Boilerplate
Today…
in 1992, Leona Helmsley was sentenced to prison for tax evasion. Just remembering a time when such a thing still happened to cheating real estate moguls.
I learned Tiger Beat is still a thing.
is National Sloppy Joe Day, which the 12yo doesn’t find at all amusing. Sorry, darling. I’m still making some later – maybe with tater tots and canned corn to complete the look.
I was remembering a long-ago running joke with a NARAL colleague about the weeks and weeks of starting every single thing we wrote with “In light of the recent retirement by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor…”
In the midst of coronavirus, I’m gonna go make some eggs for the kids.
Families First / Coronavirus Bill
Millions of American workers are left out of the coronavirus paid leave bill
Anna North | Vox
Overall, the bill — which is expected to pass in the Senate — may solve some of the glaring problems with the American social safety net that the coronavirus crisis has exposed. But the fact that so many workers and situations aren’t covered “adds up to a giant individual health and financial security risk, as well as a giant community health risk,” Vicki Shabo, a senior fellow for paid leave policy and strategy, at the New America Foundation’s Better Life Lab, told Vox.
CNN: House pares back paid sick and family leave benefits in coronavirus bill
HuffPost: Republicans, White House Gut Paid Sick Leave In Coronavirus Bill
Conservatives Worry Too Much Coronavirus Relief Will Make People Lazy
Amanda Terkel | HuffPost
People are not taking time off right now by choice, or because they are lazy. They are sick. Their families are sick. Their jobs are temporarily on hold because everything is getting shut down to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Or, in a growing number of cases, they are simply getting laid off. People are not being allowed to work because places like restaurants, movie theaters, shops and schools are all closed.
Coronavirus crisis reinforces need for paid sick days during the outbreak — and in the future
Erin Ryan | Ohio Capital Journal
As the spread of the virus continues, it reinforces the need for paid sick days to help the working people and families impacted during the outbreak — and for those needing to address short-term health conditions in the future.
Abortion
Abortion Access Is Under Threat As Coronavirus Spreads
Melissa Jeltsen | HuffPost
According to a Guttmacher Institute analysis released earlier this month, the outbreak may result in “a shortage of clinicians who can provide sexual and reproductive health services,” as well as increased wait times for patients in need. In places with a limited number of providers, this will put “an extreme strain” on the capacity to serve patients.
Colorado: Leave decisions on abortion care to mothers and doctors
Dr. Kristina Tocce | Colorado Politics
As a doctor who has provided post-20-week abortions, I can tell you these bills are political, not medical. They have no basis in science, medicine or our personal experience. And to use deeply felt family decisions as political fodder in an election year — to inflict shame and guilt on what can be one of the most difficult days of a patient’s life — is both offensive and wrong.
Illinois: Progressive Marie Newman Beats Abortion Rights Foe Rep. Dan Lipinski In Democratic Race
Tara Golshan | HuffPost
In a major win for the Democratic Party’s progressive wing, Marie Newman defeated Democratic Rep. Dan Lipinski in Tuesday’s primary in Illinois, toppling one of the last remaining opponents of abortion rights among House Democrats.
Decision 'imminent' on whether last abortion clinic can stay open in Missouri
Jessica Glenza | The Guardian
A judge’s ruling on the Missouri case is expected soon as Monday was the last day for attorneys representing the state and Planned Parenthood to file legal briefs.
Mandatory Ultrasounds. Abortion Bans. Utah, Are You Okay?
Jessica Mason Pieklo | Rewire.News
Utah anti-choice lawmakers are passing a bevy of abortion restrictions over the objections of voters. Why?
Virginia’s reproductive health bill shows where power resides
Margie Del Castillo, director of field and advocacy, NLIRH | Washington Post
As the Supreme Court considers a case that will have repercussions on abortion access nationwide, we must look to Virginia for guidance and hope. The fight for reproductive justice is being won on the ground here, in our communities, where women of color have been organizing and fighting for our lives and families for decades.
New Zealand passes landmark law to decriminalize abortion
Nick Perry | Associated Press
Until Wednesday’s vote, the procedure was regulated under the Crimes Act, requiring women to prove to a doctor that their pregnancy presented a danger to their physical or mental health before they could get an abortion. Justice Minister Andrew Little said that requirement forced most women to lie about their mental health and caused unnecessary delays which added health risks. The new law removes those obstacles, allowing women who are up to 20 weeks pregnant to get an abortion and those over 20 weeks to get one with approval from a health practitioner.
Equal Rights Amendment
Do Women Still Need the Equal Rights Amendment? Yes. Here’s Why.
Genie Harrison | Ms.
Women have made strides over the past 48 years. We are generally able to divorce and own property, and federal laws—such as Title VII and the Equal Pay Act—protect us from sex discrimination in employment and extend the promise of pay equality. But these laws, intended to ensure equality, have severe limitations. The ERA, finally enacted, should be broader and more protective of our rights.
