NOW Congratulates Massachusetts Primary Winner Martha Coakley, Looks Forward to Feminist Candidate Breaking Through the Glass Ceiling in January

The National Organization for Women congratulates Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley for her overwhelming victory in the Democratic primary in the special election to fill the late Ted Kennedy’s U.S. Senate seat. If Coakley prevails as expected in the Jan. 19 general election, she will be the first woman senator from the state of Massachusetts, and she will double to two the number of women in the state’s current 12-member congressional delegation. The NOW Political Action Committee proudly endorsed Coakley in her run.

NOW Urges the Obama Administration to Prosecute Roeder Under Domestic Terrorism

The Associated Press reports that Scott Roeder has confessed to shooting late-term abortion provider Dr. George Tiller in May at a Wichita church. Roeder told AP he intends to use the so-called necessity defense at his trial — arguing he was protecting unborn children. “The absurdity of his defense is insulting and dangerous to women, but it also reveals his terrorist methodology using murder to accomplish his political goals,” says NOW President Terry O’Neill.

NOW Applauds Passage of Landmark Hate Crimes Legislation

In a campaign promise fulfilled, President Obama signed the first significant pro-lesbian, pro-woman, pro-disability rights legislation today. The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act expands the 1969 federal hate crimes law to include sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and disability.