Author: Feminist Newswire

The Feminist Newswire has provided a daily feminist perspective on national, global, and campus news stories since 1995. You can receive a weekly feminist news digest when you subscribe here.

Medical Professionals Ask For Advance Medicare Payments During Pandemic

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For many healthcare professionals who own medical practices during the coronavirus outbreak, concerns have grown over how to pay rent.

Private practices, hospitals, and other healthcare facilities have faced a massive influx of patients, though revenue has dropped because appointments are now generally over the phone or computer. This loss of revenue makes it difficult to pay mortgages, staff salaries, malpractice insurance, utilities, electronic health records costs, and other expenses that medical professionals are responsible for paying.

To be able to keep facilities running, thousands of healthcare practitioners have relied on Medicare advances, to help cushion the loss of income. In addition to this, small practices can apply for the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection loans to help cover any additional costs.

At the end of March, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced that it would for the first time ever implement a nationwide accelerated Medicare payment program, specifically to ease the financial strain caused by coronavirus on healthcare providers. This, in turn, has encouraged private health insurers to offer advanced payments and other forms of financial support.

Other facilities are postponing non-essential and elective surgeries to assist the overwhelmed hospitals by way of extra healthcare workers and Personal Protective Equipment.

Sources: Kaiser Health News 04/10/2020; Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 03/2020

Abortion Providers in Texas Turn to District Courts for Abortion Ban Exemptions

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Texas abortion providers asked a district judge for limited relief from an executive order restricting abortion during the pandemic, rather than taking the case to the Supreme Court.

The move by the providers to seek help from a district judge was made in response to an order from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit that allowed Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) directive order stopping all “nonessential” medical treatments. The governor cited the preservation of medical supplies and resources as the reason for his order. Texas is among a number of states attempting to curtail abortion, but judges in Alabama, Ohio, and Oklahoma ruled that these restrictions could not be applied to women seeking abortions.

The panel in the 5th Circuit in Texas, however, thought differently. Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan wrote that precedent set by the Supreme Court “instructs that all constitutional rights may be reasonably restricted to combat a public health emergency.”

Clinic attorneys, abortion providers, and advocates turned to the district court to allow for some exemptions. These would include women seeking abortions induced by medication and women who are under a deadline in receiving an abortion due to Texas’ limit of 22 weeks. According to abortion providers, medication abortion in particular involves taking pills and almost never results in hospitalization. In a brief to the district judge, abortion providers noted, “Medication abortion itself requires no PPE, while the patient’s only alternative to medication abortion — continuing the pregnancy — does require PPE.” Fewer than 100 of about 52,000 abortions in 2017 were performed at hospitals, according to Texas Health and Human Services.

Sahra Harvin, a board co-chair at Clinic Access Support Network, discussed the difficulties clinics and patients are facing due to the ban. “It puts callers in a difficult situation where they’re having to choose between their reproductive health needs to be met immediately and their health or safety from coronavirus,” she said. “And I think it’s been really stressful and scary for our callers having to choose between endangering their health in one way and endangering their health in another way.”

Sources: Washington Post, 4/8/20; TexasMonthly, 4/9/20.

Muslim Woman Files Lawsuit After Being Forced to Remove Her Hijab Upon Arrest

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Ahmed Mohamed, a litigation director at the Council on American-Islamic Relations of New York (CAIR NY) is filing a class-action lawsuit on behalf of individuals who have been forced to remove their religious head coverings upon arrest. At the center of the lawsuit is Ihsan Malkawi, a Muslim woman alleging that police in New York forced her to remove her hijab when she was arrested in August 2019.

The incident began when the daughter of Malkawi and her husband tried to run away from home. After bringing her back, the couple fought with their daughter who wanted to return to Michigan, where they had previously lived. The following day, their daughter called 911, claiming her parents had assaulted her with a belt and a curtain rod.

New York Child Protective Services has since determined the accusations to be false. That day, however, Yonkers police officers arrived at the couple’s home and brought them to the nearest precinct for questioning. Malkawi was arrested, handcuffed, and taken to a booking cell, where a police officer demanded she remove her hijab for a booking photo and time in the cell.

Malkawi protested, explaining that wearing her hijab was an important part of her religion. Still, the officer’s supervisor insisted that Malkawi take off her hijab in order to comply with the law. Reluctantly, Malkawi removed her hijab. She spent approximately 36 hours without her hijab, in addition to being forced to wear a short-sleeved shirt in city jail, until her husband was able to bail her out.

