The point of no return
Today…
Supreme Court decisions, 10am ET, giddy-up. The only way out is through, folks.
is National Bomb Pop Day. Not your thing? Mine either – if I’m going Good Humor, it’s a Chocolate Éclair every time.
in 2013, then-Texas State Sen. Wendy Davis held the floor for 13 hours in an effort to stop SB 5, a sweeping abortion ban that wound its way to Supreme Court as Whole Woman’s Health v Hellerstedt.
And I sure did buy those shoes. So shallow, so spendy, whatever whatever I loved them so much.
Did you think maybe the subject line was a Phantom reference? The rip-off of La Femme Nikita starring Bridget Fonda? No no, it’s so much better/worse.
I won’t be offended if you share this one with a content warning for the stinkiest of ‘80s pop culture cheese.
Abortion
Illinois anti-abortion group sues Pritzker, claims COVID-19 gathering limits unconstitutional
Javonte Anderson | Chicago Tribune
An Illinois anti-abortion organization alleges in a federal lawsuit that Gov. J.B. Pritzker has unconstitutionally allowed certain groups to disregard the state’s limits on the number of people who can gather together while holding other groups to a different standard.
Why Tennessee's Quickly Passed Abortion Ban Is Racist
Lauren Rankin | Refinery29
In the early-morning hours of June 19, the Tennessee Senate rallied to pass a last-minute healthcare bill. It had nothing to do with mitigating the coronavirus pandemic, nor did it address the widespread police violence on display in cities across the country. Instead, it was a wide-ranging anti-abortion bill.
LGBTQ
The Trans Future I Never Dreamed Of
Chase Strangio | The Atlantic
The Supreme Court has now given its approval to something LGBTQ people have long fought for: the opportunity to live and thrive in this country.
The Courts Say Sex Discrimination Laws Protect Trans People. But Trump May Use Religious Exemptions To Get Around Them
Paul McLeod | BuzzFeed News
The Supreme Court gave LGBTQ activists a historic victory this month in the employment case of Bostock v. Clayton, but it also may have set up the next major legal battle between civil rights and religious freedom.
Improving LGBTQ representation in curriculum reduces stigma, bullying
Lauren Barack | Education Dive
An LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum may not only help LGBTQ students feel they are reflected in materials used in their school or classroom, but also help to play a role in reducing bullying and stigma by creating social-emotional learning opportunities.
Majorities Support Policies Banning Discrimination Against LGBTQ Individuals’ Health Care Access
Jennifer Kates, Lindsey Dawson, Ashley Kirzinger, Cailey Muñana, Mollyann Brodie | Kaiser Family Foundation
The poll, conducted immediately following the Supreme Court decision, finds a majority of the public supporting laws that ban discrimination based on whether a person is lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender and think it should be illegal for health care providers and health insurance companies to deny care for such individuals.
DACA Was Made Possible By Young LGBTQ+ Immigrants. Now We Must Fight For Them, Too
Jorge Gutierrez | MTV News
The Supreme Court upheld the Obama-era policy, but there is still work to be done to protect the most vulnerable among us.
When We Don’t Say Their Names, We Deny Them Justice
Shirley Nwangwa | The Nation
The murders of Black cis men sparked the current protests. But Black women, trans, nonbinary, and queer folks are fighting for their lives too.
Five years on, LGBT+ couples fear for future of gay marriage
Oscar Lopez | Reuters
On Friday, the LGBT+ community will celebrate five years since [Obergefell v Hodges], but with a sharp conservative turn in U.S. politics, some gay and lesbian couples are worried for the future of hard fought gains such as gay marriage.
America Is in Crisis. But Some of Us Have Never Known Anything Different
Jaquira Díaz | Time Magazine
We have always been in crisis. But while the nationwide protests, led by Black women and Black LGBTQ people, are fueled by the fight for Black liberation, more people have been energized to protest all types of oppression.
Pride is protest. This year, make your celebration about Black Lives Matter
Jarrett Hill | Town & Country
As we honor the legacy of a movement launched 51 years ago with the Stonewall Riots, we can’t lose sight of its defiant origins. Pride is more than a parade.
🠲 The Supreme Court’s LGBTQ+ workplace ruling means more fairness for consumers
Richard Cordray | USA Today
Supreme Court ruling in Bostock means means LGBTQ consumers cannot be refused a loan or be subjected to less favorable terms for credit.
Flagging this one because I’ve seen a lot written about what Bostock means for health care, but this – on consumer rights and banking – is a new one. It’s helpful.
After landmark Supreme Court ruling, transgender workers stand up for their rights
Samantha Schmidt | Washington Post
LGBTQ advocates compare the decision to the court’s legalization of same-sex marriage, and anticipate a wave of litigation testing workplace protections for transgender people.
Indiana
Policy may bar transgender students from Catholic schools in central and southern Indiana
Arika Herron | USA Today
Transgender students may be barred from attending Catholic schools in central and southern Indiana, according to a new policy from the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.
New York
Stonewall Inn warns it may be forced to close if it can’t raise some cash quickly
Bil Browning | LGBTQ Nation
The historic Stonewall Inn is teetering on closure after the coronavirus pandemic forced it to close for months. The owners have launched a crowdfunding initiative to save the bar and community landmark.
GO | Historic Stonewall Inn Launches Fundraising Campaign To Avoid Shutting Down
Rolling Stone | Stonewall Inn, Struggling Due to COVID-19, Launches Fundraiser to Save LGBTQ Landmark
Pregnancy & Parenting
House Democrats seek to enhance Obamacare ahead of Trump push to dismantle the law
Tami Luhby | CNN
A day before the Trump administration is expected to ask the Supreme Court to invalidate the Affordable Care Act, House Democrats unveiled a plan Wednesday to strengthen the landmark health care law.
