Emancipation Day
Today…
is DC Emancipation Day, marking the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia in 1862.
And just now realizing there’ll be no outside event this year. Long story, but it was discovered – quite unpleasantly – not very long ago that our neighborhood park had been the site of a Black cemetery. So every year on Emancipation Day the neighborhood has a service, with readings, music and 8,000+ luminaries set up across the park. It’s a powerful visual. Assuming we’re in town, we go over to pay our respects and I help light the candles. But. You know. Not this year.
is Mushroom Day. Much coincidence, just yesterday a friend was directing me to a patch of morels down by Normanstone.
is National Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day. Cute.
Some assorted thoughts.
The New York Times is re-upping piles of pregnancy articles from the last year – on doulas, inducing labor, delivery, IVF, everything. They’re all fine, but unless they share something new, I’m not posting them all individually.
I think I’m going to start using an occasional “Etc.” category for articles that don’t totally fit into any of the below. Like these:
Mic: Right-wing protesters have taken to the streets to demand the right to be infected with coronavirus (Because he mentions clinic protesters but it’s not so much about them.)
Washington Post: A woman living alone during the pandemic: Seven stories of solitude during the coronavirus, from ages 24 to 86
Bomboniera is so, so close to reaching 100 subscribers, I can’t even stand it.
Abortion
Abortion during coronavirus: State bans, closed clinics, self-induced miscarriages
Molly Hennessy-Fiske | Los Angeles Times
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and other state officials insist abortions – even medication abortions that involve clinic staff dispensing pills – are elective procedures that require gloves and other protective medical equipment needed elsewhere during the pandemic.
Anti-Abortion Opportunism
Rachel Rebouché | The Nation
Over the past few weeks, nine states have tried to implement—with varying degrees of success—measures suspending abortions, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Several more states are poised to include abortion in bans on nonessential procedures.
Trump, Republicans Are "Exploiting" Coronavirus to Ban Abortion, New Ad Alleges
Sarah McCammon | NPR
In a new digital ad campaign, the abortion rights group NARAL is accusing President Trump and his Republican allies of exploiting the coronavirus pandemic to restrict abortion access. The new six-figure digital ad campaign targets voters in several swing states.
The COVID-19 Crisis Hasn't Stopped Abortion Protests. Now, Clinics Need Backup.
Dennis Carter | Rewire.News
Anti-choice organizations have called on protesters to continue gathering at clinics despite COVID-19 lockdowns, though some groups have issued reminders to follow physical distancing guidelines.
Pro-Life Clinics Think They're Getting Coronavirus Bailout Money
Carter Sherman | VICE
Faith-based anti-abortion groups are strategizing around cashing in on the trillion-dollar federal coronavirus relief bill — while Planned Parenthood is apparently left out in the cold. Thousands of facilities that try to convince women to continue their pregnancies are being advised on how to apply to a program that helps small businesses cover employee payroll and expenses through the coronavirus pandemic.
Colorado
Anti-Abortion Pregnancy Centers Remain Open Despite Closures of Non-Essential Businesses
Madeleine Schmidt | Colorado Times Recorder
Many anti-abortion pregnancy centers in Colorado are continuing to operate even as non-essential businesses have been forced to close and non-essential medical procedures have been suspended due to coronavirus.
Kentucky
Saw this headline and thought for a moment it was good news. No no, girl.
Lawmakers override Beshear's line-item budget vetoes
Bruce Schreiner | AP
Kentucky lawmakers passed legislation giving the state’s attorney general regulatory power over abortion clinics during a hectic final day of this year’s legislative session. Earlier in the day, the Republican-led House and Senate voted to override the Democratic governor’s line-item vetoes of spending and revenue bills.
Texas
Texas’s Opportunistic Abortion Ban Puts Women’s Lives at Risk
Sara Simons | Ms. Magazine
The legality of abortion in Texas has been in constant limbo, changing at least five times in two weeks.
Five. times.
LGBTQ
ACLU files lawsuit over Idaho’s new transgender athlete law
Cynthia Sewell | Idaho Statesman
When Idaho Gov. Brad Little on March 30 signed into law a transgender-and-sports-related bill, the ACLU of Idaho issued a statement stating it would “see the governor in court.” The ACLU has followed through on its threat, filing a complaint in Boise federal court Wednesday morning. The lawsuit challenges a new law that bans transgender and intersex girls and women from competing in female public school and university sports.