The Yonkers Police Department maintains at least two photos of Malkawi without her hijab. Malkawi has expressed that the existence of these photos and the residual trauma regarding the whole experience has contributed to her depression, anxiety, uncontrollable flashbacks, and nightmares almost a year later.

CAIR NY argues that the common practice of New York officers removing religious headwear upon arrest violates the first amendment. Furthermore, CAIR NY argues the practice is simply unnecessary–religious headwear like hijabs, Sikh turbans, and Jewish yarmulkes do not obscure the face, and are allowed to be worn in photos for other legal documents, like passports and driver’s licenses throughout the United States.

CAIR NY hopes the decision on the class action lawsuit in New York rules the practice unconstitutional, following precedents set by courts in Michigan, Maine, and California.

Sources: NBC News, 4/8/20; Huff Post, 4/8/20

Northern Irelanders Must Travel to England for Abortion Care During Pandemic

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Despite the recent legalization of abortion in Northern Ireland, it remains inaccessible there, forcing patients to take an 8-hour ferry ride to England to receive abortion care. Last year, the British parliament overturned Northern Ireland’s restrictive abortion laws to bring it into line with the rest of the United Kingdom, but the regional government continues to resist making abortion accessible.

The new abortion laws went into effect on March 31, but Northern Ireland’s regional health ministry has not yet begun providing abortion care. Debate over the rollout of abortion services has led to a stalemate between pro-choice Sinn Fein, which leads the regional government, and the anti-choice Democratic Unionist Party. Many suspect this is an effort to indefinitely delay the provision of abortion care supported by the self-described “pro-life” First Minister Arlene Foster and Health Minister Robin Swann.

The closest clinics to Northern Ireland providing publicly funded abortion care are in Manchester and Liverpool in England. Due to the COVID-19 lockdown, hotel rooms and direct flights to those cities are no longer available, so patients’ only option is to take a ferry there and then immediately return home.

“Women are effectively being asked to make an eight-hour journey on a ferry while in the middle of a miscarriage in the middle of a pandemic, without any support,” said Emma Campbell, co-chair of Alliance for Choice, a Northern Ireland reproductive rights organization.

In the rest of the United Kingdom, patients can now receive pills for medication abortions at home after a remote consultation with a doctor, an effort to support abortion access during the coronavirus lockdown. The Democratic Unionist Party voted against implementing that measure in Northern Ireland.

“We are in a worse position than we have ever been in,” said Campbell. “Access is worse than it has been for over 50 years.”

Alliance for Choice has had to revert to its pre-decriminalization strategy for providing patients with abortion care: using a doctor in the Netherlands for prescriptions for medication abortion pills and then purchasing the pills online. However, COVID-19 is restricting the organization’s access to pills while increasing the number of people who have reached out to them for help.

Sources: The New York Times 4/9/20; Reuters 4/7/20

Majority of COVID-19 Related Job Loss Falls on Women and Minorities

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The U.S. Labor Department reports that 701,000 workers were laid off in March due to COVID-19, with almost 60 percent of those being women. Earlier this year, women had overtaken men to make up the majority of the national workforce, but layoffs have put them back in the minority.

Stay-at-home orders and mandatory business closures have strained the service industry, where women are the majority of the workforce. Workers in this sector have faced high rates of furloughs and layoffs as businesses struggle to stay afloat with severely reduced income. “What we see now is a service sector recession that is disproportionately impacting women,” said C. Nicole Mason, the president and chief executive officer of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

Businesses like restaurants, bars, hotels, retail stores, and salons have been hit hard, along with the tourism industry. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report shows that child day care services lost 19,000 jobs in March, and women represent 94 percent of workers in that sector. This is a stark contrast to the 2008 recession, which struck male-dominated industries first.

Minorities are likely also experiencing disproportionate unemployment rates. Latinx and Black workers represent a large portion of hotel, foodservice, and custodial employees, all of which have seen significant layoffs.

The BLS’s March data does not include the nearly 10 million people who filed for first-time unemployment benefits in the end of March and beginning of April. Those numbers indicate a likely unemployment rate of about 18 percent for adults, with higher rates estimated for minorities and teens.

Sources: Yahoo 4/7/20; NPR 4/8/20; CNN 4/4/20

Australian Cardinal Accused of Sexual Abuse Acquitted

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Cardinal George Pell’s conviction for sexually assaulting two young boys in the 1990s has been overturned by the Australian High Court.

