Feminist Newswire, Author at Feminist Majority Foundation

US Embassies fly Pride Flag Despite Denial from Trump Administration

Posted on June 13, 2019 by Feminist Newswire

Monday, Mike Pence came out in support of the Trump administration’s decision to repudiate U.S. embassies’ for flying the pride flag, making nationalist claims that only one flag can fly, after U.S Embassies in Vienna, India, and South Korea all flew the pride in celebration of the LGBTQ community, despite previous denial from Trump Administration, this past Sunday.

The administration allowed embassies to fly the flag on exterior walls or inside the embassies. Some countries bypassed this rule and proudly showed their support for the pride flag, and the LGBTQ community, on their flagpoles. The Jerusalem and Nepal embassy even sent delegates to their city’s pride celebration to show support for the marginalized community.

This differs from President Obama’s administration, which allowed embassies to fly the pride flag freely.

This exclusion of celebration of pride month from the administration follows Trump’s view on the LGTBQ in the military. In April of 2019, a ban on transgender individuals in the military and removing medical access for active duty trans- folk in the military went into effect. This ban impacts 15,000 active duty transgender troops.

Media Resources: Time 6/9/16, Huff Post 6/10/16; Feminist Newswire 4/12/19

Vatican Issues New Attacks on the Trans Community

Posted on June 12, 2019 by Feminist Newswire

This Monday, the Vatican released an attack on the LGBTQ+ community after they issued an official document from the Congregation for Catholic Education that rejected the idea of gender fluidity and gender identity, furthering the harmful and scientifically inaccurate understandings of gender. The document is intended to be used as guide for sex education for those who work with children

The document most notably stands against modern understanding of gender being more than a binary and argues for medically incorrect sexual education. The document incorrectly states that fluid sexual identities are “often founded on nothing more than a confused concept of freedom in the realm of feelings and wants.”

According to the organization GenderSpectrum, “A person’s gender is the complex interrelationship between three dimensions: body, identity, and expression.” The organization argues that to deny people the space and acceptance to have fluidity in these dimensions is to make them targets of disapproval, discrimination and violence.

The document also states that a person’s sex has been chosen by God and no one else: “The Holy Scripture reveals the wisdom of the Creator’s design, which “has assigned as a task to man his body, his masculinity and femininity; and that in masculinity and femininity he, in a way, assigned to him as a task his humanity.”

“The idea that a person’s sex is determined by their anatomy at birth is not true, and we’ve known that it’s not true for decades,” says Dr. Joshua Safer, an endocrinologist at the Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery at Mount Sinai Health System in New York.

The Vatican is not alone in attempting to defy science to attack the trans community. This past October, the Trump administration announced a plan to rigidly redefine gender based on genitalia at the time of birth. Not only is the Trump administration actively hurting transgender Americans by legitimizing erasure, but they are furthering a scientifically incorrect perception of gender.

Media Resources: Washington Times 6/10/19; BBC News 6/10/19; Congregation for Catholic Education 6/10/19; GenderSpectrum 6/12/19; Feminist Newswire 1/28/19

More than Four Million Flee Venezuela Amidst Economic and Political Crisis

Posted on June 12, 2019 by Feminist Newswire

Venezuela’s downward spiral into chaos and the collapsing economy coupled with high levels of violent crime forces more than four million people to leave the country as accused illegitimate president, Nicolas Maduro, moves to crush political opposition. The crisis means that Venezuela is now “one of the single largest population groups displaced from their country”, according to UN refugee agency (UNHCR).

Under Nicholás Maduro’s administration, the country’s economy has plummeted resulting into shortages of food, medical supplies and frequent electricity blackouts. Oil production is the backbone of Venezuela’s economy but oil output has been declining since the country hit crisis levels. Many Venezuelans are struggling to even afford basic items due to excessively high levels of inflation.

As the economic crisis deepens, many women in hospitals and in need of abortions are forced to make life threatening decisions like performing in home abortions themselves. Abortion is illegal in the country and is punishable with up to 2 years of jail time. Without access to proper healthcare, women often end up in the hospital with severe complications even in childbirth and are left to fend for themselves. With teen pregnancies on the rise and the lack of medical supplies, thousands of pregnant Venezuelan woman are making the grueling journey across the border to Colombia so they can safely give birth. Venezuela’s humanitarian crisis is shattering families and putting women and young girls at risk for exploitation and sexual assault along with other forms of gender-based violence.

In January, opposition leader Juan Guaidó declared himself as acting president and directly challenged the power of President Maduro. The United States and other Western countries support Juan Guiado as the president of Venezuela. Guiado, and Western countries, argue that he is the true President of Venezuela because he is the head of the National Assembly.

After the longtime socialist President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, died in 2013, Nicolas Maduro who was Chavez’s Vice President was elected to replace him. Chavez left a strong economy for Maduro which allowed him to continue funding Chavez’s socialist programs. However, the economy was heavily oil dependent and when oil prices began to drop Maduro was unable to continue funding Chavez’s programs. Since 2013, Venezuelan GDP has dropped over 50 percent and more than 90 percent of the country lives below the poverty line.

