Migration Category: Feminist Newswire

Stories from the Feminist News Wire.

Congressional Democrats Eye Ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment After Virginia Elections

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House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler, a Democrat from New York, announced Friday that the House Judiciary Committee would be marking up a bill eliminating the deadline for states to adopt the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which was one state short of the 38 needed for ratification when the deadline passed in 1982.

The markup of California Democratic Representative Jackie Speier’s bill, H.J.Res. 79, scheduled for November 13th, represents the next step to clear the way for ratifying the ERA and enshrining equality of the sexes into the United States Constitution. The markup follows Tuesday’s election results in Virginia, which changed the landscape of the state’s legislature and improved the likelihood of Virginia becoming the 38th and final state needed to ratify the amendment, meeting the three-fourths threshold for being adopted as a new amendment written into the Constitution.

Passing H.J.Res. 79 would create a legal path for Virginia’s vote for ratification by eliminating the seven-year ratification deadline Congress set in 1972, which was extended in 1978 — a timeline that was absent from early amendments to the Constitution but became standard for 20th century proposals.

“The ERA would affirm and strengthen the rights of women in our Constitution,” said Chairman Nadler. “Congress created this deadline and, it is clear, Congress has every authority to remove it now. After decades of work by tireless advocates, it is time for Congress to act and clear the way for Virginia, or any other state, to finally ratify the ERA and for discrimination on the basis of sex to be forever barred by the Constitution.”

Supporters of the ERA celebrated Virginia’s election and Chairman Nedler’s announcement as critical moments in the fight for equality and United States history. “I am honored and thrilled that the Judiciary Committee is marking up my resolution to facilitate the expeditious ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. This is a pivotal moment in our nation’s history and in the fight for equality. It’s a moment that will be recorded in the history books as a time when Chairman Nadler and our colleagues on the committee worked to protect and advance the rights of more than half of the citizenry and voted for women and girls to finally see themselves in our Constitution,” said Representative Speier, co-chair of the Democratic Women’s Caucus.

While women have made great strides in their push for equality since the ERA’s deadline passed, Nadler and other proponents say the amendment is necessary because of loopholes in other laws. While Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination against women in the workplace, it applies only to workplaces with 15 or more employees. While Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in schools, it only applies to schools that receive federal funding.

Fatima Goss Graves, the president of the National Women’s Law Center in Washington, said the amendment is the next frontier for women’s rights, as millions of women are speaking out about their experiences with sexual violence through the #MeToo movement, and activists are mobilizing against abortion restrictions and around efforts to close the wage gap between men and women. “This is a movement in search of our collective right to be equal in this country,” Graves said. “There is value in our foundational documents fully reflecting that equality.”

Sources: NYT 11/7/19; The Atlantic 11/8/19; House.gov 11/8/19

Federal Judge Strikes Down Rule Allowing Clinicians to Refuse Abortion Care for Moral or Religious Reasons

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A federal judge in New York on Wednesday struck down a new Trump administration rule that would allow health care clinicians to refuse to provide medical services, such as abortions, to patients for moral or religious reasons.

United States District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer of the Southern District of New York rejected the rule on multiple grounds, including a finding that it violated the Constitution’s spending clause by allowing the Trump administration to cut off funds approved by Congress to providers who do not comply with the rule by requiring employees to provide services to which the personally object.

Engelmayer ruled that the “conscience” rule was too coercive, allowing the Department of Health and Human Services to withhold billions in federal funding unless health care providers complied. “Wherever the outermost line where persuasion gives way to coercion lies, the threat to pull all HHS funding here crosses it,” Engelmayer wrote in a 147-page decision, adding that the rule was “arbitrary and capricious.”

The ruling came after a number of states, including New York, women’s groups, and health organizations sued the Department of Health and Human Services, arguing that the rule was unconstitutional and would allow for discrimination in the name of religious freedom.

“Today’s decision is an important victory against the Trump Administration’s cruel and unlawful attempts to roll back critical patient protections,” Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement. “Everyone is entitled to their religious beliefs, but religious beliefs do not include a license to discriminate, to deny essential care, or to cause harm to others.”

The Trump administration had touted the rule as important protection for people’s religious beliefs, specifically citing abortion. “This rule ensures that healthcare entities and professionals won’t be bullied out of the health care field because they decline to participate in actions that violate their conscience, including the taking of human life,” Department of Health and Human Services official Roger Severino said when the rule was proposed in May.

The ruling came in three consolidated lawsuits. One consisted of 19 states, the District of Columbia and three local governments. “The refusal of care rule was an unlawful attempt to allow health care providers to openly discriminate and refuse to provide necessary health care to patients based on providers’ ‘religious beliefs or moral objections,’” New York Attorney General Letitia James, who led the lawsuit for the states, said. “We will continue to use every tool at our disposal to protect access to health care and protect the rights of all individuals.”

Opponents argued that the rule, which would have taken effect November 22nd, posed a threat not just to those seeking abortions but also to LGBTQ patients because health care providers could argue treating them was against their religious or moral views.

The Trump administration has taken a range of actions that have been celebrated by abortion opponents and denounced by abortion rights defenders, including limiting federal funding under the Title X family planning program for providers who perform abortions.

Sources: NBC 11/6/19; The Hill 11/6/19

International Criminal Court Sentences Man to 30 Years in Prison for Sexual Slavery

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Bosco Ntaganda, a former rebel leader in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has been sentenced by the International Criminal Court to 30 years in prison after being convicted of 18 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including rape, murder, sexual slavery, and the use of child soldiers.

Ntaganda is the first person to be convicted of sexual slavery by the ICC and the fourth person overall that the institution has sent to prison since its inception in 2002. He is also the first person to voluntarily surrender to the ICC. In 2013, Ntaganda went to the United States embassy in Kigali, Rwanda and asked to be sent the Hague in the Netherlands where the court is located.

