Vocal far-right conservative Ann Coulter took anti-choice hate speech to a level even Bill O'Reilly couldn't support while discussing Dr. George Tiller's murder: "I don't really like to think of it as a murder. It was terminating Tiller in the 203rd trimester," said Coulter.

Today's Supreme Court ruling in Ricci v. DeStefano was disappointing, but it's what we have come to expect from the conservative majority on the Roberts Court. Had retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor still been on the court, instead of her successor Justice Samuel Alito, this 5-4 decision might well have gone the other way.

Radio host Rush Limbaugh mocks and belittles Sonia Sotomayor's participation in a women's Club – the Belizean Grove – which she recently left as a result of pressure from those opposed to the "discrimination" inherent in a woman-centric group: "I think I'm going to send Sotomayor, and her club, a bunch of vacuum cleaners to help them clean up after their meetings."

Since its passage on June 23, 1972, there have been repeated attacks on Title IX, the civil rights law that guarantees equal educational opportunities to women and girls. After eight years of Bush administration regulations limiting the impact and effectiveness of Title IX, there is now an opportunity to reinvigorate the law and once again prohibit sex discrimination in educational programs receiving federal funds.

In a preliminary hearing Monday, singer Chris Brown avoided jail time altogether and pled not guilty of assaulting ex-girlfriend and singer Rihanna in February. After the assault, shocking photos of Rihanna surfaced, showing her face badly swollen and bruised.

In a plea deal, Brown received no jail time -- only community service, domestic violence counseling, and five years of supervised probation for the felony assault charge.

"Even Paris Hilton got more jail time!" said NOW President Kim Gandy. "Young girls and boys watching this unfold on TV will see that men who commit violence against women practically go scot-free," said Gandy.

This weekend members of the National Organization for Women (NOW) cast their votes for a new team of leaders to direct the largest grassroots feminist organization in the country over the next four years. NOW delegates elected Terry O'Neill, who served as the group's membership vice president from 2001 to 2005, to succeed President Kim Gandy.

The news lately has been a roller coaster of extremes -- shifting between hope and injustice, success and tragedy, gain and loss. The only consistent aspect is the major role the media play in telling these stories, and the abuse of their power to shape the news.

The National Organization for Women calls on President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder to withdraw the U.S. Department of Justice brief filed in support of the Federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and to publicly renounce this discriminatory law. The brief was reportedly written by Bush administration holdovers, and if that is the case, this administration must immediately make it clear that President Obama does not support this position.

Under DOMA, same-sex couples who wed in states where their marriages are legal are still denied federal marriage benefits, and other states may refuse to recognize their unions.

"President Obama ran on a Democratic Platform that specifically said: 'We oppose the Defense of Marriage Act and all attempts to use this issue to divide us,'" said NOW President Kim Gandy. "This brief is indeed divisive, and the administration must disavow it immediately."

Indianapolis will host the 2009 National Organization for Women Conference and NOW Election, June 19-21, at the Sheraton Indianapolis Hotel and Suites. NOW's conference theme this year, Turning the Tide for Equality, reflects the changing political landscape and renewed sense of hope for advances in women's rights. It is also a fitting theme as NOW prepares to elect a new president and leadership team.

Judge Sonia Sotomayor. Governor Sarah Palin. SpongeBob SquarePants. What could these three possibly have in common? The fact is, while their names frequently turn up in the media, the context isn't always so nice. Sotomayor's intelligence and temperament are questioned based on gender and ethnic stereotypes. Palin and her daughter are the butt of sexist jokes. And the cartoon SpongeBob is used in a commercial that exploits women in order to sell burgers to kids.

For these reasons and many more, the National Organization for Women is re-launching its popular online Media Hall of Shame. With the help of NOW members and other website visitors, we will be on the look-out in the mainstream media for instances of sexism, racism, sexual exploitation, violence against women and other offenses. Frequent posts will highlight the latest offenses, giving people a chance to rate them and urging activists to write to the media outlets to express their outrage.

Following NOW's successful 2008 elections Media Hall of Shame, we've got a new site which features outrages that take place both within and beyond politically-focused news media. We'll be covering content from primetime television, movies, music, advertising, the Internet, kids TV, video games and so much more. Rate the entries and nominate some of your own!

Late night TV host David Letterman "joked" that during their recent trip to New York, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's daughter "was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez" during a Yankees baseball game. The next night Letterman said that the hardest part of Palin's trip was "keeping Eliot Spitzer away from her daughter."

At the 2009 National NOW Conference we will be covering a wide range of important issues in our workshops. Full workshop descriptions and titles are now available online.

The first-ever hearing on important work/family legislation, the Healthy Families Act (H.R. 2460), is being held tomorrow, June 11, in the House Workforce Protections Subcommittee.

Sponsored by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the Healthy Families Act would guarantee seven paid sick days per year for workers at businesses with 15 or more employees, to be used to recover from routine illnesses, care for a sick family member or seek services to recover from domestic violence.

We need your help to urge your Representative to become a co-sponsor -- if they have not already done so -- and to take leadership in moving this important bill to a floor vote. Working people need assurance that if they or a loved one becomes ill they will not lose their jobs and that a critically needed paycheck will be there when they most need it.

The loss of Dr. George Tiller on May 31 is compounded today by news that the clinic he ran, Women's Health Care Services, will permanently close. His family's decision not to reopen the clinic after Dr. Tiller's murder is understandable. The fault for the closing of this clinic lies squarely with the anti-abortion movement, bent on denying women their reproductive rights.