Because the court found reasonable doubt of Pell’s crimes, the former Vatican chief financial officer and adviser to Pope Francis will be released with no possibility of a retrial. He was convicted in December of 2018 of sexually abusing two 13-year-old choirboys at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne and was serving a six-year sentence in prison.

One of the former choirboys died of a heroin overdose in 2014 and never reported the abuse, but the other individual went to the police in 2015 as an adult and pointed to the cardinal as an abuser of himself and the other boy in 1996. A trial in early 2018 featured a deadlocked jury, but the conviction was made public in February of 2019. The Victorian Court of Appeal upheld the conviction later that year in August.

Emphatically maintaining his innocence, 78-year-old Pell did not testify at either trial or the ensuing appeals. He called the accusations “vile and disgusting.”

Pell made a statement after his acquittal that he does not hold any “ill will” towards the accuser. “I do not want my acquittal to add to the hurt and bitterness so many feel; there is certainly hurt and bitterness enough,” he said.

The Vatican did not make any immediate statement regarding the acquittal, but Pope Francis offered his morning Mass today for those who suffer from unjust sentences, though not mentioning Pell by name. Before the start of the Mass, the Pope said, “I would like to pray today for all those people who suffer unjust sentences resulting from intransigence (against them).”

Pell is the highest-ranking leader in the Roman Catholic Church that has been found guilty in a time where the church has a pedophilia crisis on its hands. Catholics across the world were shocked at the acquittal, and many cite the length of the case and the secrecy of his second trial as reasons for confusion. No one has had access to the testimony of the accuser.

A trial was cancelled in February 2019 due to legal setbacks in which there were allegations that Cardinal Pell had touched boys in a swimming pool in his hometown of Ballarat. Additionally, two other men came forward last week and accused Pell of sexually abusing them in Ballarat during his time there as a priest in the diocese.

Rosemary O’Grady is a retired lawyer who took notes in service of several victims’ groups during the trials. She points to Pell’s acquittal as evidence of the need for survivors of abuse to have their own representation and said it was a “bad day for democracy.”

Sources: NPR, 4/6/20; New York Times, 4/6/20.

ACLU Sues for Release of ICE Detainees Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic

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The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued for the release of high-risk detainees at two detention centers in California as a rising number of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees nationally are testing positive for COVID-19. Lawyers are arguing on the ground of humanitarian rights noting the over-populated facilities and poor health conditions of the detention centers.

ACLU sued for the release of high-risk detainees at the Otay Mesa and Imperial Regional detention facilities on the same day that the first COVID-19 case was confirmed. ACLU has taken similar action against ICE facilities in multiple states across the country regarding concerns about the current health epidemic.

In the lawsuit, lawyers argue that certain detainees at the two detention centers have pre-existing conditions that would heighten the likelihood of severe symptoms. On humanitarian grounds, the lawsuit argues these detainees should be released to protect them from a high likelihood of exposure to the virus. This lawsuit, which was filed Friday, states it is “effectively impossible” for those in ICE facilities to protect themselves from the virus; detainees cannot abide by any safety measures proscribed by health officials. Detainees cannot practice social distancing and do not even have sanitary conditions to be able to maintain proper hygiene and health guides.

A handful of elected officials have called for increased releases, citing the efforts to decongest prisons as a precedent to this action. ICE has the resources to be able to enforce court dates without physically detaining mass numbers of people in the midst of a virus outbreak that prohibits gatherings of ten people or more.

Sources: The San Diego Union-Tribune 4/6/20; Los Angeles Times 4/7/20

Lawyers Working Nonstop During COVID-19 Pandemic to Protect LGBTQ+ Rights

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Despite courts being closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, lawyers at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have been writing lawsuits challenging new anti-LGBTQ+ legislation across the country. In Idaho, there has been two pieces of legislation passed into law that ban transgender women and girls from playing on high school and college teams and prevents trans people from changing the sex on their birth certificates.

Attorneys at the ACLU argue that a judge needs to be hearing these cases, as these bills cause great harm to trans people and cannot wait until the courts reopen. HB500, the law barring female trans athletes from participating in school sports, is seen as one of the most pressing challenges to LGBTQ+ rights at this moment. Senior staff attorney, Gabriel Arkles, emphasized the urgency in fighting for trans athletes, stating that “We will absolutely be arguing that it’s essential because if we don’t get a decision in time for fall sports, that’s going to have a really direct and irreparable impact on trans athletes.”