Ntaganda was a rebel leader in the Ituri region in northeastern Congo between 2002 and 2003 before becoming a high-ranking member of the Union of Congolese Patriots, another rebel group that has a military wing known as the Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo. In the court, Judge Robert Fremr stated that Ntaganda was a key leader who gave orders to target and kill citizens. More than 60,000 people have been killed since 1999 when violence in the region first erupted between rival militia groups fighting over mineral resources. Ntaganda is responsible for carrying out orders to massacre 49 people, including babies and children, in a banana field outside of the village Kobu. He is also responsible for the recruiting of child soldiers under the age of 15, as well as the rape and sexual slavery of underage girls.

Foreign aid groups have called the conflicts in the Congo some of the deadliest in the world since World War II. Even though the country’s civil war officially ended in 2003, fighting between militia groups continues to be the norm. According to the United Nations, 4.5 million Congolese people are displaced because of the conflicts.

Some activists have qualms about the ICC’s involvement in Ntaganda’s case, saying that the court does not fully comprehend the amount of trauma that the victims have faced and how Ntaganda’s violence has affected the whole country. Placide Nzilamba, a Congolese human rights activist, stated that “the ICC is too far and disconnected from victims and villages.” He emphasized the need for the Democratic Republic of Congo to establish a proper judicial system to hold the rebel leaders accountable.

The ICC has also been criticized because all five of the men who have been convicted under the court’s jurisdiction have been African, including Thomas Lubanga, a leader in the FPLC who Ntaganda served under. Critics have accused the court of unfairly targeting Africans and ignoring human rights abuses in other parts of the world.

Sources: BBC 11/7/19; the Washington Post 11/7/19; Aljazeera 11/7/19

At the Height of the Opioid Crisis Walgreens Handled Nearly 20 Percent of the Most Addictive Pills Shipped to Pharmacies

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At the height of the opioid epidemic, Walgreens handled nearly one out of every five oxycodone and hydrocodone pills shipped to pharmacies across the United States, according to a new report from The Washington Post.

Walgreens dominated the country’s retail opioid market from 2006 to 2012, with the company buying about 13 billion pills — 3 billion more pills than CVS, its closest competitor, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) database of opioid shipments. Over those six years, Walgreens more than doubled its purchases of oxycodone.

According to a Washington Post analysis of the data, Walgreens obtained 97 percent of its pain pills directly from drug manufacturers, instead of from wholesalers like most other pharmacies, which allowed the company to have more control over how many pills it sent to its stores. By acting as its own wholesaler, Walgreens took on the responsibility of alerting the DEA of suspicious orders by its own pharmacies and stopping those orders. About 2,400 cities and counties nationwide allege, however, that Walgreens failed to report suspicious orders and incentivized pharmacists with bonuses to fill more opioid prescriptions.

From 2006 through 2012, Walgreens ordered 31 percent more oxycodone and hydrocodone pills per store on average than CVS pharmacies, and 73 percent more than other pharmacies nationwide, according to The Post’s analysis of the DEA database, known as the Automation of Reports and Consolidated Orders System (ARCOS).

In 2012, a drug distributor released a report for Walgreens that flagged nearly half of the company’s roughly 8,000 stores for dispensing high numbers of controlled substances, including oxycodone. After warnings from the DEA, Walgreens agreed in 2013 to pay $80 million to resolve allegations that the company failed to sufficiently report suspicious orders and allowed controlled substances, such as oxycodone and other prescription pain medications, to be sold illegally.

The large volume of pills flowing into Walgreens pharmacies made some stores targets for crime, including armed robberies and employee theft, according to police officials, board of pharmacy records and other published reports.

Now, Walgreens is involved in a federal lawsuit after other major distributors and drug manufacturers reached a settlement with two Ohio counties on October 21. The trial for Walgreens was postponed until next year. CVS and other major pharmacy chains are also defendants.

The company has responded to the report, denying that it incentivized pharmacists to inappropriately fill prescriptions and defending its practices.

“We never manufactured, marketed or wholesaled prescription Opioid medications. Our pharmacists have always been committed to serving patients in the communities where they live and work. Walgreens is completely unlike the wholesalers involved in the national opioid litigation,” Walgreens responded.

Sources: TWP 11/7/19; TWP 11/7/19; NYT 10/21/19

Democrats Win Control of Virginia Legislature and Claim Narrow Victory in Kentucky Governor’s Race

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Democrats won complete control of the Virginia government for the first time in more than two decades Tuesday and claimed a narrow victory in Kentucky’s governor race, as Republicans captured the governor’s mansion in Mississippi.

In winning majorities in both chambers of the Virginia legislature, Democrats have cleared the way for Governor Ralph S. Northam to push for progressive measures that have been blocked by Republicans in the past, including raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour, tightening access to guns and passing a state-level Equal Rights Amendment that would grant civil rights protections to women and the LGBTQ community, paving the way for a federal ERA.

Democrats’ victories in Virginia suggest the commonwealth is moving away from its swing-state status and trending more solidly blue. Republicans have not won a statewide political office in Virginia since 2009, but held onto power in the state legislature partly because of past districting that a court deemed a racial gerrymander. The court ordered districts be redrawn ahead of the 2019 election, which helped Democrats flip the House of Delegates as well as the state Senate. Now that they’re in control, Democrats will help determine congressional and legislative district lines in the future.

In Kentucky, Governor Matt Bevin — a deeply unpopular Republican — refused to concede the election to Attorney General Andy Beshear, his Democratic challenger. With all precincts counted, Beshear was ahead of Bevin by more than 5,000 votes when he declared victory, telling supporters that he expected Governor Bevin to “honor the election that was held tonight.”

Bevin’s loss did not negatively impact other Kentucky Republicans, however, who won all of the state’s other constitutional offices on Tuesday, evidence that the election was more of a referendum on Bevin than a party shift. “Tonight, voters in Kentucky sent a message loud and clear for everyone to hear,” Beshear said. “It’s a message that says our elections don’t have to be about right versus left, they are still about right versus wrong.”

