For planning purposes
Today…
the “fun holiday” calendar has a whole itinerary for us!
Take Our Daughters & Sons To Work Day. #lolsob
National Spanish Language Day, since my newest work is really proxy teacher for the kids’ escuela bilingüe.
National Picnic Day, if you can get the kids outside for lunch
Cherry Cheesecake Day as kummerspeck
German Beer Day, a fitting accompaniment to all of the above.
Couple quick things on the headlines, since I’m already later than I’d like.
Those Ramos pieces, don’t miss ‘em. The case was important enough on its own, but there were a few Chekhov’s rulings that’ll undoubtedly pop up again later.
And another whirlwind day of abortion decisions. Looks like the latest is…
✓ Texas (as of this writing)
✕ Arkansas
✓ Oklahoma
Thank God it’s Friday, at least.
You know what to do, and I love you for it.
Abortion
Pay Attention. The Supreme Court Is Talking About Abortion.
Noah Feldman | Bloomberg Opinion
It’s hard not to see Kavanaugh’s opinion in Ramos v Louisiana as a trial balloon for overturning Roe. That interpretation would explain why Justice Elena Kagan, a pragmatist and coalition-builder, joined Alito’s dissent — alongside Chief Justice John Roberts.
Linda Greenhouse @ New York Times: A Precedent Overturned Reveals a Supreme Court in Crisis
Mark Joseph Stern @ Slate: Everyone is mad at Elena Kagan’s stance in Ramos v. Louisiana.
Judges Are Exploiting the COVID-19 Pandemic to Advance the Conservative Agenda
Jay Willis |The Daily Appeal
On the day of Wisconsin’s election, another conservative court seized the opportunity to attempt to do something that lawmakers and executives, in ordinary circumstances, could not: functionally ban access to abortion in Texas. The basic logic of these cases is not reconcilable, and it is hard not to notice what the results have in common: a chance to advance conservative ideology and promote Republican politics.
GOP Quietly Pushes Through Long-Sought Priorities As Pandemic Rages
Amanda Terkel | HuffPost
Rolling back environmental regulations, imposing voter ID, banning abortion — it’s all happening while the public is focused on the coronavirus.
Who are the 1 in 4 American women who choose abortion?
Luu D. Ireland | Mic
While 1 in 4 women will undergo abortion in her lifetime, stigma keeps their stories untold. As an obstetrician/gynecologist who provides full spectrum reproductive health care, I hear these stories daily.
When Will These Attacks on Abortion Rights End? You Won't Like the Answer.
Jessica Mason Pieklo | Rewire.News
Legal precedent means very little to judges and justices personally opposed to abortion rights, as we've seen during the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Right’s Desperate Attempts to Hijack ‘My Body, My Choice'
Ilyse Hogue | Rewire.News
In using the message to protest efforts to protect our collective health and well-being, conservatives are exposing themselves and jeopardizing literally thousands of lives.
Alabama
Women’s and Civil Rights Groups File Amicus to Stop Alabama from Restricting Abortion
Ms. Magazine
An amicus brief filed Tuesday aims to prevent Alabama’s COVID-19 order to deny of abortion access to the women of Alabama and to potentially criminalize abortion providers.
Arkansas
Court allows Arkansas ban on surgical abortions due to virus
Andrew DeMillo | AP
A federal appeals court on Wednesday allowed Arkansas to ban most surgical abortions during the coronavirus pandemic. A three-judge panel of the 8th Circuit dissolved a judge’s temporary restraining order that allowed surgical abortions to continue after the Arkansas Health Department told the state’s only surgical abortion clinic to stop performing the procedure unless it was needed to protect the life or health of the mother.
NPR: Federal Appeals Court Okays Arkansas' Abortion Ban During Coronavirus Pandemic
Reuters: U.S. appeals court lets Arkansas curb abortion surgeries during pandemic
Oklahoma
Federal Judge Allows Abortions to Resume in Oklahoma
Lauren Evans | Jezebel
Providers in Oklahoma can once again begin providing abortions on Friday, after a federal judge ruled that Governor Kevin Stitt’s attempt to ban them cannot be enforced. The preliminary injunction, issued earlier this week by U.S. District Judge Charles Goodwin, replaces the temporary restraining order he implemented last week that allowed most abortions to continue.
Texas
Texas Allows Abortions to Resume During Coronavirus Pandemic
Sabrina Tavernise | New York Times
In a surprise move on Wednesday night, the authorities in Texas abandoned their fight to include abortion in a list of medical procedures that must be delayed during the coronavirus pandemic.
Dallas Morning News: Is Texas’ coronavirus abortion ban over? Abortion providers say it is, resuming services
HuffPost: Fight Over Texas Abortions Amid Coronavirus Orders Is Over: State Attorney General Says
Texas Tribune: Texas clinics resume abortion services, citing Abbott's loosening of ban on elective medical procedures
Not that folks generally dawdle, but after these last few weeks? If I needed an abortion in Texas, I would run to that clinic. Run like I was on fire. Can you imagine the stress…
LGBTQ
Attorneys General: Lift Restrictions on Blood Donations by Gay, Bi Men
Trudy Ring | The Advocate Magazine
AGs from 19 states and the District of Columbia are urging the federal government to change its policy on blood donations by gay and bisexual men, moving to guidelines based on individual risk factors rather than restricting entire groups of people.