Lambda Legal is working to challenge the other Idaho Law, HB509, which prevents trans people from updating their birth certificates. Lambda Legal won a federal lawsuit in 2018 on the behalf of two trans women that were denied the ability to change their birth certificates. Due to this, Idaho’s new law is in direct violation of this legal precedent.

During the current pandemic, outside of these legal challenges attorneys are also filing numerous petitions to free LGBTQ+ and HIV-positive people from prisons and ICE facilities.

Sources: Logo News 4/6/20; Feminist News 3/17/20; Idaho House of Representatives 2/13/20; Idaho House of Representatives 2/13/20;

Judge Blocks Oklahoma Abortion Restrictions During COVID-19 Outbreak

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Oklahoma US District Judge Charles Goodwin has just blocked a state executive order that limits abortion access during the coronavirus pandemic. Judge Goodwin believes that Oklahoma’s ban would cause “irreparable harm” to individuals unable to receive abortion care.

In response to Oklahoma’s state executive order, Goodwin also remarked, “that while the current public health emergency allows the State of Oklahoma to impose some of the cited measures delaying abortion procedures, it has acted in an ‘unreasonable,’ ‘arbitrary,’ and ‘oppressive’ way – and imposed an ‘undue burden’ on abortion access – in imposing requirements that effectively deny a right of access to abortion.”

In addition to Oklahoma’s order, several other states have deemed elective abortion procedures as non-essential medical procedures during the COVID-19 outbreak in order to conserve medical space and supplies. However, CNN Political Reporter Caroline Kelly notes that “abortion rights supporters have disparaged the move as politically motivated.”

While the ruling does come offer up some sense of relief for patients seeking abortion care, Alexis McGill, acting president and CEO of Planned Parenthood, said that, “they should have never had to wait for a judge to rule before accessing the time-sensitive care they needed,” and accused Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt of “wasting valuable time and resources using the COVID-19 pandemic to score political points.”

Sources: The Hill 4/6/20 ; CNN 4/6/20

Coronavirus Hampers Access to Menstrual Products for Low-Income People and Shelters

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Low-income individuals and social service organizations are struggling to find menstrual products amid the coronavirus outbreak. Along with other essentials like toilet paper, menstrual products have become difficult to find in stores or online due to consumers stocking up at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Panic shopping in March left many grocery stores, pharmacies, and major retailers like Amazon and Walmart out of stock of the most popular brands of pads and tampons, with restocking set for early April. Those who could afford to stockpiled menstrual products, leaving those who could not buy ahead in bulk struggling to find needed supplies. Price gouging has also become a problem, potentially forcing people to decide between buying food or menstrual products.

Homeless and domestic violence shelters are finding their usual bulk orders delayed, putting those who rely on those services for menstrual products in a precarious position. When shelters cannot provide these essentials, people often turn to risky alternatives like fabric scraps from T-shirts or mattresses.

The federal coronavirus spending package attempts to provide some relief by allowing those with health savings accounts, Archer medical savings accounts, health care flexible spending accounts or health reimbursement arrangements to use that money to buy menstrual products. However, this measure does not help the most needy or address supply shortages.

Nonprofits like I Support the Girls (ISTG), an organization that provides donated menstrual products and bras to prisons, shelters, and social service organizations, have stepped in to meet the increased demand for menstrual products. ISTG has received hundreds of requests from individuals and organizations for help and donated 900,000 products to cities around the country this March, a massive increase from the 200,000 products it donated in March 2019.

Over 2,000 of those products went to Trenton, New Jersey for distribution to homeless individuals. “Normally a municipality or small city thinks of food drives or clothing drives, but the menstrual hygiene products are too often neglected,” said Reed Gusciora, the mayor of Trenton. “These products are a right, not a privilege.”

Sources: The New York Times 4/5/20; Business Insider 3/20/20; CNN 3/26/20

Study Reports Texas Women Will Have to Travel 20 Times Farther to Obtain Abortion Care

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Due to Texas’ new abortion ban, women in the state must now travel 20 times farther to obtain an abortion as reported in an analysis of anti-abortion measures implemented in some states due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to a study by the Guttmacher Institute, the average distance a woman will have to travel one-way to reach the nearest abortion provider will increase from 12 miles to 243 miles. “The greater the increase in travel distance, the greater the hardship it causes, and the more likely it becomes that some individuals will not be able to get abortion care at all,” the report stated. Even though abortion access is already limited in Texas, this abortion ban has made it even more difficult.