Republicans did manage to capture the governor’s mansion in Mississippi as Lieutenant Governor Tate Reeves defeated Attorney General Jim Hood by about five percentage points in an open-seat race. The race was closer than usual in Mississippi, with Hood emphasizing his opposition to abortion and gun control while also campaigning to expand Medicaid in the state, which Reeves opposed. Reeves’s campaign got a boost when Trump campaigned in Tupelo, Mississippi for him last Friday before the election.

Sources: Vox 11/5/19; NY Times 11/4/19; NPR 11/5/19

Federal Appeals Court Blocks Trump Administration Contraceptive Rule

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The Trump administration issued a ruling to block the enactment of a Trump administration policy that would allow employers with religious or moral objections to opt out of the Affordable Care Act’s requirement to provide birth control coverage in their insurance plans. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has recently joined the Third Circuit in blocking this policy.

The Ninth Circuit said in a 2-1 ruling that the birth control opt out rule, “contradicts congressional intent that all women have access to appropriate preventative care.” And responding to the religious freedom argument used by the Trump administration to enact this policy, Judge J Clifford Wallace emphasized that the law “does not entitle organizations to control their employees’ relationships with third parties that are willing and obligated to provide contraceptive care.”

Also, the Religious Freedom Restoration act, “allows exemptions from federal requirement that substantially burden a person’s exercise of religion but does not extend to moral objections,” Wallace added. The court’s decision currently blocks the federal government from enforcing the policy in fourteen states: California, Delaware, Virginia, Maryland, New York, Illinois, Washington, Minnesota, Connecticut, North Carolina, Vermont, Rhode Island, Hawaii, and the District of Columbia.

The American Civil Liberties Union Lawyer, Minouche Kandel said the court’s decision, “affirms women’s ability to be fully active in society. Women need to control their reproductive lives in order to fully engage in work and life.” While this is a step in the right direction, there is still a possibility that the supreme court could overturn the federal courts’ decision.

Religious groups and the federal government have recently called for the Supreme Court to review the third circuit’s decision, which although primarily affects Pennsylvania, would also have consequences for the court’s ruling.

Source: San Francisco Chronicle 10/22/19; Bloomberg Law 10/22/19

Missouri’s State Health Department Tracked Patients’ Periods in an Attempt to Identify Failed Abortions

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Missouri’s top health official testified Tuesday that the state health department kept a spreadsheet monitoring detailed personal information about Planned Parenthood patients, tracking patient’s menstrual cycles with the aim of identifying those who had failed abortions — news that has raised questions about patient privacy violations.

The spreadsheet included patients’ medical identification numbers, dates of medical procedures, gestational age of fetuses, and the date of the patient’s last menstrual period, the Kansas City Star reported. Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services Director Dr. Randall Williams said he had a state health inspector create the document using medical records accessed during the state’s annual inspection. The document did not include patient’s names.

Williams’s testimony was part of a hearing over whether Planned Parenthood — Missouri’s lone abortion clinic — can keep its license to perform abortions, the latest move in the battle over abortion access in Missouri. State officials refused to renew the clinic’s license in June, citing concerns over “failed abortions.”

Williams, an OB/GYN, said he attempted to use the data to determine if women who went in for follow-up appointments after abortions at the St. Louis Planned Parenthood suffered complications. He said his goal was to protect patients, but critics called his investigation an invasion of privacy and demanded his resignation and an investigation by the governor.

Democratic Representative and House minority leader Crystal Quade called on Governor Mike Parson to “immediately investigate whether patient privacy was compromised or laws broken and determine if this is a person who Missourians can be comfortable having in position of public trust.”

“Based on the politics of the state and the passing of an egregious abortion ban bill, I don’t have a lot of hope that the governor is going to make this a priority,” Quade said in an interview.

In May, Republican Missouri Governor Mike Parson signed a law banning abortion after the eighth week of pregnancy with no exceptions for cases of rape and incest. A federal judge blocked the state from enforcing the ban in August.

The state says it ultimately found four patients who had “failed abortions” and had to return to Planned Parenthood more than once for the procedure to be successful, including one case that was not reported by Planned Parenthood, the Star reported. “Planned Parenthood was not compliant with the complication report requirement for failed abortions. Regulators realized this, and as a result they used the tools they had to protect the health of those who seek abortions at Planned Parenthood,” Williams’s department said in a statement.

Women’s health experts emphasized that abortion is a safe medical procedure and said a follow-up appointment after an abortion does not necessarily indicate that an abortion failed.

The tracking of women’s menstrual periods recalls China’s practice of limiting families to one child to control population growth, said Arthur Caplan, a bioethicist at New York University Langone Health.

The Chinese government kept details about women’s contraceptive use and whether people were sterilized, pregnant, married or single. “When a government official monitors your reproductive behavior, you are perilously close to replicating totalitarian regime,” Caplan said.

State officials have refused to renew the license for Missouri’s last remaining abortion clinic. If closed, Missouri would become the first state in decades to lack an abortion provider. Missouri is currently one of six states with only one abortion clinic, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy organization that advocates for abortion rights.

Sources: Kansas City Star 10/29/19; Time 10/31/19; TWP 10/30/19

Virginia Women’s College Updates Transgender Student Policy

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A private women’s college in Virginia announced Wednesday a new policy allowing students transitioning from female to male while at school to remain enrolled and earn their degree, marking an important change in student support.

Under the new guidelines at Hollins University in Roanoke, enrolled students who transition from female to male will no longer be required to transfer to a different institution.

The new policies also outline changes in the restrictions to applicants regarding gender identity. Trans women, individuals who were assigned male at birth but identify as female, will no longer have to complete a full surgical transition before being eligible for admission. Trans men, individuals who were assigned female at birth but identify as male, and individuals who identify as nonbinary are not eligible for admission, according to the policy.

