Today…
in 1917, sixteen members of the National Women’s Party were arrested after picketing the White House for the right to vote.
is National Macaroni & Cheese Day. I just mentioned that I don’t keep macaroni in the pantry, but you know cheesy pasta is a go-to – and that I have many, strong opinions on both. Joy of Cooking recipe is my usual starting point, from which I immediately stray. I use less butter. I rarely have evaporated milk, but I always have cream, or Greek yogurt adds a really nice tang. Joy calls for only extra-sharp cheddar, but why would you. Not enough flavor or creaminess, and it wants to break so badly. Something like Monterey Jack, Brie if you got money to burn, Gouda or plain old American – from the deli not Kraft singles don’t even look at me like that – are all quality additions. A little Parmesan or Romano to thicken.
Have I mentioned I’ve worked behind a few cheese counters over the years? (A dozen times, at least? Would be very on-brand for me.) I could do this all day. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Abortion
Judge: Women can get abortion pill without doctor visits
Michael Kunzelman | AP
A federal judge agreed Monday to suspend a rule that requires women during the COVID-19 pandemic to visit a hospital, clinic or medical office to obtain an abortion pill. U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang in Maryland concluded that the “in-person requirements” for patients seeking medication abortion care impose a “substantial obstacle” to abortion patients and are likely unconstitutional under the circumstances of the pandemic.
Daily Beast | Abortion Pills Can Be Sent to Women Without a Doctor Visit During Pandemic, Judge Rules
HuffPost | Women Can Now Get The Abortion Pill Through The Mail
Jezebel | Federal Judge Rules That Women Can Get Abortion Pill Without Doctor Visit During Pandemic
Reuters | Judge blocks FDA restrictions on abortion pill during pandemic
Judges block six-week abortion bans in Georgia and Tennessee
Caroline Kelly | CNN
Federal judges blocked controversial abortion restrictions out of Georgia and Tennessee on Monday, a pair of key victories for abortion rights advocates after a flurry of so-called "heartbeat bans" swept state legislatures last year. The bills -- passed in Georgia in spring 2019 and in Tennessee last month -- ban abortions after the detection of a fetal heartbeat, which can occur as early as six weeks into pregnancy and before many women even know they're pregnant.
Georgia
Federal judge strikes down Georgia abortion restrictions
Jeff Amy | AP
A federal judge on Monday permanently blocked Georgia’s 2019 “heartbeat” abortion law, finding that it violates the U.S. Constitution. U.S. District Judge Steve Jones ruled against the state in a lawsuit filed by abortion providers and an advocacy group. Jones had temporarily blocked the law in October, and it never went into effect. The new ruling permanently enjoins the state from ever enforcing House Bill 481.
Mic | A federal judge just permanently blocked Georgia's six-week abortion ban
HuffPost | Georgia’s 6-Week Abortion Ban Is Struck Down
Tennessee
Moments after Gov. Lee signed it, court halts Tennessee's restrictive abortion law
Mariah Timms | The Tennesseean
A federal judge halted the roll out of a controversial abortion law in Tennessee less than an hour after Gov. Bill Lee signed it into law. Lee on Monday signed the state's wide-ranging abortion ban into law — legislation that will enact some of the nation's most restrictive abortion regulations. He signed the bill around 11 a.m. By 11:45 a.m., the court ruled against the law.
AP | Tennessee governor signs, court blocks, 6-week abortion ban
HuffPost | Tennessee’s Restrictive Abortion Bill Blocked Minutes After Being Signed Into Law
Utah
Planned Parenthood seeks to move ahead with challenge of Utah’s 18-week abortion ban
Dennis Romboy | Deseret News
Planned Parenthood of Utah wants to move ahead with its federal lawsuit over a new state law that bans abortions beginning at 18 weeks of pregnancy now that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in a Louisiana case.
LGBTQ
Press Secretary Claims Trump Is Pro-LGBTQ+, Punts Trans Ban Question
Neal Broverman | The Advocate Magazine
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany deflected a question about Donald Trump's impromptu ban on transgender service members, quickly pivoting to a false claim that the president has a pro-LGBTQ+ record.
Washington Blade | WH press secretary dodges on trans military ban, insists Trump is pro-LGBTQ
Couple who held guns on Black Lives Matter protestors sued to keep gays out of their neighborhood
Bil Browning | LGBTQ Nation
The white couple who became national pariahs after brandishing guns at peaceful protestors walking past their home in St. Louis, Missouri last month has a sordid history that includes suing their home association for allowing gay couples to live in the gated community.
Members of Congress urge Trump to rescind all regulations that discriminate against LGBTQ people
John Riley | Metro Weekly
More than 100 members of Congress have penned a letter to President Trump urging him to direct federal agencies to remove all regulations, executive orders, and policies that discriminate against LGBTQ people.
Naya Rivera is missing no more. But the 'Glee' star's queer legacy will last forever.
Dana Piccoli | NBC News
I don't use the word "legacy" lightly. But Rivera and her beloved "Glee" character, Santana Lopez, helped change queer television history.
I don’t often get emotional about celebrities, but this story just wrecked me this week.
Scotland Is First Country With National LGBTQ+ Inclusive Curriculum
Donald Padgett | Out Magazine
The country will include LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum for all students in public school this fall.
