Angels of Harlem
Today…
is National Griper’s Day! This is amusing: it was created in 1984 by freelance writer Jack Gilbert, in an effort “to give the disgruntled, disappointed and depressed a new audience.” Who’s left to be in the audience? We’re all pretty disgruntled, disappointed and/or depressed. We’ll just have to take turns.
is the birthdate of Dr. May Edward Chinn, (1896-1980). Nearly every step in her education and career is listed as “first Black woman to _____,” and she was instrumental in the development of Pap smear.
There’s a 2006 novel inspired by the life of Dr. May Edward Chinn called Angel of Harlem. The song is about Billie Holiday, but. I haven’t listened to this in a while…
You’re an angel for sharing this newsletter with your friends and colleagues. Getting very close to 100 subscribers, you know.
Abortion
Three more states face legal action over coronavirus abortion bans
Kate Smith | CBS News
Hundreds of women caught up in abortion bans In the latest sweep of legal filings, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee now face legal challenges over attempts to ban abortion services amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Female Senators Urge FDA To Loosen Restrictions On Medication Abortion
Melissa Jeltsen | HuffPost
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration should immediately revisit restrictions on mifepristone, a drug used in medication abortion, so that patients do not need to travel during the coronavirus outbreak, three female Democratic senators said on Tuesday.
The War on Abortion Is Relentless
Vivian Kane | The Mary Sue
The war on abortion has been in full swing during the coronavirus pandemic, with legislators choosing to exploit the virus as a way to essentially ban abortion. In multiple states, including Texas, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Ohio, lawmakers have attempted to label abortion a “non-essential” medical procedure.
Supreme Court avoids one abortion battle, but new lawsuits are being filed
Robert Barnes | Washington Post
Abortion providers in Texas withdrew their request that the Supreme Court step in to stop the state’s effort torestrict the procedure during the coronavirus pandemic, but new legal battles began Tuesday in Louisiana and Tennessee. The 5th Circuit on Monday night gave abortion rights groups the half-measure they had sought at the high court.
Abortion Access During COVID-19, State by State
Dennis Carter | Rewire.News
I have been looking for something like this for weeks. A lot better than my scribbled list of states with “sued blocked lifted blocked.”
Alaska
Alaska plans to lift restrictions on elective surgeries
Becky Bohrer | AP
The state plans to lift restrictions on elective medical procedures in what Gov. Dunleavy described Tuesday as an initial step toward reopening segments of the economy. State officials last week updated a mandate requiring non-urgent or elective procedures be canceled or postponed for three months. The update included surgical abortion under a section of surgeries that “could be delayed for a few weeks,” but made an exception if the woman’s life or physical health was endangered.
Arkansas
Federal judge blocks Arkansas surgical abortion virus ban
Andrew DeMillo | AP
A federal judge on Tuesday blocked Arkansas’ order preventing the state’s only surgical abortion clinic from performing the procedure during the coronavirus pandemic.
Tennessee
Emergency motion filed to keep Tennessee abortion clinics open during pandemic
Anita Wadhwani | The Tennessean
A group of Tennessee abortion clinic providers has filed an emergency challenge to Gov. Bill Lee's executive order limiting “non-emergency” health care procedures, saying it has severely and unconstitutionally curtailed abortion access for women in the state.
Texas
Court allows medication abortions in Texas during pandemic
AP
A federal appeals court panel ruled that medication abortions, in which pills are taken to terminate a pregnancy, can be provided in Texas during the coronavirus pandemic. Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order last month that bars non-essential medical procedures so that health resources can go to treating coronavirus patients.
CNN: Federal appeals court ruling allows 'medication abortion' in Texas while legal challenge continues
NPR: Federal Court: Medication Abortions Can Proceed In Texas
Politico: SCOTUS won’t face abortion case after lower court eases Texas’ pandemic ban
Reuters: So far, U.S. courts rule for abortion rights during coronavirus pandemic
USA Today: Federal appeals court stops Texas from blocking drug-induced abortions during coronavirus pandemic
Washington Post: Federal judges allow medical abortions, but maintain ban on surgical abortions in Texas
Equal Rights Amendment
'Reports of the ERA's Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated' Part 1: We Want In!
Carrie Baker | Ms. Magazine
First in a multi-part series examining the half-century fight to add women to the U.S. Constitution—and a game plan on where we go from here.
What Is The ERA? A Timeline Of The Equal Rights Amendment, From Mrs. America To Today
Erin Corbett | Refinery29
The fight around the ERA is an important one in understanding today’s climate around gender justice, reproductive freedom, and the modern right wing. Ahead, we've detailed a complete timeline of events — from the ERA's first trip to the Senate to where we stand today.
LGBTQ
How Drag Queens Are Surviving With Online Shows During the Coronavirus Quarantine
Justin Kirkland | Esquire
From the Gay Rights Movement to the AIDS crisis, drag performers have routinely led the way for the LGBTQ community, finding joy within sorrow. In a global crisis that has already claimed one of their biggest icons, drag queens trudge forward, lifting up home bars, patrons, and each other.
