From Ms. Magazine

Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) announced a new bill aimed at false advertising by so- called crisis pregnancy centers. The bill, "Stop Deceptive Advertising for Women's Services" Act, targets anti-choice centers that use deceptive advertising offering help to pregnant women or free pregnancy tests to lure women in, especially young and low-income women. Rather than offering a full range of reproductive health services, workers at these "clinics" use scare tactics and misinformation to convince women not to consider the option of abortion.

The bill directs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to create a rule prohibiting these so-called clinics from trying to deceive women into believing they provide abortion services or referrals.

Congresswoman Maloney is confident that her bill will pass. "Although those who are anti-choice disagree with my position on a number of issues, I'm fairly certain they will agree that women do not deserve to be lied to," she said. "I anticipate my colleagues across the political spectrum will step-up to stop the fraud being perpetrated against the women of America."

From Canoe--JAM!

TORONTO (CP) - Feisty pop singer Pink is making no apologies for her new video for Stupid Girls, in which she bashes a group of young starlets who she says perpetuate "the conveyor-belt (of) mindless consumerism" in the entertainment industry.

In the video and song - which is on Pink's upcoming album, I'm Not Dead - the Los Angeles-based singer slams a slew of celebrity it-girls she thinks represent the "huge lack of tolerance for diversity or thought."

"I feel like so many women have been out there fighting for our independence and our equality and to further our rights, and girls like this come along and wipe out all of our progress and they push this size zero image that's unattainable for the average person," said Pink.

From AlterNet

It's college admission season, that time of year when high school seniors and their parents await the day's mail with all the hope and dread of one awaiting the results of a pregnancy test.

To further the anxiety, Kenyon College Dean of Admissions Jennifer Delauhunty Britz recently wrote a New York Times op-ed, glibly titled "To All the Girls I've Rejected." It is an apology-of-sorts for the recent trend of what might be called "reverse gender discrimination" in college admissions. While a surplus of supergirls armed with ambition, impressive CVs, and expressive personal essays are knocking on the ivy-covered front doors of America's best colleges, admission officers are letting their slacker boyfriends and sheepish brothers slip through the backdoor.

Though Britz dresses this very public statement up in personal reflection about her own college-bound daughter's disappointment upon receiving a thin envelope, don't be fooled. This is not a quaint maternal reflection on the end of her daughter's innocence. It's the beginning of a national conversation, or at least it should be, about the legal and cultural implications of the growing imbalance.

From The Heights

"I am a survivor of rape and incest. I hope more women can say it. There is no shame on the survivors but on those who commit these actions." Aishah Shahidah Simmons offered these words of support and encouragement for victims of sexual violence before the screening of her documentary, NO!

Presented by the Women of Color Caucus, NO! explores the reality of rape and its effect on black women. Through testimony by black female survivors, scholars, and leaders, NO! advocates for rape victims to break the silence around their experiences that they so often maintain.

Simmons, who wrote, directed, and produced NO!, has already screened a rough-cut version of the film internationally to audiences of men, women, survivors, and non-survivors alike. "The fact that these people were touched [despite language barriers] shows the universality of rape," she said.

From Visions in Feminism

The 2006 Visions in Feminism Conference will be held on Saturday April 22 in Washington DC at American University.

The 6th Annual Visions in Feminism (ViF) Conference is about mobilizing our communities and organizing them toward social change and social justice. Through organizing and mobilizing within our communities we seek to bring conversations of and about activism, challenges we encounter, and the successes we have experienced. We will discuss how our voices, bodies, identity, and presence are styles of activism and resistance. ViF will continue to highlight the importantance of the dynamic process of viewing and collaborating with others using an open-mind. Mobilize & Organize!

From Alternet

In Rapid City, they don't really talk about sex. We didn't actually get any sex ed. in high school, and we had one class in middle school. Right now, the main focus of sex education is that abstinence is good. But that doesn't work. My belief is if school systems start teaching condom [use], your chances of getting pregnant are reduced. It's extremely important to provide all the options to people, not just abstinence education. I've heard a lot of outrage about [the abortion ban]. A lot of teachers aren't really willing to talk about it. They can lose their jobs, with the way the school system is set up here.