A small salute to a grande dame
Today…
is National Chocolate Covered Peanut Day. You may appreciate the treat as you watch today’s garbage fire on the Senate floor.
in 1870, Hiram Rhodes Revels was sworn in, becoming the first Black member of the U.S. Senate. There have been only nine others since then.
was the birthday of Millicent Fenwick a three-term MoC from New Jersey who one imagines joins Ann Richards for cocktails every day in the hereafter.
She was a Republican who voted against her party fully half the time, supporting abortion rights, the ERA, campaign spending limits and gun control.
She was dubbed “Outhouse Millie” for her efforts to improve working conditions (including restroom access) for migrant workers.
She took up a pipe when her doctor suggested she quit cigarettes.
When a male colleague said he didn’t like the ERA because he “always thought of women as kissable, cuddly and smelling good,” she fired back, “That’s the way I feel about men, too. I only hope for your sake that you haven’t been disappointed as often as I have.”
10/10 would watch this Netflix series with Blythe Danner as Outhouse Millie.
Abortion
Appeals court upholds Trump ban on abortion referrals by family planning clinics
Amy Goldstein, Washington Post
See also LA Times, Kaiser, Bloomberg, AP, CNN
A federal appeals court ruled on Monday in favor of a polarizing Trump administration policy that bans federally funded family planning centers from referring women for abortions. The 7-4 decision by the California-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit delighted social conservatives who are central to President Trump’s political base.
McConnell, Looking to Energize Social Conservatives, Forces Votes on Abortion
Sheryl Gay Stolberg, New York Times
Senator Mitch McConnell is about to plunge the Senate into the nation’s culture wars with votes on bills to sharply restrict access to late-term abortions and threaten some doctors who perform them with criminal penalties, signaling that Republicans plan to make curbing a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy a central theme of their re-election campaigns this year.
Roe v. Wade soon could become a right on paper only
Jennie Wetter, The Hill
If the U.S. Supreme Court upholds Louisiana’s TRAP law, the ramifications will extend far beyond Louisiana, and accelerate erosion of reproductive rights across the U.S. Much has already been lost. Escalating state-level attacks on abortion rights, sex education, and family planning access are creating a deepening divide between those states actively promoting reproductive health and rights and those restricting access to services.
Abortion Access And Activism Remain Strong In Illinois
Natalie Y. Moore, WBEZ-FM (Chicago, IL)
Women travel from all over the country to have abortions in Illinois. As neighboring states restrict abortion access, Illinois is seen as a haven that protects access. And that protection is largely due to the efforts of a strong and long-standing reproductive justice community in Illinois that has also worked to change the narrative on abortion rights.
Michigan is about to ban a second trimester abortion procedure. These are the stakes.
Sarah Cwiek, WUOM-FM (Ann Arbor, MI)
Michigan will very likely ban a type of abortion procedure within the next few months. It’s called dilation and evacuation. It makes up about 7% of abortions in Michigan each year. And it’s the most common type of abortion performed during the second trimester of pregnancy.
Strict Utah abortion ban proposed with 'trigger clause'
Lindsay Whitehurst, AP
Most abortions would be banned in Utah under a new proposal at the state Legislature, one that abortion-rights advocates say would create fear and uncertainty even though it wouldn’t be enforced unless the legal landscape changes. The proposal would make it a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison to perform an abortion except in cases of rape, incest or serious threat to the health of the mother.
And not that they care, but hey, for the record…
Poll: Utahns say state doesn’t need more restrictions on abortion
Lisa Riley Roche, Deseret News
As many as 80% of Utahns say the state doesn’t need new restrictions on abortions, according to results released Monday from a new poll for the Planned Parenthood Association of Utah, the Alliance for a Better Utah and the ACLU of Utah.
LGBTQ
The Supreme Court may give foster care agencies a right to refuse same-sex couples.
Mark Joseph Stern, Slate
See also Buzzfeed, NYT, CNN, USA Today, LA Times, Reuters.
The court could give people, organizations, and corporations a constitutional right to discriminate when they say their faith demands it.
U.S. passports offer only ‘M’ or ‘F’ gender categories. A new bill would require a gender-neutral ‘X,’ too.
Samantha Schmidt, Washington Post
A bill to be introduced this week by Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and more than two dozen co-sponsors would require the State Department to offer an “X” gender marker. The bill, while unlikely to pass the Senate or be signed into law by President Trump, marks the first legislative effort calling for a non-binary gender marker in a federal document, Khanna said. And for non-binary and intersex Americans, the move would represent a long-sought, formal recognition by the federal government.
Trans Athletes Welcomed on Teams Despite Hostile State Bills
Kate Sosin, NewNowNext
In 1973, 90 million people tuned in to watch Billie Jean King defeat American tennis champion and male chauvinist Bobby Riggs. The moment would mark a turning point for women in sports, who wanted decent pay, airtime, and the respect of athletic associations. More than 45 years later, transgender athletes are fighting for the right to compete at all.
Idaho HB 465 Will Send Doctors to Prison for Life for Treating Trans Kids
Nico Lang, VICE
Critics say Idaho’s legislation is the most extreme anti-trans medical care bill introduced at the state level this year. Referring to gender-affirming care for trans youth as “genital mutilation,” HB 465 would subject any physician caught offering hormone therapy or confirmation surgery with a felony charge. According to the ACLU, convictions under HB 465 would be “punishable up to life in prison.”