The statewide ban in Texas is seen by proponents of abortion rights and reproductive rights as political posturing, using the pandemic as an excuse to block access to the procedure. Texas officials, however, say that the move to ban abortion arose out of the need to conserve medical supplies for those working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Texas is one of five other states to introduce abortion restrictions as the virus spreads across the United States. Some of these restrictions are being challenged in the courts due to the unconstitutional burden placed on a woman’s right to obtain an abortion. Last Tuesday a federal appeals court in Texas ruled that the state is able to temporarily ban abortion because it is part of the state’s response to the pandemic. In a 2-1 decision in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, the ruling stayed a lower court ruling that blocked the abortion ban.

“Texans know abortion is a time-sensitive procedure that cannot be delayed without profound consequences and Texans will remember that when they needed help during a pandemic, their state leaders were too busy politicizing and banning abortion care,”  said Aimee Arrambide, executive director of the Texas chapter of the National Abortion Rights Action League.

Other states included in the Guttmacher study include Alabama, Kentucky, Ohio, and Oklahoma. In all these states, patients will have to face increased travel times due to the temporary abortion bans. Due to travel costs and times, the procedure will now be out of reach for some women, with the most affected by states’ bans being low-income women and single mothers.

Sources: The Hill, 4/3/20; CBS News, 4/2/20.

Coronavirus Forces Activists to Innovate New Ways of Organizing

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From Hong Kong to Chile, coronavirus has shut down public demonstrations for social and political change. With the threat of high fines, jail time, police brutality, and now illness looming, activists are adapting and innovating to continue building movements in an unprecedented era of social distancing.

Activist networks, grown over months of organizing to plug demonstrations, are now being used to distribute medical supplies and share information on how to prevent the spread of COVID-19. In Hong Kong, activists have used their networks to import and distribute more than 100,000 medical masks, reports the Washington Post. Protestors have taken to social media and messaging apps to share tips and reminders on avoiding coronavirus.

Labor unions representing essential workers are leveraging their newfound power under coronavirus to help the cause. In February, a medical workers’ strike prompted Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam to shut a majority of Hong Kong’s borders with the mainland down, a move she was previously unwilling to take. Nearly 50 new unions have sprung up since the end of last year, and many of these unions explicitly support the Hong Kong protest movement– including the Hospital Authority Employees Alliance (HAEA), which led the February strike to chants of “Close the border, save Hong Kong.”

In Santiago, Chile, ground zero for weekly demonstrations, the Plaza Italia, now stands quiet. Elsewhere, activists have drowned out music and conversation with cacerolazos — balcony pot-and-pan-banging protests traditional in Latin America. Other groups have shared manuals for protesting at home across social media platforms, instructing Chileans to deck their balconies with protest signs, and others are encouraging cyberactivism as an alternative.

“Being safe can’t simply mean abandoning the historic movement we’ve been seeing in our country,” said Emilia Schneider, president of the activist group Student Federation of the University of Chile.

Washington Post, 4/4/2020; Al Jazeera, 2/3/2020; Channel News Asia, 2/3/2020; Organizing Work, 2/11/2020

How Ordinary Afghans are Helping to Combat COVID-19

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Waiving rents, making masks, distributing food supplies, and raising awareness about the deadly virus are some of the things that ordinary Afghans have been contributing to flatten the curve of this virus in Afghanistan. Afghans have been fighting for their lives daily and this health crisis is yet another test of survival in Afghanistan. However, Afghans are treating it with kindness and are lending a hand to those who need more help during this time.
Afghanistan has been a country at war for 40 years and people have been fighting for survival. Yet, this crisis has tapped into the generous spirit of giving in Afghans. Many Afghans, even those with little means, feel obligated to help flatten the curve of this virus in their communities. Some athletes, local politicians, celebrities, and business owners have tapped into their resources too, setting funds and offering food supplies to many. One star athlete, Rashid Khan, was first to offer support to his fellow Afghans. He wrote on Facebook, “We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone.” He wrote that it is his “duty” to help in such times. Following his announcement, many other athletes joined the race to providing relief as well.
Some politicians have joined the efforts to helping others on a personal level too. A governor in the eastern part of Afghanistan, Nangarhar province, donated one month of his salary to the fund set to fight the virus. He raised $100,000 in just a day through donations from different sources. A governor in the northern part of the country, Faryab province, have been helping families with food supplies and urging people to stay inside. As a physician himself, he was out on this patrol himself. In other cases, landlords have waived rents for at least a month and even until the end of the year if the virus continues.  Even some tailors have been sewing thousands of masks and distributing it to their fellow citizens to prevent the spread of virus.
So far there are relatively fewer COVID-19 cases in Afghanistan than in other affected countries. However, with fewer tests,  it is hard to know how quickly the virus is spreading across the country and people seem to be getting ready to tackle the pandemic. The people of Afghanistan are often described as generous and hospitable and at times like these, they demonstrate their most giving and generous spirit. 
 
