I kept my promise; please keep your distance
Today…
in 1870, the 15th Amendment was ratified.
Related, NBCBLK has a good piece up on the fight for voting rights by/for women of color: Women's suffrage myths and the lesser-known women suffragists.
is National Doctors Day. Interesting tidbit, March 30 was chosen to mark the first time general anesthesia (ether) was used in surgery, in 1842.
is Take a Walk in the Park Day. So many of these fun little holidays mock us now.
End on an up note. As we were watching The Greatest Showman this weekend for the 873rd time, the 10yo remarked on how odd musicals are, that “in real life people don’t just burst into song.” I just blinked at her. “Are you not counting our own regular habit of bursting into song?” Have balcony, will Evita:
Let's get this show on the road / Let's make it obvious / Perrone is off and rolling…
Abortion
Friday morning I thought to myself that it was a relatively slow news day. So maybe I bear some responsibility for alla this.
Abortion is a human right. A pandemic doesn't change that
Center for Health and Gender Equity President Serra Sippel & Global Justice Center President Akila Radhakrishnan | CNN
Access to abortion is an essential service and a fundamental human right. Period. The denial of it, including in times of global crisis like the Covid-19 pandemic, constitutes cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.
The Stimulus Package Hurts Abortion Providers, Immigrants & Anyone With Student Debt — But It Helps Corporations
Natalie Gontcharova | Refinery29
One of the most disappointing, but unsurprising, parts of the bill, is that Republicans have managed to smuggle in an anti-abortion provision. The bill gives the Small Business Administration "broad discretion" to exclude Planned Parenthood affiliates and other nonprofits serving low-income people, and deny them benefits under the small business-loan program, explains a Planned Parenthood spokesperson. The bill also attaches an unnecessary Hyde Amendment provision to a state coronavirus-relief fund.
How Republicans Snuck Anti-Abortion Measures Into the Coronavirus Bailout Bill
Madeleine May | VICE
A hard-fought battle over abortion raged just beneath the surface of the Senate’s $2 trillion coronavirus economic rescue plan. And it looks like Republicans won. Provisions tucked into the fine print of the 880-page bill approved by the Senate Thursday take direct aim at Planned Parenthood, the reproductive healthcare provider and eternal GOP target over its role providing abortions.
Anti-Abortion Activists Are Winning the Coronavirus Pandemic
Carter Sherman | VICE
The global disruption caused by coronavirus has become yet another battle in the American abortion wars, and it’s one that anti-abortion activists are winning.
This Is What It's Like Getting An Abortion During A Pandemic
Melissa Jeltsen | HuffPost
The coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. ― now the worst in the world ― has triggered a cataclysmic public health crisis and sent the economy into a tailspin. And another disaster looms on the horizon: the erosion of reproductive rights. States hostile to abortion are now taking advantage of the pandemic to eliminate access, arguing that abortions are not essential procedures and should be postponed.
Abortion is Essential, Not Elective: How Republican Politicians are Using COVID-19 to Restrict Reproductive Health
Heidi Sieck | Ms. Magazine
In Ohio, Texas, Louisiana and now Mississippi, anti-choice politicians are using the crisis of COVID-19 to unilaterally ban abortion, with state emergency declarations establishing “essential” services. Anti-choice politicians often use moments of crisis to forward their political agendas, but this attack on reproductive freedom far exceeds anything we’ve ever seen.
State Officials Battle Over Abortion During Medical Supply Shortage
Sarah McCammon | NPR
State officials in Kentucky and Oklahoma are among a growing number of Republican officials who say abortion is a non-essential procedure that should be put on hold during the coronavirus pandemic.
Idaho governor OKs bill outlawing abortion if Roe reversed
Keith Ridler | Associated Press
Idaho Gov. Brad Little has signed into law legislation making abortion a crime in Idaho if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the Roe v. Wade decision that legalizing the procedure nationwide. The Republican governor signed the measure on Tuesday, according to his website. The measure includes exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother. Criminal punishment under the law would be a felony and apply to the people performing abortions, not the women.
