World Nutella Day
Start the day on a bright note: it’s World Nutella Day!
The Family & Medical Leave Act was signed into law on February 5, 1993. FMLA sets such a low bar, should have been the very beginning of the conversation, and we’ve barely moved in the 27 years since. A story in The Guardian today speaks directly to the terrible bind our lousy labor laws create: The hardest decision of my life: to end a pregnancy because I had no paid leave
What’s-his-face made a few remarks last night. Far better is this absolutely blazing L.A. Times column in response.
Abortion
Opinion: Trump’s State of the Union attack on abortion rights was pathetic — even for him
Carla Hall, Los Angeles Times
First of all, abortion laws don’t stop neonatal research. They are unrelated. Second, the whole point of constitutionally-upheld abortion laws is to allow women to choose whether they want to carry a fetus to term.
Workplace
The hardest decision of my life: to end a pregnancy because I had no paid leave
Charlotte Sullivan, The Guardian
Our inability to afford the pregnancy was not only due to an absence of paid family leave, it also hinged on the absence of many other foundational support systems currently lacking for most Americans, including universal childcare and healthcare and a living minimum wage.
Workers are unionizing at nonprofits and thinktanks with the NPEU. Their bosses aren’t always happy.
Eli Rosenberg, Washington Post
Nonprofit organizations would seem like fertile ground for workers hoping to organize. And many of these think tank workplaces embrace economic policies at the heart of their public missions. Yet these practices haven’t always been applied internally.
Paid family leave veto override showdown expected in Vermont Wednesday
A veto showdown is expected at the Statehouse Wednesday as Democrats rally to find the votes to override Governor Phil Scott's veto of a paid family leave bill
Colorado’s upcoming paid family leave bill undergoes major surgery
Alex Burness, Denver Post
Most significantly, the bill would not provide paid leave through a state-run insurance program, which has long been the strong preference of progressive groups, and of the sponsors. It would still require that all employers provide paid family leave to their workers, sponsors say, but it would give employers the option to do this through a private insurance plan.
LGBTQ
The Long Road to a Trans Flag Emoji, and Why It Matters
Mary Emily O'Hara, Adweek
The first time Google creative Tea Uglow submitted a proposal for a transgender pride flag emoji to the Unicode Consortium in 2016, the mysterious organization that oversees the approval and creation of the new emojis that show up in your phone with each update, it was denied.
Anti-Trans Bill Criminalizing Doctors May Be Dead in Florida
Trudy Ring, The Advocate
A bill that would criminalize doctors who provide transition treatment to transgender minors in Florida may well be dead. No vote will be held in a House subcommittee that heard testimony on the bill Monday.
Maternal Health
Suicide Is a Leading Cause of Death Among New Moms
Cassie Shortsleeve, InStyle
Moms are often left out of the suicide conversation. “Suicide is a big problem in the U.S. Rates have been increasing but mothers, especially new mothers, are not focused on when we talk about suicide prevention,” says Sidra Goldman-Mellor, Ph.D., M.P.H., an assistant professor of public health at the University of California, Merced.