Comforted with apples
Today…
is relatively quiet, so I’ll take this opportunity to flag that I’m currently available for new consulting clients. Connect with me on LinkedIn for more, and feel free to share with folks looking to expand their comms capacity.
is Johnny Appleseed Day, special for an apple-obsessed family. We buy so many at the height of apple season that the farmers market sometimes gives me a bulk discount. They marvel, “What are you planning to do with all of those?” My kids have strong and nuanced opinions on different heirloom varieties – Rusty Coats underwhelmed this year, but the Arkansas Blacks were good, and we will take all the Stayman Winesaps you got. Of course, this is the opposite of apple season. A trying time for The Ps.
If you’re enjoying this newsletter, don’t forget to share with your networks. You’re amazing, and your hair looks so good today. Seriously.
Abortion
“Someone You Love Had an Abortion”: New Digital Ad Campaign Targets Moderate Swing Voters
Ultra Violet | Ms. Magazine
Late last week, in partnership with MomsRising and We Testify, UltraViolet—a leading women’s advocacy group—launched a major six-figure new digital persuasion and storytelling campaign targeting progressive younger voters and moderate swing voters on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube in Virginia, Georgia, Missouri and Ohio.
I’m a Proud Abortion Provider. Here's Why.
Sunoz Soroosh | Rewire.News
Sunny Soroosh is a registered nurse at Planned Parenthood of Greater New York. For her, being an abortion provider is more than a job. It’s a deeply personal commitment to helping people prioritize their health care needs and determine the future they want.
I cannot recommend these next two pieces strongly enough…
Young People Seeking Abortions Don't Need Parental Approval—They Need Health Care
Diane Horvath, MD | SELF Magazine
As with so many abortion restrictions, mandatory parental involvement laws are designed to seem reasonable, at least on their face. Supporters of these laws often talk about wanting the best for teens facing unintended pregnancy, and of parents’ rights to know what is going on in the lives of their children. Of course everyone wants adolescents to get the support they need, to involve a trusted adult in their decision whenever possible, and to not have to navigate the medical system alone. But research actually shows that the majority of young people seeking abortions do already involve either a parent or a trusted adult in their decision, even when these laws are not in place. Those who choose not to often have very good reasons, as Sarah did. At their core, mandatory parental involvement laws exist to make abortion harder to get, and they work.
Abortion Is Safer Than Getting Your Wisdom Teeth Out
Amanda Arnold | The Cut
It’s absurd on its face, the idea that licensed medical providers need to enter into official agreements with hospitals, when a patient experiencing a complication could simply go to an emergency room — or be taken to one, if the situation called for it. But, even worse, such laws also imply that abortion is inherently more dangerous than other procedures. This is patently untrue: Abortion is one of the safest medical procedures in the world. In 2015, researchers at University of California San Francisco looked at 54,911 abortions performed between 2009–2010, analyzing for complications. According to their findings, only 2.1% of patients suffered a complication, and of those only 0.23% were serious. You have a higher chance of suffering a serious complication during a colonoscopy, wisdom-teeth removal, or a tonsillectomy.
Medicaid expansion supporters block Kansas Senate entrance
John Hanna | Associated Press
Abortion opponents are blocking consideration of the expansion plan until lawmakers put a proposed anti-abortion amendment to the state constitution on the ballot. The amendment would overturn a Kansas Supreme Court decision last year protecting abortion rights, and they contend expanding Medicaid would lead otherwise to taxpayer-funded abortions.
Kentucky House passes 2 abortion measures
Bruce Schreiner | Associated Press
A proposal aimed at amending Kentucky’s Constitution to declare that it provides no right to abortion won passage in the state House Tuesday after an emotional debate that included a lawmaker speaking out against the bill while cradling her newborn baby. The measure was among two abortion bills that cleared the Republican-led House. The other bill would expand the state attorney general’s authority to enforce abortion law.
Also Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky House passes bill specifying women have no constitutional right to abortion
Tennessee lawmakers advance abortion 'reversal' bill
Kimberlee Kruesi | Herald Standard
Doctors who fail to inform women that drug-induced abortions may be halted halfway could face felony charges under a bill advancing in Tennessee. Medical groups say the claim isn’t backed up by science and there is little information about the reversal procedure's safety. The measure advanced out of the House Health Committee on Tuesday. It now moves to the full House chamber and must also clear the Senate.
Utah Passes Bill Requiring Abortion Clinics To Bury Or Cremate Fetal Tissue
Melissa Jeltsen | HuffPost
Medical providers in Utah will be required to bury or cremate fetal tissue after an abortion or miscarriage under a bill that passed the state legislature on Friday. Reproductive rights groups say the legislation, now on its way to Republican Gov. Gary Herbert’s desk, will make it harder for abortion clinics to operate and will impose additional emotional and financial stresses on their patients.