Media Resources: BBC News 6/7/19, BuzzFeed News 2/28/19, BuzzFeed News 9/30/18, Feminist NewsWire 2/27/2019, Washington Post 2/26/19, PBS News Hour 2/18/19; Medium 1/24/19; The Guardian 12/6/18

Injunction Granted; Last Clinic in Missouri Remains Open for Now

Posted on June 11, 2019 by Feminist Newswire

Monday, a Missouri circuit court judge granted Reproductive Health Services of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region a preliminary injunction, allowing the clinic to continue providing abortion services; this injunction will keep Missouri’s last clinic that provides abortion services to remain open for the time being. The judge ordered Missouri’s Department of Health and Senior Services to make a decision regarding the clinic’s license by June 21^st. The preliminary injunction will remain in effect until the court issues a new ruling.

Dr. Leana Wen, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, stated that “Today’s decision is a clear victory for our patients – and for people across Missouri – but the threat to safe, legal abortion in the state of Missouri and beyond is far from over. We’ve seen just how closely anti-health politicians came to ending abortion care for an entire state. We are in a state of emergency for women’s health in America. In Missouri, and across the country, Planned Parenthood will do whatever it take to combat the extreme, dangerous, and unconstitutional efforts by politicians to ban access to health care including safe, legal abortion. We will never stop fighting for our patients.”

Dr. Colleen McNicholas, OB-GYN at the Reproductive Health Services of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region stated that “while this is a welcome relief for patients and providers at Planned Parenthood, this fight is far from over. Abortion access in Missouri is hanging on by a thread and for many, politicians like Gov. Parson have already created an impossible landscape for patients who need access to abortion. Abortion remains one of the most inappropriately regulated health care services. Until that changes, access to care in our state will depend on where you live and how much money you earn. We are too close to losing our rights and freedoms and we will not back down today, tomorrow, or ever.”

Reproductive health advocates, patients, and doctors were concern that Missouri may become the first state without a clinic that provides abortion services after the Missouri health department refused to renew Planned Parenthood’s license to perform abortions, which expired last week. The license expired because of what Planned Parenthood argues are politically motivated and arbitrary regulations targeted at the clinic and Planned Parenthood sued the state for a restraining order to allow abortion services to be performed after the license expired.

The expiration of Planned Parenthood’s license in St. Louis came after Missouri governor Mike Parson signed a law that criminalizes abortion after eight weeks, before most people know they are pregnant. Under this law, there are no exceptions for rape or incest and doctors that perform abortions may be charged with a felony offence, service prison time, and lose their medical licenses.

Throughout the South, abortion rights have been under attack this legislative session: Louisiana passed a bill in May that would allow Louisiana voters to decide whether or not to change the state’s constitution to further restrict abortion access at the ballot box this October. The next week, Louisiana’s governor signed another anti-abortion bill banning abortion once a fetal heartbeat can be detected. A similar fetal heartbeat bill passed just weeks earlier in Georgia, effectively banning abortion after six weeks. In Alabama, the most restrictive anti-abortion bill in the country was passed in early May, which bans abortion even in cases of rape and/or incest, unless the woman’s life is in danger, and makes performing an abortion a felony.

There are five other states that only have one clinic that provides abortion services: Kentucky, Mississippi, North Dakota, South Dakota, and West Virginia. In the past few weeks, multiple states have passed anti-abortion legislation that severely limits safe and accessible abortions, such as Georgia and Alabama.

Media Resources: Planned Parenthood Press Release 6/10/19; Feminist Newswire 6/7/19, 5/31/19, 5/16/19, 5/7/19, 5/3/19; NYT 6/5/19

New Hashtag Re-Ignites the Conversation Around #MeToo in China

Posted on June 11, 2019June 10, 2019 by Feminist Newswire

The new hashtag of #NoPerfectVictim on China’s popular Twitter-like social media website Weibo sparked conversation this week on rape culture and victim blaming in China. The hashtag emerged from conversation around a resurfaced video – which originally went viral in 2018 — depicting Richard Liu (a CEO and conglomerate) and Jingyao Liu walking consensually into her apartment, moments before she alleges he then raped her. Social media users pointed to the video as “proof” that their interaction was consensual, even going as far as titling the video as ‘Proof of a Gold Digger Trap?’, but anti-violence activists have pushed back calling attention to the fact that there is #NoPerfectVictim. This hashtag is a new branch of the #MeToo movement in China, due to extreme censorship from the government.

Posts with hashtags such as #MeToo or related have been blocked or deleted promptly on Weibo. Certain posts with #MeToo are kept, so long as they deal with other countries and are unrelated to China. Censorship has also spread to Weibo’s chat app, WeChat, where forums and messages related to #MeToo and sexual assault are deleted or blocked. Since the censorship, activists have turned to different hashtags such as #NoPerfectVictim to continue the conversation around sexual assault and harassment in China.

The hashtag use of #MeToo came to a halt when in March of 2018 on International Women’s Day, Chinese feminists attempted to campaign with #MeToo and realized that they were blocked by Chinese censors. The movement picked up in China in late 2017 but sparked off New Years of 2018 when Luo Xixi, a Chinese woman who had since moved to the US, shared the story of how her university professor sexually harassed her 12 years prior. Ms. Xixi’s story took off, and with it, #MeToo in China.