Iowa governor’s medical procedures order halts abortions
David Pitt & Ryan Foley | Associated Press
An aide to Gov. Kim Reynolds said Friday that an order she issued this week to slow the spread of coronavirus had outlawed abortions in Iowa, but that interpretation was never explained to the organization that performs most abortions in the state and only came to light after it was released to a conservative talk radio host.
Des Moines Register: Governor's order suspending 'non-essential' surgery includes halting surgical abortions
Kentucky AG: Abortions should cease during virus pandemic
Bruce Schreiner | Associated Press
Kentucky’s attorney general said Friday that abortions in the state should cease as part of the governor’s order halting elective medical procedures because of the coronavirus pandemic. AG Daniel Cameron, who is anti-abortion, called on the state’s acting health and family services secretary to certify that abortion providers are violating the ban by continuing to perform the procedure. The certification would trigger action by the attorney general’s office to stop elective procedures during the pandemic, Cameron said in a statement.
Mississippi's governor tries to shut abortion clinic, but won't order residents to stay home
Molly Hennessy-Fiske | Los Angeles Times
Despite outbreaks around Tupelo, Hattiesburg and the state capital, Jackson, Mississippi Gov. Reeves issued an order Tuesday defining many businesses as essential — including department stores and restaurants, which can still serve 10 people at a time. While Reeves has been slow to close businesses, he was quick to try to shut down the state’s sole remaining abortion clinic in Jackson, including abortion among elective procedures suspended during the outbreak after Texas and Ohio governors took similar steps.
Oklahoma governor says abortions included in suspended elective surgeries
Ryan Sharp | The Oklahoman
Abortion procedures, unless deemed a medical emergency or "necessary to prevent serious health risks to the unborn child's mother" are included in Gov. Kevin Stitt's order suspending elective surgeries. The executive order Stitt reissued Tuesday includes abortions, routine dermatological, ophthalmological, dental procedures and orthopedic surgeries as elective procedures that cannot be performed at this time, the governor's office clarified on Friday.
Associated Press: Oklahoma governor halts abortions amid virus outbreak
Court refuses to allow Trump administration’s abortion referral restrictions to take effect in Maryland
Ann E. Marimow | Washington Post
A federal appeals court refused to clear the way Friday for a Trump administration policy that bars federally funded family planning clinics from referring women for abortions. The decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit applies only to Maryland, and means that it is the one state not subject to the abortion restrictions opponents say reduce access to reproductive health care for low-income women.
Texas abortion providers fight back against coronavirus ban
Alicia Menendez | MSNBC
As the healthcare system struggles to combat the coronavirus outbreak, a growing number of Republican officials are calling for a suspension of most abortions in their states during the pandemic. MSNBC’s Alicia Menendez speaks with Amy Hagstrom Miller, the founder and CEO of Whole Woman's Health, and Dyana Limon-Mercado, Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Texas Votes, about the challenges patients now face in Texas and how abortion providers are fighting back against the state’s ban on the procedure.
Citing Stop in Abortions, Texas GOP Candidate Says Coronavirus 'Will Save More Lives Than It Takes'
Benjamin Fearnow | Newsweek
Texas Republican congressional candidate Kathaleen Wall thanked Governor Greg Abbott for signing an executive order last week that deemed abortions "medically unnecessary," with Wall claiming the coronavirus may now save more lives than it will take.
Wyoming governor vetoes abortion, Medicaid-funds bills
Associated Press
Wyoming’s governor on Friday vetoed a bill that would’ve required doctors to provide lifesaving care to infants born after an attempted abortion. The abortion bill didn’t improve upon existing laws that protect newborns in such circumstances, Gordon said in a statement.
LGBTQ
COVID-19 Severely Tests LGBTQ Organizations, But Work Continues
Trudy Ring | The Advocate Magazine
The many nonprofit organizations that serve the LGBTQ community, including the most marginalized members, are feeling the domino effect of the COVID-19 outbreak. But the leaders of these organizations say they’re working hard to maintain their operations, and they’re urging those who can afford to donate to continue to do so. Many are having employees work remotely, taking advantage of technology to carry out their groups’ missions.