Sources: Twitter, 3/25/20, 3/29/30, NYT, 3/31/20, Facebook, 3/29/20

Diabetes Patients Struggle To Find Essential Supplies During Pandemic

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As many Americans have scoured the shelves at local stores for disinfectant supplies and toilet paper, people with diabetes have been desperately searching for rubbing alcohol or alcohol swaps which are commonly used to manage diabetes care. These necessary diabetic care supplies have been among cleaning supplies which have been mass-purchased by members of the public who are concerned about contracting coronavirus themselves.

However, this has obviously made it increasingly difficult for diabetics to find much needed items, at a time when people with diabetes, along with everyone else, should be staying at home.

One attorney from North Carolina commented, “We’re all supposed to be staying at home, and I’m going to 10 different stores. That’s also not safe.” Those with diabetes are among the list of those who are at risk for severe illness, if they were to contract COVID-19 themselves, along with adults older than 65, residents of nursing homes, those with lung diseases, asthma, serious heart conditions, or other illnesses which would cause one to be immunocompromised (such as cancer, HIV, or AIDS).

At the American Diabetes Association, vice president of community impact, Kelly Mueller said that people with diabetes should instead wash their hands and injection/infusion sites before proceeding with testing blood sugar levels and then insulin delivery. Cleanliness during this process is of the utmost importance right now, as it will help fight off possible infections.

Patients with diabetes are urged to be extremely vigilant and cautious during this global pandemic. Members of the public are reminded: “Don’t hoard something that you don’t really need, because the people who really need it can’t get it.”

 

Sources: Kaiser Health News 04/03/2020; CDC 2020

Wisconsin Republicans Push Health Officials to Close Abortion Clinics

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Wisconsin Republicans argued in a letter that state health officials should temporarily close abortion clinics for safety, and to ensure that they are not utilizing medical resources that are needed elsewhere during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Governor Tony Evers’ “Safer at Home” order given last week did not specifically mention abortion clinics as essential business; however, the letter did broadly mention clinics and medical facilities as essential. After Evers’ order, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin posted on their Facebook page saying that they are still open for appointments, with three of its twelve clinics across the state providing abortions, and all of them providing access to birth control, cancer treatments, and STI treatments, along with numerous other services.

U.S. states such as such as Ohio, Alabama, Iowa, Texas, and Oklahoma have been temporarily stopping abortion procedures due to them being described as “medically unnecessary” by anti-abortion proponents. Pro-choice advocates have brought lawsuits against the states attempting to enact these restrictions. In Texas, the state won its appeal and can now enforce the ban. According to clinic escorts, there are still anti-abortion protests occurring at Wisconsin abortion clinics despite social distancing rules, and protestors continue to harass patients.

Sources: Wisconsin Legislature 4/2/20; State of Wisconsin Department of Health Services 3/24/20; Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin Facebook 3/24/20; The Cap Times 4/2/20; Ms. Magazine 3/25/20

Senators, LGBTQ Advocates Demand Lift on Federal Blood Donation Ban to Address COVID-19 Shortages

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Senators and LGBTQ rights groups are urging the federal Food and Drug Administration to allow gay and bisexual men to donate blood and plasma to address supply shortages during the coronavirus pandemic. Current FDA guidelines prohibit men who have had sex with men in the last 12 months from donating blood. Activists argue that this policy perpetuates inaccurate information about HIV transmission and stigmatizing stereotypes about gay and bisexual men.

A group of 17 senators sent a letter to FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn advocating for a change in blood donation guidelines in light of the COVID-19 crisis, stating, “We must take every possible step to secure our nation’s blood supply in this critical time, and in order to do so, we need to shift away from antiquated and stigmatizing donation policies to ones that are scientifically sound, based on individual risk, and inclusive of all potential healthy blood donors.”