From a country that according to UN Women has no official national statistics for any time-length of physical or sexual violence against women, this censorship should not come as a surprise. While in 2017, #MeToo put the reality of gender-based violence on display, in 2019, it stands as a statement of lack of change in the political process.

Media Resources: New York Times 6/5/2019; Inkstone 3/8/2018; Global Voices, advox 3/25/2019; Feminist Newswire 12/21/2017

The Youth are Suing the Federal Government over Failure to act on Climate Change

Posted on June 11, 2019June 10, 2019 by Feminist Newswire

On June 4^th, the Court of Appeals in the 9^th Circuit heard arguments from Juliana v. United States on whether or not US citizens’ have a constitutional right to be protected from man-made climate change. The students are challenging the executive government’s inaction on climate change, and argue that the younger generations will suffer the most from the repercussions of climate change in the decades to come. The federal government is debating whether or not these children have the right to sue over climate change, advising the students to make change by going through legislators, not the courts.

U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken heard the case 2018 in Oregon and countered the Trump administration’s multiple attempts to delay or refute the case utilizing legal tactics such as motion of judgement on the pleading, (MJP), motion for summary judgment (MSJ), and petitions for writ of mandamus against the students fighting to hold the government accountable for man-made climate change. Judge Aiken issued two orders for appeal to move the case to the 9^th Circuit Court, she exclaimed , “Exercising my ‘reasoned judgment,’ I have no doubt that the right to a climate system capable of sustaining human life is fundamental to a free and ordered society.”

The case began in 2015 when a coalition of 21 children and Our Children’s Trust organization filed a lawsuit against the US government through the U.S District Court in Oregon. The plaintiffs cite President Theodore Roosevelt in their brief, “If we of this generation destroy the resources from which our children would otherwise derive their livelihood, we reduce the capacity of our land to support a population, and so either degrade the standard of living or deprive the coming generations of their right to life on this continent.” These students have created a national movement around climate change and gained traction on major social media platforms via these hashtag #KidsvsGov which has been amended to #YouthvsGov.

This monumental case now waits the 9^th Circuit Court Judges, Mary H. Murguia, Andrew D. Hurwitz, and Josephine L. Staton’s decision on whether or not Juliana vs. United States will continue on to the U.S District Court in Eugene. Since Trump has taken office he has rolled back environmental protections by withdrawing from the Paris Climate agreement, cutting funding to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and disregarding his administration’s report on climate change.

Media Resources: The New York Times 6/4/19; AP News 6/4/19; 60 Minutes 3/3/19; Our Children’s Trust

Gay Civil Servant Wins Monumental Court Battle for LGBTQ Rights in Hong Kong

Posted on June 10, 2019June 7, 2019 by Feminist Newswire

This week, Hong Kong Court of Final Appeals ruled that a gay official and his husband were permitted to spousal benefits and joint tax returns despite that same-sex marriage is still illegal in the city. Senior immigration officer, Angus Leung, sued the government in 2015 after the government refused to grant his husband spousal benefits. Leung’s supporters celebrated the four year lawsuit as an incremental but necessary victory.

Mr. Leung legally married his husband, Scott Adams, in 2014 in New Zealand. But he filed a judicial review when Hong Kong’s Civil Service Bureau refused to change his marital status and grant his spouse benefits such as dental and medical coverage. Raymond Chan, Hong Kong’s first openly gay lawmaker wrote in a Medium post that, “The court has made it possible for all other current and future civil servants to enjoy the rights they should be entitled to.”

This historic ruling is only a small stepping stone in the fight for equality for the LGBT minority in the city and comes shortly after another victory that abolished four offences which criminalized sex between men. The court reviewed and changed the interpretation of three offences finally ruling in favor of LGBT activist, Yeung Chu-wing, who brought the lawsuit against the government. The charges under scrutiny criminalized sexual acts specifically committed by homosexual men that were otherwise legal for heterosexuals and even in certain cases, lesbians. Hong Kong’s High Court declared four out of the seven offences unconstitutional.

Mr. Leung and Yeung Chu-wing’s victories for the LBGT community in Hong Kong are the recent examples of another Asian government expanding rights for same-sex couples. These victories come in the wake of Taiwan’s monumental bill legalizing same-sex marriages on May 17^th, 2019. Taiwan became the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage and serves as a beacon of hope for others fighting for equality in neighboring cities like Hong Kong.

Media Resources: NY Times 6/6/19, BBC 6/6/19, Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal 2019, Office of Raymond Chan (Medium) 6/5/19, South China Morning Post 5/30/19

Wisconsin Senate Passes Restrictive Anti-Abortion Legislation

Posted on June 10, 2019June 7, 2019 by Feminist Newswire

Last week, the Wisconsin Senate approved four anti-abortion bills that outlaw abortion in cases where the fetus has been or may be diagnosed with a congenital disorder, empower the Department of Health Services to decertify any private abortion provider under the Medical Assistance program, and require doctors to inform patients taking their first dose of Mifepristone that the abortion may still be reversed if the patient seeks advanced medical care. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has strongly pushed back against false notions that such abortion reversals are even possible, stating that they have no scientific basis.