The updated policy says the university will consider admission for any undergraduate applicants who “consistently live and identify as women, regardless of the gender assigned to them at birth.” Applicants must identify as a woman on their application materials and can speak with an admissions counselor if there are any discrepancies.

Hollins’ Board of Trustees Chairwoman Alexandra Trower said that the changes adopted recognize gender plurality while maintaining the university’s identity as a women’s college. The board adopted the new policy at a meeting Saturday. Trower said it is a modern step forward for the university.

“We are an institution that wants to support every single student, that cares about every single student, that wants every single student to reach their potential,” she said. “To penalize an individual for making the very difficult decision to transition and saying they have to leave their community, their friends, their teachers and leadership positions felt very much at odds with who we are.”

The board’s decision comes after a report from the university’s Transgender Policy Task Force, which was created in 2018 and included student, alumni, and faculty representatives. The task force consulted with experts and researched the policies of other all-women’s colleges to determine whether Hollins’ policy was adequate for its students, Trower said. The board received the task force’s report in May and took the summer to conduct additional research. The board unanimously agreed the policy needed to change and that students should not be forced to transfer.

Hollins University enacted its first transgender policy in 2007. Under that policy, only trans women who had surgically transitioned could apply for admission.

The policy allowed enrolled students to adopt a male identity, but if they took further steps to transition — taking hormones, having surgery or legally changing their names — they would only be able to finish their current semester before being required to transfer by the university. The policy underwent minor revisions in 2013 and 2016 before its most recent change.

The school has faced critics who found the policy to be unfair and invasive. The recent change brings Hollins closer in line with policies adopted by other women’s colleges across the country. Trower said the new policy closely follows one adopted at New York City’s Barnard College in 2015.

Hollins has approximately 645 undergraduate students and 145 students in its coed graduate programs.

Sources: Star Tribune 10/31/19; The Roanoke Times 10/31/19

Women Are Surprised By The “Hidden” Cost Of Mammograms

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Women are surprised when they receive a bill for their second mammogram in the mail, even though their first mammogram was covered by insurance.

Around 30 million women every year receive preventative mammograms. Mammograms are necessary for the early prevention of breast cancer. Every 2 minutes, a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States. Mary Smania, a nurse practitioner at Michigan State University’s Department of Surgery, explains that mammograms “can detect cancers when they are very, very small, and so … the benefit of mammograms … the outcomes are better because women are diagnosed at an earlier stage.”

Around 40% of the women who go for their annual mammograms have dense breast tissue and need to go for a secondary mammogram. However, the Affordable Care Act only provides free mammograms every one to two years for women ages 40 and over. Therefore, if a woman needs to be called back for a secondary mammogram test, it will be out of pocket.

Pat Halpin-Murphy, head of the Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition, said, “Some women are charged for these tests without knowing that it’s not covered by their insurer. But women want to know whether that anomaly in their breast is breast cancer or not, so they say, ‘Okay, I’ll take the additional screenings test’ and then they get these enormous bills, and they can’t pay them … That’s unreasonable and I think unconscionable and we want to change that.” A bill for a second mammogram can be range anywhere from around $350 to $950.

Some local organizations have been trying to help women in this situation. Michigan State University’s nursing program has launched its Pink Impact Breast Care Program to help those who are under-insured or uninsured, and to help cover the services that are not covered by the Affordable Care Act. The center will offer mammograms at the low cost of $50. Smania talked about a scenario where a woman “might have their screening mammogram and they have an abnormality, and then they need further testing, and that’s all out of pocket … so we will cover the biopsy or the ultrasounds that’s needed to further investigate what’s going on with the mammogram.”

Breast cancer when detected early can be mostly treatable, but, as Smania describes it, “we all know that women are going to put food on the table, they’re going to get that backpack for their kids for school, and they are going to put off doing things they might need for their own care.”

Sources: CBS 10/31/19, WILX 10/04/19

Alabama’s Near-Total Abortion Ban is Temporarily Blocked by Federal Judge

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A federal judge on Tuesday blocked a controversial Alabama abortion bill from taking effect next month, ensuring the procedure remains available and legal while it makes its way through the courts.

Judge Myron H. Thompson of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama issued a preliminary injunction on Tuesday barring the Human Life Protection Act from taking effect until it is fully resolved in court. The law was scheduled to go into effect next week on November 15th.

In ruling against the Alabama law — the most far-reaching anti-abortion measure passed by state lawmakers this year — Judge Thompson wrote that it violates Supreme Court precedent and “defies the United States Constitution.”

In the 17-page opinion, Thompson wrote that the state’s abortion ban “violates the right of an individual to privacy, to make choices central to personal dignity and autonomy.” Thompson also stated that the ban “diminishes the capacity of women to act in society, and to make reproductive decisions.”

Alabama was among several states to approve restrictive laws designed to provoke the legal battle over abortion rights, aiming to reach the United States Supreme Court and topple landmark cases Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion, and Casey v. Planned Parenthood, one of the key opinions that upheld Roe in 1992.

When she signed the bill into law in May, Alabama’s Republican governor, Kay Ivey, conceded that the legislation was likely “unenforceable.” Still, she said it would prompt courts to “revisit this important matter.”

Supporters of the bill recognize Judge Thompson’s injunction as a necessary step to achieve their larger goal: “As we have stated before, the state’s objective is to advance our case to the U.S. Supreme Court,” Steve Marshall, Alabama’s attorney general, said in a statement. There, he said, the state would submit evidence that Roe and Casey v. Planned Parenthood were “wrongly decided and that the Constitution does not prohibit states from protecting unborn children from abortion.”

Opponents of the bill, however, hailed Tuesday’s ruling as a positive development as the case pushed ahead. It also came as a relief to women who believed that abortion had already been outlawed in their state.

