A day early and a penny over
Today…
is the 50th anniversary of Earth Day!
is National Jelly Bean Day. I don’t love them or hate them. They’re fine.
I’m delighted to announce that my little pro-choice Playbook, my RJ news round-up, my morning offering of sugared almonds has broken the 100 subscriber mark.
Not specifically an abortion-related story but related. A loooot of the “grassroots” campaigns agitating to get everyone back outside, let the pandemic wash over the country lead back to a small handful of super-conservative, anti-abortion groups and one guy in Minnesota.
AP: Virus Misinformation Flourishes In Online Protest Groups
NYT: The Quiet Hand of Conservative Groups in the Anti-Lockdown Protests
I know. Hard to believe.
(Thanks for the gif, Christine.)
You know what I believe? I believe that you will take a moment today to share this newsletter with your networks, colleagues, etc. I do.
Abortion
Correcting the Record on Abortion During COVID-19: A Q&A With Dr. Erin King
Regina Mahone | Rewire.News
The most important thing the executive director of the Hope Clinic for Women wants readers to know is this: “We are health care providers, and are following all of the guidelines that expert health care infection control providers are putting out about how to safely administer essential outpatient care. Pregnancy-related care, which abortion is, is essential, and we are following [the guidelines] just like other clinics across the country.”
In these states, pandemic crisis response includes attempts to stop abortion
Dan Keating, Lauren C. Tierney & Tim Meko | Washington Post
Several states have tried to ban abortions as part of emergency orders against elective medical procedures and nonessential businesses. Abortion rights supporters said the changes put unfair burdens on women.
Oklahoma
All Oklahoma abortions can resume Friday, judge orders
Carmen Forman | The Oklahoman
Abortions in Oklahoma can resume fully starting Friday, a federal judge ordered Monday. U.S. District Judge Charles Goodwin granted a preliminary injunction halting enforcement of the state’s coronavirus-related abortion ban while litigation continues on the issue.
Tennessee
Lawmakers pushed Tennessee gov to toughen virus abortion ban
Jonathan Mattise & Kimberlee Kruesi | AP
The Republican governor publicly insisted he intended to restrict abortions with the order. But emails obtained by AP through public records requests show conservative lawmakers and anti-abortion advocates pressed him to make the order explicit, saying clinics were still performing the procedure.
Texas
One day abortion is legal, the next day it’s not: Coronavirus sparks a ping-pong fight in Texas
Caroline Kitchener | The Lily
“If we just wait another minute,” she wrote in an email, “everything could change again.”
That line right there. There’s nothing funny about ↑↑↑ bullshit, but I keep thinking it must be awfully tempting to tell folks, “So, it’s illegal right now, but listen, check back after lunch, likely as not we get a few legal hours this afternoon.”
LGBTQ
New York’s 50th LGBTQ Pride March Should Be as Political as Possible
Tim Teeman | Daily Beast
Coronavirus led to the postponement of NYC’s 50th anniversary Pride March. In planning a later event, organizers should look to the passionate politics of the original.
Trans Activist Jennifer Finney Boylan Recalls Her Past Life Through 'Seven Dogs'
Terry Gross | Fresh Air (NPR)
What does it mean to be a woman who had a boyhood? That's the question LGBTQ activist Jennifer Finney Boylan set out to explore her new memoir, Good Boy: My Life in Seven Dogs.
Trans United Fund will dole out emergency grant money to trans and nonbinary people of color
John Riley | Metro Weekly
The Trans United Fund has launched a fund to support transgender and nonbinary people of color who are being adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gay Bowl, other LGBT competitions canceled, Gay Softball World Series still on
Cyd Zeigler | Outsports
Countless sporting events for LGBT athletes are now off the table for 2020. Currently the Gay Softball World Series is still on.
Pregnancy & Parenting
I let my partner pick my baby’s name without any input from me.
Danielle Campoamor | Good Housekeeping
Moms like me are "doing it all" — literally. We're doing more of the housework despite working more outside of the home. We're taking on more of the child-rearing, too, even as dads are more involved than ever before. So I say we just, you know, draw the line somewhere. For me, that line was the baby's name. You want a perfect name? Have your partner pick it. It's a stress-free, easy choice when it's not yours to make.
Is It Ethical to Try for a Baby Right Now?
Ilana Gordon | Rewire.News
I don't know what I've lost to this pandemic yet. Maybe it's the child I'll never have; maybe it's the world I'd like that child to grow up in.