The measures also include “born alive legislation,” which requires medical providers to take care that a fetus is preserved during the extremely rare occurrence when a fetus may still be viable following an abortion procedure. Health care providers who do not comply with the bill may face felony charges and up to six years of imprisonment.

This “born alive legislation” is in line with rhetoric that creates false narratives that doctors performing abortion are killing healthy babies and intimidates doctors out of offering abortions later in pregnancy. For example, Wisconsin legislator Senator Roger Roth has stated publicly that he supports the Wisconsin legislation not because it is anti-abortion but because it is anti-murder.

The Wisconsin bills will likely not survive, however, since late last month, Gov. Tony Evers took to Twitter to express his disapproval of the anti-abortion legislation passed earlier by the Assembly. He stated that he plans to veto anti-abortion bills arriving on his desk, because he firmly believes in a woman’s right to make her own decisions about her health care.

Anti-abortion legislation is also being introduced in states other than Wisconsin. Just last month, Georgia approved a bill criminalizing abortion providers and outlawing abortions up to the time a doctor can detect a supposed “fetal heartbeat,” which in practice is only about up to six weeks. Similarly, the Alabama state legislature passed a bill that would ban abortion, subject all miscarriages to criminal investigations, and threaten doctors with ninety-nine years in prison.

This legislation and surrounding rhetoric are continuing to embolden anti-abortion activists across the country. According to the Feminist Majority Foundation’s 2018 National Clinic Violence survey, anti-abortion activism is still a threat to abortion providers nationwide as 45% of clinics that were surveyed reported threats and acts of both violence and harassment.

Media Resources: The Hill 6/5/19, Wisconsin State Legislature 4/22/19, Twitter 5/21/19, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists 8/17, Journal Sentinel 6/5/19, Washington Post 5/12/19, Feminist Newswire 5/16/19

Linda Fairstein Resigned from Vassar’s Board of Trustees for Involvement in Central Park Five’s Conviction

Posted on June 10, 2019June 7, 2019 by Feminist Newswire

Linda Fairstein, former prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, formally resigned from Vassar College’s Board of Trustees this week because of a widely circulated petition calling for her removal due to her involvement with the case of the Central Park Five, a heavily racialized 1989 court case that resulted in the wrongful conviction of five teenage boys of color for the assault and rape of a white female jogger.

A junior at Vassar, Mari Robles, created the petition following the release of the Netflix series “When They See Us,” a four-part series that details the cruelties that the five teenage boys of color faced in their wrongful conviction. In 2002, all of the Central Park Five were exonerated when Matias Reyes confessed that he had been the one to commit the crimes. Prior to Linda Fairstein’s resignation, the online petition gathered more than 13,000 signatures. Robles states her inspiration for creating the petition and notes, “I have been taught to fight against injustice by my amazing professors and classmates.”

This online petition is just one of many examples of college students challenging the policies of their college administrations and demanding accountability for the actions of their fellow students. There has been increased attention to the ways in which students are demanding change on their campuses, largely through demonstrations and petitions.

Beginning in February, there were student protests and sit-ins at Harvard University as students called for the removal Ronald S. Sullivan, Jr. as a Faculty Dean for being a part of Harvey Weinstein’s legal team. The protests continued for several months until it was announced in May that Sullivan would no longer be returning the following academic year.

In April, students at Swarthmore College conducted a sit-in in the attic of a frat house to demand that the fraternities be disbanded following leaked documents of fraternity members boasting of their acts of sexual assault. Because of their protest, the fraternities chose to disband.

Additionally, it was announced this April that Brett Kavanaugh would be teaching a course at George Mason University over the summer. Students began mobilizing to have him removed and requested a formal apology from the administration. Although unsuccessful, the protest was a testament to the dedicated effort of students demanding change at their colleges.

Media Resources: Feminist Newswire 4/19/19, New York Times 5/1/19, New York Times 5/11/19, Poughkeepsie Journal 6/4/19

Alabama Mayor Mark Chambers Post Violent Anti-LGBT Rhetoric Faces Calls for Resignation

Posted on June 7, 2019 by Feminist Newswire

This week, Hometown Action and Equality Alabama have started petitions calling for the resignation of Mark Chambers, Mayor of Carbon Hill, Alabama following his comments posted on June 4^th on his personal Facebook page advocating for the “killing” of the LGBTQ community. This statement has caused backlash from his constituents and the LGBTQ Community. Chambers has posted an apology to his personal Facebook page, but refuses to resign.

Hometown Action, a collective group of Alabamians leading the petition drive states, “ No elected official who promotes violence against LGBTQ folx or any group of people should be allowed to continue serving in office.”

The resignation petitions, carried by The Action Network and Change.org, are being sent to Governor Kay Ivey and Senator Doug Jones. The petitions have already gained 628 signatures and are expected to make their goal by the end of the day to demand Chambers’ resignation.

These comments were made during pride month, a celebration of the LGBTQ community, and in the midst of the deaths of 3 transgender women in Dallas, TX, last Monday.