How Lesbian Visibility Week Forces Brands to Pay Attention
Mary Emily O'Hara | Adweek
Key insights: Monday marked the start of the first annual Lesbian Visibility Week, an effort launched in the U.K. that aims for global participation. While the event kicks off a new addition to an ever-evolving equality calendar of special days and occasions that recognize different underrepresented communities*, there’s something genuinely unique about Lesbian Visibility Week: The organizers managed to get corporate sponsors.
*Lemme tell you. I keep a listing of these various awareness days, holidays and anniversaries, and it is no small task. Some dates change every year. (I love you, Pronoun Day, but why.) Some are impossible to find. Some peter out over time. Some feel fully manufactured by a company rather than a community or org. It is a lot.
Why It’s High Time The Law Protects LGBT+ Citizens
Todd Sears | Forbes
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted why a positive Supreme Court of the United States decision on LGBT+ employment discrimination should be reinforced by the Equality Act
8 of 10 most challenged children's books in 2019 had LGBTQ content
John Riley | Metro Weekly
Eight of the top 10 most challenged books of 2019 were flagged for LGBTQ content, according to the American Library Association.
Sharing mostly because I wanted to show you this cover. I. love it. The knight! The jaunty pose, the wave, killing me.
Pregnancy & Parenting
'A lifeline': the doulas guiding clients through childbirth - from a distance
Gray Chapman | The Guardian
As coronavirus changes the way women experience pregnancy, doulas are caught between helping clients and the limitations caused by the pandemic
What women need most after giving birth, especially now
Kristen Rogers | CNN
The postnatal period is an underserved aspect of maternity care, receiving less funding, service and attention from health providers, according to a new review on what matters most to women after giving birth.
Illinois midwives face surge of interest in home birth during coronavirus pandemic
Antonia Ayres-Brown | Chicago Tribune
In normal times, My Mindful Birth, a home birth midwifery practice in Naperville, received one or two inquiries a day from expectant mothers. But since news of the COVID-19 pandemic broke, the phone has barely stopped ringing.
It's a scary time to have a baby in a hospital. Home births need to be more accessible to pregnant women.
Allison Yarrow | INSIDER
The pandemic is an opportune moment for women to consider giving birth at home, where they might feel safer and more in control of the experience.
I'm Pregnant & Scared Trump's Incompetence Is Putting My Baby At Risk
Erica Sackin | Refinery29
A global pandemic is not the ideal time to start a family. I should be building my registry, planning my baby shower, signing up for birthing classes. Instead I’m grasping at any information I can, exchanging articles with other pregnant women as we all try to figure out just how worried we should be.
‘It Feels Like Another Loss’: What It's Like to Pause Fertility Treatments Because of Coronavirus
Sara Gaynes Levy | SELF Magazine
In the weeks since the American Society of Reproductive Medicine issued their statement recommending practitioners suspend initiation of new fertility treatment cycles, many fertility clinics around the country did so, and for good reason. But for individuals receiving fertility treatment, the statement—and subsequent cancellations and delays of much-anticipated procedures—were added blows in an already emotionally challenging process.
Reproductive Health & Justice
Fighting Period Poverty During the Pandemic
Ali Muldrow | WORT-FM (Madison, WI)
Menstruating people are encountering additional health barriers during the pandemic, especially when it comes to accessing period products like pads and tampons that they would normally get at school or in the workplace.
Work & Money
Up to 90% of minority and women owners shut out of Paycheck Protection Program, experts fear
Megan Cerullo | CBS News
Flaws in the Paycheck Protection Program are hindering small businesses owned by minorities and by women from securing federal coronavirus relief, according to lending experts and interviews with numerous owners.
Pregnancy Accommodation Case Turns on Similar Ability to Do the Job, Not “Similarly Situated” Test
Patricia Anderson Pryor | National Law Review
If an employer provides light duty to employees injured on the job, does it have to provide light duty to pregnant employees? The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently wrestled with this question in Durham v. Rural/Metro.
If we want people back to work quickly after COVID-19, childcare must be a priority now
Mark Wilson | Miami Herald
The brightest minds in Florida’s private sector are working to ensure the supply chain stays strong and that healthcare resources are readily available for those who need them. … One important set of small businesses — childcare and early-learning providers — enables all this. That same industry will speed up our economic recovery when we can to get back to work.
Taking advantage of unpaid leave can increase the chances that workers will face economic hardship
Pamela Joshi | The Conversation
The U.S. has more COVID-19 cases than any other country. But the American workforce may be hard-pressed to take much time off if they or their loved ones get the disease. One big reason for that, I’ve learned by studying U.S. family and medical leave policies, is that many Americans can’t afford it.
The Heartbreaking Choices Faced by Child Care Providers on the Front Lines
Bryce Covert | The Nation
They were already holding up the economy while operating on razor-thin margins. Now, they are taking care of the children of essential workers as costs and obstacles mount.