got in on the game this morning on Minnesota Public Radio, where an interviewer said it sounds like he’d [...]

The furor over the Stupak amendment banning abortion in the House health bill was already highly charged. Now one conservative commentator has dared touch the third rail in the right-to-choose debate: optional knee surgery.

While abortion politics dominated conservative opposition to the health care reform package that barely passed the U.S. House on Saturday evening, several measures in the bill that are beneficial to LGBT Americans largely went unnoticed — especially by conservatives.

U.S. Sen. Al Franken introduced legislation Thursday that would encourage states to examine untested rape kits for DNA evidence. The bill would also provide for more health workers trained to administer rape-kit exams, particularly for Native American women.

Minnesota’s largest anti-abortion group, Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, is vigorously opposing all of the health reform proposals being offered by Democrats in Congress — and it’s not just about abortion. Several Republican talking points have crept into the group’s campaign, and most of them have been debunked by the very fact-checkers the group uses [...]

Sen. Amy Klobuchar is one of several female Democratic senators demanding that health insurance disparities that impact women be eliminated as part of the health reform packages being debated in Congress. For the past two weeks, the senators have been ensuring the issues unique to women don’t get last in the vigorous debate.

The White House announced Tuesday that President Obama has nominated Sharon Lubinski, Minneapolis’ Assistant Chief of Police, as the U.S. Marshal for the District of Minnesota. Lubinski is also one of the first — if not the first — openly gay person to be nominated for the position.

An amendment that would ban federal funds going to companies that require arbitration in the case of sexual assault passed the Senate on Tuesday. The amendment was offered by Sen. Al Franken and was added to the defense appropriations bill by a vote of 68 to 30.

Twenty-one-year-old Lila Rose is a superstar of the anti-abortion right, rubbing shoulders with conservatives like Gov. Tim Pawlenty and speaking at national events like last week’s Values Voter Summit. But her tactics — secretly videotaping visits to Planned Parenthood offices and presenting edited footage without context online — raise serious questions about journalistic ethics.

At the Minnesota State Fair she was made into crop art. Last week she became an action figure. Now U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann is a calendar girl.