On your mark...
Today:
…kicks off a huge week at the Supreme Court, which will hear arguments by phone for the first time ever. I assume anyone following me already has Little Sisters on their calendar for 10am Wednesday. There’s also a change we get opinions on Thursday.
…is National Orange Juice Day. Couldn’t tell you last time I had a glass, but lately the Ps have been eating Cara Cara oranges like it’s our job. They’re fabulous, and they have a relatively short season.
Happy Monday to you.
Abortion
Playing Games With Abortion Access During COVID-19
Rewire.News
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Rewire.News has tracked attempts by anti-abortion state officials to exploit the crisis to roll back reproductive rights. For some states, it’s taken a week or longer to get an answer as to whether clinics were able to continue providing abortion care.
Why We Need Literature on Abortion
Annie Finch | Rewire.News
In this excerpt from Choice Words, Annie Finch's anthology of abortion poems, stories, and essays, she reflects on how literature on abortion is necessary on both a personal level and a larger societal one.
Arkansas
ACLU and abortion providers sue Arkansas over order requiring negative Covid-19 test before elective medical procedures
Caroline Kelly | CNN
Arkansas abortion providers and the ACLU are once again suing Arkansas state officials for restricting abortion access during the coronavirus pandemic, this time to keep the state from requiring abortion-seekers to first get a negative Covid-19 test within 48 hours of the procedure.
Tennessee
Judge blocks ordinance aimed at preventing certain abortions
AP
A federal judge has blocked a Tennessee city’s zoning ordinance that banned certain abortions. U.S. District Judge Eli Richardson issued an order Friday preliminarily blocking enforcement of the ordinance in Mt. Juliet. The ordinance would have prevented abortion provider carafem from performing surgical abortions at its office in the Tennessee community.
LGBTQ
Lesbian Runs For Office Against The Sheriff Who Fired Her — And Wins
Kim Wong-Shing | GO
An Ohio woman got fired by the county sheriff for being a lesbian, so she ran for his office and beat him. A lesbian in Ohio just won the Democratic primary for Hamilton County Sheriff. She beat out the current sheriff, who fired her two years ago for being openly gay.
That time Mayor Pete kissed Chasten after announcing he was running for President
Bil Browning | LGBTQ Nation
With Pride festivals around the nation canceled or postponed, LGBTQ Nation is bringing the celebration to you with our new series “Flashes of Pride.” We’ll look back at some of our community’s finest moments from the past few years as a reminder that no matter what life throws our way, queer people will fight our way through it and dance when we hit the other side.
Asian American groups and LGBTQ allies demand response to anti-Asian harassment amid COVID-19 crisis
John Riley | Metro Weekly
Asian American groups and allies, including national and local LGBTQ organizations, are calling on D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to call out what advocates say is a spike in racist harassment and attacks directed against members of the Asian American community amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pregnancy & Parenting
'I was alone': how giving birth is changing during the pandemic
Alexandra Villarreal | The Guardian
Maternal care has been derailed due to coronavirus – and advocates warn the outcome could be disastrous for black mothers as they navigate US hospitals.
Reproductive Health & Justice
The latest battlefront in the gender wars: The "tampon tax," and women are winning
Ursula Perano | Axios
The sales tax on basic necessities for millions of girls and women—the so-called tampon tax—is the latest battlefront in the gender wars.
Terrible cramps, unintended pregnancies: This is what losing access to birth control in a pandemic looks like
Lena K. Felton | The Lily
The struggle is particularly acute for women who rely on in-person forms of birth control, such as the quarterly Depo-Provera shot, and may not be able to go to their usual clinics to receive them. Others have lost their jobs and health insurance, ratcheting up the price of contraceptives. Some simply can’t get appointments with their OB/GYNs as health-care systems are stretched thin.
During COVID-19, Black Women Are Still Dying From Not Being Taken Seriously
Ishena Robinson | The Root
I’ve read about maternal mortality in the U.S., how black women here lose their lives at nearly 3 times the rate white women do in childbirth. … But the onset of the deadly COVID-19 infection has shown that black women can be dismissed and suffer fatal consequences even outside of maternity experiences.
Work & Money
USWNT equal pay case dismissed by federal judge but case on travel can go to trial
Gabriel García Fernández | CBS Sports
A federal judge ruled against the United States Women's National Team on Friday in its case against U.S. Soccer in a dispute over unequal pay between the men's and women's teams. The judge also rejected the claim that the women's team was dealing with unequal working conditions by playing on turf. What the judge didn't do, however, is dismiss claims of USSF breaking the Civil Rights Act.
AP: Women's soccer claim of unequal pay tossed, can argue travel
Forbes: Federal Judge Upends U.S. Women’s National Team’s Fight For Equal Pay
Sporting News: USWNT suffers blow in equal pay lawsuit as judge rules in favor of U.S. Soccer
Sports Illustrated: USWNT equal pay ruling analysis: Breaking down U.S. Soccer's legal win
UPI: Judge dismisses U.S. women's soccer team's claim of unequal pay
Working women, COVID-19 and the new domesticity
Ali Noland | Arkansas Times
Although many of our own mothers were content to send us outside to play in the water hose and throw us birthday parties at McDonald’s or Pizza Hut, the new domesticity often makes it feel as if crafting and baking in order to manufacture Instagram-worthy moments of childhood magic are essential parts of our job as mothers. We are possibly the first generation of American women to try to juggle both high-pressure competitive careers and idyllic Instagram-perfect domesticity at the same time. Now, COVID-19 has stripped away the support systems that previously made it possible.