“Today’s victory means people can still access the health care they need across Alabama — for now,” acting president of Planned Parenthood Alexis McGill Johnson said in a statement.

“Abortion remains legal in Alabama,” Randall Marshall, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama, said in a statement following the ruling. “The state’s repeated attempts to push abortion out of reach by enacting unconstitutional laws restricting abortions have already cost taxpayers nearly $2.5 million. This ill-advised law will cost taxpayers more money.”

The bill would punish doctors who perform abortions with life in prison. The law only allows exceptions “to avoid a serious health risk to the unborn child’s mother,” for ectopic pregnancy and if the “unborn child has a lethal anomaly” — not for instances of rape or incest.

Sources: CNN 10/29/19; NYT 10/29/19

 

Series of Fires Spreading Across California

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Governor Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency as a series of wildfires are plaguing California.

The National Weather Service has issued red-flag weather warnings for areas across Northern California and Southern California as these fires are spreading due to high winds. At least two hospitals have been evacuated.

Pacific Gas & Electric Company decided to shut down power for 940,000 clients in an attempt to prevent fires from spreading across power lines or sparking new fires.

The fire in Sonoma and Napa counties, otherwise known as the Kincaid fire, started Wednesday. Since then it has burned 54,298 acres of land and has forced 180,000 people to evacuate. The 3,400 firefighters at the scene reported the fire is at 5% containment.

The Getty fire in Los Angeles has burned 500 acres and forced 3,300 people to evacuate, including major celebrities such as LeBron James.

The Sky fire, Saddle Ridge fire, and Tick fire have all been reported as between 70% and 97% contained. Combined, the three fires have burned roughly 13,500 acres. There have been other fires across California as well.

California is notorious for using prison labor to fight the wildfires. The state has relied on incarcerated people to fight fires since the 1940s. To volunteer, the inmates must meet physical standards, complete a training course, not be serving a life sentence, and not be incarcerated for being an arsonist, kidnapper, sex-offender, or gang-affiliate. Inmates get paid $2 a day and $1 an hour, on sometimes 72-hour shifts. California officials have claimed that this program has saved them $90 million to $100 million a year.

The California wildfire-inmate program has been under intense controversy for multiple reasons. Activists have argued that not paying these inmates adequate wages is profiting off the prison system and creates a motive to keep prisoners incarcerated. Additionally, the inmates who serve fighting fires, often cannot get jobs as firefighters once being released because of their criminal records.

So far in 2019, California wildfires have burned roughly 162,693 acres and killed 3 people. These wildfires have been linked to the growing issue of climate change. According to a study done by Earth’s Future, “The clearest link between California wildfire and anthropogenic climate change thus far has been via warming-driven increases in atmospheric aridity, which works to dry fuels and promote summer forest fire.” When the earth’s temperature increases, the air becomes drier and the land becomes drier, which allows for wildfires to catch and spread.

Former California Governor Jerry Brown stated, “This is only the beginning. This is only a taste of the horror and terror that will occur in decades.”

 

Sources: Weather Channel 10/28/19, Los Angeles Times 10/28/19, Sacramento Bee 10/28/19, Vox 08/9/18, CNN 10/30/19

Transgender Cyclist Wins Cycling Championship, Gets Criticism from Competitors

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Rachel McKinnon is dominating the women’s cycling field, yet is receiving backlash from her fellow competitors.

This 37-year old Canadian woman won at the Masters Track World Cycling Championships in Manchester, England in the 35-39 age category 200-meter sprint. McKinnon is celebrating breaking a world record and her second consecutive world title.

Her success was met with criticism from former champion Victoria Hood. Hood claimed that “the science is there and it says that it is unfair. The male body, which has been through male puberty, still retains its advantage; that doesn’t go away. I have sympathy with them. They have the right to do sport but not a right to go into any category they want.” McKinnon responded that Hood has an “irrational fear of transgender women. An irrational fear of trans women is the dictionary definition of transphobia. Transphobia has no place in sport.” She said, “By preventing trans women from competing or requiring them to take medication, you’re denying their human rights.”

McKinnon responded to the controversy with a press release on Twitter. She stated, “All my medical records say female, my doctor treats me as a female person, my racing license says female, but people who oppose my existence still want to think of me as male … So, if we want to say that I believe you’re a woman for all of society, except for this massive central part that is sport, then that’s not fair.”

Hood is not the first cyclist to speak out against McKinnon. Jennifer Wagner-Assali, who previously competed against McKinnon and received bronze, said, “It was an unfair race, and I accepted that when I pinned on the number, and I tried to do my best to overcome the unfairness. I do feel that hard-fought freedoms for women’s sports are being eroded.”

There have been changes in the world of sports regarding transgender people. Since 2004, the International Olympic Committee has allowed transgender athletes to compete if they have had gender confirmation surgery and have received hormone therapy for at least 2 years. In 2015, the requirement for surgery was removed but athletes are being evaluated based on their testosterone levels. New guidelines were scheduled to be released for the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympics, however the International Olympic Committee was unable to agree on new rules.

McKinnon has admitted that the controversy has affected her. McKinnon admitted that she “thought about giving up about half a dozen times a year at least.” Nevertheless, McKinnon has remained strong in her cycling pursuits. She said, “There were many more barriers this year. A much bigger spotlight, truly incessant hate and people doing everything in their power to have me banned, make me fail, and make me quit. But I didn’t. And I won’t.”

Sources: Fox News 10/21/19, Bicycling 10/24/19, The Blaze 10/21/19

Dozens of People Blinded by Chilean Authorities in Violent Response to Protests

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More than 140 people have suffered severe eye injuries since protests in Chile began on October 18th. At least 26 people have completely lost vision in one eye, according to the Salvador Hospital ophthalmology unit in Santiago, the nation’s capital, and many others are still being treated.