AP: Federal lawsuit challenges Idaho's transgender sports ban
Coeur d’Alene Press: ACLU files lawsuit against Idaho transgender athlete law
Boise State Public Radio: Lawsuit Challenges Idaho Law Banning Transgender Women From Sports
Forbes: Idaho Banned Trans Athletes From Competing In Women’s Sports—Now Federal Courts Will Weigh In
The Hill: Civil rights groups file federal lawsuit against Idaho's transgender sports ban
Washington Blade: Idaho sued over law barring trans athletes from playing in sports
And in reporter news, I was sorry to see this. Kate’s name pops up in my searches every. single. day. And goodness knows, we’re not exactly rolling in coverage of LGBTQ+ issues.
Pregnancy & Parenting
Parents are exhausted trying to work and care for kids during the pandemic. Here's what must change.
Rebecca Ruiz | Mashable
There is another solution but it's one parents don't seem to be talking about collectively: Pressing elected officials to provide paid leave for every worker who's at home caring for a child who otherwise would be with a paid caregiver, at daycare, or in school.
Rebecca’s point is right, paid leave yes of course, but it wouldn’t do a thing for people like me. As an independent consultant, I have no access to employment benefits. And if you follow me on Twitter, you surely know by now that my biggest source of stress right now isn’t work – it’s the kids’ school.
Birth Centers Are Crucial for Black Mamas, Especially in a Pandemic
Leseliey Welch & Nashira Baril | Rewire.News
In communities across the country, people—especially Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC)—have little to no access to birth center care. As a result, they are being subjected to a health-care environment that pits their human right to birth in a trauma-free setting against a flailing system’s response to a global crisis.
Reproductive Health & Justice
We Cannot Abandon Migrant and Refugee Women During the COVID-19 Crisis
Stephanie Johanssen, Mina Jaf & Evelien Wauters | Ms. Magazine
As COVID-19 sweeps around the globe, much of the world’s focus is on how leaders of the wealthiest nations are scrambling to respond to the pandemic. Far less attention is being paid to those with the fewest resources necessary to defend themselves: the world’s 70 million people forcibly displaced by conflict or crisis, more than half of whom are women and girls.
COVID-19 Policy Takes Steps to Advance Gender Equity-But These Are Only a Start
Jennifer Weiss-Wolf & Julia Morrison | Ms. Magazine
Contrary to the notion that the virus is a great equalizer, this crisis surely has a disparate impact on marginalized communities. This includes women, who are among those least likely to weather the uncertain economy and most prone to absorb its collateral harm.
Work & Money
Women's sports likely to bear brunt of coronavirus fallout
Anne Peterson | AP
Linked to the rising call for gender equity worldwide, women’s sports were enjoying unprecedented attention and support before the coronavirus pandemic. … Any momentum these leagues, and women’s sports in general, had worldwide has seemingly been halted by the pandemic. Now the question is whether women will lose the gains they had made when life returns to normal.
Explaining the USWNT gender discrimination lawsuit before June trial
John Murray | Press-Telegram
There remains a surprising amount of confusion regarding exactly what’s being alleged, what’s being sought, and how U.S. Soccer intends to defend itself. There’s no easy way to summarize the case, so we won’t bother trying. Instead, we’ve prepared a comprehensive guide outlining what’s at stake and why the outcome is anything but obvious.
Survey Finds Black Women Have Been Hit Hardest By Pandemic
Brande Victorian | MadameNoire.com
By now we’ve all heard the phrase, “when America gets a cold, Black people get the flu.” It’s a particularly fitting sentiment at this juncture in our nation’s history as we see early data showing African Americans are dying at higher rates from coronavirus than any other group.
Domestic Workers Take Care Of Us. Now, It's Time For Us to Take Care of Them
Ai-jen Poo | Time Magazine
Every night here in Chicago, the city gives thanks to the health care workers by applauding them from our windows at 8 p.m.—an anthem of gratitude for those who take care of us. Domestic workers have not received such applause, despite being on the front lines of the fight against coronavirus.