Bread, bread, bread
Today…
a cross-cutting piece I encourage you to check out: National security officials warn of extremists exploiting coronavirus pandemic. Caught my eye because it mentions anti-abortion extremists, but do read on. “The agencies also noted threatening discussions from more obscure radical segments, including militias, anti-abortion extremists and extremists motivated by police brutality.” Watch out for those wild-eyed maniacs who want not to be terrorized by law enforcement…
is Dog Farting Awareness Day. YOU’RE WELCOME.
is National Empanada Day. Fun fact: the word empanada comes from verb em pandar, meaning to wrap or coat in bread. Serious facts: they are delicious and I will buy one from Julia’s today.
You know, they say bread is life…
And now I’ll be reciting this scene for the rest of the day.
Abortion
Abortion rights opponents in several cities have been cited for violating stay-at-home orders
Harmeet Kaur | CNN
In recent weeks, police in several cities have arrested people who continued to engage in anti-abortion rights demonstrations or other advocacy efforts outside reproductive health clinics, despite stay-at-home orders and similar restrictions.
It's Time For A Revolution In At-Home Abortion
Melissa Jeltsen | HuffPost
The coronavirus pandemic has exposed the fiction that most abortions need to be performed in a clinic setting.
Abortion Is Being Halted in Some States During the Coronavirus Crisis
Caitlin Flynn | Teen Vogue
As medical health care providers across the country work to treat coronavirus patients and slow the spread of the deadly pandemic, the U.S. surgeon general has advised hospitals to cancel all “elective surgeries.” By definition, an elective surgery is a procedure that’s beneficial to a patient but isn’t urgent. Unsurprisingly, a number of states have leaped at the opportunity to exploit this directive and limit people’s access to reproductive health care by ordering doctors and clinics to stop performing abortions.
COVID-19 Could Permanently Make Abortions Harder to Access Nationwide
Abigail Abrams | Time Magazine
Reproductive rights advocates are used to fighting state laws and court battles to preserve abortion access. But this is different. By using executive orders and other emergency measures, a handful of governors and state attorneys general have managed, at least temporarily, to all but shut down legal abortions. Abortion providers say these new restrictions will likely have lasting impacts, not only on the patients in search of abortions, but also on independent abortion clinics’ ability to survive financially in the months ahead.
Alabama
Abortion Provider Fears Prosecution After Alabama Covid-19 Order
Daniel Jackson | Courthouse News Service
Ever since the federal government indicted Dr. Yashica Robinson in 2014 on charges claiming she engaged in health care fraud when she purchased misbranded intrauterine devices, the Alabama obstetrician and gynecologist believes she is singled out because she performs abortions.
Alaska
Alaska says abortions can be delayed amid virus concerns
Becky Bohrer | Associated Press
The state of Alaska has placed surgical abortion on a list of procedures that could be postponed to help conserve personal protective equipment for health care workers amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Last month, the state of Alaska issued a mandate requiring non-urgent or elective procedures be canceled or postponed for three months.
Michigan
What It’s Like to Provide Abortion Care During the Coronavirus Pandemic
Danielle Campoamor | Vogue
Like many health care workers, Dr. Jen Villavicencio, an ob-gyn and abortion provider in Michigan, is feeling the strain COVID-19 has put on our health care system. But as a doctor who also provides abortions, she’s also facing another particularly inhumane challenge: an onslaught of attacks from GOP politicians who are attempting to use a global pandemic to ban abortion care and impede her and her fellow providers’ ability to treat patients.
Texas
Appeals court upholds Texas abortion restrictions during coronavirus pandemic
Ariane de Vogue, Caroline Kelly | CNN
A 2-1 panel of the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals wiped away a lower court opinion that had blocked the order and said it was taking the "drastic and extraordinary" step because the lower court ignored state emergency health regulations. The case could ultimately be headed to the Supreme Court.
Texas can enforce abortion ban during coronavirus pandemic, federal appeals court rules
Emma Platoff | Texas Tribune
Republican state officials have said barring the procedure in almost all cases is essential for preserving hospital resources during the pandemic. Abortion providers call it political opportunism — and unconstitutional.
Editorial: Fifth Circuit fooled by Texas’ abortion ploy
Houston Chronicle
There is no freedom in America that can’t be put on hold during a public emergency like we’re facing now. Not the right to speak. Or to march. Or to worship in groups. Or to seek an abortion. That’s the heart of an extraordinary ruling issued Tuesday by a bitterly divided three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Associated Press: Court allows Texas to ban most abortions during virus crisis
Axios: Appeals court allows Texas abortion ban to remain during coronavirus outbreak
NBC: Appeals Court restores Texas ban on abortion during pandemic
NPR: Federal Appeals Court Panel Reaffirms Texas Abortion Ban Under Coronavirus Limits
Politico: Court backs Texas pandemic abortion ban, citing emergency powers
Reuters: U.S. appeals court allows abortion curbs in Texas during coronavirus
Wall Street Journal: Appeals Court Allows Texas to Ban Most Abortions During Coronavirus Pandemic
Washington Post: Appeals court leaves in place Texas executive order restricting abortion during pandemic
Anti-Choice City Ordinances Are Proliferating. Here's How a Lawsuit Can Stop Them.