A [fe]male-dominated field: While more women continue to go into journalism, barriers still present
Abby Doeden, Gretchen Gerlach, Abby Steinberg | The Badger Herald
According to the Spring Enrollment report, the UW School of Journalism and Mass Communication is a whopping 78% female. In fact, it’s more common in the U.S. for women to have a degree in journalism than it is for men, with 67.7% of the people in the U.S. with a journalism degree being women. But the makeup of the journalism workforce tells a different story.
Child care providers, parents are struggling — and worried about what comes next
Stephanie Ebbert, Dasia Moore | Boston Globe
Struggling child care providers across Massachusetts say their prolonged closure for the coronavirus pandemic may result in their economic ruin, leaving working parents in the lurch. The owners of child care centers, already closed for six weeks, are growing increasingly desperate, saying their small businesses are on the verge of collapse.
How Nannies And Other Domestic Workers Have Been Hit By The Coronavirus
Bethany Allard | BUST Magazine
During a time when taking care of one’s family and one’s self is most important, some nannies have been expected to prioritize their income — and the well-being and comfort of their employers — above all else.
New Study: Millennial Women Are Delaying Having Children Due To Their Careers
Ashley Stahl | Forbes
The pressure to start a family is overwhelming, and for many millennial women who have spent the last decade focused on building their career in the wake of the 2008 recession, this is a complex question to answer. It’s easy to want a stellar career, an established lifestyle and to start a family.
You Can't Reopen The Economy Without Child Care
Emily Peck | HuffPost
More than half the states in the U.S. are tentatively opening back up, easing restrictions on retail stores and other businesses shuttered to stop the spread of coronavirus. Most day cares and schools, however, are not reopening, and millions of Americans can’t get back to business as usual. They have children at home.
What Rights Do Pregnant Workers Have in a Pandemic?
Jessica Grose | New York Times
As businesses in states like Georgia and Alaska begin to welcome customers, and the biggest mall operator in the United States plans to reopen 49 shopping centers in the coming days, many pregnant workers like Anna may be wondering what their rights are.
Colorado
Colorado lawmakers give up on paid family leave bill, will support ballot measure
Conrad Swanson | Denver Post
Sponsors are abandoning efforts to start a paid family and medical leave program in Colorado via legislation, announcing Friday they will instead support a ballot initiative already under way that’s aiming for the November ballot. Since the beginning, the plan faced rough waters, but after the new coronavirus pandemic forced the General Assembly to recess, legislators won’t introduce a bill at all.
Colorado Sun: Coronavirus put an end to Colorado’s paid family leave bill. But there’s a lot more to the story.
New York
Defending our working moms during COVID-19 and beyond
Jessica Woolford | The Riverdale (New York) Press
Just like everyone else, we are trying to save money where we can, given the uncertainty. However, the emotional toll of round-the-clock child care, not to mention the onset of chronic pains common for parents, and the general anxiety of life under a pandemic is too costly in other invisible ways. Working moms need a hand now more than ever.
Supreme Court
Supreme Court livestreams are high stakes test for justices, public
Elizabeth Thomas | ABC News
The Supreme Court on Monday will embark on an extraordinary experiment in judicial transparency, livestreaming its first-ever telephonic oral argument, a high-stakes endeavor prompted by the historic disruption to court operations during the coronavirus pandemic. Millions of homebound Americans will for the first time be able to experience the nine justices together at work -- a virtual civics lesson on an entire branch of U.S. government that conducts most of its work out of the public eye.
The Atlantic: A Citizen's Guide to SCOTUS Live, America's New Reality Show
The Nation: It’s Time to Bring the Supreme Court Into the Modern Era-and the Light
New York Times: Virus Pushes a Staid Supreme Court Into Revolutionary Changes
Bloomberg: Supreme Court Bows to the Moment With First Streaming Arguments
Why these nuns are headed back to the Supreme Court for another birth control battle
Kelsey Dallas | Deseret News
Most notably when it comes to the current case, scholars are divided over whether the Trump administration violated the law when it expanded religious and moral exemptions to the contraceptive mandate in 2017. There’s no consensus on who deserves such an exemption and which policymakers have the authority to decide.
The Battle Over Birth Control Reaches Trump's Supreme Court
Melissa Jeltsen | HuffPost
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday will consider whether the Trump administration may allow almost any employer to deny workers access to free birth control by citing religious or moral objections. Oral arguments will be presented via teleconference ― one of the first times in history ― due to the coronavirus pandemic. The public can listen to the audio in real time on C-SPAN.
Why US businesses are opining on a Supreme Court case about contraception
Ephrat Livni | Quartz
On May 6, the US Supreme Court will hear arguments in two cases about the Trump administration’s expansion of the “conscience” exemptions to contraception coverage under the ACA. The changes allow institutions providing health insurance to avoid paying for birth control, for religious or moral reasons, without notice.
More, More, More
Disabled, elderly going without home care amid shortage of protective gear and tests
Alice Ollstein, Joanne Kenen | POLITICO
Millions of high-needs home care patients and their low-wage caregivers face enormous risks as the coronavirus crisis reveals deep gaps in government oversight and resources for this often-overlooked branch of the health system.
We Asked 30,000 Black Americans What They Need to Survive. Here’s What They Said
Alicia Garza | Time Magazine
This February, we released our Black Agenda to outline changes required to help Black Americans flourish. We didn’t know then that a global pandemic was on the horizon, but the policy solutions it outlines are even more important today.
A Domestic Abuse Survivor Considers the Future From a New York Shelter
Danielle Campoamor | Vogue
Nearly 3 in 10 women and 1 in 10 men have been severely physically abused by an intimate partner. Nearly half of all murdered women are killed by a spouse or romantic partner, and a study published in 2019 found that homicides committed by intimate partners with gun violence are on the rise. Now that the U.S. is in the throes of a global pandemic, the number of domestic abuse reports are increasing.