It’s pretty great to be a lady in San Francisco. Unfortunately, women in many other U.S. cities can’t say the same (there were 33 anti-abortion bills enacted in April! 33!) which is why I’ll be writing a weekly ladies news roundup for the SF Appeal for people who want to catch up on the week’s female-centric happenings. I’ll be covering both local and national stories of note, as well as explaining how proposed and/or passed legislation may affect women.

LOCAL NEWS

Botox Baby Drama

Perhaps you’ve heard about “Kerry Campbell,” the “San Franciscan” beautician who was profiled in The Sun for shooting her 8-year-old daughter up with botox so “she’ll be a superstar.” After a predictable mega-Internet-freakout and some suspicions that the story was a hoax, “Campell” appeared on Good Morning America last week to justify her actions. The Chron’s Matier and Ross soon reported that “Kerry Campbell” was an alias for a woman named Sheena Upton who is not a Bay Area resident and thankfully has never injected her daughter with botox. Upton finally confessed that the story was fake on Thursday, after her daughter was taken from her by Child Protective Services.

Upton’s daughter has been returned to her, which seems sort of odd–injecting your daughter with botox is obviously horrible, but isn’t forcing your daughter to pretend you’ve injected her with botox for $200 even more of a cause for concern? I’m also wondering why The Sun picked San Francisco, of all places, for Upton’s alleged home? If they had chosen Southern California, no one would’ve debunked their story (kidding)(kind of)(I grew up in LA so I can make mean jokes about it)!

Three Rapes at Cal Poly

The 3rd rape in nine days was reported at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo last Monday. Jesus.

Schwarzenegger Scandal

I know, I know, you do not need me to tell you that our former Governor had a child with a longtime member of his household staff more than a decade ago. Maybe it’s sad that this news didn’t shock me at all–so many powerful politicians seem to think they’re invincible when it comes to the details of their extramarital affairs. More troubling to me is that so many seem surprised by this news, when Schwarzenegger’s been accused of sexually harassing multiple women in the past.

“Could folks maybe quit writing and/or publishing articles suggesting that Dominique Strauss-Kahn has historically gotten a pass on sexually assaulting women because that’s just how the French say howdy, but uptight, puritanical Americans would totally never let a powerful man get away with a pattern of unwanted groping?” Kate Harding asks in a RH Reality Check post about Schwarzenegger’s past allegations. Which leads me to…

NATIONAL NEWS

Strauss-Kahn Scandal (what a great week for powerful men who take advantage of the women who clean their shit up!)

This morning, Dominque Strauss-Kahn–the man who allegedly raped a chamber maid in his Manhattan hotel room this week and once said,“I love women, so what?”– was indicted by the New York grand jury. Some feminist bloggers think the media has been covering this story well, and that the reaction shows progress regarding public response to sex crime accusations. Plus, now more French women are speaking up about harassment! There are are still a good number of influential people, like Ben Stein, who think Strauss-Kahn’s accuser must be lying, but just as many influential people, like Jon Stewart, who think Stein’s full of it.

“He-Covery”

According to the Ms. Foundation, almost 1 million or 90 percent of the 1.3 million jobs gained in the U.S. during the economic recovery have gone to men.

Unintended Pregnancies Cost Us $$$

A new Guttmacher study finds that unintended pregnancies cost taxpayers around $11 billion per year.

BILLS, BILLS, BILLS (AND ACTS)

Federal Parental Notification Bill

This week, Senator John Boozman (R-AR) introduced a federal parental notification bill that, according to Feminist Daily News, “would require that the parents of minors seeking abortion services be notified by certified mail and that doctors wait at least four days before performing an abortion. Doctors who do not abide by the requirement could be fined up to $1 million and have to serve up to 10 years in prison.” Senator Boozman said that although some states have parental notification laws, “a federal parental notification law would prevent minors from crossing state lines to obtain abortion services.” COOL (SARCASM).

Family Planning Works Act

Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley signed the Family Planning Works Act into law Thursday, which will make free Medicaid family planning services available to 33,000 more low- and moderate-income women there. Cool! (genuinely!)

MISC.

Plus-sized and Seeking a Doula?

“It’s a proven fact doulas decrease the risk of c-sections and plus size women are at a higher risk of having one,” says PlusSizeDoulaConnections’ Facebook page. “Plus Size Doula Connections is an easy way for women to locate a doula who will not only advocate for their wishes but also someone who has experience working with larger women.”

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