“Last Monday, we got 10 people with these wounds in one hour, and after that they just kept coming,” said Mauricio Lopez, a unit doctor. “It was unbelievable. Nothing like that has ever happened in the history of eye medicine in Chile.”

Demonstrations prompted by a 30-peso (4-cent) increase in subway fares quickly transformed into massive protests demanding changes in education, health care, pensions and even the country’s constitution — which was written into law during the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet in 1980 and calls for a highly privatized economy where even water is considered a commodity to be privately traded.

Outbreaks of violence, arson and looting prompted Chile’s current center-right president, Sebastián Piñera, to declare a state of emergency, sending military into the streets and installing curfews in cities across the nation for the first time since the end of the dictatorship in the 1970s and ‘80s.

Since then, at least 19 people have died,  according to the Ministry of Interior and Public Security, and more than 1,000 have been wounded. The protests, which have been largely peaceful, have drawn as many as a million people for a single demonstration. Attempting to contain protesters, police and soldiers have wielded excessive violence against demonstrators.

On October 20th one protester, Jose Soto, was chanting anti-government slogans on Santiago’s main avenue when officers charged. “I saw some policemen loading their weapons,” Soto said Tuesday. “Suddenly I felt a strong blow to my nose. I couldn’t see anything with my right eye, and when I touched it, my hand was full of blood.”

A 9-millimeter rubber bullet had blown through his right eyeball before hitting his nose. “Doctors told me I could have lost both eyes if my head had been in a different position,” said Soto, who was among about a dozen people waiting to be seen at the Salvador Hospital for police-inflicted injuries.

Rubber balls like the ones surgeons have been removing from patients’ faces and eyes aren’t meant to be shot directly at people, but “skip-fired” 6 to 10 feet in front of a target, said Charles Heal, a retired Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department commander who teaches riot-control techniques around the world. The bullets are intended to hurt without penetrating the skin.

“If you put someone’s eye out, that far exceeds what we consider reasonable force,” Heal said.

Chile’s National Institute of Human Rights — which has observers in hospitals, police stations and at demonstrations across the Andean nation — has recorded 1,233 people in hospitals who have been wounded, 37 with gunshot wounds. The group is filing 138 legal cases, with accusations of five homicides by soldiers or police, 92 cases of torture and 18 cases of sexual violence.

“This is an unprecedented situation,” said Yerko Ljubetic, a board member of the human rights institute. “We have filed more for torture in 10 days of protests than in all of 2018. And we know there’s a lack of reporting in cases of torture, especially if there’s sexual violence involved.”

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are also examining the actions of security forces.

In an attempt to tackle the issues at the heart of Chile’s unrest, over the past week President Piñera has promised marginally higher taxes on the wealthy, a boost to Chile’s minimum wage, a 20-percent increase in the lowest pensions, and more reasonable costs for medicines. All of this has restored some semblance of normalcy, but opponents criticize Piñera’s proposition as a cosmetic change that does little to solve the underlying problems of economic and political inequality.

Sources: Bloomberg 10/30/19; Vox 10/29/19

Representative Katie Hill Resigns After Allegations of Sexual Misconduct

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Freshman Representative Katie Hill resigned from Congress Sunday after facing allegations of improper sexual relationships with staffers in her office and on her Congressional campaign.

“It is with a broken heart that today I announce my resignation from Congress. This is the hardest thing I have ever had to do, but I believe it is the best thing for my constituents, my community and our country,” Hill wrote in a letter and tweeted Sunday evening.

Hill’s announcement followed a tumultuous 10-day episode that has rocked the Democratic Caucus. Hill has been under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for allegations of inappropriate sexual relationships, one with a congressional staffer, a claim she denies, and another with a former campaign staffer. Hill admitted to and apologized for an “inappropriate” relationship with a campaign staffer earlier this week.

“I know that even a consensual relationship with a subordinate is inappropriate, but I still allowed it to happen despite my better judgment,” Hill wrote in a letter to her constituents.

Though she takes responsibility for her mistakes, Hill has blamed the ongoing scandal — which was inflamed by several nude photos of the lawmaker published by conservative online news outlets — on her “abusive husband” whom she is in the process of divorcing.

“This is what needs to happen so that the good people who supported me will no longer be subjected to the pain inflicted by my abusive husband and the brutality of hateful political operatives who seem to happily provide a platform to a monster who is driving a smear campaign built around cyber exploitation,” Hill added in her resignation letter.

“Revenge porn” involving Hill’s estranged spouse made her a sympathetic figure to some of her colleagues. Hill asked the U.S. Capitol Police to investigate the source of the photos, and attorneys for Hill even issued a cease-and-desist letter earlier this week to a British tabloid after the outlet published several intimate photos of Hill.

Sources with knowledge of Hill’s resignation said her decision to step down was prompted, in part, by hopes of stopping the flow of embarrassing and disparaging reports that have appeared in multiple outlets, starting with conservative site RedState.org on Oct. 18.

The media outlet accused Hill of having a sexual relationship with her legislative director, Graham Kelly, which the website claimed was revealed by Hill’s husband, Kenny Heslep. Hill vehemently denied the relationship with Kelly, who also worked on her congressional campaign.

Hill said the publication of personal and intimate photos was an “appalling invasion of my privacy.”

“It is also illegal, and we are currently pursuing all of our available legal options,” she added in her resignation letter. “However, I know that as long as I am in Congress, we’ll live fearful of what might come next and how much it will hurt.”

Hill did not specify a resignation date in her letter, but she could step aside as early as November 1st.

Hill, 32, was a rising star in the 2018 freshman class, with positions in both House Democratic leadership and as vice chair of the House Oversight Committee. Hill was one of the “majority makers,” flipping a GOP-held seat that contributed to House Democrats’ historic win last year.