Alabama has no state-wide policy protection for the LGBTQ community, directly exposing the community to discrimination in multiple spheres of their daily lives. Municipalities such as Birmingham and Montevallo, Alabama have passed their own city-wide non discrimination ordinance, protecting members of the LGTBQ community from discrimination in public facilities, employment, and housing.

Media Resources: Daily Mountain Eagle 6/5/10, The Action Network 6/4/19, The New York Times 6/3/19, Al.com 4/28/18

New CNN Poll Demonstrates Importance of Reproductive Rights in 2020 Campaign Dialogue

Posted on June 7, 2019 by Feminist Newswire

Yesterday, CNN released a poll of American adults concerning their opinions on abortion, finding that three in ten Americans consider reproductive rights to be the major factor in their voting decisions.

The poll was conducted May 28-31 of this year and looked at individuals’ views on various laws restricting access to legal abortion and how significantly those views factored into the likelihood that they would or would not support a presidential primary candidate.

Since CNN last polled on this topic in 2016, the numbers have shifted towards greater support for reproductive rights, revealing that 31 percent of adults believe that abortion should be legal under any circumstance, compared to 29 percent in 2016.

In addition, the poll found that 30 percent of adults would only vote for a candidate that shared their views on abortion with an additional 45 percent viewing abortion as an important factor when making these decisions on whom to vote for. The percentage of adults viewing abortion as a critical issue grows from 30 percent to 32 percent among women and 36 percent among non-white women.

Within the last two days, the presence of reproductive rights in the campaign dialogue has increased dramatically, especially among the declared presidential candidates. Debates have focused in on the Hyde Amendment, which bans federal funding for abortion. Many major candidates including Senators Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, and Cory Booker released statements supporting a repeal. Though none of the other candidates have explicitly come out in support of the amendment, Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, Mayor Wayne Messam, author Marianne Williamson, and tech executive Andrew Yang have been silent on the matter, not putting out any statements in support of the repeal.

This dialogue was catalyzed on Wednesday, as presidential candidate Joe Biden’s campaign released a statement in support of the Hyde amendment. This was put out in response to a video tweeted by the American Civil Liberties Union in which Biden appeared to support a repeal of the amendment. He reversed his position to support a repeal of the amendment within thirty hours of the original campaign statement.

The repeal of the Hyde Amendment has become an increasingly urgent effort within the reproductive rights movement. The Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance (EACH) Woman Act was first introduced in 2015 and would prohibit federal, state and local governments from passing laws that restrict private health insurance companies from offering abortion care, and restore abortion insurance coverage to people who receive health insurance through the federal government and are currently denied coverage for an abortion procedure by the Hyde Amendment. It was introduced in the Senate this March and has been cosponsored by 22 Senators, including many presidential hopefuls.

Media resources: CNN 6/6/19; Politico 6/5/19; Fortune 6/6/19; Feminist Majority Foundation 3/20/19; CNN 6/7/19

House Subcommittee Convened for a Hearing on the “Threats to Reproductive Rights in America”

Posted on June 7, 2019 by Feminist Newswire

On Tuesday, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties convened for a hearing on the “Threats to Reproductive Rights in America,” specifically focusing on abortion access in light of the abortion bans passed in Georgia, Louisiana, and Alabama earlier this year, all of which severely restrict people’s ability to have safe abortion and are a direct confrontation to Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision which recognized abortion as a constitutional right.

Those present at the hearing included healthcare providers, reproductive health advocates, and women who shared their own abortion experiences. They encouraged the government to uphold Roe v. Wade and protect safe, legal abortions.

One of the women who testified was Busy Philipps, an activist and actress. In her statement, she recounts how she was able to get an abortion in Arizona at 15, something she could not do now due to parental consent laws. In Arizona, those under the age of 18 seeking an abortion require consent from their parents as well as a 24-hour waiting period before the procedure. These obstacles make abortion difficult for anyone, but especially for those who are minors.

Dr. Owen Phillips and Dr. Yashica Robinson, healthcare providers in Tennessee and Alabama respectively, were also called to discuss how recent laws and regulations make their job as abortion providers increasingly more difficult and limit abortion access in these states, as there are few clinics which meet the criteria. The regulations imposed on clinics go beyond what is necessary to provide their patients with the best standard of care. They regulate the clinic’s physical size and clinicians’ relationships with nearby hospitals.

These restrictions disparately affect women of color and low-income women who do not have the resources to travel, sometimes out of state, to seek abortions. For a person who works a minimum wage job, they have to secure time off, arrange childcare if necessary, and find someone who can take them to and from their appointment. If they are on Medicaid, they’ll also have to pay for the procedure out of pocket. While these are things people with more resources can arrange easily, they present a real barrier to those who lack material resources.

Media Resources: Busy Philipps Statement, 6/4/19; Guttmacher Institute, 6/1/19; Melissa Murray Statement, 6/4/19

California Democratic Party Endorses FMF’s Boycott of Terranea Resort

Posted on June 5, 2019 by Feminist Newswire

This week, the California Democratic Party passed a resolution supporting the boycott of Terranea Resort, an effort started in 2018 by the Feminist Majority Foundation and California NOW when multiple women who worked at the resort came forward with allegations of sexual harassment. State senators, assembly members, city council members, and Congresswoman Katie Hill also endorse the boycott.

