Blog of Rights
Elayne
Weiss
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07/18/2011
Religious Discrimination

Obama Administration Can't Make the Case for Religious Discrimination

By Dena Sher, ACLU Washington Legislative Office & Elayne Weiss, Washington Legislative Office at 4:38pm

What a disappointing, and frankly lame, response. Last month, the ACLU, along with more than 50 organizations, sent a letter to President Obama urging him to end taxpayer-funded hiring discrimination based on religion in government contracts. President George W. Bush had rolled back this civil rights protection, which was first established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in 1941. President Obama promised to change this policy, but so far nothing. Thus, the coalition wrote to the president to again ask him to restore the civil rights protection.

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07/18/2011
District of Columbia

D.C. Gets Some R-E-S-P-E-C-T…But Not From Congress

By Elayne Weiss, Washington Legislative Office & Vania Leveille, Washington Legislative Office at 11:55am

We're happy to report that last Wednesday, the Obama administration criticized a provision in a bill that bans the District of Columbia from using its own local funds to pay for abortion care for low-income women. The White House issued a Statement of Administration Policy, in which it stated that this provision "undermines the principle of states' rights and of D.C. home rule." 

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06/30/2011
Sexual Assault

Sexual Assault in the Peace Corps

By Elayne Weiss, Washington Legislative Office at 11:30am

This month Congress took an important step to address sexual violence in the Peace Corps. The Kate Puzey Peace Corps Protection Act, named after a volunteer who was murdered while serving in Benin, would require the Peace Corps to provide sexual assault risk-reduction and response training, employ victim advocates, develop sexual assault guidelines and establish a Sexual Assault Advisory Council.

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06/16/2011

MARCH on for Military Women's Reproductive Health Care

By Elayne Weiss, Washington Legislative Office at 5:35pm

Today, Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) took a stand on behalf of U.S. military women and families when they introduced the Military Access to Reproductive Care and Health (MARCH) for Military Women Act. Earlier in the month, Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) introduced a House companion bill, which already has been cosponsored by 44 representatives. The legislation would provide federal coverage for abortion care for military personnel and families in cases of rape or incest and allow privately-funded abortions to be performed at military treatment facilities.

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05/10/2011

New Regulation Proposes Government-Funding of Religion

By Elayne Weiss, Washington Legislative Office at 5:27pm

Did you know your federal tax dollars could soon be used to help construct, acquire or rebuild houses of worship overseas? The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the government agency primarily responsible for distributing foreign aid, has proposed a new rule that, if adopted, would allow federal funds to do just that.

Of course this deeply flawed proposal is unconstitutional, as the Supreme Court has consistently ruled that the First Amendment's Establishment Clause prohibits the federal government from using tax dollars to construct or maintain buildings devoted to religious instruction or worship.

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03/18/2011

A Perfect Time for Abstinence-Only Programs to get the Old Heave-Ho

By Elayne Weiss, Washington Legislative Office at 1:22pm

Over the last several weeks, we’ve heard quite a bit of heated rhetoric about federal spending, including misguided and ill-advised calls to defund Planned Parenthood and the Title X Family Planning Program. But finally there was a breath of fresh air on Tuesday when Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) introduced a bill to end taxpayer-funded abstinence-only-until-marriage programs.

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