A rattling good forager
Today…
is National Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (#NYHAAD)
is Global Work From Home Day. Yet again, these “fun holidays” mock us.
(or roundabouts) Lucy Higgs Nichols was born in 1838. Born into slavery, she fled in 1862 and became a nurse (and a "rattling good forager,” oh my God) with the 23rd Indiana regiment during the Civil War. After the war, she fought for another 6 years (with the backing of the 23rd, I was glad to see) to get a proper nurse’s pension awarded by a Special Act of Congress. She was buried with full military honors in 1915. (In an unmarked grave in the “colored cemetery,” lest you thought we could have joy. Sorry.)
There’s a marker for her in New Albany, Indiana. Makes me wish I knew someone who could lay a flower for her today.
The only known picture of Lucy Higgs Nichols.
How you not gonna share Lucy’s story. Come on.
Abortion
Shredding the Claim that Abortion Clinic Protests Are an ‘Essential Service’
Jessica Mason Pieklo & Imani Gandy
In states like North Carolina, California, and Michigan, protesters have defied stay-at-home orders to continue campaigns of clinic harassment. Naturally, it’s led to police arresting the protesters. And because the anti-choice community is nothing if not litigious, those arrests resulted in—you guessed it—lawsuits.
Editorial | Antiabortion politicians are exploiting this major public health crisis
Washington Post
There nothing new about people in public office wanting to take advantage of a crisis to advance a particular political agenda, and there is not necessarily anything wrong with that. But it is reprehensible for antiabortion politicians to seize on the novel coronavirus pandemic to achieve their goal of banning abortions. In exploiting this major public health crisis, they are creating a new crisis that endangers the health and safety of thousands of women.
Arkansas
Arkansas advises abortion clinic to halt out-of-state visits
Andrew DeMillo | Associated Press
Arkansas’ top health official on Thursday encouraged a Little Rock abortion clinic to stop seeing out-of-state patients during the coronavirus outbreak but stopped short of ordering the facility to halt abortions.
Louisiana
What It's Like to Cross Louisiana's Coronavirus Checkpoints for an Abortion
Molly Osberg | Jezebel
“The laws are so not fair to the people down here, women trying to find healthcare. It was such a mental nightmare. There are so many things to do.”
Texas. Again.
Judge blocks ban on some Texas abortions during outbreak
Associated Press
A federal judge has ordered that Texas abortion clinics may continue to perform abortions in some cases, either those using medication or those involving patients for whom delays would pose an essential ban. The ruling came in a 16-page opinion filed Thursday by U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel of Austin and appears to fly in the face of an appeals court ruling that upheld a ban imposed by Gov. Greg Abbott last month.
CBS: Some abortions in Texas can resume, despite federal appeals court decision
CNN: Federal court again allows some abortions in Texas despite governor's coronavirus restrictions
NPR: Legal Fight Heats Up In Texas Over Ban On Abortions Amid Coronavirus
Reuters: Some abortions may proceed in Texas during pandemic, judge rules
Texas’ COVID-19 Abortion Ban Uniquely Burdens Teens
Irma Garcia | Rewire.News
Even if a Jane’s judicial bypass case is approved, Texas’ ban on abortion has closed clinics across the state, leaving young people with limited options.
LGBTQ
Why HIV Organizations Are Dropping 'AIDS'
Desiree Guerrero | Plus
[A]s many now know, AIDS—an acronym for “acquired immune deficiency syndrome”—only describes the advanced stages of HIV. It is not the name, nor was it ever, for the virus itself. However, it stuck and has often been misused to describe someone who is simply living with HIV. In those early days of the epidemic, little talk was ever heard in the media of HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), the correct name of the virus.
Racial Slurs And Swastikas Fuel Civil Rights Pressure On Zoom
Shannon Bond | NPR
Zoom has become an essential tool for millions during the pandemic, but civil rights groups say the company must act aggressively to stop harassment on its platform.
Evangelical field hospital requires health workers to take anti-gay pledge
Casey Quinlan | American Independent
An evangelical Christian organization called Samaritan's Purse set up an emergency field hospital in New York on April 1 to help New Yorkers through the COVID-19 crisis, but some LGBTQ advocacy groups are concerned about how well it is serving the city's LGBTQ population.
Pregnancy & Parenting
Being Black And Pregnant Was Already Scary — Coronavirus Makes It Even Scarier
Danielle Cadet | Refinery29
“The nature of COVID-19 and its impact remains so uncertain and it feels like I need to move in the world with this uncertainty in mind.” That uncertainty is just another addition to the bleak landscape Black women already face with respect to pregnancy and delivery.
What It’s Like to Be a Pregnant ER Physician During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Lola Méndez | Rewire.News
“Every day I’m balancing my decision to help patients and not abandon my fellow physicians with my instinct to protect myself and my children at all cost.”
Supreme Court
No halt to culture wars during coronavirus outbreak
Mark Sherman & Jessica Gresko | Associated Press
A partisan fight over voting in Wisconsin was the first issue linked to the coronavirus to make it to the Supreme Court. Efforts to limit abortion during the pandemic could eventually land in the justices' hands. Disputes over guns and religious freedom also are popping up around the country.
On the Wisconsin Primary, the Supreme Court Failed Us
Linda Greenhouse | New York Times
The Supreme Court just met its first test of the coronavirus era. It failed, spectacularly.
Latest Question for Supreme Court: How to Rule on a Crowded Docket During a Pandemic
Adam Liptak | New York Times
The court has in important ways receded from view. Very little is known about how the justices are conducting their work in the midst of the pandemic or how they plan to proceed. This presents the chief justice with a fresh set of challenges in what has already been a difficult year, and it is only April.
“Panic and Fear Already Consume Our Daily Lives”: Will the Supreme Court Pass the Coronavirus Test?
Cristian Farias | Vanity Fair
Politically explosive cases on voting rights, abortion, and DACA—and maybe Trump’s tax returns—could become supercharged during a public health emergency in an election year.
Work & Money
The Glass Ceiling For Women CEOs Remains Firmly Entrenched, Says WSJ
Eric Bachman | Forbes
A recent study by the Wall Street Journal found that, although women make up a larger share of the chief executive officer role than ever before, they remain significantly underrepresented in CEO positions. Specifically, the number of women CEOs in the United States’ top 3,000 companies has more than doubled in the last ten years to 167; yet that number is still less than 6% of all CEOs.
Listen, Forbes (and your buddy WSJ). You know I am here for workplace equity. I’m not gonna sit here and say it doesn’t matter at all what happens in the C-suite. But also? Maybe while the office cleaning staff is getting laid off (↓↓↓), we hold on the CEO piece. I’ll bet it’s no less true in a few months.
Coronavirus Layoffs Effecting Women Disproportionately
Emily Alford | Jezebel
In the last two weeks of March, a staggering 8.7 million Americans filed new unemployment claims as non-essential businesses shut down due to stay-at-home orders. And the industries hardest hit, like restaurants, retail stores, and hospitality businesses, are frequently staffed by majority women workers.
Could the Pandemic Wind Up Fixing What’s Broken About Work in America?
Claire Cain Miller | New York Times
The coronavirus pandemic [is] hitting the United States during a period of agitation about worsening inequality and waning power for workers. Already, it has made stark how precarious life is for many American workers, causing some to revolt. How employers and policymakers respond could improve work in the United States for the long term — or make the existing problems worse.