The demand for donors has spiked during the coronavirus pandemic due to blood drive cancellations and a new focus on plasma transfusions as a treatment for COVID-19. Several companies have begun investigating the potential of using the plasma of those who have recovered from COVID-19 to treat the virus in others. Preliminary data from China on the efficacy of plasma treatments for the coronavirus is promising: of the five critically ill COVID-19 patients who received plasma transfusions, two are now stable and three have been discharged from the hospital. The FDA approved the emergency use of plasma to treat COVID-19 on March 24, but the supply of plasma from recovered patients is extremely limited.

“The FDA cannot let an outdated and discriminatory ban on blood donations from gay and bi men get in the way of potentially life-saving treatment for the country’s painful current health crisis,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, head of LGBTQ advocacy organization GLAAD. “Continuing to enforce this antiquated policy is dangerous, irresponsible, and flies in the face of recommendations from medical experts.”

Sources: ABC News 3/31/20; CNN 4/1/20; Forbes 4/1/20

France Unveils Plan to Combat Heightened Risk of Domestic Violence During COVID-19 Crisis

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This week, France’s Secretary of State for Equality Between Women and Men, Marlène Schiappa, announced a plan to address the increased risk of domestic violence during the COVID-19 crisis. Schiappa pledged to provide 20,000 hotel bookings for victims of domestic violence, send 1 million euros to organizations specializing in domestic violence relief, and establish assistance points that victims can access at supermarkets and pharmacies.

France’s nationwide lockdown began March 17 and is scheduled to last until April 15, at least. Since restrictions came into force, reports of domestic violence to police increased by 36% in Paris and by 32% throughout France. These incidents include the deaths of two women. Schiappa’s measures aim to reduce instances of domestic violence by providing refuge from abusers and maintaining channels of communication so that victims can receive assistance from authorities.

The heightened risk of domestic violence is not exclusive to France. For people who are already in an abusive situation, the COVID-19 pandemic is amplifying stress levels of perpetrators and preventing victims from accessing help, globally.

The National Domestic Violence Hotline in the US has warned that increased financial hardship and general stress over lack of control may intensify instances of domestic violence. The hotline has received reports of abusers preventing victims from going to their essential jobs, and even threatening to use firearms for the first time.

Likewise, it is nearly impossible for victims to seek temporary refuge while COVID-19 restrictions are in place. Most can no longer escape to go to work at non-essential jobs. They may avoid going to their families for fear of infecting their more vulnerable loved ones. Also, women’s shelters may face overcrowding, and even close down, if the risk of infection becomes too high.

Furthermore, leaving an abusive relationship is made even more difficult by the economic situation. The process of leaving an abusive partner usually involves secretly saving money, which will become increasingly challenging as the unemployment rate rises. In fact, Anita Bhatia, a leader in UN Women, called on governments to prioritize packages for paid sick leave and unpaid care work with the intention of helping victims of domestic violence maintain financial independence from their abusers.

Sources: NPR, 3/31/20; Aljazeera 3/31/20; Time, 3/31/20; New York Post, 4/2/20; Time, 3/18/20

Democrats and Civil Rights Groups Demand Delay of New Title IX Rule

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The Education Department’s new proposed Title IX rules have already been cleared by the White House and are scheduled to be implemented in the coming weeks. Three senators signed on to a letter—along with multiple civil rights’ and human rights’ organizations—calling for the delay of these rules until the COVID-19 crisis is under control. The new Title IX regulations will dramatically affect the way universities handle reports of sexual misconduct.

Betsy DeVos, the Education Secretary, proposed new rules early in 2018 that require universities to provide accused students more access to case information in the name of due process. Title IX underwent changes last in 2011 under the Obama administration; the changes required universities to take stricter action to “eliminate, prevent, and address” any form of sexual misconduct. Stricter guidelines include requiring institutions to allow victims to speak to law enforcement, inform students reporting an incident of their options, and conclude investigations in a timely manner.

The three senators, Patty Murray, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Elizabeth Warren signed a letter addressed to DeVos asking for the delay of new regulations. The senators along with other progressive groups wrote, “We urge you not to release the final Title IX rule at this time and instead to focus on helping schools navigate the urgent issues arising from the COVID-19 pandemic that is top of the mind for all students and families.”

The new changes are said to ensure the due process for accused students, the argument that the effort is to make the litigation process more transparent falls short to concerns that hearings, access to total evidence, and cross examinations will make victims less likely to come forward.

