Oh, academia
Today…
is Thursday, so watch for Supreme Court decisions… maybe?… at 10am ET.
is National Aperitif Day. And as this article describes, they’re lovely for summer, light and fizzy, not especially strong. I’m a fan.
is the birthday of Sister Maria Innocentia Hummel (1909-1946). That is a name, huh? If you’re at least a GenXer, it may sound familiar. Her painting inspired the Hummel figures, and the entire aesthetic howls early ‘70s childhood at me.
You’ll see why this song later. But also a favorite, so glad to be reminded of it.
Abortion
"Jane Roe" and the Anti-Abortion Movement Built on Lies
Laura Bassett, Rebecca Nelson | GQ
McCorvey’s about-face on abortion has been the subject of countless profiles and stories in many prestigious outlets, and anti-abortion activists love to bring it up any time the subject of Roe v. Wade arises. But the fact that conservatives were paying McCorvey all along to dupe America shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s been paying attention to abortion politics. Today’s whole “pro-life” movement was built on a lie, and they’ve had to lie in increasingly elaborate ways to stay relevant.
HuffPost: In Death, Jane Roe Finally Tells The Truth About Her Life
HuffPost: Why It Matters That Jane Roe Says She Was Paid By The Religious Right
Salon: Jane Roe's "conversion" confession: More proof the religious right is run by grifters and liars
Washington Post: ‘Jane Roe,’ from Roe v. Wade, made a stunning deathbed confession. Now what?
The Anti-Abortion Movement Is Capitalizing On Coronavirus
Melissa Jeltson | HuffPost
As governors across the country issued emergency orders to halt the spread of the virus, anti-abortion activists pressured officials to close abortion clinics under the guise of preserving personal protective equipment, a strategy that was temporarily successful in some states. Many are also defying stay-at-home orders to demonstrate outside clinics, leading to arrests in multiple states.
Feminist Multi-Front Battle to End FDA’s Abortion Pill Restriction
Carrie Baker | Ms. Magazine
Feminists have been fighting a defensive battle to protect abortion rights for years—but today some are taking the offense, pushing to expand abortion access by calling for the removal of FDA restriction on the abortion pill mifepristone.
Alabama
Alabama Abortion Fund Buys Clinic amid Growing Political Hostility
Emily Weyrauch | Nonprofit Quarterly
Last Friday, the Alabama abortion access fund Yellowhammer Fund announced its purchase of an abortion clinic. Will that move prove to be a good thing?
Tennessee
Tennessee's women need full range of reproductive options even during COVID-19
Rep. London Lamar |The Tennessean
The same challenges [black women] faced outside the COVID-19 pandemic are the same yet amplified challenges we’re facing in the pandemic. No one stops needing reproductive health care and support in a public health crisis.
LGBTQ
Lawmakers urge Trump administration to collect data on LGBTQ patients
Associated Press
Over 100 members of Congress are calling on the Trump administration to collect information on the sexual orientations and gender identities of COVID-19 patients.
Idaho
Idaho Banned Trans Women From Competing In School Sports: One College Student is Fighting Back
Bonnie Fuller | Hollywood Life
The state of Idaho may have recently passed two anti trans laws, but here’s how one courageous trans woman student is fighting back against the blatant discrimination.
Pennsylvania
By two-vote margin, Pennsylvania House rejects protections for gender identity, sexual orientation
Benjamin Pontz | PA Post
Rep. Kenyatta’s amendment would have created the first Pennsylvania law to extend employment protections based on gender identity and sexual orientation. While the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission has indicated that it would interpret the state’s human relations law as prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, that guidance is not legally binding.
Pregnancy & Parenting
The U.S. Birth Rate Is at Its Lowest in 35 Years
Lauren Evans | Jezebel
The birth rate across the U.S. fell to its lowest point in 35 years last year, and experts think that the coronavirus pandemic may cause it to fall even more. What, people don’t want to bring a child into a world on the brink of economic collapse in a country governed by a pickled ham? You don’t say.
The Hill: US birth rate hits 35-year low
Reproductive Health & Justice
Global reproductive rights were already in crisis - COVID-19 will make it worse
Seema Jalan | The Hill
Before COVID-19 ground life as we know it to a startling halt, the movement toward gender equality seemed to be at a major crossroads. We had just marked 25 years since the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo, where 179 countries joined in a first-of-its-kind consensus that individual sexual and reproductive rights are central to global progress
Amid Pandemic, GOP Advances Judicial Nominee Who Called Affordable Care Act 'Illegitimate'
Jennifer Bendery | HuffPost
Amid a national health emergency that has left millions of Americans out of a job and worrying about health insurance, Senate Republicans moved forward Wednesday with confirming a judicial nominee who has called the ACA “illegitimate,” “perverse” and “liberal-utopia-dictated healthcare.” The Senate Judiciary Committee held a confirmation hearing for Cory Wilson, 49, who is up for a lifetime seat on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit.