The resolution, AB 170, is named Sandra’s Law after Sandra Pezqueda, a resort dishwasher, who alleged in a 2016 law suit that she was sexually harassed and assaulted by an agency supervisor and was subsequently fired for reporting the harassment. Sandra was then featured as a “silence breaker” in Time Magazine’s 2017 person of the year issue and has since reached a $250,000 settlement.

Sandra, as well as other Terranea workers, is pushing a ballot measure effort in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA that would require large hospitality employers, such as Terranea Resort to provide panic buttons for employees to use that would immediately summon assistance if the employee feels threatened or uncomfortable.

In April 2019, Terranea Resort reached a $2.15 million settlement in a wage and hour class action lawsuit brought by employees who claimed “wage theft” against the resort.

Media Resources: AP 6/4/19

Today is the Ten Year Anniversary of the Murder of Abortion Provider Dr. George Tiller

Posted on May 31, 2019 by Feminist Newswire

Today marks the anniversary of the murder of abortion provider Dr. George Tiller, who was gunned down in his church ten years ago by an anti-abortion extremist associated with the group Operation Rescue. At the time, Tiller was one of the only providers in the country to offer abortion care later in pregnancy.

Tiller had been the subject of severe threats and violence for decades. In 1986, his clinic in Wichita, Kansas was firebombed. In 1991, the clinic was the target of Operation Rescue’s “Summer of Mercy,” a siege during which nearly 2,700 protesters were arrested for blockading access to the clinic for over six weeks. Two years later, Tiller was shot in an assassination attempt.

In 2002, Operation Rescue leader Troy Newman moved its headquarters to Wichita, launching a seven-year campaign of systemic harassment, intimidation and terror against Tiller and his clinic staff. Newman targeted their homes, the clinic, and any other location they frequented including dry cleaners, restaurants, and even the church in which Tiller was later murdered. In 2004, Newman ran a full-page ad in a local paper threatening, “Wichita isn’t big enough for George Tiller and me. One of us has to go and it’s not going to be me.”

Operation Rescue even got the Kansas Attorney General to file criminal charges against Tiller, for which he was acquitted following a jury trial. Shortly thereafter, Tiller was murdered by Operation Rescue participant Scott Roeder. In 2010, Roeder was convicted of premeditated first-degree murder.

A few years after Tiller’s murder, his mentee, Julie Burkhart, reopened his Wichita clinic under the name Trust Women South Wind Women’s Center. In 2016, Trust Women opened a second clinic in Oklahoma City, the largest metropolitan area in the country previously without an abortion provider.

“There is not a day at our clinics that we don’t remember Dr. Tiller and his dedication to women,” Burkhart said several years ago. “Dr. Tiller’s assassination most certainly left a hole in the reproductive rights movement, but we remain committed to this critical work in his honor and memory.”

In 2016, Roeder had his prison sentence lightened from 50 years to 25 years served before becoming eligible for parole. This came after the Supreme Court ruled in 2013 that only juries, not judges, could hand down increased punishments to convicted offenders.

According to the Feminist Majority Foundation’s 2018 National Clinic Violence Survey, nearly a quarter of clinics experienced the most severe types of threats and harassment in the first half of 2018, including death threats, stalking, and blocking clinic access. Nearly half of clinics experienced at least one incident of severe violence, threats of severe violence, and/or severe harassment, such as break-ins, robberies, or vandalism in the first half of 2018.

Threats and harassment against abortion providers remains high as states move to outlaw abortion and overturn Roe v. Wade. Two weeks ago, Jennifer McCoy, an associate of Roeder who herself was convicted of conspiring to bomb two abortion clinics in 1996, testified in support of a Louisiana bill that outlaws abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected around 6 weeks. The bill was successfully passed into law.

Missouri’s Last Abortion Provider may Close Today

Posted on May 31, 2019 by Feminist Newswire

Missouri may become the first state without a clinic that provides abortion services after the Missouri health department refused to renew Planned Parenthood’s license to perform abortions, which expires today. The license expires because of what Planned Parenthood argues are politically motivated and arbitrary regulations targeted at the clinic and Planned Parenthood is suing the state for a restraining order to allow abortion services to be performed after the license expires. This Planned Parenthood is the only clinic in the state that provides abortion services; if this clinic closes today then abortion services will become inaccessible in Missouri.

Planned Parenthood president Leana Wen said that “this will be the first time since 1974 that safe, legal abortion care will be inaccessible to people in an entire state. More than a million people [will be] in a situation we haven’t seen since Roe v. Wade.”

As abortion providers, advocates, and patients wait for a ruling on Planned Parenthood’s lawsuit in Missouri, clinics and abortion providers in nearby states are preparing for an influx of patients from Missouri.

Dr. Erin King, who runs the Hope Clinic for Women in Granite City, Illinois, across the river from the Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis, stated that, “no one knows what’s gonna happen in the next day or two, but we have to be ready for this clinic to be closed, and for patients to have nowhere else to go.” The Hope Clinic for Women has been hiring additional doctors and medical staff for the past year in preparation for the possibility that Missouri will ban or severely limit abortion services.

