On Monday, the Tenth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals maintained a lower court’s decision to reject a Colorado web designer’s request to discriminate against LGBTQ+ couples. Lorie Smith, the owner of the web design business 303 Creative LLC, challenged the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) by suing to request that her business be allowed to deny […]
Biden Announces Plan to Protect “Long Covid” Patients Under Federal Disability Law on 31st Anniversary of Americans with Disabilities Act
On Monday, President Joe Biden honored the 31st anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act by announcing a new initiative to qualify “long Covid” symptoms as disability and grant Americans with “long Covid” protections under the ADA. People who suffer from “long Covid” experience serious and ongoing health issues that originated from a previous Covid-19 […]
Thousands of People Celebrate Pride in Hungary Despite Anti-LGBTQ Legislation
On Saturday, 300,000 people marched in Budapest for the annual Pride parade to both celebrate Pride and protest the Hungarian government’s recent homophobic legislation. The Hungarian Parliament passed a law in June that restricts media seen to promote homosexuality or gender nonconformity. Content that is considered to do so must be labeled as “not recommended […]
Texas Senate Passes Bill that No Longer Requires Schools to Teach the History of Marginalized Groups or White Supremacy
Last week, the Texas Senate passed SB 3, a new bill that would eliminate several social studies curriculum requirements from public schools. Most of the omitted requirements involved teaching the history of marginalized populations and the history of white supremacy in the United States. The Texas Senate voted to pass the bill 18-4. However, it […]
Anti-Trans Laws in Arkansas and West Virginia Blocked by Federal Judges
On Wednesday, federal judges blocked two anti-trans state laws from going into effect. The first, an Arkansas law, would prohibit physicians from providing gender-affirming care to transgender youth. The second, a West Virginia law, banned transgender girls and women from playing in women’s public-school sports. The Arkansas law would ban doctors from offering necessary gender-confirming […]
Federal Judge Blocks Arkansas Law Banning Almost All Abortions
On Tuesday, a federal judge placed a preliminary injunction on an Arkansas law that would ban most abortions. The temporary block ensures that the law will not go into effect until a final ruling on the legality of the ban is made. U.S. District Court Judge Kristine Baker blocked the law, which would prohibit all […]
Indiana “Abortion Reversal” Law Blocked by Federal Judge
A federal judge blocked an Indiana abortion law from going into effect that would have required abortion providers to give misinformation to patients seeking a medication abortion. The law said doctors were obligated to tell their patients about the possibility of “abortion reversal”—a contested process for potentially stopping an abortion that has no scientific backing. […]
Federal District Judge Rules DACA Illegal and Blocks New Applications
Judge Andrew Hanen, a federal district judge in Texas, ruled that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program was unlawful on Friday. While the decision will not immediately affect current DACA recipients, it will temporarily prevent new applicants from being admitted to the program. Former President Obama created the DACA program in 2012 by executive […]
“Good Trouble Vigils for Democracy” Held Across the Nation to Honor John Lewis
Across the country, people gathered to honor the legacy of the late Representative John Lewis (D-GA) with candlelight vigils on Saturday. People met in-person and virtually for these nationwide “Good Trouble Vigils for Democracy” to mark the one-year anniversary of Rep. Lewis’s death and continue his legacy by protesting the current onslaught of voter suppression […]
Representative Joyce Beatty Arrested at Voting Rights Protest on Capitol Hill
On Thursday, Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH), Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, was arrested while protesting for voting rights in a Senate office building. U.S. Capitol Police arrested Rep. Beatty and eight other activists who were demonstrating in the atrium of the Hart Senate Office Building. In a statement, police said they arrested the protestors […]
Phoenix Clinics Remain Open Despite Anti-Abortion Siege
Arizona reproductive health care facilities remained open and accessible during anti-abortion group Operation Save America’s (OSA) annual national summer siege, dubbed “Further Up & Further In.” Extremists from across the nation traveled to Maricopa County June 22nd through June 26th to join OSA to target area abortion providers with disruptive protests and to oversee the […]
DACA Application Backlog Puts Thousands of Recipients at Risk of Losing Work Permits
As a result of a paperwork backlog caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) application and renewal process has been significantly delayed, preventing undocumented people from receiving DACA benefits and existing DACA recipients from being able to work due to expired permits. Over 62,000 first-time DACA applications had been […]
Reproductive Rights Organizations File Lawsuit Challenging Texas Abortion Law that Incentivizes Citizen Enforcement
On Tuesday, Abortion rights organizations filed a federal lawsuit aimed at blocking a Texas six-week abortion ban. The law would allow individuals to sue anyone thought to have helped someone obtain an abortion. Whole Woman’s Health, Planned Parenthood, the Center for Reproductive Rights, the ACLU, and other parties are challenging the Texas law, which encourages […]
House Subcommittee Advances HHS Spending Bill without Hyde Amendment
On Monday, the House Appropriations Labor and Health and Human Services subcommittee advanced a spending bill for the Department of Health and Human Services that does not include the Hyde Amendment. The 1976 Hyde Amendment prohibits the use of federal funds, specifically Medicaid, for abortion care. It disproportionately affects women of color and low-income women […]
Biden Administration Directs ICE to Stop Detaining Most Pregnant, Postpartum, and Nursing People
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement released a new guidance that says ICE will no longer arrest or detain individuals who are pregnant, postpartum, or nursing unless there are special circumstances. “Generally ICE should not detain, arrest, or take into custody for an administrative violation of the immigration laws individuals known to be pregnant, postpartum or […]
2021 Has the Most Abortion Restrictions on Record, Says Guttmacher Institute Report
According to a report released by the Guttmacher Institute last Thursday, 2021 is already the worst year for abortion rights in the United States. 90 abortion restrictions have been enacted by state legislatures in the first half of 2021 alone. The report lists 11 bans on abortion passed in eight states, including Arkansas, Oklahoma, Idaho, […]
Teachers’ Unions Pledge to Defend Teachers Against Critical Race Theory Backlash
On Tuesday, the country’s second-largest teachers’ union announced its commitment to offer legal protection to teachers who face repercussions for how they teach the history of race and racism in the United States. The president of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, said during a virtual union conference, “Mark my words: Our union will […]
Mary Simon Named First Indigenous Governor-General of Canada
On Tuesday, Inuit rights advocate and former diplomat Mary Simon was named Governor-General by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Simon is the first Indigenous person to occupy the role, where she will represent Queen Elizabeth II, Canada’s head of state. In the position, Simon will also execute necessary state duties and serve as the commander-in-chief […]
Feminist Recap of Olympics News: Sha’Carri Richardson, Soul Cap Swim Caps, and Gwen Berry
Sha’Carri Richardson, a star American sprinter set to join the U.S. Olympic track team, received a one-month suspension last Monday for a positive marijuana test. The suspension, issued by the United States Anti-Doping Agency, could jeopardize her participation in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics later this month. Richardson apologized for using marijuana, explaining that she used […]
Supreme Court Maintains Arizona Voting Restrictions Further Weakening Voting Rights Act
On Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled that two Arizona voting restrictions did not violate the Voting Rights Act, the landmark legislation that bans racially discriminatory voting rules. The 6-3 decision was made along ideological lines, with the court’s conservative members comprising the majority and the liberal justices in dissent. Their ruling upholds two voting laws […]
