I am autistic and, at the age of 21, after a year of fighting for it, I successfully underwent tubal ligation surgery. Here’s why I did it—and why the Court’s decision to overturn Roe will ultimately hurt other disabled and neurodivergent women and nonbinary people like me.
Tag: Obama administration
We Heart: P!nk’s New Protest Anthem, ‘Irrelevant’
On July 18, the music video for P!nk’s new song, “Irrelevant,” dropped and has since been deemed a ‘protest anthem.’ She explained, “As a woman with an opinion and the fearlessness to voice that opinion, it gets very tiring when the only retort is to tell me how irrelevant I am. I am relevant because I exist and because I am a human being. No one is irrelevant. And no one can take away my voice.”
The proceeds from the new track will be donated to Michelle Obama’s national, nonpartisan voting initiative When We All Vote.
Tracing the History of a Job That Shouldn’t Exist: The Role of Clinic Escorts in America’s Fight for Abortion Rights
Their actions started relatively quietly. But then came the megaphones, the screaming, the death threats and the outright violence.
Bodies on the Line by Lauren Rankin examines the role of clinic escorts in America’s fight for abortion rights, and chronicles the history of anti-abortion extremism.
White Masculinity and the January 6 Insurrection
While it is critically necessary to analyze the racial politics of January 6, this focus too often has the effect of rendering invisible another key aspect of that tragic event: the role of gender. The vast majority of insurrectionists were not only white people; they were white men.
Men—many of whom are conditioned from childhood to see themselves primarily as protectors and defenders—are the ones who respond most eagerly to pleas for them to help rescue their country, through violent means if necessary.
What Commitment to Diversifying the Federal Bench Looks Like
At the end of 2021, 80 percent of President Biden’s confirmed judges have been women—compared to 42 percent of President Obama’s federal judges and a mere 24 percent of President Trump’s.
It will take a sustained commitment to diversity to actually achieve a federal judiciary that reflects the American people. Even with President Biden’s diverse judges confirmed this year, the federal judiciary is still approximately 72 percent white and 65 percent men. The numbers are moving in the right direction, but we have a long way to go.
To Better Understand Sexual Violence on College Campuses, Congress Members Demand Education Department Changes
Up to 25 percent of undergraduate women will become victims of sexual violence—but because existing mechanisms for capturing and measuring this impact fail to capture the full scope of the issue, this number may be even higher. On Monday, members of Congress formally called this to the attention of the Biden administration.
In a letter signed by 77 members of Congress, signatories called on the Department of Education to update Campus Climate surveys, which assess campus culture including sexual violence.
‘Our Job Is Not Done’: Women Veterans in Congress Continue To Help Afghan Refugees
Women policymakers and veterans are pressing the Biden administration to protect Afghan refugees, specifically women and children.
“Women have been on the frontlines—and not just in Afghanistan—of promoting democratic values in an important way,” said Rep. Mikie Sherrill. “So if we want to see an Afghanistan that does not look like an Afghanistan of 20 years ago, then supporting women is a critical piece of that … Our job is not done.”
Will Biden’s Gender Strategy Have the Budget To Make It Successful?
The release of the first-ever National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality Strategy is an ambitious plan. But ambitious priorities require a significant budget to match, in order for them to take root.
The Biden Administration’s Expulsion of Haitians Is Unconscionable—and a Missed Opportunity
“No one leaves home unless home is the mouth of a shark. … No one puts their children on a boat unless the boat is safer than the land.”
Recent expulsions of thousands of Haitian migrants showcase how far the U.S. has to go on immigration reform.
The proliferation of Haitian migrants at the Mexican border did not begin under this administration. But for Biden, this represents not only a missed opportunity to distinguish himself on immigration, but also an egregious lack of humanity and regard for Black lives in the Caribbean.
Keeping Score: Paycheck Fairness Act Blocked by Senate Republicans; Biden’s Record Number of Women Judges; DOJ Defends Trans Rights
This week in Keeping Score: activists and DOJ defend trans rights; Senate recognizes Juneteenth as federal holiday; New York will offer gender-neutral IDs; Biden judicial nominees include a record number of women; and more.