Feminist News - June 11, 1999

Officials of the Christian Coalition, a radical arm of the religious right well-known for its conservative political activities, announced Thursday that the organization will be restructured into two separate organizations after the organization's long-standing request for tax-exempt status was denied.

A Christian Coalition press release announced that the first for-profit organization, deemed Christian Coalition International, will "accomplish a much more effective and extensive political mission" because it will now be free to "endorse candidates on a state and local level [and to] make contributions to candidates." The second organization, named "Christian Coalition of America," will assume the current tax-exempt status of the Christian Coalition of Texas and will continue to do "everything" the old Christian Coalition did, according to spokesperson Mike Russell.

Given that the "old" Christian Coalition engaged in engaged in political activity by distributed "voter's guides" in churches, the Washington Post reported that IRS may take "retaliatory action." The Post quoted a tax specialist as saying, "It appears that the new organization will do just what the IRS said disqualified the old organization from getting 501(c)(4) status."

The Coalition sought tax exemption under section 501(c)(4) of the IRS code shortly after Pat Robertson founded the organization in 1998 and was allowed to run under tax-exempt status while the application was pending. Organizations with 501(c)(4) status do not have to pay income taxes and are not permitted to engage in "substantial" political activity, defined by the I.R.S. as advocating a political particular party of candidate.

Anti-abortion extremist Neal Horsley, whose "The Nuremberg Files" Web site included a virtual "hit list" of targeted individuals including abortion providers, security officers who protect abortion clinics, pro-choice activists, clinic owners, clinic workers, pro-choice judges and politicians, has sued Internet service provider Mindspring for $251 million.

Horsley claims that Mindspring illegally shut down his Web site in February in an act of censorship. "If telephone companies shut people's telephones down because of what they believe or because of what they were saying and they weren't breaking the law, then I'm sure the American people would understand why that has to be stopped," stated Horsley.

Mindspring pulled the plug on February 5, three days after a federal jury ruled that creators of "The Nuremberg Files" Web site and similar "un-wanted" posters featuring pictures of abortion providers violated the Freedom of Access to Clinics Act (FACE) and federal racketeering statutes by inciting violence against doctors and their patients. Plaintiffs were awarded over 107 million dollars in the case.

Mindspring spokesperson Ed Hansen explained that "The Nuremberg Files" Web site was removed because Horsely violated "one or more" of the company's appropriate use policies.

Horsely now hosts the site on his own server. The site continues to urge readers to send in abortion doctors' addresses, their license plate numbers, and the names of their children and still contains the famed "hit list," in which murdered doctors' names have been crossed out and wounded doctors are shaded in gray.

Senators Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Harry Reid (D-NV), and Reps. Nita Lowey (D-NY) and Jim Greenwood (R-PA) are co-sponsors of the Equity in Prescription Insurance and Contraceptive Coverage Act, a bill which would force insurance companies that cover prescription drugs and devices to provide equal coverage for contraceptives.

The bipartisan sponsors noted that only one in three U.S. insurance companies offer contraceptive coverage, forcing women of childbearing age to spend an average of 68% percent out-of-pocket health care expenses than do men. The sponsors also pointed out that increased contraceptive coverage would significantly cut health-care costs by reducing unintended pregnancies and the need for abortion.

"Women pay for contraceptives, and insurance companies pay for Viagra. What's wrong with this picture?" asked Rep. Greenwood at a press conference unveiling the proposed bill.

Recently, a group of 60 women's organizations urged the Equal Opportunity Commission to inform businesses that excluding coverage of birth control devices from their health plans is tantamount to sex discrimination.

Former D.C. jail inmate Jacqueline Newby has filed a civil suit against the District of Columbia, charging that corrections officers violated her constitutional rights and caused her emotional distress by forcing her to strip and dance for them.

In last week's opening statements to jurors, District attorneys alleged that the abuse claimed by Newby and others was due to the action of a few "rogue officers" and did not reflect the behavior of the entire Department of Corrections. They insisted that the District acted swiftly and aggressively to allegations of abuse by firing two officers, including the supervisor of Newby's cell block, and disciplining 10 others.

Newby's attorneys argued that their client's history of childhood physical and sexual abuse made her highly vulnerable to the inappropriate demands of corrections officers, and Newby herself testified that she felt intimidated by officers who drank alcohol on duty and had sexual relationships with inmates.

Last year, another former inmate, Sunday Daskalea, won $5.3 million in a similar suit, which is currently under appeal. Two additional suits brought by women who say they were either forced to strip or beaten when they refused are pending.