Yeah, I decided to do a newsletter – and it was no small task, I’ll tell you. The kids and I decamped to my mother’s in rural Ohio, and every few minutes I have to get up and turn the rubber band that keeps the wifi running.
It won’t even let me upload a picture, so you’ll just have to trust that today’s workspace is green and still and quiet, save for the so many birds.
Oh, hey, Deah, today is National Independent Beer Run Day. I’d happily celebrate, but I’m hard-pressed to think of where I can even buy a local beer out here in the holler.
High court won't hear abortion clinic 'buffer zone' cases
Jessica Gresko | AP
The Supreme Court on Thursday turned away pleas from anti-abortion activists to make it easier* for them to protest outside clinics, declining to wade back into the abortion debate just days after striking down a Louisiana law regulating abortion clinics.
NPR | Supreme Court Acts To Postpone Controversies, From Mueller Report To Abortion
Reuters | U.S. Supreme Court rebuffs abortion clinic protest zone challenges
Washington Post | Supreme Court leaves in place laws in Chicago, Pennsylvania that restrict antiabortion protesters
*Even easier. What, you think we forgot?
Abortion rights still aren't safe from the Roberts court
Mary Ziegler | Los Angeles Times
With the results of June Medical Services vs. Russo this week, supporters of legal abortion can’t help but feel relieved. The court reaffirmed that unduly burdensome abortion restrictions cannot stand. Nonetheless, it’s a mistake to think that abortion rights are safe.
Who thinks this? Every other piece about June Medical and Bostock had a similar line: “the fight’s not over!” “we’re not done!” “abortion/LGBTQ rights aren’t safe!” I ask you, who, right now, in the midst of Alla This, thought we were done?
*deep breath*
*look at tree*
*sip coffee*
Yes, I know why people use “sky remains falling,” and yes, being a little grumpy at the end of a long week. Moving on.
🠲 TRAP Anti-abortion Laws Are Sexist, Racist, and Not Going Anywhere
Vina Smith-Ramakrishnan | Newsweek
In addition to being gender-oppressive, TRAP laws are also racially oppressive. Black women are more at risk for negative reproductive health outcomes than their white counterparts. It's no coincidence that states with the most restrictive reproductive health regulations also have the poorest maternal health outcomes, which disproportionately affect Black women.
Our Supreme Court Correspondent on This Week’s Abortion Ruling
Alisha Gupta | New York Times
A Louisiana law that could have reduced the number of abortion clinics in the state to one was struck down on Monday. In an interview, Adam Liptak, who covers the court, provided context to the decision.
Democrats dodge abortion fight with plan to keep Hyde Amendment
Sarah Ferris, Heather Caygle | POLITICO
House Democrats will keep a decades-old ban on government funding for abortion in spending bills this year, dodging an election-year clash with Republicans and disappointing liberal lawmakers and activists.
🠲 When a Ride Becomes a Lifeline
Steph Black | The Progressive
Chloe, a driver with the Tampa Bay Abortion Fund, knows how important a role she plays in people’s lives. “I’m a lifeline,” she says. “Once I get them in my car, they’re in my care.” Like many practical support volunteers, Chloe does more than just drive patients home. She provides critical care and support in a time of need.
Black and Brown Critique Is a Gift. Will White Abortion Advocates Listen?
Renee Bracey Sherman |Rewire.News
The reproductive rights movement has been offered an opportunity. Over the past few weeks, people of color, young people, and other marginalized voices have provided searing and thoughtful feedback about how white-led reproductive rights organizations make them feel.
Women Are Being Written Out of Abortion Jurisprudence
Dahlia Lithwick | Slate
It was not hard to miss that there were 6 separate opinions filed in June Medical Services v Russo, the major abortion litigation of this year’s Supreme Court term, and that every one of those six separate opinions was penned by a man.
Louisiana
Money wasted on abortion fights could help struggling Louisianians
Pearl Ricks | LA Illuminator
Louisiana wasted millions on litigation to crumble our right to health and individual dignity, and even now, in the face of a pandemic, those lawmakers seem unable to focus on the actual issues confronting Louisiana. We all see how deeply impacted we are by unforeseen circumstances, like COVID-19, and we must admit we have a state in need of a priorities overhaul and a far more sustainable budget.
LGBTQ
Trump administration moves to repeal transgender protections in homeless shelters
Nico Lang | NBC News
The Department of Housing and Urban Development plans to move forward with a measure that would permit federally funded homeless shelters to house transgender clients according to their sex assigned at birth.