New York Launches a COVID-19 Maternity Task Force-And It’s Fighting for Stand-Alone Birth Centers
Lauren Valenti | Vogue
In a step forward for maternal health, New York State has announced that a task force has been formed to examine the effects of COVID-19 on pregnancy, as well as advocate for the needs of expectant mothers amid the ongoing pandemic, calling for stand-alone birthing centers first and foremost.
The coronavirus pandemic has people rethinking their plans for having kids
Anna North | Vox
Initially, shelter-in-place orders around the country gave rise to jokes about a “coronavirus baby boom” — based in part on research showing that births can spike nine months after certain disasters, especially those that require people to stay inside. But already, just weeks after many Americans were told to stay home, it’s clear that the effect of the pandemic on people’s decisions about children — and their ability to make those decisions — is going to be more complicated than that.
Reproductive Health & Justice
Period poverty in a pandemic. Limited supply stops some from getting hygiene products
Safiya Charles | Montgomery Advertiser
Snagging a bottle of hand sanitizer or finding a store stocked with toilet paper these days can be a Herculean task, but amid the pandemic-driven shortages one product that’s been in high demand, though seldom mentioned, are menstrual pads.
…and as if in response…
Periods Don't Stop for a Pandemic – But They Can, Says Pandia Health’s Dr. Yen
Fiona Pestana & Roxy Szal | Ms. Magazine
Faced with a shortage of options, here’s an option: Stop your period.
Work & Money
Billionaire Sheryl Sandberg calls for new laws to help Americans through the coronavirus, including mandating paid sick leave and finally fixing the gender wage gap
Marguerite Ward | Business Insider
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg sat down with Business Insider to talk about mental health during the coronavirus pandemic, as well as what business and government leaders need to do in response to the global outbreak.
It’s Business Insider, so probably not their intent, but does “billionaire Sheryl Sandberg” read like shade to you? “Ms. Moneybags over here thinks there oughta be a law.”
Working to Die? How Black Women Health Care Workers Survive A Pandemic
Jallicia Jolly | Ms. Magazine
What remains largely absent from discussions about “health care heroes” and COVID-19 are the structural constraints that many Black women navigate as they give care while fighting to survive illness and inequalities.
Two Parents. Two Kids. Two Jobs. No Child Care.
Farhad Manjoo | New York Times
Across demographics and income levels, the pandemic has undone many of the supports parents usually rely on to manage raising children while working. If even fancy me is faring so poorly, I can’t imagine how others — the single parents, the front-line-worker parents, the newly unemployed parents — are coping.
The Juggle of Working Motherhood, Trapped at Home
Jennifer Medina & Lisa Lerer | New York Times
Even before the coronavirus crisis, women spent about four hours a day on unpaid work, like laundry, grocery shopping and cleaning, compared with about 2.5 hours for men. That labor has expanded exponentially in recent weeks, as Americans home-school their children and help older family members and friends more vulnerable to the virus.
U.S. Soccer's Financial Standing a Wild Card in USWNT Lawsuit Talks
Michael McCann | Sports Illustrated
U.S. Soccer went through a round of cutbacks and reportedly applied for a federal loan, so how could that impact settlement talks with the women's players?
More, More, More
Who is Betty Friedan? True Story of Her Career, Activism, and What Mrs. America Gets Right
Adrienne Westenfeld | Esquire
“No woman gets an orgasm from shining the kitchen floor,” Betty Friedan famously wrote in The Feminine Mystique, her landmark 1963 treatise on the plight of modern women confined to traditional roles. Friedan, often credited as the mother of second wave feminism, unmasked “the problem that has no name” with her cornerstone book, earning her a vaunted place in the history of the women’s movement.
Invisible Front Lines: Family Caregivers and Fighting COVID-19
Jennifer Olsen | Ms. Magazine
While our public health system doesn’t consider the role of the family caregiver in its crisis planning, it is clear it would be even more crushed without their critical support. Unpaid family caregivers are the backbone of the U.S. health care system, providing as much as 90% of all home health care for no pay and at personal risk.
The Census Needs to Count Women. The Pandemic Makes That Harder.
Emma Goldberg | New York Times
If women aren’t counted in the census, “the right benefits won’t be matched with the right people,” said Maria Olmedo-Malagon, who manages the 2020 Census Integrated Partnership and Communications office. “It’s important for so many women’s issues, like the health and nutrition of children and their paths out of cycles of domestic violence.”