Transgender fertility study sheds light on testosterone's impact
Julie Compton | NBC News
Trans men who stopped taking testosterone for an average of four months were found to have similar egg yields to cisgender women.
More Americans OK with businesses not serving gays based on religion, survey finds
Tim Fitzsimons | NBC News
Support for LGBTQ nondiscrimination protections edged up slightly from 2015 to 2019, but during that same time, support for “religious refusal” laws that allow businesses to deny service to gay men and lesbians increased, according to an annual survey released Tuesday by the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute, or PRRI.
As Coronavirus Rips Through Prisons, Trans People Track Its Spread
Kate Sosin | NewNowNext
Adryan Corcione, a transgender reporter who writes Shadowproof’s “Trans Behind Bars” series, and developer Eli Sadoff have tracked COVID-19 in prisons and detention centers around the world using media reports, information passed on by people in detention, and details sent in by prisoners’ friends and family. The site has more than 470 pins of locations where the virus has been reported.
How to Support the Sexually Marginalized During the Pandemic
Ashlee Marie Preston | Playboy
I implore our solid allies/accomplices to be deeply intentional about showing up for us during this difficult transition. I’ve been asked what can be done to help queer and trans people of color (QTPOC) artists, creators, gig workers, freelancers and sex workers get through the COVID-19 pandemic. This essay serves as a jumping-off point.
Pregnancy & Parenting
The US has the highest maternal death rate of any developed nation. California is trying to do something about that
Jacqueline Howard | CNN
In 2018, the year with the most recent national data, 658 women in the U.S. died while pregnant or within 42 days of the end of pregnancy, according to data published in the CDC’s National Vital Statistics Reports in January. The CDC report also found that the maternal death rate among non-Hispanic black women was 37.1 deaths per 100,000 live births, a rate up to three times the rates for white and Hispanic women -- and that disparity increases with age.
We Can’t Let Up The Fight To End The Black Maternal Health Crisis, Especially Right Now
Sen. Kamala Harris | Essence
The coronavirus pandemic has blown the lid off something many of us have known our entire lives: that there are deep racial disparities in our country’s health care system.
Black women share the birthing experiences that inspire their work during Black Maternal Health Week
Tina Vasquez | Prism
Why are so many Black women’s birthing experiences traumatic? How is the myth of the “strong Black woman” hurting Black pregnant women? Why does stigma around breastfeeding and postpartum depression exist? Why do things have to reach a crisis point before someone offers a solution? During Black Maternal Health Week, these are some of the questions that advocates are posing as they work toward solutions every day.
This Black Maternal Health Week, Coronavirus Underscores the Importance of Addressing Racial Health Disparities
Anne Branigin | The Root
Despite its status as a “developed” nation, about 700 women will die each year from complications related to pregnancy or childbirth in the U.S.—more than any of its peers. Of that number, a disproportionately high number are black women—from 2007 to 2016, black mothers died at a rate of 3.2 times that of white mothers.
Reproductive Health & Justice
Inside the Horny, Sex-Positive Rebirth of Sex Ed Online
Tracy Clark-Flory | Jezebel
In response to shutdowns, some teachers and organizations are taking classes online and creating teaching resources for parents specifically designed around this unprecedented moment of domestic isolation. All the while, they’re emphasizing that sex-ed isn’t a subject that can be just put on hold until schools re-open—and that it shouldn’t be left to schools in the first place, the least of which is because of the abysmal state of sex education in this country.
A Novel Future: The Pandemic Reveals Alarming Parallels Between Gilead and U.S.
Helen Kapstein | Ms. Magazine
What hasn’t been as clearly articulated*—and maybe that’s because we are never comfortable talking about sex (and power, and bodies)—are the ways in which the crisis is being used in order to further limit reproductive rights and bodily sovereignty in the United States.
*No? [gestures up and down and all around]
Planned Parenthood Is Expanding Telehealth to All 50 States
Abigail Abrams | Time Magazine
When an emergency responder in one of the New York counties hardest hit by COVID-19 recently found out she was pregnant, she decided that it wasn’t the right time to have a child. So between a busy schedule of helping patients, she made an appointment for Planned Parenthood’s new telehealth service, requested an abortion, and attended an initial counseling session—all while sitting in an ambulance.
Work & Money
Women bearing brunt of crisis, can lead recovery
Wendy Doyle | The Kansan
Women are bearing the brunt of the COVID-19 crisis, but they also can lead an economic recovery that is sustainable and equitable and strengthens workers, businesses and families alike. As we work to navigate through this national crisis, policymakers should seize this opportunity to break down longstanding barriers that have made it harder for women to reach their economic potential and hindered our economic growth.
Gender pay gap worsened by coronavirus pandemic, research says
Gio Insignares | WUSA-TV (Washington, DC)
The coronavirus pandemic is hitting the economy hard, with millions of people struggling to make ends meet after losing their jobs. But research shows it could be hitting women more significantly than men, highlighting an even bigger difference in the gender gap.