Sources: Politico 4/1/20; DailyWire 4/1/20; The College Post 3/16/20

UN Report: Women Face Barriers When Consenting to Sex, Accessing Healthcare

Posted on by Feminist Newswire

According to the United Nations, only around half of the world’s women are able to make their own decisions regarding sexual consent and healthcare, limiting gender equality for millions. A study by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) reported that women’s rights are actually on the decline in some countries, and one in four women does not have the freedom to say no to sex. Even more women, according to the report, cannot make their own decisions regarding their healthcare.

The United Nations has ‘achieve gender equality by 2030’ as one of their fundamental global goals. Adopted in 2015, this goal was seen as a way to address social issues such as poverty and conflict. The UNFPA report examined whether or not women have access to healthcare and the ability to make decisions surrounding contraception and sex. Emilie Filmer-Wilson, a human rights advisor to UNFPA, said that the researchers determined a woman is empowered if she has access and can say yes to these three areas: access to healthcare, agency regarding contraception, and ability to say no to sex. Only 55 percent of women from data from 57 countries were able to say yes to all three questions.

Factors seen as influencing women and their decision making include levels of education, age when they marry, and views of husbands. In one in ten countries, being a married woman is a prerequisite in order to gain access to maternal healthcare. More than 25 percent of countries in the study also have age limitations when accessing contraceptives; a husband’s permission is also required to obtain an abortion.

“Women’s ability to make decisions on reproductive health, contraceptive use and sexual relations is pivotal to gender equality and universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights,” said the UNFPA report.

These considerations are more important than ever in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Women can feel pressured into having sex when in a relationship, and being quarantined can increase these pressures. Lack of access to maternal healthcare when so many hospitals are overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients and pressures can be potentially dangerous for women lacking contraceptives or healthcare.

Sources: Reuters, 4/1/20; NBC News, 3/28/20.

California Special Needs Students Left Behind Amidst COVID-19 Education Changes

Posted on by Feminist Newswire

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act guarantees disabled students access to equal, high-quality, and free public education. However, as California nears its third week of physical school closures amidst the Coronavirus pandemic, special needs students are being left behind in the struggle to navigate the uncharted territory of distance learning.

Approximately 800,000 California students receive special education services. Additionally, tens of thousands of children under 3 receive specialized services through California’s Department of Developmental Services’ 21 regional centers. The type of care and instruction special needs students receive ranges from sit-in aides to speech therapists to teams of educators and specialists. These are highly trained professionals with years of experience working with specific conditions, and experts warn that parents just can’t be expected to fill in for these specialized roles.

“You’ve got severe kids who, for six and a half hours a day, have a one-on-one aide and a teacher in their classroom, and they’re on this really strict and rigid routine because that’s what they need,” California Association of Resource and Special Educators President Nica Cox stated,  “Now they’re at home, and a parent doesn’t know how to do that.”

So far, educators received broad guidance on ensuring the continuation of services laid out in each student’s individualized education plans amidst social distancing rules. According to both state lawmakers and parents, this broad guidance just isn’t enough.

Kristin Wright, California director of special education, acknowledged that students, educators, and families are facing overwhelming challenges. In a March 18 webinar, Wright noted, “every student will not be able to access online learning in the same way that they accessed their education in their classrooms at school. But again, we need to think about each of our individual students and their (individualized plans) to ensure we do the best we can to meet their needs in these times.”

California lawmakers are working hard to narrow guidance and protect schools from possible litigation– a strong possibility if they can’t provide special needs students with the “free and appropriate education” guaranteed under federal law. California is hosting a webinar on Thursday to discuss distance learning innovations for special needs students. A statewide group of experts is developing best practices for providing remote special education services. Governor Newsom has a call scheduled Monday with all 58 county superintendents to have “a very sober conversation … about the expectations for the remainder of the school year.”

Meanwhile, special needs students, parents, and educators are struggling. Natalia Acosta, a Tracy mother of two toddlers with special needs, has had to choose between paying her mortgage and funding regular, private insurance therapy sessions for Jonathan, her 3-year-old autistic son. Like many parents, Acosta worries the disruption will delay Jonathan’s developmental progress.

Some educators, like Alameda County special education teacher Sherry Doyle, have been staying up until 1:30 a.m. preparing their online Classrooms and lesson plans with resources and materials for parents. Doyle now spends a significant portion of her days connecting with and assisting parents who lack her professional training and teaching experience.

“I wish I could just take everything I know and give it to the parents,” Doyle said, “just so they have a sense of where to take things.”

[EdSource, 3/19/2020][California Government, 3/13/2020][CalMatters, 3/13/2020, 3/19/2020,  3/31/2020]

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