The American Independent | Trump's next target: Homeless transgender people
Refinery29 | How A Discriminatory Housing Rule Could Allow Shelters To Turn Away Transgender People
Washington Blade | HUD appears to defy Bostock ruling with anti-trans rule for homeless shelters
The Impact Of SCOTUS’ LGBTQ Discrimination Ruling, According To One Person Who’s Lived It
Jennifer Gerson | Bustle
“We can finally say, ‘You are accountable for your hateful words and actions. You are accountable for leaving me behind.’”
‘It Makes Us Feel Human’: LGBTQ Fund Fights for a Mississippi ‘Without Alienation’
Ashton Pittman, Clay Morris | Mississippi Free Press
“When we think about the Deep South, especially Alabama and Mississippi, we think that the only way for a queer person to thrive, but really survive, is to leave … We’re doing this work to show LGBTQ southerners that we have something to be proud of and that LGBTQ people have been thriving for decades.”
What Happened When Police Brutality Protests And Pride Month Converged
Christianna Silva | NPR
At the intersection of these two fights for equality are Black transgender people. Imara Jones, an independent journalist and founder of TransLash media, told NPR's All Things Considered, that this moment has been "a crucible."
Gender Nonconforming Kids––Who Are Supported At Home––Are Finding Relief In School Closures
Amber Leventry | Scary Mommy
Ideally, every kid would feel safe in every space they occupy. Realistically, too many kids don’t. If a child identifies as LGBTQIA+, whether out or not, and doesn’t conform to stereotypical gender codes, their level of safety varies based on the level of acceptance of the people surrounding them.
Improving LGBTQ+ rights in the workplace: Where we are and what companies still need to do
Esther Shein | TechRepublic
As Pride month came to an end, observers reported progress has been made in supporting LGBTQ+ rights in the workplace in the past two decades, but ongoing research from McKinsey indicates that challenges persist.
Celebrate Bostock, for now
Patrick Hornbeck | The Washington Blade
In what is at least the biggest victory for LGBTQ Americans since the 2015 decision legalizing same-sex marriage, last month the Supreme Court held that employers who fire employees for their sexual orientation or gender identity violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. But under what circumstances will religious employers be subject to, and their employees protected by, the rule the Court announced?
Pregnancy & Parenting
Of the COVID-19 pregnancy cases reported in Illinois, Black and Latina women make up over 70%
Alison Bowen | Chicago Tribune
The coronavirus has amplified the challenges pregnant women face. And even more so for Black and Latina women, who might be disproportionately affected by COVID-19, according to recent CDC data, and who experience extra burdens of not only implicit racism within the health care industry, but also socioeconomic factors that can impact their ability to access care.
Reproductive Health & Justice
Sister, They Are Killing Us: A Black Feminist Response to State and Sexual Violence
Jallicia Jolly | Ms. Magazine
Black women are being murdered, violated and maimed. It’s hidden in plain sight—even as they are leading our current-day social movements with fierce intention.
Oregon
County cuts reproductive services like birth control, pregnancy tests
Bill Poehler | Salem Statesman Journal
After a steep decline in patients seeking reproductive health services over the prior decade, Marion County’s Public Health Department is cutting services like family planning, birth control, pap smears and pregnancy tests at its clinics in Salem and Woodburn.
Work & Money
🠲 In the Covid-19 Economy, You Can Have a Kid or a Job. You Can’t Have Both.
Deb Perelman | New York Times
Our struggle is not an emotional concern. We are not burned out. We are being crushed by an economy that has bafflingly declared working parents inessential.
CNN | Reps. Nita Lowey & Richard Neal |Child care is essential to reopening the economy
Motherly | Why Forcing Moms Without Childcare to Return to the Office Will Be Bad For Women
Rethinking Law Firm Culture To Better Support Mothers
Rachel Dane | Above the Law
When I was applying to law school, my boss at the time told me to “not bother with law school” because I was just going to “work my way up to motherhood.” While it is not always this explicit, women often get the message that they can be mommies or lawyers — not both.
American women hire appeals lawyers in equal pay lawsuit
AP
Even before a trial, American women players suing the U.S. Soccer Federation for equal pay have hired a pair of appellate lawyers.
Men are more likely to be seen as 'brilliant' than women, and it's preventing gender equality at work
Shira Feder | INSIDER
A study found that people were more likely to associate the trait of brilliance with men over women. Researchers conducted tests to see who automatically associated brilliance with men and found that at least 70% of participants saw some association with men and brilliance.
California lawmakers take quick action to advance expansion of paid family leave
Melody Gutierrez | Los Angeles Times
California would require some of the state’s small businesses to offer job-protected leave to new parents and workers who need to care for sick family members under a proposal championed by Gov. Newsom that cleared the state Senate on Thursday.
Large businesses have come out in support of the ERA—including some with sexist histories
Annalisa Merelli | Quartz
It might have taken 100 years, but American corporations are finally taking a stand in support of full gender equality—for business reasons, no less.