Awaiting Mexico abortion vote

Plus, Iranian women are arrested for their dress, elephant seals go wild, and the tax code continues to discriminate against women.

Published April 24, 2007 10:10PM (EDT)

Within hours (minutes?) we should know whether women in Mexico City will win the right to have an abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy. (As previously reported in Broadsheet, they're currently allowed abortions only if they've been raped or if their lives are at risk.) Mexico City's legislative assembly is expected to vote on the issue today, but so far, there's no news. In the meantime, here's an interesting article in the Los Angeles Times about Mexico City's dangerous black market in herbal and witchcraft-based abortion drugs, which will be dealt a much-needed blow if women are allowed to get abortions legally.

This from Ms. magazine: A critique of our national tax code, pointing out ways in which it discriminates against women. A little strident, but interesting.

Another strike against women in Iran -- according to CBS News, there's a crackdown in Iran over women's dress. So far, over 300 women have been arrested for showing too much skin, letting their hair poke out of their veils or wearing overcoats that are too tight, according to religious hard-liners -- a group always known for its excellent fashion sense.

And finally, a piece of news that has nothing to do with women, but that I can't stop talking about: The San Francisco Chronicle ran a story on its Web site (and front page) today that at one point bore the headline "Beware the Rogue Seal." Apparently there's a 2,500-pound elephant seal, nicknamed Nibbles, that has taken to attacking harbor seals, pet dogs and the occasional surfer near the mouth of the Russian River. Bathers beware.


By Catherine Price

Catherine Price is an award-winning journalist and author of Vitamania: How Vitamins Revolutionized the Way We Think About Food. Her written and multimedia work has appeared in publications including The Best American Science Writing, The New York Times, Popular Science, O: The Oprah Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Washington Post Magazine, Salon, Slate, Men’s Journal, Mother Jones, PARADE, Health Magazine, and Outside. Price lives in Philadelphia.

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