Other clinics, such as the CHOICES health center in Memphis, Tennessee and the Trust Women clinic in Wichita, Kansas are preparing for the possible influx in patients as well. Rebecca Terell of CHOICES said that the clinic “will do [its] very best to serve any women from Missouri” and that “it may be that [they] have to add hours; [they] may have to open on a Saturday; [they] may have to make some changes, but [they] will make sure that everybody gets seen.”

Gateway Women’s Access Fund, which helps connect women seeking abortions with funds to do so, is researching ways to help Missourians obtain funds, transportation, childcare, and other means in order to travel out of state for abortion care. However, Michele Landeau of the fund says that “people are confused. And they’re scared, and it’s pretty chaotic-feeling right now.”

The expiration of Planned Parenthood’s license in St. Louis comes after Missouri governor Mike Parson signed a law that criminalizes abortion after eight weeks, before most people know they are pregnant. Under this law, there are no exceptions for rape or incest and doctors that perform abortions may be charged with a felony offence, service prison time, and lose their medical licenses.

Media Resources: NPR 5/31/19; Washington Post 5/29/19; Feminist Newswire 5/16/19, 5/7/19, 5/3/19

Another Funeral for a Black Texan Woman in the Month of May

Posted on May 29, 2019 by Feminist Newswire

Funeral services were held on May 23 for Pamela Turner, an unarmed, 44-year-old Houston-area grandmother of three who was shot and killed by Baytown, Texas police officer Juan Delacruz outside of her suburban apartment complex on May 13 in what civil rights attorney Ben Crump has called an “unjustifiable execution.” The Rev. Al Sharpton gave a eulogy for Turner during a service on Thursday at a Houston church.

Community leaders, elected officials, and relatives are calling for action following her murder. In his eulogy, Rev. Sharpton said that the community will not rest until there is justice for Turner.

Baytown police report that Delacruz pulled the trigger on the African American woman during an attempted arrest after she allegedly used his Taser on him. Video footage of the incident does not indicate that Turner posed any threat to the officer before he fired five bullets into her stomach, chest, and face from a “safe distance” away as Turner laid on the ground. In the video footage of the confrontation, Turner is heard saying “You’re actually harassing me,” “I’m actually walking to my house,” “Why? Why?,” and “I’m pregnant.”

Crump has suggested that Turner, who was diagnosed in 2005 with paranoid schizophrenia, may have been in crisis at the time of the murder. Delacruz was Turner’s neighbor and admitted to knowing of her mental illness beforehand.

The police department was quick to release autopsy results that showed that Turner was not pregnant. Crump has suggested that Turner may have claimed to be pregnant in order to protect herself because she was fearful for her life. He also suggested that she may have tried to take the officer’s Taser because she was unarmed and trying to defend herself.

At a press conference three days after the killing of Turner, her daughter, Chelsie Rubin, tears streaming down her face, said, “I still can’t believe my momma isn’t there. I’m still waiting for her to call me every day, like she did.”

Following three days of paid leave, Delacruz returned to work the following Monday and has been on administrative duty until the investigation into the shooting is concluded.

Turner’s death is yet another example of the routine discrepancies between police reactions to Black and brown suspects as opposed to white ones. An “armed and dangerous” Alabama white man who shot and killed a police officer was able to be peacefully arrested. By contrast, in March in State College, Pennsylvania, police shot and killed a 29 year-old Black man while responding to a mental health warrant.

Lest we forget, Pamela Turner’s death serves as another important reminder; Black women are killed by the police too.

Sources: CBS News 05/16/19, News One 05/22/19, 05/27/16, New York Times 05/23/19

Funeral for Muhlaysia Booker Held Today at the Cathedral of Hope in Dallas

Posted on May 28, 2019 by Feminist Newswire

Hundreds are expected to gather today for the funeral of Muhlaysia Booker, a 23-year-old transgender woman, who was brutally assaulted in a hate crime in April and murdered ten days ago. The funeral is being held at the Cathedral of Hope in Dallas at 11 a.m. today.

A month after the April assault on Booker, she was found lying face-down, shot to death in a Dallas street ten days ago on May 18.The Dallas Police Department has made no arrests in Booker’s murder, have identified no suspects, and have found no connection between Booker’s shooting and the April assault.

The previous April assault was captured on cell phone video footage and shows a man viciously beating a prostrate young woman in a pink wig, surrounded by a mob egging the man on, kicking Booker, and yelling homophobic slurs. A group of women finally helped Booker escape the mob.

Booker was hospitalized and treated for bone fractures and a concussion.

The man who was beating Booker, Edward Thomas, was arrested following the posting of the now viral footage and was charged with aggravated assault. Greater charges were not levelled against Thomas because gender identity is not covered under Texas’s hate crime statute. Thomas has since been released and his whereabouts are currently unknown.

After the April attack on Booker, she spoke out publicly about violence against transgender women in an effort to prevent what ultimately ended up happening to her from happening to other transgender women.

Black transgender women, like Booker, are disproportionately vulnerable to violent attacks. Within the LGBTQ community, Black transgender women are the most likely to face lethal violence, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

However, when it comes to life and death situations like violence against transgender folks, particularly transgender folks of color, the feminist movement often goes quiet and cold. Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists, or TERFs, backed by right-wing institutions, have long been at the forefront of the anti-trans rhetoric and movement under the umbrellas of feminism and conservatism.