This Bill Could Send Women Who Perform Their Own Abortions to Prison for 15 Years
Carter Sherman | VICE
A Utah bill that aims to ban abortion could also make it a felony, punishable with prison time, for a woman to do her own procedure at home. The legislation would outlaw almost all abortions in Utah only if the Supreme Court overturns Roe.
LGBTQ
Psychologists' Group Supports Trans Restroom Access, LGBTQ Parents
Trudy Ring | The Advocate
The American Psychological Association has updated three LGBTQ-supportive policies to be more inclusive of transgender and gender-nonconforming people, among other things supporting access to the restrooms and other facilities of their choice in public schools.
LGBTQ+ Doulas Help New Parents Thrive, No Matter How They Identify
Molly Sprayregen | them.
For queer people, “having doulas present at one’s birth can help mitigate the harm of re-traumatization,” Monlouis explains. Hospitals and birth centers — often sites for medical trauma — are ripe with opportunities to also misgender patients or mistreat individuals based on their sexual identity. “When you have someone who works with you consistently, knows you, understands you, understands your experience, maybe [knows you] personally as well, [they] can help you develop ways of mitigating that trauma.”
Gay, Lesbian Teens at High Odds for Physical, Sexual Abuse
Alan Mozes | U.S. News & World Report
Lesbian, gay and bisexual teens are far more likely than their straight peers to suffer physical and/or sexual violence, new research warns. Overall, LGBQ teens (lesbian, gay, bisexual and teens who are questioning their sexuality) face roughly twice the risk of physical violence compared with straight youth. And that risk can come from a romantic partner – or anyone else.
New York State will allow transgender minors to amend their birth certificates
John Riley |Metro Weekly
New York State has announced it will change its policy prohibiting transgender minors from correcting the gender marker on their birth certificates to match their gender identity.
Democratic trifecta sparks a revolution for LGBTQ Virginians
Tim Fitzsimons |NBC News
"With Democrats controlling the House, Senate and governorship, we had more pro-LGBTQ bills passed in the General Assembly this year than in the 400 years history of the Virginia General Assembly combined," said Del. Danica Roem.
Reproductive Health & Justice
Women in Mexico, France, Chile are protesting against femicide. Why not in the U.S.?
Jess McHugh | Washington Post
Movements against femicide in France, Mexico, Chile, Argentina and Spain, among others, have demonstrated that collective action can effect real change. It’s time for the United States to use these movements as guideposts. In the United States there have been no mass protests and no prominent national discussions.
Georgia House approves extending Medicaid coverage for new mothers
Amanda Coyne | Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Georgia House of Representatives passed a bill Tuesday that would give new mothers six months of Medicaid coverage after delivering a child. HB 1114 would extend medical coverage for low-income women from its current limit of two months. The coverage would also include lactation specialists for women struggling with breastfeeding.
Workplace Equality
It takes a lot to surprise me, but these first pieces - the USSF’s recent comments - had my jaw on the floor.
USSF says hostile crowds give men different jobs than women
Ronald Blum | Associated Press
The U.S. Soccer Federation says facing hostile crowds in Mexico and Central America makes playing for the U.S. men’s team a different job than competing for the American women and claims the men have more responsibility.
Opinion: U.S. Soccer insults all women with its condescending response in equal pay lawsuit
Nancy Armour | USA Today
Forget the slick ad campaigns and inspirational slogans. U.S. Soccer just told the women’s national team what it really thinks of the players. All girls and women, really. And we should be infuriated. Dripping with condescension and outdated stereotypes, U.S. Soccer’s response to a request for summary judgment in the equal pay lawsuit essentially minimized everything the women’s team has accomplished and stands for.
Former Sparks GM Penny Toler files suit against WNBA team
Doug Feinberg | Associated Press
Former Los Angeles Sparks general manager Penny Toler is suing the WNBA team saying she was fired for raising complaints about inappropriate sexual relationships involving the team president and a managing partner, not for using a racial slur. The Sparks say Toler was fired on Oct. 4 following a profanity-laced postgame tirade that included using a racial slur a few days earlier following a playoff game.
“We Experience Sexism Every Single Day”: Women Politicians See Themselves in Elizabeth Warren
Carter Sherman | VICE
Nearly every female politician who spoke with VICE News said the strength of Warren’s campaign cast a spotlight on how tricky it is for women to be powerful leaders without being denounced as “aggressive” or “unlikable.”