Slate: Mitch McConnell wants to put another enemy of the Affordable Care Act on the federal judiciary.
New Study Looks at Cost Impact of OTC Birth Control
Cindy Sanders | Nashville Medical News
"In a model assuming no out-of-pocket costs, more than 12.5 million adults and 1.75 million teens reported likely use of an OTC progestin-only pill if available. Among adults, this resulted in an estimated 8% decrease in unintended pregnancy in one year. Women on average were willing to pay $15 and $10, respectively, resulting in 7.1 million adult and 1.3 million teen users and an estimated 5% decrease in unintended pregnancy.”
Congress Can Knock Down Reproductive Health Care Barriers for Immigrants. Here's How.
Sung Yeon Choimorrow | Rewire.News
The Health Equity and Access Under the Law for Immigrant Women and Families Act (HEAL Act) would eliminate unnecessary restrictions that keep immigrant communities from accessing reproductive health care.
Pennsylvania
Planned Parenthood closes Lancaster clinic amid shift to telehealth, seeks new facility
Heather Stauffer | Lancaster Online
A Planned Parenthood clinic that has been located in Lancaster city for more than 30 years has been closed, and the organization is looking for a new facility, it confirmed Wednesday. Planned Parenthood Keystone President and CEO Melissa Reed said in written statement that because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization has shifted to telehealth services for now and is also "thoughtfully planning for the next era of care."
Work & Money
The Top Law Firms For Gender Equity & Family-Friendly Policies (2020)
Staci Zaretsky | Above the Law
From pay to partnership promotions to the composition of leadership committees to family policies, there are many areas where law firms must change to keep up with the times. Thankfully, some law firms are becoming more progressive, but which firms are doing the best they can for women in all areas?
‘We’re not always treated like people’
Natalya Carrico | Chicago Reader
Before the pandemic shuttered strip clubs, dancers were fighting exploitation and moving their work online.
Don’t miss that Chicago Reader article on dancers/strippers organizing for labor rights. It mentions The Lusty Lady, a strip club that unionized in the late ‘90s – there’s a documentary on this, Live Nude Girls Unite, worth checking out. (Just found it on Amazon and worried for a moment because it only gets 2.5 stars. I haven’t seen it in years, maybe it didn’t age well? Ah, no – rated low by people either expecting porn or hating porn.)
Promoting Equity and Inclusion for Mothers in Academe
Anna Cohen Miller | Inside Higher Ed
I study mothers in academia and have found that by and large, academic institutions can do more to facilitate their success. With student evaluations starting to come in, it’s becoming clear that mothers in academia are being judged negatively for having to teach from home during quarantine. Some mothers have confided to me that they have been noted as “unprofessional,” because a child entered the room, or they mentioned having a child at home who might make noise in the background.
“Academe.” I can’t stop saying it now, a la Julia Sugarbaker dressing down Ray Don…
Female Justices Were Cut Off More Than Colleagues During Phone Arguments, Study Says
Marcia Coyle | National Law Journal
During this month’s historic telephonic arguments in the U.S. Supreme Court, Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. interrupted or cut off questioning by his colleagues 11 times, nine of which were of women and all of which were of the court’s liberal justices, according to a new study.
The pandemic upended child care. It could be devastating for working women.
Amanda Becker | The Washington Post
As parents return to work, there will be fewer available day-care slots and probably higher tuition rates. Decisions will have to be made about the safety risks associated with sending young children into less-controlled environments where social distancing is not possible. There will be calculations about whether older children are able to stay home alone or even help care for younger siblings. And the collapse of the system is likely to be particularly devastating for women’s employment.
More, More, More
“Reports of the ERA’s Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated” (Part 6)
Carrie Baker | Ms.
This is the final installment in a six-part series examining the half-century fight to add women to the U.S. Constitution—and a game plan on where we go from here.
Women Show Off Their Unshaven Legs And Arms, Here's How The Internet Is Reacting
Samriddhi Srivastava | MSN
The idea behind the #Januhairy campaign is to make women love and accept their bodies the way it is. While we are happy to see women flaunting the natural fuzz on their armpits, here’s how the internet is reacting.
My Mother’s Old Junior League Cookbooks Seemed Like a Retro Joke—Instead They Were Extremely Satisfying
Larrison Campbell | Vanity Fair
The recipes—for bottomless martinis, Jell-O salads, BBQ sauce made from Coke—are a time capsule, and a guidepost.
A entertaining one to end on, and I’m a total sucker for food history.