The Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization is a devastating blow. What comes next?
Tag: Politics
Senators Introduce Bill To Protect Reproductive Health Data: ‘My Body, My Data’
The digital surveillance threats to women’s reproductive health information are likely to escalate dramatically if the Supreme Court repeals abortion rights. U.S. Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Representative Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) introduced the My Body, My Data Act—a federal law protecting personal reproductive health data by minimizing the information that companies can collect and retain.
“Extreme Republicans across the country aren’t only trying to take away women’s constitutional rights, they want to actually put people in jail for providing or seeking reproductive care,” said Hirono. “This legislation will take steps to protect women’s privacy.”
The Importance of Talking About Women in the Fight Against Abortion Bans
The most powerful argument for abortion rights is to highlight the sex-based nature of these restrictions and argue that they violate equal rights. To succeed in arguing that sex equality requires the right to abortion, we need to be able to talk about how sex shapes access to abortion and how anti-abortion legislators target women with devastating consequences. The elimination of sex-based language in abortion politics makes this argument impossible, and reinforces the long-term right-wing strategy of suppressing information about sex-based disparities.
Biden Signs Historic Gun Control Legislation Into Law—Despite Republican Insistence on Continuing Exemptions for Some Abusers
On Tuesday night, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators working on landmark bipartisan gun legislation reached a compromise on the so-called “boyfriend loophole,” blocking dating partners convicted of a misdemeanor from buying guns, but allowing them to regain the right to buy a gun after five years provided that they were first-time offenders and not found guilty of any other violent misdemeanor or offense.
Thousands of Medical Professionals Urge Supreme Court To Uphold Roe: ‘Provide Patients With the Treatment They Need’
Over 2,500 healthcare professionals from all 50 states have signed a letter urging the Supreme Court to scrap their leaked Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization draft opinion and uphold Roe.
“As medical professionals, we have a duty to provide our patients with the treatment they need to be safe and healthy. Patients should be able to make their own decisions about their health, using science and medical guidance from their physicians, without interference or influence from politics or the courts.”
Number of U.S. Abortions Increased 8 Percent During Trump Administration, Reversing 30-Year Trend: ‘The Need for Abortion Care Is Growing’
The number of abortions in the U.S. increased by 8 percent during the Trump-Pence administration. Overall, fewer people became pregnant, but among those who did, a larger proportion chose to have an abortion. About one in five pregnancies in 2020 ended in abortion.
This research reveals a dramatic reversal of a 30-year trend of declining numbers of abortion, “underscoring that the need for abortion care in the United States is growing just as the U.S. Supreme Court appears likely to overturn or gut Roe v. Wade.”
Investing in Young Black Women Is the Path to Liberation
One year after Congress made Juneteenth a national holiday, I and so many of my Black and Brown people still yearn for true justice. And we’ll never achieve it unless we harness our political power and invest in tomorrow’s leaders.
January 6 Hearings and the Big Lie’s Ongoing Damage to Democracy
The January 6 hearings are proving that legislation is necessary to protect our democratic system and stop future attacks. A direct through line exists between 2020 election denial, the election sabotage scheme behind the insurrection and ongoing efforts to thwart the democratic process.
The Big Lie that incited the insurrection continues to reverberate across the country, driving bids to undermine voting rights, interfere with electoral processes and attack impartial election administrators.
25 U.S. Senators Urge Biden to Issue Executive Order Protecting Abortion Rights: ‘An All-Hands-on-Deck Moment’
With the Supreme Court likely to overturn Roe v. Wade any day now, Senators Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and 23 of their Senate colleagues are urging President Biden to “demonstrate to the country and women everywhere that you will do everything in your power to fight back.”
What Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Historic Nomination Means to Women of Color in Law
Approximately one in three lawyers are women. Fewer than two in 10 lawyers are people of color. And only one in 115 justices of the Supreme Court has ever been a woman of color. That number could soon double as Ketanji Brown Jackson has become the first Black woman ever nominated to the highest court in the country.
Madiba Dennie and Elizabeth Hira are uniquely positioned to discuss this historic nomination: They’re both women of color, they’re both attorneys, and they both work at the Brennan Center for Justice on issues of democracy and equity. This discussion highlights the networks they have relied on, the progress that has been made and the challenges that remain, and the democracy they hope to build.