Sources: Politico 10/29/19; CNN 10/29/19

Pete Buttigieg Releases Plan to Boost Women’s Economic, Social and Political Empowerment

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Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg unveiled a 26-page agenda focused entirely on women’s rights Thursday, one of the most detailed plans focused on women so far in the Democratic primary.

The Indiana mayor’s agenda promises to close the gender pay and wealth gaps by guaranteeing equal pay for equal work while also addressing the ways in which women are excluded from opportunity. His plan is to invest $10 billion to end workplace sexual harassment and discrimination against women and to double the funding for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to hold employers accountable for any discrimination.

He also says he will make gender pay disparities and incidents of sexual harassment reports, investigations and settlements at large corporations public information. And he plans to ban the use of nondisclosure agreements, which are often used to silence survivors of workplace sexual harassment — who are most often women.

“Transparency puts power in the hands of women as they make decisions about where to work and salary negotiations. It also puts pressure on companies to hire, promote, retain, and pay women equally,” the agenda says.

Further, he promises to ensure every family has access to affordable childcare and 12 weeks of paid family leave, so women can balance motherhood and their career. He also guarantees $50 billion to grow woman-owned businesses, which receive less than 3% of venture capital funding.

When it comes to abortion rights, Buttigieg’s plan mirrors that of most other Democratic candidates. He plans to repeal the Hyde Amendment, which bans federal funding for most abortions; write abortion access into law if Roe v. Wade is overturned; and repeal the gag rules to allow recipients of federal family planning funding to perform and refer for abortions. Notably, Buttigieg’s plan also involves expanding access by letting doctors prescribe abortion medication remotely to those who don’t have a clinic nearby.

The candidate’s plan also addresses maternal health. Women are dying from childbirth at a higher rate than they did a generation ago, and women of color, especially black women, have the highest maternal mortality rates. Buttigieg’s plan to address this is to support legislation requiring hospitals and clinic staff to take anti-bias and anti-racism training. He also said he would increase funding for the Maternal Mortality Review Commissions and expand postpartum mental health services.

Buttigieg also wants to require health insurance companies to cover the costs of gender affirming medical treatments for transgender women.

Finally, Buttigieg’s plan promises to address the leadership gap “so that women can secure equal power and influence.” In his plan, he commits to ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment if he makes it to the White House, formalizing gender equality. Buttigieg also promises to reflect his commitment to women throughout his Cabinet and judicial nominations.

“I’m committed to nominating a gender- and racially-diverse Cabinet and making judicial nominations that are at least 50 percent women, and challenging executives across the country to step up as well,” Buttigieg said in an Essence op-ed.

Buttigieg’s agenda focused on women comes as he prepares to meet this weekend with New Hampshire voters at a town hall focused on women’s economic empowerment and a roundtable focused on family issues.

Attention for the Indiana mayor has surged following a strong performance in the last debate, when he criticized proposals from progressive candidates while seeking to cast himself as a moderate alternative.

 

Sources: The Hill 10/24/19; USA Today 10/24/19; Vox 10/24/19; Essence 10/24/19; Fortune 1/28/19

Three Statues of Historic Women To Be Put Up In Central Park

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New York City will put up the first statues of women in Central Park among the male statues, featuring famous suffragists Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Sojourner Truth.

The 23 statues of men in Central Park include Alexander Hamilton, Christopher Columbus, William Shakespeare, and Sir Walter Scott. The only statues that feature women are fictional characters such as Alice in Wonderland and Mother Goose.

On October 21, the Public Design Commission voted out of 91 design submissions for Meredith Bergmann’s design, originally only featuring Anthony and Stanton. After critics asked why the statue did not honor any African American women suffragists, Sojourner Truth was added to the design.

Some argue that the statue shouldn’t feature Anthony and Stanton due to their complicated histories of racist statements. Other criticisms include that the statue is allegorical and does not depict a meeting that happened or would have happened. Other groups praise the statue. Pam Elan of the nonprofit Monumental Women said, “This statue conveys the power of women working together to bring about revolutionary change in our society.”

Bergmann hopes “that all people, but especially young people, will be inspired by this image of women of different races, different religious backgrounds, and different economic status working together to change the world.”

The statue will be put up in Central Park in August of 2021. Next year marks 100 years since white women got the right to vote.

Sources: NBC News 10/22/19, Daily News 10/21/19

Vermont High School Girls’ Soccer Team Penalized for Equal Pay Protest

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A Vermont girls’ high school took off their jerseys during a game on Friday to reveal shirts with the slogan #EqualPay, after scoring their first goal of the night.  

The referees issued yellow cards in response to the protest, penalizing the team. According to league rules, players are not allowed to remove their jerseys during a match or wear shirts with slogans on them. 

The team’s coach and high school principal were however informed about the protest beforehand and supported the team. The players were inspired to stage this protest following the national attention the gender pay gap drew after the US women’s soccer team won the World Cup but were still paid less than their male counterparts. 

“We want to show that we’re all going to stand behind this issue together and we’re going to fight for it together,” said freshmen Lydia Sheeser.  

The shirts which cost $25 are on sale and have already been bought by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt) and his wife. Men however are encouraged to pay 16% more for the shirts to cover the gender pay gap in Vermont. All proceeds from the sales go to Greater Burlington Girls Soccer League and the Burlington Free Press reports.  

Senior Helen Worden said, “It takes everybody to really egg on a movement, so I thought we should help out in any way that we could.”  

Source: The Hill 10/20/19, HuffPost 10/20/19 

Hillary Clinton Drops Out Of Fortune Women’s Conference Featuring Kirstjen Nielsen

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Hillary Clinton dropped out of the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit, which is controversially featuring former Secretary of Homeland Security, Kirstjen Nielsen.

Fortune’s summit is a conference of powerful women from a range of industries that is set to take place in Washington, D.C.

