October 18, 2006, marks the National Organization for Women Foundation's ninth annual Love Your Body Day.

Failing in a last-minute effort to increase abortion restrictions before Congress leaves Washington, D.C., to campaign, Republicans were unable to force a vote on a bill that would deprive young women of family support, threaten their friends and relatives with jail time, and restrict their access to abortion services.

"It's obvious that the Food and Drug Administration is no longer the watchdog for public health and safety," National Organization for Women President Kim Gandy said today, welcoming legislation proposing corrective measures for recent ill-advised FDA actions on Emergency Contraception (EC) and risky silicone gel breast implants.

On Sept. 20 the National Organization for Women and CODEPINK will cosponsor Women for Peace Day at Camp Democracy. NOW President Kim Gandy and Medea Benjamin, cofounder of CODEPINK, will kick off the day with speeches at 9:30 am.

The National Organization for Women condemns these acts of violence, the perpetrators, and the military authorities who fail to take action to punish offenders and prevent further violence.

On the one year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the National Organization for Women will participate in a joint press conference to launch Camp Democracy—a movement to bring more attention to domestic problems, rebuild the Gulf Coast, and call for an end to the death and destruction in the Middle East.

The Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) decision today to allow Plan B, the emergency contraceptive (EC) manufactured by Barr Pharmaceuticals, to be sold without prescription (over-the-counter) to women age 18 and older is a step in the right direction for women's rights and reproductive health, but it is an incomplete victory.

After years of controversy over the "safer than aspirin" product known as Plan B or the "morning after pill," the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will finally announce their decision whether women can obtain Plan B emergency contraception (EC) without a doctor's prescription.

Back in May, when the National Organization for Women Political Action Committee became the first national PAC to endorse Ned Lamont, there was no bandwagon to jump on. In fact, many Beltway politicos thought we had lost our senses, or worse -- endorsing a relative unknown against a well-connected 18-year incumbent.

NOW President Kim Gandy will be in Connecticut today campaigning for Ned Lamont for United States Senate. The leader of the nation's leading women's rights organization will be talking with Connecticut women about why Ned Lamont is the best candidate for women, and why the National Organization for Women was the first national organization to endorse him.

In a 5-4 decision today, the state Supreme Court in Washington upheld the state's ban on gay marriage. The court sided with the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which was passed by the Washington Legislature in 1998. The law restricts marriage to one man and one woman, and the court held that the state's legislature has the right to define "marriage."

Tuesday evening the U.S. Senate joined with their House colleagues in passing their version of legislation that will endanger the health and lives of many young women, or make felons out of their trusted relatives and clergy. The House passed an even harsher measure last year and the bills will have to be reconciled before this cruel bill becomes law.

Hundreds of reproductive rights supporters gathered at Smith Street Park in Jackson, Mississippi, on Saturday, July 15 for "Reproductive Freedom Summer: Providing a Peaceful Presence." The rally is one of many events planned to counter the actions of Operation Save America, formerly Operation Rescue, and their push to close the lone remaining clinic that provides abortions for Mississippi women.

This week, women and men in Jackson, Mississippi, are organizing to support the lone remaining clinic in the state that provides the full range of reproductive services to women, including abortion. NOW's local leaders are working with activists from across the state and throughout the area to coordinate Reproductive Freedom Summer 2006.

In less than two weeks, activists, members and supporters will be heading to Albany, New York for NOW's National Conference and Young Feminist Summit, to celebrate a momentous milestone: The National Organization for Women's 40th Anniversary.

Today, New York's highest court decided 4-2 that state law limits marriage to one man and one woman. Judge Robert Smith declined to expand the interpretation, saying that it is up to the state's legislature to change the law.

To call attention to the impact of this unjust war, NOW Executive Vice President Olga Vives and I are joining the CODEPINK "Troops Home Fast" hunger strike on July 4, to support the U.S. troops who remain in danger in Iraq as well as those who are standing up for peace by refusing to fight.

It's not every day we have a landmark anniversary to celebrate, but over the last four decades the National Organization for Women has spent every day fighting for women's rights. We continue to fight because women continue to struggle for equality. This anniversary is an opportunity to focus the country's attention on what we have accomplished, and how much more we have to do.

The Michigan State Senate voted on a bill yesterday that would amend the 1976 Michigan Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to permit single-sex public schools, classes or programs in Michigan. The bill, SB 1305, passed the Senate 32-5. This is the second single-sex school bill to pass in Michigan, and the state is dangerously close to endorsing gender segregation in its public schools.

Cutting funds to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is like taking a homeless person's coat in the middle of winter -— making an already bad situation much worse. But cutting funds is exactly what the Bush administration's 2007 budget proposes to do.

The National Organization for Women congratulates the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approving a vaccine that could save hundreds of thousands of women from cancer-causing strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV).

The National Organization for Women is encouraged by the Senate's defeat Wednesday of a constitutional amendment that would deny marriage rights to same-sex couples.

On a strict party line vote today, all 10 committee Republicans said "aye" to writing marriage discrimination into the U.S. Constitution—and all 8 committee Democrats said "no." The amendment will now be sent to the Senate floor for a full vote.

The National Organization for Women Political Action Committee is pleased to announce its endorsement of Democratic candidate Ned Lamont for the United States Senate. The purpose of NOW PAC is to advance women's rights through electoral activity. NOW PAC is the only political action committee that bases its endorsements on a candidate's support of the full range of feminist issues.

The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously approved House Concurrent Resolution 90, legislation authored by Rep. Hilda Solis (D-Calif.) to address the disappearances and murders of more than 400 women in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.