Paige Alexandria | Rewire.News
Texas was the first state in which town and city councils began passing unenforceable ordinances that not only implied abortion is illegal but also labeled abortion rights organizations and providers as “criminal entities” and cannot operate within city limits. In response, the ACLU and ACLU of Texas announced they’re suing seven cities in the state that label organizations as criminal.
Pregnancy & Parenting
‘They Separated Me From My Baby’
Irin Carmon | The Cut
In a move that has so far flown under the radar, hospitals around the country have been separating newborns from postpartum patients who are suspected of having COVID-19. With the virus continuing to spread and new recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics recommending strict separation — notwithstanding that the same group strongly endorses skin-to-skin contact at birth — the number is certain to rise. Coronavirus testing remains scattershot and can take days in some places, so some of these parents might endure a temporary separation without even testing positive for the virus.
I'm 38 Weeks Pregnant and Terrified of Giving Birth During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Nadine Jolie Courtney | Good Housekeeping
There are so many unknowns surrounding labor and delivery right now, to the point where even my Ivy League-educated, exceedingly competent OB-GYN can’t definitively answer basic questions. … The situation seems to be changing weekly. and it's one reason why pregnant people right now need to be in constant communication with their healthcare providers regarding any changes to their birth plans.
Why a Last-Minute Home Birth Is Not Better Than Laboring Alone in the Pandemic
Sabrina Rojas Weiss | SheKnows
Women choosing a home birth well in advance of their due date have a chance to evaluate the risks against those of being in a hospital. But it’s definitely not something anyone should do at the last minute — not on purpose, anyway.
LGBTQ
Gay Republicans praise Trump for easing the gay blood ban, but he didn’t even know about it
Bil Browning | LGBTQ Nation
After the FDA announced they would loosen the restrictions for blood donation by men who have had sex with another man, a group for LGBTQ Republicans rushed out a statement thanking Donald Trump for his “leadership” and “quick thinking” during the coronavirus pandemic. One problem: Trump had no idea the government was making the change.
Protester arrested at NYC COVID-19 field hospital run by anti-gay evangelist
Brooke Sopelsa | NBC Out
The guerrilla theater activist known as Reverend Billy, decked out in a pink suit and a bandanna mask, was arrested Sunday afternoon at a COVID-19 field hospital in New York City's Central Park that is being run by an evangelical group whose leader has a long history of anti-LGBTQ beliefs.
The U.S. Suicide Rate Is Up 35% Since 1999
Gaby Galvin | U.S. News & World Report
The suicide rate in the U.S. has surged 35% since 1999, according to a new CDC analysis. Suicide is the 10th-leading cause of death in the U.S., and the CDC describes suicide as "a large and growing public health problem." While the new data brief doesn't explore suicide rates across race or ethnicity or sexual orientation, previous research shows certain groups, such as American Indians or Alaska Natives and LGBTQ young people, are at higher risk of dying by suicide.
Reproductive Health & Justice
The Pandemic Is Proof That Women Need an Over-the-Counter Birth Control Pill
Cassandra Stone | Courier
Making the birth control pill—which has other benefits aside from preventing pregnancy, including reducing period paid and mitigating the risk of certain cancers—available over the counter without a prescription would be beneficial to the one in three women who want it, according to Free the Pill.
Workplace Equality
Learnings From My Pregnancy Discrimination Experience: Part 1
Chelsey Glasson | Medium
As a teenager I remember thinking that discrimination was an experience of the past for women in the United States. Little did I know I would someday join the 42% of US women who report experiencing discrimination at work, with pregnancy discrimination being a focal point of my journey into parenthood.
It’s a good enough article that I’ll look past the use of “learnings” this time.
Ending Workplace Discrimination Against Women
Alyssa Abel | LA Progressive
Women now make up at least half if not more of the workforce, so why do they still face discrimination on the clock? While laws protect people from discrimination based on their gender, ideals don’t always translate into practice. Women continue to earn less than their male counterparts, and the ranks of top management still primarily consist of men.
Before COVID-19, Corporate America Shortchanged Black Women $50 Billion Annually: Why All Women Should Care
Michelle Holder | Ms. Magazine
Kendra Bozarth of the Roosevelt Institute, a progressive economic think tank, says, “If Black women … can one day thrive in the economy, then it must finally be working for everyone.”
As COVID-19 Highlights Need for Family Leave, Here's How Some Reproductive Rights Groups Stack Up
Alys Brooks | Rewire.News
A ReproJobs survey identified shortcomings in many organizations’ parental leave policies. Most of the organizations that provide paid leave limit it by tenure or job type. Most family leave policies in organizations surveyed by ReproJobs did not apply to part-time workers, “forcing them to make the impossible choice between keeping a job, caring for a child, or finding childcare.”
Once Social Isolation Is Over, We Can't Return to a World that Doesn't Value Care
Clio Chang | VICE
During the pandemic, the essential nature of care work has been made more clear. The value of the work that was being done in the shadows, by the nannies and cleaners who can no longer come into our buildings, is now suddenly obvious as we try to live without it. The infrastructure that we don’t usually define as “care,” from our public school system to our grocery stores, is now apparent as such.