The Equal Rights Amendment Remains Out of Reach
Suzanne Guldimann | Messenger Mountain News
American women won the right to vote in 1920, but equal rights? That is one goal that is still out of reach, despite recent efforts to revive the never-ratified Equal Rights Amendment.
LGBTQ
Anti-Gay Lawmaker Voted Against Coronavirus Bill Because It “Redefined Family” by Providing Sick Leave to Domestic Partners
Lee Fang | The Intercept
Arizona Republican Rep. Andy Biggs, one of the 40 lawmakers who voted against the coronavirus stimulus bill, said he did so in part because the legislation included paid sick leave benefits for domestic partnerships. “They’ve redefined family for the first time in a federal — in a piece of federal legislation, to include committed relationships,” Biggs said Monday on a radio program produced by the conservative Christian group Family Research Council.
The correct gender on a trans person’s ID could literally save their life
Molly Sprayregen | LGBTQ Nation
A study from Drexel University found that transgender adults with gender-affirming IDs have better mental health than those whose IDs do not match their gender identity. According to Ayden Scheim, the study’s lead author, this is the first time the relationship between mental health and having the correct ID has been studied in the U.S.Related: Virginia passed a statute governing trans birth certificates in 1979. It wasn’t controversial then.
While the country deals with the coronavirus, Idaho state legislators prioritize banning trans athletes
Katelyn Burns | Vox
As the country deals with the growing coronavirus pandemic, Republicans in the Idaho state legislature met on Monday to blaze forward with their anti-trans agenda. The state Senate passed a bill, 24-11, banning trans and intersex girls from competing as girls in school athletics, even though there are currently no trans athletes competing in the state.
LGBTQ Nation: Idaho GOP ignores coronavirus in favor of requiring medical tests for transgender student athletes
NewNowNext: Despite Pandemic, Idaho Passes Ban on Trans Student Athletes
Trans Students Ejected From Iowa Capitol Bathroom by State Troopers
Kate Sosin | NewNowNext
A group of Iowa high school students lobbying at the state Capitol for LGBTQ rights got a nasty surprise when police threw them out of the building for using bathrooms that aligned with their genders.
New York Makes Life Better For Trans Kids As Idaho Is On The Verge Of Enacting Unprecedented Misery
Dawn Ennis | Forbes
The capitals of New York State and Idaho are 2,494.5 miles apart, and for young people who identify as transgender it might as well be a million miles. One week ago today, the top law enforcement official in the Empire State announced transgender minors had the power to change the gender marker on their birth certificates to reflect their authentic gender identity, from the sex they were presumed to be at birth.
Reproductive Health & Justice
Periods Don't Stop for Pandemics
Jennifer Weiss-Wolf | Newsweek
As the coronavirus crisscrosses the world—wreaking havoc on public health and the global economy and bringing the rhythm of daily life to a screeching halt—governments are rightly focused on what it will take to protect the most vulnerable populations. One potential blind spot: How seemingly neutral interventions overlook and even undermine women's essential needs.
The layout amused me. Periods don’t stop for pandemics, or so she says. Huge, if true.
Wisconsin: Planned Parenthood’s Ongoing Fight for Health Care
Louis Fortis & Erin Berge | Shepherd Express
While abortion is at risk, it’s not the only service that Planned Parenthood provides. Shepherd Express spoke with Tanya Atkinson—president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin—about all of the health care services that the nonprofit offers in its 24 health centers across the state, as well as how Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin fights to keep those centers open.
Workplace Equality
Cindy Parlow Cone: US Soccer's new president has tall task
Grant Wahl | Sports Illustrated
Parlow Cone has a crazy-hard job right now. She’s an unpaid volunteer doing a job that should be paid in the high six figures, and she’s not a former Goldman Sachs partner like Cordeiro, who could afford this. She’s in charge of an organization that currently has no CEO, no vice president and no chief commercial officer. The people that have had the biggest influence on U.S. Soccer over the past two decades are now gone: ex-CEO Dan Flynn, ex-CCO Jay Berhalter and ex-president Sunil Gulati, who’s now no longer on the board (since he’s no longer the immediate past president).
USWNT Disputes U.S. Soccer's Expert Witnesses in Equal Pay Case
Michael McCann | Sports Illustrated
Should the USWNT's gender discrimination case vs. U.S. Soccer go to trial, the use of expert testimony could prove vital, which is why the players' side is challenging the federation's approach.
Oregon: $1.2M sex discrimination suit filed against hospital
Associated Press
A former pharmacist is suing Central Oregon’s largest health care provider for $1.2 million saying the hospital maintained a hostile work environment that included gender discrimination and sexual harassment.