Hillary Clinton Slams Trump Administration's Assault On Women's Reproductive Health

Hillary Clinton, speaking at the 100th anniversary gala honoring Planned Parenthood on Tuesday, slammed "groups of men" in Washington, DC who are deciding the future of women's health protections. Everyone in the room knew she was talking about the men of the Trump administration and now the anti-women lieutenants like Teresa Manning and Charmaine Yoest, hired to rollback women's health advancements over the last 50 years. 

The event was a star-studded affair. Clinton spoke after actress Meryl Streep (she met with Streep earlier in the day, a spokesman said) and producer Shonda Rhimes. Comedian and actress Tina Fey, comedian and actor Ed Helms and top Clinton donor and producer Harvey Weinstein were also in attendance.

While urging action, Clinton also pushed the attendees to try to understand the people who disagree with Planned Parenthood.

"After decades of arguing back and forth, I think it's safe to say that people of goodwill and good faith will continue to view this issue differently," she said. "So, yes, I believe we can and should respect the deeply held beliefs of our friends, our neighbors, our fellow citizens, even when they differ from our own. That's part of what should make America America."

The event was a star-studded affair. Clinton spoke after actress Meryl Streep, who she met with earlier in  the day, and producer Shonda Rhimes. Comedian and actress Tina Fey, comedian and actor Ed Helms and top Clinton donor and producer Harvey Weinstein were also in attendance.

While urging action, Clinton also pushed the attendees to try to understand the people who disagree with Planned Parenthood.

"After decades of arguing back and forth, I think it's safe to say that people of goodwill and good faith will continue to view this issue differently," the Democratic presidential candidate said. "So, yes, I believe we can and should respect the deeply held beliefs of our friends, our neighbors, our fellow citizens, even when they differ from our own. That's part of what should make America America."

However, Clinton added, activists should "never back down from our commitment to defend the ability of every woman to make these deeply personal decisions for herself."

Hillary closed her speech with a reference to "The Handmaid's Tale," a new Hulu show based on the 1985 book by Margaret Atwood where women's rights in a dystopian future erode.

"The show has prompted important conversation about women's rights and autonomy. In 'The Handmaid's Tale,' women's rights are gradually, slowly stripped away. As one character says, 'We didn't look up from our phones until it was too late,'" Clinton said. "It's not too late for us, but we have to encourage the millions of women and men who support Planned Parenthood's mission to keep fighting."

Spanish Women Face Hate Crime Charges Over Plastic Vagina Protest

Three women who staged a 2014 May Day protest are facing charges of "crimes against religious sentiment" for parading "a plastic vagina a couple of metres high in the style of the Virgin Mary", according to court papers. 

The protest was designed to highlight issues of discrimination against women in the workplace and also restrictions on women's reproductive health as part of the national Workers’ Day march in Seville by the Spanish union the General Workers' Confederation (CGT).

The legal case was already dismissed in Spain's judicial system but the Association of Christian Lawyers appealed the decision and the previous judge's ruling that "not believing in the dogmas of a religion and manifesting it publicly falls under the freedom of expression". The new case claims to contain 'new evidence' that the protest was a deliberate insult to "religious sentiments of Cathlics' with "a mockery of the Easter procession."

Lawyers for the three women contend that there was no intention to offend in the act. One attorney Pastora Filigrana says:

"The objective was to reclaim the right to a choice [to have an abortion] as well as to workers' rights. There were no insults to churchgoers nor was the action directed at the Church. There were no crosses." via

Meet Emily Steel, Dedicated New York Times Reporter Who Is Bill O'Reilly Enemy #1

Marie Claire interviews New York Times reporter Emily Steel, who insists "I'm not the story" when talking about Bill O'Reilly's epic fall at Fox News. Perhaps not, but the investigative research approach that she took, together with her Times colleague Michael S. Schmidt, was absolutely awesome, inventive, meticulous and truly original. 

Three weeks ago, Steel and Schmidt dropped their explosive Times article, documenting settlements with at least five accusers over the last 15 years, to the hefty sum of $13 million. Within two days of their report, over 50 advertisers had fled O'Reilly's show. And now he's gone from his perch as the biggest anchor on cable TV.

We learn that Emily Steel has been a thorn in O'Reilly's big toe for years. She reported on his false claims about covering the Falklands War in the 1980s, when he was actually in Buenos Aires more than 1,000 miles away.  "I am coming after you with everything I have," O'Reilly said in an on-the-record phone call to Steel. "You can take it as a threat."

She may wear pearls and a pussycat bow blouse, but Steel doesn't scare easily. With the strong backing of their editor, the two reporters continued to mine Fox News for sexual harassment stories. 

In her more defeated moments, Steel found inspiration—in an instance of life imitating art imitating life—in the movie Spotlight. "I would listen to what Rachel McAdams would say. She would say things like, 'The words are really important.' And when we're telling these stories, the details are really specific," she says. She tried mimicking McAdams' character, Sacha Pfeiffer of the Boston Globe. "I'd say to sources, 'I know it's hard and I know it's scary, but we need to know. We need to know.'"

Steel put in the time to get those sources to trust her. "I think my editors thought I was crazy because I would spend two or three hours on the phone at a time, just to make people feel comfortable and get them to talk. But that's what it took," she says. "When you're talking about something that's so sensitive like sexual harassment, you can't just call somebody up and say, 'What happened to you?' You need to make them feel comfortable."

Steel's biggest get was Wendy Walsh, and Marie Claire writer Kaitlin Menza shares a good story.  The article doesn't share the background on Steel and Schmidt watching endless hours of Fox News footage, documenting women on air and then suddenly gone. This included not only the obvious Fox anchors but female experts who regularly appeared on O'Reilly shows and then 'poof', no more.

A cardboard cut-out of Donald Trump leans against a window in the New York Times building, not that any of the reporters and editors could forget about him. But Steel finds the present a "really invigorating" time to work in journalism.

"It's given people a sense of purpose of why we're doing the work that we do," she says.

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