Birth Control
Free Birth Control Program in Missouri Reaches 9,000 Patients
Danny Wicentowski, Riverfront Times
Ten months into a six-year, $20 million effort to expand contraceptive access in Missouri, some 9,000 patients have obtained some form of birth control, totally free — and not a dime of it is government money.
Parenting & Caregiving
Advocates say Maine’s higher rural infant mortality rate tied to economic insecurity
Arianna Skibell, Beacon
While the overall rate of infant mortality in Maine is on the decline, infant deaths in the most rural parts of the state have recently increased, according to a recent report by a state panel that aims to prevent pregnancy-related deaths. From 2008 to 2012, the infant mortality rate in the most isolated areas was 3.9 per 1,000 live births.
Perspective | I was devastated by my pregnancy loss. Years later, I’m realizing how it affected my partner.
Danielle Campoamor, The Washington Post
In a 2017 study of 11 British fathers who found childbirth to be traumatic, men described “fears of death, mirroring their partner’s distress; trying to ‘keep it together’ and helplessly watching a catastrophe unfold. Fathers felt themselves abandoned by staff with a lack of information. Men were subsequently distressed and preoccupied with the birth events but tended to feel that their responses were unjustified and tried to cope through avoidance. Men described the need for support but reluctance to receive it.”
What Comes After the Nuclear Family?
Nicole Sussner Rodgers, The Nation
To build a progressive philosophy of family life will undoubtedly push older generations out of their comfort zone, but it’s necessary, urgent work.
Whitmer wants to fight prenatal health care disparities in Flint
Madeline Ciak, Michigan Advance
Flint isn’t just plagued by a water crisis, it’s also plagued by health care disparities among pregnant women belonging to minority groups — and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer wants to do something about it.
Reproductive Health & Justice
Let’s Say it Plainly: Pelvic Exams Without Consent Are Rape
Jessica Valenti, Medium
Here’s the thing: Penetrating someone without their consent, while conscious or not, is rape. And I’m not being hyperbolic: the FBI definition of sexual assault is “penetration, no matter how slight… without the consent of the victim.” The fact that these “exams” are being conducted by doctors or medical students is irrelevant; they are putting their hands inside women’s bodies without explicit permission. That’s assault.
Workplace Equality
Five things that have changed in Hollywood since the Weinstein case broke
Ryan Faughnder, LA Times
Once known for Oscar winners like “Shakespeare in Love,” disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein’s most lasting legacy will surely be the rise of the #MeToo movement triggered by his downfall.
“This Is a Victory”: Sexual-Assault Survivors React to the Weinstein Verdict
Danielle Campoamor, Cosmopolitan
On Monday, Harvey Weinstein was found guilty of rape in the third degree and criminal sexual activity in the first degree. But he was also acquitted on the most serious accusations levied against him—predatory sexual assault and first-degree rape, both of which could have landed him in prison for life. He now faces anywhere from 5 to 25 years behind bars.
Colorado's paid family leave bill in crisis as sponsors bail
Alex Burness, Denver Post
It is increasingly likely that Colorado Democrats will not pass a bill this year to start a statewide paid family and medical leave program. On Sunday evening, the lead bill sponsors, Sen. Faith Winter and Rep. Matt Gray, learned that their partners on the bill, Rep. Monica Duran and Sen. Angela Williams, will drop their names from the effort. At a minimum, it represents a huge setback for the bill, and it could signal that the bill is nearing death.
Winter has been diligently chipping away at this issue in Colorado for years. She has patiently educated us all about the need for paid family leave. She has researched policies in other states extensively. She has commissioned a task force to study the issue and she has been willing to compromise. Sadly, it appears compromise is now a dirty word in American politics.
Illinois lawmakers pushing to end workplace discrimination
Treasure Roberts, WMBD-TV (Peoria, IL)
State Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth (D-Peoria) is sponsoring legislation to end discrimination of hair in the workplace. Booth wants to amend the Illinois Human Rights Act, by expounding upon the word “race.” It would include traits historically associated with race, including, but not limited to, hair texture and protective hairstyles, such as locks braids and twists.
Editorial: Modest proposal for the health of women, infants
Tribune-Star
Indiana is known to spare little effort to accommodate businesses in hopes of creating and retaining jobs. The state frequently boasts about its attractive business climate and touts its low unemployment rate. Thanks to supportive public policies and substantial privileges, businesses are doing well. In turn, the Hoosier economy is doing well. With such a strong economic foundation, isn't it time for forgotten elements of the workforce to feel the benefits?
Delays increase in Washington's paid family leave program
Rachel La Corte, AP
Weekly benefits under Washington state’s new paid family leave law are now taking up to 10 weeks to process because of the high number of people applying for the program. Under the law, eligible workers receive 12 weeks paid time off for the birth or adoption of a child or for a serious medical condition of the worker or the worker’s family member, or 16 weeks for a combination of both.
Equal Rights Amendment
AP-NORC poll: Most Americans support Equal Rights Amendment
Maryclaire Dale & Jocelyn Noveck, AP
A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that roughly 3 in 4 Americans support the gender equality amendment, which is now back before Congress following Virginia’s ratification of the measure in January. But nearly the same amount, 72%, incorrectly believe the Constitution now guarantees men and women equal rights under the law.