Senators Want to End Sexuality-Based Blood Donation Restrictions
Jasmine Arielle Ting | PAPER Magazine
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a huge shortage on masks, other personal protective equipment, ventilators, and also blood. And because of this, a group of U.S. senators and LGBTQ+ advocates decided to write a letter to the FDA to get rid of blood donating restrictions on men who have sex with men. The group of senators includes Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar and Cory Booker.
Idaho Lawmakers Quietly Passed a Bill That Could Ban Transgender Girls From School Sports
Caitlin Flynn | POPSUGAR
As elected officials across the country worked on slowing the spread of the coronavirus, Idaho state legislators had other priorities.
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Pregnancy & Parenting
‘Women Will Not Be Forced to Be Alone When They Are Giving Birth’
Katie Van Syckle & Christina Caron | New York Times
In response to some private hospitals’ decision to bar partners, New York will order all hospitals to allow partners in delivery rooms, despite the coronavirus risk. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo will issue an executive order mandating that hospitals allow partners in delivery rooms, Melissa DeRosa, the governor’s secretary, said Saturday.
Single parents struggle to home-school and work as their support systems disappear
Samantha Schmidt & Tara Bahrampour | Washington Post
In two-parent households, the adults can swap shifts to care for children and keep working. But single parents have to manage this unexpected chaos almost entirely on their own, 24 hours a day, while praying they don’t contract the virus. With no other parent to fall back on, many are terrified to think what would happen to their kids if they fell ill.
Covid-19 Restrictions on Birth & Breastfeeding: Disproportionately Harming Black and Native Women
Kimberly Seals Allers | womensenews.org
Covid-19 is indeed a global public health crises, but it is rapidly turning into a maternal and infant health catastrophe.
Reproductive Health & Justice
$2 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill includes tax break for buying tampons
Jonathan Nicholson & Leslie Albrecht | MarketWatch
Among the items in the $2 trillion-plus coronavirus stimulus law is a tax break for some feminine hygiene products, a provision worth more than $8 billion that “menstrual equity” advocates hope will increase the products’ affordability. “I’m really thrilled to see that it made it in,” said Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, a vice president with the Brennan Center for Justice and co-founder of Period Equity, a group advocating for accessible, affordable and safe menstrual products.
A preventable cancer is on the rise in Alabama
Eyal Press | The New Yorker
Cervical cancer is now viewed by most physicians as preventable, and in more affluent parts of the country it is correspondingly rare. But in the poorer pockets of less wealthy states it remains disturbingly common. According to the American Cancer Society, more than four thousand women in this country will die from the disease this year. Women who develop cervical cancer in Alabama are more likely to die than their counterparts in any other state—and in recent years Alabama’s mortality rate has been rising.
COVID-19 Stimulus Bill Includes 'Broad Discretion' to Deny Loans to Reproductive Health Groups
Dennis Carter | Rewire.News
The $2 trillion stimulus bill, passed by the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate, includes a discriminatory Hyde Amendment provision. U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell and other Senate Republicans made sure to block Planned Parenthood from receiving loans available in the stimulus.
Workplace Equality
You Showed Them The Money, So Why Are Your Women Still Leaving?
Tracy Cote | Forbes
People say that they leave jobs for a better salary, but there’s evidence to support that this is usually not the case—decision factors can be due to environment or personal preferences. The saying “Employees leave managers, not jobs or companies” is true for both men and women. For example, data shows that 79% of employees who quit their jobs cite “a lack of appreciation” as the main reason. Paying men and women equally is not enough. Rather, it’s the price of admission to gender equity and a requirement to keep companies out of legal trouble.
Close gender pay gap - especially now during the coronavirus crisis
Younghee Overly & Colin Moore | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Even in a pre-coronavirus world, the gender pay gap — the difference between what men are paid compared to what women are paid for the same job — would be an important issue worth resolving. But coronavirus has radically changed how we interact with each other and how we work. It is forcing us to ask hard questions about the economy and our finances. Equal Pay Day, the symbolic day when women’s earnings “catch up” to men’s earnings from the previous year, takes on meaning it never has in the past.