Keeping Score: The Good (and Bad) News About Abortion Laws

Lest We Forget

“Trans people are constantly, constantly victimized in our narratives all the time, but we never get to see ourselves as heroes. We never get to see ourselves as protectors. We never get to see ourselves as fighting back.” Indya Moore opened up to Teen Vogue about why she’s done playing the victim.

“A nomination for an Academy Award can open doors. With three out of every four non-acting nominations going to men, women, again, are missing that stamp of approval.” Actor and activist Jane Fonda, co-founder of the Women’s Media Center, spoke out after a WMC report calculated the dismal numbers on female representation in this year’s pool of Academy Award nominees.

+ “We know how important it is for women to take official power. The oppression of women takes so many forms, and the only way to overcome is by taking power.” Dolores Huerta this week accepted the Young Elected Officials Network’s inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award award alongside two high school students from California, who celebrated the power of feminist unity in their own remarks. In true Dolores fashion, they all ended up chanting from the stage: “We have the power! What kind of power? Feminist power!”

“We should all be paid fairly for the work that we do, regardless of our gender, race, ethnicity, disability, age or sexual orientation. We call on Congress to give working families across our country the raise they are overdue.” Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, testified before the U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor this week in support of H.R. 582, The Raise the Wage Act of 2019.

How We’re Doing

NARAL Pro-Choice America released the 28th edition of its annual report, “Who Decides? The Status of Women’s Reproductive Rights in the United States,” this week. While a heartening 68 pro-choice measures passed in 23 states and the District of Columbia in 2018, the report also found that 22 states enacted 50 anti-choice measures, and that no state has unmitigated abortion access.

“Despite the bleak picture Brett Kavanaugh and the anti-choice majority on the Supreme Court paint for our essential rights, 2018 gives me hope,” Ilyse Hogue, NARAL Pro-Choice America President, said in a statement. “This past year, which included the largest Supreme Court protest in history and incredible grassroots energy in the historic midterm elections, shows that the pro-choice majority across the country is a force to be reckoned with.”

Milestones

+ Lt. Andrea Lewis, the first black woman pilot for the Georgia Air National Guard, is set to deploy this month.

+ All four jury prizes at this year’s Sundance Film Festival—the highest honors given to competitors—went to women. One of those women made history: Clemency filmmaker Chinonye Chukwu was the first Black woman to ever win the Grand Jury Prize.

+ The U.S. Navy this week also made history in the skies. On Saturday, the first-ever all-woman tribute flyover took place in Tennessee to honor retired Captain Rosemary Mariner—who was the Navy’s first female jet pilot the first female military aviator to achieve command of an operational air squadron and among the first females to serve aboard a U.S. Navy warship.

The Naval aviators participating in this week’s flyover. Back row, from left to right: Lt. Christy Talisse, Lt. Emily Rixey, Lt. Cmdr. Jennifer Hesling, Lt. Kelly Harris, Lt. Amanda Lee. Front row from left to right: Lt. Cmdr. Danielle Thiriot, Cmdr. Stacy Uttecht, Cmdr. Leslie Mintz, and Lt. Cmdr. Paige Blok. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Raymond Maddocks/Released)

About

Carmen Rios is a self-proclaimed feminist superstar and the former digital editor at Ms. Her writing on queerness, gender, race and class has been published in print and online by outlets including BuzzFeed, Bitch, Bust, CityLab, DAME, ElixHER, Feministing, Feminist Formations, GirlBoss, GrokNation, MEL, Mic, the National Women’s History Museum, SIGNS and the Women’s Media Center; and she is a co-founder of Webby-nominated Argot Magazine. @carmenriosss|carmenfuckingrios.com