On Friday, March 1, Celeste Greig, head of the California Republican Assembly, told the media that pregnancies by rape are rare "because it's an act of violence, because the body is traumatized." Ironically, she said this while criticizing former Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin for his comments last fall about "legitimate rape." I started this petition because I am disgusted by scientifically illiterate Republican leaders attempting to defend rape related anti-choice policies. These uneducated and fanatical politicians attempt to minimize the horrific consequences of rape in order to pursue a twisted political agenda and in so doing degrade women. Everyone is welcome to their own opinion, but not to their own facts. Rapes cause pregnancy. Celeste Greig (and other factually challenged politicians) need to resign from their high profile political positions so policy can be made based on science, not ideology.

New York is the birthplace of women's rights. Yet 165 years later, the dreams of the Seneca Falls Convention remain out of reach for millions of mothers, daughters and sisters in our state. Women earn $11,000 less, on average, then their male counterparts, and are twice as likely to become single parents living in poverty. It is time for New York to lead again! Governor Cuomo has issued a clarion call for equality: Equal Work. Equal Pay. Equal Choice. Equal Chance. Equal Rights. His 10-point Women’s Equality Agenda proposes to make fairness a reality for the women of New York. It addresses a wide array of barriers facing women, including restrictions on access to reproductive health care; income inequality; discrimination based on pregnancy and family status, source of income, and domestic violence; and the practice of human trafficking, among others. Let's make it the law. For more information about the Women’s Equality Agenda, and to view a video clip from Governor Cuomo’s speech outlining his proposals, visit www.abetterbalance.org.

We, the undersigned, wish to thank and encourage Representative Tom Reed to continue his bipartisan efforts to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, along with the enactment of the Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act and the Campus Safety Act. We thank the Representative for his efforts to champion bipartisan support for the VAWA and encourage him to lead the efforts to pass a more inclusive VAWA in the House; a House act similar to the Senate version would provide protections to undocumented immigrants, Native Americans, and same-sex couples. These acts, if passed, will prove to be instrumental tools in the fight against domestic violence and other intimate forms of violence. The act provides victims of domestic abuse with a refuge from violence through crisis centers, hotlines, violence prevention programs, and other essential services. We also urge the Representative to act quickly and determinedly as the act is of an urgent nature. Failure to pass the legislation quickly, increases the risk of sexual violence on campus and cuts off survivors from vital resources. If the Violence Against Women Act (S. 1925) is not passed in the early days of this congressional session, 200,000 survivors could lose critical legal, and in many cases, life saving, services and protections.

This is cruel & inhumane treatment of horses. Articles that I've read state that a lot of these slaughtered animals are young. Since this meat is going to be "exported internationally", there's no guarantee the meat won't be used for human consumption.

I have noticed that many accidents happen because of people too distracted while talking on their cell phones. We need to have a law where people can only use hands-free devices so that they can keep both hands on the wheel.

A recent article in the New York Times identified only 8 countries on Earth which do not have National Paid Parental Leave Laws. These countries: Suriname, Liberia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Nauru, Western Samoa, Tonga - and the United States of America. Today in the United States, almost half of working mothers have no access to paid Maternity leave of any kind. Parents are faced with an impossible choice: Taking a few critical weeks off of work to bond with their new child, or returning to work in order to keep their job and protect their family's economic security. Even worse, only 54.9 % of American workers qualify for FMLA protection, meaning that many mothers have no nationally guaranteed job protected leave at all. This is wrong. America - We Can Do Better for our families. Currently, the United States is the only developed country that does not ensure working parents can take job-protected, paid time away from work to bond with a new child. We as a nation believe strongly in family values - we now need laws that value families!

Mamie "Peanut" Johnson, Toni Stone, and Connie Morgan were the only three women in American baseball history to every play in the a men's league. Yet, they are not in the baseball hall of fame.

Many of us have had enough of the hate spewed by this buffoon and his "ditto's", and feel he's long over due to be let go.

Since reading the NY Times article about stalled policies for families since the Family Medical Leave Act http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/17/opinion/sunday/why-gender-equality-stalled.html?pagewanted=all it's apparent that women AND men deserve time and money to bound with a newly born child. Only if paid maternity leave and paternity leave is provided will women feel they can remain in the workforce and contribute to society and men feel they can be fully present in their family's lives. Let's put the pressure on the US House, Senate, and President Obama to make this a priority!

Join “Hindu Voices for VAWA: Standing United Against Domestic Violence & Sexual Abuse”, a campaign by Hindu American Seva Communities (HASC) to mobilize American Hindus to urge Congress to pass the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Our tradition worships the divine feminine aspects (God). Let us honor women and bring the dharmic social justice voice to the forefront. We urge you to sign the petition to support VAWA. The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) is our nation's most effective tool in addressing and preventing domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking. With 1 in 4 women experiencing severe physical violence by an intimate partner and nearly 1 in 5 women being raped in her lifetime in the United States alone, the reauthorization of VAWA is needed now more than ever. Recently, the Senate passed a strong bipartisan and inclusive VAWA reauthorization bill. It’s now up to the House to pass an equally robust version of VAWA quickly. Background: Initially passed in 1994, VAWA was written to protect women against domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking. VAWA provides the law enforcement officials efficient and effective support in responding to crimes such as these. VAWA brings awareness to the serious endemic of domestic and sexual abuse and promotes efforts to end such violence. VAWA programs are administered by the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services and give law enforcement, prosecutors and judges the tools they need to hold offenders accountable and keep communities safe while supporting victims. In 2012 the 112th Congress stalled and did not vote to reauthorize VAWA for another five years the Senate version that gives extra provision to protect the immigrant, the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT), and Native American communities. “Hindu Voices for VAWA: Standing United Against Domestic Violence & Sexual Abuse” is a project of Hindu American Seva Communities (HASC) (aka Hindu American Seva Charities), an independently registered not-for-profit organization. Hindu American Seva Charities (HASC) is a progressive American organization advancing seva (community service), interfaith collaboration, pluralism, social justice and sustainable civic engagement to ignite grassroots social change and build healthy communities and coalitions while strengthening our places of worship. Through education and policy changes it seeks to bridge the gap between US government and Hindu and Dharmic people and places of worship. For more details see www.hinduamericanseva.org and http://www.sevavotes.org/social-justice/womens-empowerment/

Native American Women and Children are seriously vulnerable to attack on Tribal Lands by non-Native Drug Dealers and Sexual Predators. As the Law stands now only Federal Courts can prosecute these perpetrators and there is rarely follow through. Knowing this we call upon the House to open the way for Tribes and the Dept. of Justice to work together to protect our Families!

Hate Crimes issue--there is a large statue on Central Park's Fifth Avenue and 103rd Street of "Dr. Marion Sims, Father of Gynecology" a 19th Century Alabama "doctor" who performed many documented gruesome gynecological experiments on several African slave women in the 19th Century in his backyard without anesthesia. This was during the time when many in the medical community were using gruesome experimentation of African black slaves to enforce the slave system (especially in the South). The experiments are well documented even in medical journals. There is no mention of any of the victims on the statue. He encouraged backyard experimentation of slaves whether he wanted to or not. The statue belongs in a museum on slavery not as a regular great statue. Yet, it is listed as a highlight in Central Park and it also happens to be across from the Academy of Medicine. What should be investigated is why the government's various civil rights departments have not had it removed.