I had to triple check that this ACA article wasn’t from 2010… 2012… 2016…
Help reverse devastating health disparities by supporting the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act
Ellen Olshansky | The Hill
Black women in the U.S. are three to four times as likely to die due to pregnancy-related causes as compared with white women. Black infants in the U.S. are over three times more likely to die due to complications related to low birth weight as compared to white infants. These disparities are not due to race; they are due to racism, as eloquently stated by Dr. Monica McLemore, Professor of Nursing at the UCSF School of Nursing
Many US women say they want fewer children because of the coronavirus pandemic
Anna Medaris Miller | INSIDER
A third of US women say they want to delay pregnancy or have fewer children because of the coronavirus pandemic, a new Guttmacher Institute survey of 2,000 people found. Minority, low-income, and queer women were especially likely to say their family planning goals had changed. At the same time, some women are struggling to get contraception, which could foil their new plans to postpone pregnancy.
Good Morning America | 'COVID baby bust' expected to hit the US as economic and health fears grow
NPR | Survey: Women Are Rethinking Having Kids As They Face Pandemic Challenges
Georgia
Georgia lawmakers approve more health coverage for new moms
Jeff Amy | AP
An expansion of medical coverage aiming at reducing deaths among mothers of Georgia newborns is headed to Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk for his signature or veto. The House voted Wednesday to give final approval to HB 1114 by a vote of 144-0.
Reproductive Health & Justice
1 in 3 Women Struggled to Get Birth Control Because of Coronavirus
Carter Sherman | VICE
One in three women struggled to get their birth control, had to delay a doctor’s visit for sexual or reproductive health care, or had to cancel a visit entirely due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to findings released Wednesday by the Guttmacher Institute.
6 Organizations That Support Black Women’s Health-And Why the Work They’re Doing Is So Essential
Lauren Valenti | Vogue
Amid the global pandemic and recent acts of racial injustice, the fractured U.S. health system is facing a reckoning for the many ways in which it has historically and is currently failing Black women.
New Jersey
Access to contraceptive care in NJ impacted by COVID-19 crisis
Dino Flammia | WKXW-FM (Ewing, NJ)
A quarter of pregnancies in New Jersey last year were unplanned. That percentage would likely be much lower, advocates say, if Garden State residents had better access to quality contraceptive care. The need for increased access, they add, is even more pressing today as the state attempts to bounce back from the coronavirus pandemic.
Work & Money
🠲 How an Ousted CEO Built a Culture of 'Covert Racism' and Fear at Planned Parenthood's Largest Affiliate
Esther Wang | Jezebel
McQuade’s ouster has led to a further reckoning at Planned Parenthood, a purportedly progressive organization, about who is valued and what work is prioritized, and why the toxic leadership of McQuade was allowed to continue for so long.
I’m cautiously hopeful that stories like this will help root out the Laura McQuades – and there so many of them – from all of our orgs.
New Study Shows That Asking For Salary History Perpetuates Systemic Racism
Andrew Whalen | Newsweek
Banning employers from using salary history against prospective employees substantially closes wage gaps, increasing pay for women by eight percent and Black people by 13 percent, a new study by economists at Boston University School of Law found.
Work-From-Home Could Make the Gender Wage Gap Worse
Bryce Covert | New York Times
An increase in remote workers won’t automatically usher in a gender-equal utopia. If we want it, we have to make it so.
Where The Women Aren't: On Coronavirus Task Forces
Malaka Gharib | NPR
There are 27 members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force. Only two are women. It's a gender breakdown that's echoed around the world. Yet the pandemic is, by some measures, taking a greater toll on women than on men.
Black Women Are Key to Any Economic Recovery. So Why Aren't We Acting Like It?
Tina Tchen | Working Mother
Even at a time when many Americans are waking up to the injustice that’s long plagued our most powerful institutions, policymakers have been stubbornly quiet about meeting the needs of one group in particular: Black women.
Crappy Treatment During COVID Makes Women Twice as Likely as Men to Leave Their Jobs
Quinn Fish | Working Mother
Working moms have been put through the wringer during the COVID-19 crisis, simultaneously juggling our job duties, childcare and schooling—and though we may soon be headed back to work, the consequences of the pandemic are far from over. As daycares and offices begin to reopen throughout the US, workplace conditions during COVID-19 might determine whether moms remain in their jobs or not.
Utah
Gender Wage Gap: (In)Equality in Utah
Anthony Scoma | KCPW-FM (Salt Lake City, UT)
Today we feature a panel discussion on the gender wage gap in Utah—the causes that drive it, its consequences for women and the economy and what policies are effective in addressing the discrepancy.
More, More, More
Inside the ‘Wild West’ of Twitch Video-Game Streaming, Where Sexual Abuse Runs Rampant
Tarpley Hitt, Emily Shugerman | Daily Beast
Multiple women come forward to The Daily Beast to share their stories of sexual harassment and abuse on the popular video game-streaming platform, where victims have no recourse.
12 Ways the Trump Administration Has Deepened Inequality
Abby Vesoulis | Time
Behind the scenes, the Administration has quietly rolled back existing rules and issued new ones that have the effect of eliminating protections and opportunities for Black people, migrants, Native Americans, transgender people and other marginalized groups.
P.S. Why am I late today? Because the kids and I binged the entire 4th season of The Good Place last night, didn’t get to bed until 2:30am. *yawn*