Good morning to all eight of you reading email this morning. I wasn’t sure if I’d check in today, but given the so few headlines, may as well.
I also really wanted to share a few notable anniversaries coming up, as they were surprisingly tricky to track down.
On December 30, 1975, Minneapolis became the first U.S. city to pass a trans-inclusive civil rights measure.
On January 1, 1985, the Mexico City “global gag rule" went into effect for the first time.
On January 2, 1974, I was born in Steubenville, Ohio. (This one was easy to find.)
Also, today is National Chocolate Candy Day, can you imagine. The very thought of more chocolate today, no thank you.
Abortion
NBC | Democrats promise Biden-era abortion showdown over Hyde Amendment | Sahil Kapur
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., who is set to chair the powerful House Appropriations Committee, said next year the House will eliminate the so-called Hyde Amendment, a decades-old policy that prohibits federal programs like Medicaid from paying for abortions.
NBC | Biden HHS nominee Becerra faces GOP confirmation concerns over abortion, universal health care | Lauren Egan
Xavier Becerra, President-elect Joe Biden's pick for health and human services secretary, the Cabinet member tasked with overseeing vaccinating millions of Americans against the coronavirus as quickly as possible, faces an uphill confirmation battle.
LGBTQ
Daily Beast | Biden Wants to Fix Trump’s Trans Detention Policy. Advocates Say He Needs to End It. | Scott Bixby
As President Donald Trump’s years-long campaign of neglect and abuse of migrants in government custody draws to a close, there is now growing pressure on President-elect Joe Biden—who ran a campaign that highlighted his longtime commitment to LGBTQ equality—to release trans detainees from immigrant detention centers altogether.
LGBTQ Nation | Amazon is allowing anti-LGBTQ groups to fundraise on its site as “charities” again | Juwan J. Holmes
An analysis of the online retail giant Amazon’s non-profit partnership program, AmazonSmile, has found that it has become a key fundraising space for organizations with anti-LGBTQ and anti-abortion ambitions
Reproductive Health & Justice
Marketplace | Tampons, pads on expanded list of items OK'd for FSA spending | Kimberly Adams
The CARES Act pandemic relief bill that became law earlier this year expanded the list of items that FSA money can be used to buy. Many OTC medicines are OK once again, and, for the first time, so are feminine hygiene products.
MedPage Today | Op-Ed: Reproductive Justice Is a Key to Quality Care | Linda Sloan Locke
Access to the full range of reproductive health services, and especially to contraception, remains an issue for many Americans. For instance, in New Jersey, where I work, data show that 25% of all pregnancies in our state are "unintended" and nearly 435,000 women live in "contraceptive deserts," which means there's no reasonable access to these services.
Work & Money
USA Today | Black, Latina and immigrant mothers are losing jobs as COVID-19 child care crisis grows | Claire Thornton
Since March, Black and Latina moms have stopped working, either voluntarily or due to layoffs, at higher rates than white moms. Many are single moms who need childcare but can’t access it during the pandemic. According to the BLS, single moms had higher rates of unemployment than their childless counterparts in the second and third quarters of 2020.
More, More, More
AP | Girl Scouts rebuke Boy Scouts in escalating recruitment war | Larry Neumeister
The Girl Scouts are in a “highly damaging” recruitment war with the Boy Scouts after the latter opened its core services to girls, leading to marketplace confusion and some girls unwittingly joining the Boy Scouts, lawyers for the century-old Girl Scouts organization claim in court papers.
Jezebel | The Girl Scouts Are in a Recruitment War with the Boy Scouts | Marie Solis
New York Times | The Girl Scouts Accuse the Boy Scouts of Unfair Competition in Trademark Dispute | Neil Vigdor
Yahoo | Girl Scouts say the Boy Scouts have caused 'an explosion of confusion' since opening up membership to girls in new legal filing | Megan Johnson