'Scooby-Doo' Writer James Gunn Says Studio Nixed Velma's 'Explicitly Gay' Storyline
Cole Delbyck | HuffPost
“Scooby-Doo” writer James Gunn would’ve gotten away with making Velma Dinkley “explicitly gay” in the live-action films if it weren’t for those meddling studio executives.
The Advocate | 'Scooby-Doo' Writer: Velma Was De-Gayed by Studio
Out Magazine | Yes, Velma is a Lesbian in 'Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated'
Pregnancy & Parenting
There Is A Win-Win Solution To The Pandemic Childcare Crisis
Liz Elting | Forbes
I have a modest proposal: a commitment to the simple fact that businesses should operate from a place of care and an approach that assures working parents won’t be penalized for performing their ultimate duty of keeping their children safe, fed, cared for, healthy, and loved.
It's past time to start talking about child care solutions
Mark K. Shriver, Cheryl A. Oldham | The Hill
Parent. Teacher. Employee. Chef. Counselor. Coach. Nurse. Playmate. Not necessarily in that order. Ask a working parent how well they’re wearing all of these hats right now. Ask a working parent if they think child care is a second- or third-tier issue. The COVID-19 public health crisis has been a wake-up call to the role of the child care industry in our lives.
Every columnist on the child care crisis seems to think they’re the first one to bring it up. We’ve been talking about it. Now we gotta get the Powers That Be to act.
This pregnant mother's death highlights racial disparities in maternal care
Heather Marcoux | Motherly
It is important to understand what happened here, how a mother could go from chatting with her partner from her hospital bed to dying so quickly. We need to understand how the health care system failed Washington because we know that it is failing so many women like her every single day.
🠲 EXCLUSIVE: Lauded immigration attorney accused of advocating for ‘Family Separation 2.0’
Tina Vasquez | Prism
As the COVID-19 pandemic rips through immigrant detention centers, federal immigration authorities are presenting parents detained alongside their children with a “binary choice”: remain detained together where a deadly virus is spreading, or send their children away to live with sponsors—government vetted relatives living in the U.S.
Is Your Boss Discriminating Against You for Being a Mom? Here’s What to Do
Sabrina Rojas Weiss | SheKnows
We asked attorney Daphne Delvaux to give us some tips on what parents (and sadly, we’re mostly talking about moms) can do if they fear biased retaliation from their employers.
Pregnancy Mortality
Harold Fisher | WHUR-FM (Washington, DC)
It’s called pregnancy mortality or maternal mortality, women dying while pregnant or within 42 days of becoming pregnant. The most recent numbers collected by the CDC say nearly 700 women died during pregnancy in 2018. For black women over 30, the risk of dying during pregnancy is 4-5 times higher than white women. Why is that? What can be done about it?
Parenting in a pandemic: Anxieties working parents face with back-to-school decisions
John Domen | WTOP-FM (Washington, DC)
WTOP is taking a closer look at “Parenting in a Pandemic.” We will be talking with those whose lives are being tugged in different directions, sometimes at the expense of their careers.
Reproductive Health & Justice
Dozens of City Governments Declare Racism a Public Health Crisis
Brentin Mock | Bloomberg News
Cities, school districts, and health agencies are making this statement official policy by passing declarations.
How to Get Birth Control Free or at Low Cost
Lisa Gill | Consumer Reports
The court’s decision limiting access to birth control comes as millions of people—especially women and people of color—have lost jobs and, as a result, health insurance, because of unemployment triggered by the pandemic. If you are in either situation, here’s what you need to know now and what you can do to get birth control free of charge or at a low cost.
Work & Money
🠲 🠲 ‘How many women of color have to cry?’: Top feminist organizations are plagued by racism, 20 former staffers say
Caroline Kitchener | The Lily
Employees of color say they rarely have power to shape the institutional priorities at NOW, AAUW and FMF. A similar dynamic played out across all three organizations, former employees say: People of color were concentrated in administrative and organizer roles, perpetuating an extreme power imbalance between the overwhelmingly white leadership and a far more diverse lower-level staff.
I haven’t worked at any of these organizations, but you know, I’ve worked at all of these organizations.
How To Actively Dismantle Racial-Gender Microaggressions At Work
Bianca Barratt | Forbes
What you can do to combat microaggressive behavior towards your Black female colleagues today.
Coronavirus is a disastrous ‘perfect storm’ for working women
Lane Windham | St. Louis/Southern Illinois Labor Tribune
America’s women workers have been living in a straw house perched high on a cliff, and the coronavirus, officially called COVID-19, is the perfect storm. Though research reveals men are more likely to succumb to the virus, women will be disproportionately devastated by its economic impacts. And that’s especially true for women of color.
More, More, More
Nearly 30% of men say progress toward gender equality has come at their expense, according to new report
Courtney Connley | CNBC
A century after the 19th amendment was passed granting women the right to vote, nearly three in 10 men (28%) say that women's gains toward equality have come at their expense, according to a report released by Pew Research Center.
I’m A Queer, Black, Disabled Woman. It’s Not My Job to Educate You
Kay Shakespeare | Glamour
Over the past several weeks, people have been asking me to explain my oppression—conversations that are important but also draining. I use an Activist Self-Care Checklist to determine how to respond.
🠲 7 Inequities: A Weeklong Look at the Biases Women Face
Francesca Donner | New York Times
Women are living in a world that’s made for men. Whether it’s the cars they drive or the medicines they take, they’ve almost all been developed with men in mind. And that can have life-threatening consequences for women.