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Legal Voice supports bill to limit shackling of pregnant women
1/14/09

Legal Voice applauds legislation introduced in the Washington State Legislature this week to protect pregnant incarcerated women from inhumane treatment. The bill would limit the ability of prisons, jails, and other Washington correctional facilities to use shackles and other restraints on pregnant incarcerated women. Such practices are especially barbaric during labor, delivery, and immediately after childbirth.

“It defies common sense to risk a pregnant woman’s health, safety, and dignity by shackling her while she is in the process of giving birth,” said Sara Ainsworth, Senior Counsel at Legal Voice.


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New bill aims to protect women's health from deceptive "clinics."
1/13/09

Limited service pregnancy centers are non-profit organizations – not medical clinics – that typically offer free pregnancy tests and other pregnancy-related services, but often distribute false or misleading information about abortion, pregnancy, contraception, or sexually transmitted infections.

Today, legislators in Washington State introduced bills that would protect women’s health by improving accuracy, transparency and privacy at limited service pregnancy centers. Legal Voice and other women’s rights advocates are calling the bill long overdue.


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Legal Voice named Nonprofit of the Year by Greater Seattle Business Association
12/23/09

Legal Voice has won the Greater Seattle Business Association’s (GSBA) “Nonprofit of the Year” award! We are honored and humbled to receive such an award. We will be celebrating with GSBA on February 17 at the Grant Hyatt in downtown Seattle.

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Legal Voice receives Seattle Distinguished Citizen Award for Human rights
12/02/09

The staff of Legal Voice has been selected as one of the recipients of the Seattle Distinguished Resident Award for Human Rights. Each year the Seattle Commission for Human Rights and the Seattle Office for Civil Rights give this award to individuals and organizations in Seattle for their outstanding achievements in advancing human rights. The ceremony is a celebration of the signing of the U.N.’s Declaration of Human Rights on December 10, 1948.


Please join us Thursday, December 10, 2009 for an award ceremony with remarks by Professor Adrien Wing on “Why Women’s Rights are the Cause of Our Time.”

Seattle Human Rights Day 2009

  • Featuring: Presentation of Seattle Human Rights Awards; Remarks by Adrien K. Wing, renowned expert in international human rights and social justice
  • Where: Town Hall Seattle (8th Ave. and Seneca St.)
  • When: Thursday, December 10, 7:00 - 8:30 p.m.

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Legal Voice secures yet another victory in our pharmacy refusal case!
10/28/09

The Ninth Circuit has reaffirmed its decision about the constitutionality of the Pharmacy Board rules. Legal Voice applauds this ruling in favor of patients' right to medication.

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"Heroes" Auction a success! Photos now available.
10/21/09

On Saturday, October 17, nearly 300 heroes convened at the Grand Hyatt in Seattle for Legal Voice’s annual auction, this year with the theme “Heroes.” The crowd included everyone from Wonder Woman to Rosie the Riveter. Together we celebrated a cause to which the Legal Voice community has shown tremendous dedication: advancing women's legal rights in the Northwest.


We are overjoyed that auctiongoers contributed more than $90,000 to support Legal Voice's work - together we’re making a real difference for the women and families Legal Voice serves.

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A win in Montana for same-sex parents.
10/08/09

Legal Voice is thrilled to announce that the Montana Supreme Court issued a powerful decision on October 6 to protect the rights of same-sex parents and their children - an important victory in the fight to ensure that all families are recognized and protected by the law.


Michelle Kulstad and Barbara Maniaci lived together for many years in a committed intimate relationship. Together, they raised two children, who developed a bonded and dependant relationship with both women. But when the couple separated, Ms. Maniaci argued that she was the children’s only legal parent and that Ms. Kulstad should have no parental rights.


By a 6-1 margin, the state Supreme Court held that Ms. Kulstad was entitled to be treated as a parent under Montana law, noting that the couple had raised the children together as a family unit and that the children would suffer irreparable harm if Ms. Kulstad was denied parenting time. The court also held that the couple’s joint property should be equitably divided under the same rules that apply to different-sex unmarried couples.


Legal Voice was proud to submit a friend of the court brief on Ms. Kulstad’s behalf. Dan Semmens, Jessica Andrade and Jennifer Berry of Dorsey & Whitney served as our cooperating attorneys.

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Legal Voice raises $4,251 for Washington Senior Legal Handbook.
8/12/09

Community supporters have donated $4,251 toward Legal Voice's $5,000 goal for the Handbook of Legal Resources for Washington Seniors.

About 1 million people over the age of 60 live in Washington; that number is expected to nearly double by 2030. Senior citizens face complex legal problems. During a single month this year, seniors who called Legal Voice for help included people who:

  • fled Washington to escape domestic violence;
  • wanted legal custody of a great-granddaughter;
  • had questions about property division under a legal separation agreement;
  • wanted to get custody of a teenage grandson who had run away from five different foster homes;
  • needed advice about signing away rights to pension benefits; and
  • received harassing email messages from an ex-spouse’s friend.

The Handbook will address a broad range of issues facing seniors in Washington. Senior citizens and the legal professionals who work with them need this publication: no other resource like it currently exists. Once published, the Handbook will likely be the main resource in Washington about legal issues facing senior citizens.

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  • Make a donation to support the Handbook of Legal Resources for Washington Seniors.