Clinton’s name was removed from the Fortune website on Friday after she dropped out of the summit. Her scheduling team cited a conflict to Fortune but an anonymous source said Clinton withdrew after being notified of Nielsen’s appearance.

Kirstjen Nielsen is scheduled to appear at the Fortune conference as the former Secretary of Homeland Security. Her most notable oversights include separating migrant families at the U.S. and Mexico border and her response to Hurricane Katrina. Many activist groups including Credo Action, Define American, and Bend the Arc have been putting pressure on Fortune to remove Nielsen from the conference. The director of Define American stated, “The utter lack of accountability in giving such a repellent character such a high-profile platform to speak hurts America and is awful for children at the border.”

Nielsen’s appearance is scheduled to be part of a discussion titled “The Hard Questions.” The format, according to Fortune spokeswoman Alison Klooster, is a “no-holds-barred interview with tough questions.”

Dream Hampton, a film-maker, activist, and author, also withdrew from the conference, citing Nielsen’s appearance as the reason. Hampton reported, “Fortune should not be giving Kirstjen Nielson a platform to rehabilitate her image … Sharing a stage with Nielsen, … would have put a stamp of approval on her immoral and reprehensible actions.”

Sources: Huffington Post 10/18/19, Slate 10/18/19

Pelosi and Bipartisan Congressional Delegation Make Unannounced Trip to Afghanistan After Trump’s Decision on Syria

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi led an unannounced congressional visit to Afghanistan over the weekend, Pelosi’s office said Sunday evening.

The secret trip was made as Pelosi led a congressional delegation to Jordan, where her office says they discussed Middle East peace and Syria with members of the country’s royal family.

“This evening, our bipartisan delegation was honored to meet with His Majesty King Abdullah II, Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II, Prince Feisal bin Al Hussein, Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and senior Jordanian officials,” the California Democrat said in a statement. “We expressed our continued appreciation for the strategic partnership between the U.S. and Jordan and engaged in a constructive dialogue on regional stability, counterterrorism, security cooperation, Middle East peace, economic development and other shared challenges,” she said.

The delegation — consisting of eight Democrats and one Republican — then met with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, chief executive Abdullah Abdullah, other senior Afghanistan government officials, civil society members and top United States military commanders and diplomats. The group also met with United States Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who visited the country at the same time for the first time during his current position. “Our delegation received briefings from Ambassador John Bass and other top diplomats on reconciliation efforts with the Taliban, which has been responsible for violent attacks in Afghanistan. We also heard more about the still-pending status of results from the Afghanistan presidential election in September, which we all hope will be available soon,” Pelosi said in a statement Sunday night,

“Meeting with and hearing directly from our troops and diplomats on the ground is essential for Congress to conduct effective oversight of our mission in Afghanistan. We will return to Washington strengthened with the facts and the first-hand knowledge we have gathered at this critical time for our nation’s Afghanistan policy and inspired by the courage of our servicemembers and diplomats on the front lines,” she added.

The delegation discussed security, governing and economic development during the visit, focusing on reconciliation efforts with the Taliban, among other things. “Our delegation emphasized the central importance of combating the corruption which endangers security and undermines the Afghan people’s ability to achieve a stable and prosperous future,” Pelosi said in a statement. “We underscored that the women of Afghanistan must be at the table for reconciliation talks.”

The nine-member congressional delegation included House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel, Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson and Republican Representative Mac Thornberry, a ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee who has announced he will not seek reelection. Neither country released details of the talks until the congressional delegation left for the United States Sunday morning. The trip came as a five-day cease-fire in Syria was struggling to take hold entering its third day.

Pelosi had earlier called the cease-fire deal “a sham” that gave a pass to Turkey’s military at the expense of the Kurds, an essential ally to the recent fight against the Islamic State in Syria.

Pelosi has been extremely critical of Trump’s move in Syria, which was greeted with dismay by governments throughout the region. Israeli security experts called it a betrayal of the Kurds, and many saw Pelosi’s sudden appearance in Amman as a direct criticism of the president.

Sources: CNN 10/20/19; CNN 10/20/19 TWP 10/20/19

Congressional Representatives Emphasize the Importance of Preserving the Progress in Afghanistan

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A bipartisan congressional dialogue by Rep. Susan Davis (D-CA) and Rep. Martha Ruby (R-AL) at the United States Institute of Peace focused on the achievements accomplished in Afghanistan. Both members of Congress have been leading a group of congressional members to Afghanistan since 2007 and have seen the progress there after more than a decade of visits to the country.

Following the suspension of the U.S.–Taliban so-called peace talks in earlier last month, many experts, both in Afghanistan and the U.S. fear that the U.S. will withdraw with or without a deal that will ensure peace and stability in Afghanistan. However, Rep. Davis and Rep. Ruby emphasized the importance of exposure for members of Congress and those interested in the topic to see for themselves and learn about the changes accomplished in Afghanistan. The two members believe that it is more crucial than ever to preserve the important progress made in Afghanistan, especially those for and by the women. Rep. Davis reiterated that the progress for women in Afghanistan is moving faster than it is even here in the U.S.

While Rep. Davis and Rep. Ruby are both retiring at the end of their current session in Congress, they are “very hopeful” that the annual congressional meeting will continue to Afghanistan to reflect on the very promising changes made in Afghanistan. She said that despite the very busy schedule of Congressional members, “there is a lot of interest from new members of Congress to continue this tradition.”  The congressional delegation visits Afghanistan on Mother’s Day every year to meet with female members of the armed services as well Afghan women from different backgrounds. Over a period of days, they also visit some remote parts of the country to meet in person with local women on the changes in their lives.

Both members of Congress strongly emphasize on the role of women in the progress of Afghanistan as well as their role in the peace making of the country. Rep. Ruby said that “the way women are treated and held in regard in Afghanistan, demonstrates the strength of the country itself. It is vitally important that women are given these opportunities. There are so many women that have sacrificed so much and continue to move the ball down the field.”

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