Legal Voice celebrates victory in its fight for patients' rights.
7/8/09

Today the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a federal judge in Tacoma erred when he enjoined rules requiring pharmacies to dispense all lawful medications. Legal Voice applauds the court's decision.

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Woman shackled during childbirth; Legal Voice files lawsuit on her behalf.
6/25/09

Legal Voice has filed a lawsuit challenging Washington State’s practice of shackling incarcerated pregnant women late in their pregnancy, during labor, and during and after childbirth. Shackling pregnant and laboring women is a human rights violation and Legal Voice is working to end this abhorrent practice.

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Legal Voice Annual Report now available.
6/3/09

The annual report features stories of success, change, and the fight for women’s rights; it’s a tribute to our supporters as well as an honest account of the health of our organization’s programs and finances.

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Legal Voice mourns Dr. George Tiller
6/1/09
We grieve the death of Dr. George Tiller, the compassionate, courageous physician who provided abortions to women who had nowhere else to turn. His horrific murder May 31st is yet another sign that anti-choice extremists do not, despite their rhetoric, value life. They do not respect life or people. Rather, they demean and belittle women, families and the health care providers who seek to ensure that all women get the health care they need. Legal Voice and our allies in the state, the region and throughout the country are saddened, angry and resolute: we will not be deterred from our work, we will not stop advocating for women’s right to make decisions about their bodies, their lives and their families, we will not accept or tolerate the violence and hate of those who seek to control women. Not for a second.

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Legal Voice protests Prop 8 Ruling
5/26/09
We are deeply disappointed by the California Supreme Court's decision to uphold Proposition 8. This ruling allows a narrow majority of voters to write discrimination into the California constitution by eliminating marriage equality rights for same-sex couples. But this decision only strengthens our resolve to stop the next Prop 8 from happening in Washington State.

Earlier this month, anti-gay extremists filed Referendum 71 to try to repeal Washington’s 2009 domestic partnership expansion act. The 2009 law ensures that registered domestic partners in Washington have the same rights and responsibilities as married couples – a matter of basic fairness for same-sex couples in committed relationships.

We can’t allow Washington to move backwards. That’s why we’ve joined with our allies to form Washington Families Standing Together, a coordinated campaign to fight efforts to repeal the domestic partnership expansion act.

Please take a moment to visit www.wafst.org to learn more about the campaign, to volunteer your time, and to make a donation to help win this fight.

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New lawsuit highlights discrimination against mothers.
5/12/09
Legal Voice today announced it has filed a lawsuit on behalf of a woman who was fired after she returned to work from maternity leave and requested a flexible work schedule.

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Health care refusal rule puts women at risk; Legal Voice speaks out.
4/9/09
Today Legal Voice joined many other women’s organizations, state governments, and patient advocacy groups in urging the federal Health & Human Services to rescind the Bush administration’s last-minute regulation that would allow healthcare providers expansive rights to refuse to help patients because of their personal beliefs. Read our comments. Why are we so concerned about this issue? Refusals to provide care have historically hurt women’s access to reproductive healthcare. But all patients are put at risk when individual providers assert their personal beliefs over a patient’s healthcare needs.

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Legal Voice Takes Fight for Same-Sex Parents to Montana Supreme Court
3/27/09
In our last court filing under the Northwest Women's Law Center name, we submitted a friend of the court brief this week to the Montana Supreme Court in Kulstad v. Maniaci, a case involving the rights of same-sex parents.

Michelle Kulstad and Barbara Maniaci raised two adopted children together during a long-term intimate relationship. But when the couple separated in 2006, Ms. Maniaci claimed that Ms. Kulstad had no right to continue her relationship with the children because Ms. Maniaci was the "legally adoptive" parent. We are urging the Montana Supreme Court to uphold the trial court's ruling that Ms. Kulstad is entitled to maintain her parental relationship with the children, as well as a fair and equitable award of the couple's property. Dan Semmens of Dorsey & Whitney LLP in Missoula is serving as our cooperating counsel in this case.

Proposed bill urges level playing field in community sports, too.
Seattle Times 2/21/09
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Northwest Women's Law Center are supporting state legislation to prohibit a city, county or district from discriminating against anyone on the basis of sex in the operation of community athletic programs.

Guest Columnist: Connelly wrong on Plan B and pharmacists.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer 2/3/09
News columnist Joel Connelly tries to make a case for pharmacists who want to refuse to dispense birth control.

Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act signed into law
1/29/09
Lilly Ledbetter worked for nearly 20 years at Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company as a supervisor before realizing she was being paid less than her male counterparts.  The bill that President Obama signed expressly overrules the Supreme Court's 2007 decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., in which the Court held that discriminatory wage claims must be filed within 180 days of the first time the claimant is paid less than his or her peers — regardless of whether he or she is aware of it. Now, under the new law, each paycheck is considered a separate discriminatory act that resets the clock for filing a claim.

Legal Voice (as the Northwest Women's Law Center) signed on to an amicus brief supporting Ms. Ledbetter's claim in the Supreme Court.   We are thrilled that President Obama has signed into law this powerful tool to fight discrimination and make it easier for women and men to get the pay they deserve.

 

Press

For media inquiries, please contact us at info@LegalVoice.org or 206-682-9552.

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