Intersectionality within the feminist movement is often overlooked with sex being the primary factor mentioned when discussing oppression and discrimination, without acknowledging and taking into consideration other identity factors like race, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, ability, religion, ethnicity, nationality, and more.

Kimberlé Crenshaw, the civil rights advocate and critical race theory scholar who coined the term ‘intersectionality,’ wrote, “Intersectional erasures are not exclusive to black women. People of color within LGBTQ movements; girls of color in the fight against the school-to-prison pipeline; women within immigration movements; trans women within feminist movements; and people with disabilities fighting police abuse — all face vulnerabilities that reflect the intersections of racism, sexism, class oppression, transphobia, able-ism and more. Intersectionality has given many advocates a way to frame their circumstances and to fight for their visibility and inclusion.”

Anti-trans advocacy will continue to have the deepest impacts on those living at the intersections of multiple identities, like Muhlaysia Booker, until movements like the feminist movement better acknowledge intersectionality and include, advocate, protect, and demand justice for transgender women of color.

Sources: Washington Post 05/20/19, 09/24/19, Human Rights Campaign 2019, Buzzfeed News 05/20/19, NBC Dallas-Fort Worth 05/27/19, Political Research Associates 02/20/19.

Supreme Court Agrees to a Compromise on Indiana’s Anti-Abortion Law

Posted on May 28, 2019 by Feminist Newswire

Today, the Supreme Court agreed to a compromise regarding a restrictive Indiana anti-abortion, upholding part of the law that regulates the disposal of fetal remains while dismissing an appeal to reinstate the part of the law that banned abortions on the basis of fetal characteristics.

The court’s decision argued that regulating fetal remains “does not implicate our cases applying the undue burden test to abortion regulations.” The Indiana law requires that remains from abortions or miscarriages must be buried or cremated following the regulations for other human remains.

However, the other provision of the law banned women choosing to have an abortion because of the sex or race of the fetus or because of a real or “potential diagnosis” of a disability. The Seventh Circuit wrote in their decision that “these provisions are far greater than a substantial obstacle; they are absolute prohibitions on abortions prior to viability, which the Supreme Court has clearly held cannot be imposed by the state.” The Supreme Court upheld the Seventh Circuit’s decision and this part of the law was stricken.

The Indiana law was signed in 2016 by Vice President Mike Pence, then the governor of Indiana, and was the first anti-abortion case to come before the Supreme Court since Brett Kavanaugh replaced Justice Kennedy. Many abortion advocates watched this case closely to see how the Supreme Court would potentially rule on anti-abortion state laws, many of which have been passed recently.

Media Resources: Washington Post 5/28/19; New York Times 5/28/19; Feminist Newswire 5/16/19

Mississippi Lawmaker Arrested for Punching Wife in the Face

Posted on May 22, 2019 by Feminist Newswire

This week, Republican Mississippi state Representative Doug McLeod was arrested on a misdemeanor domestic violence charge after he punched his wife in the face for not undressing quickly enough when he decided he wanted to have sex.

McLeod’s wife said her husband “just snapped” when he was drunk, something he does often when he drinks alcohol, and punched her. She hid in a locked room in the house until the police came and assured her she would be safe from her husband. While hiding in the locked room, McLeod yelled at his wife to come out or he would “kill her (expletive) dog.” The police found McLeod’s wife shaking and upset.

When the police arrived, responding to a report of domestic violence, McLeod answered the door asking, “Are you kidding me?” The police found blood on the bed and the bedroom floor. The police arrested McLeod but he is now out on bail.

Republican House Speaker Philip Gunn said that he has “attempted to contact Rep. McLeod to request his resignation, if in fact, these allegations are true. These actions are unacceptable for anyone.”

McLeod has held his seat since 2012 and is currently running unopposed. He has yet to comment on if he will resign from the state legislature.

Media Resources: WTOP 5/21/19

Migrant Minor Dies in US Border Patrol’s Custody

Posted on May 21, 2019 by Feminist Newswire

Yesterday, Carlos Gregorio Hernandez Vasquez, a sixteen year old Guatemalan boy, died in U.S. Border Patrol custody in Texas after being detained for a week; he is the fifth minor to die in U.S. custody since December. The number of migrants held in ICE custody has now reached 52,398 people, an all-time record.

Hernandez was forced into Border Patrol custody on May 13^th and by the following Sunday was diagnosed with the flu. On Monday he was found unresponsive but was not taken to a hospital. The cause of death is unknown and his case is currently under review.

Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) demanded transparency from Border Patrol, saying “the gross inadequacy of the so-called ‘welfare checks’ is patently obvious, and now five children have lost their lives as the price. I want to see specific plans from the administration to provide real medical checks, including checking vitals, on every child who comes into our government’s custody. We need urgency, and we need answers, not excuses.”

Border Patrol can legally hold minors for up to 72 hours, and it is unclear why Hernandez was held over the legal time limit. Astrid Dominguez, the director for the ACLU Border Rights Center, stated that the ACLU has “received complaints from migrants about inhumane conditions, prolonged detention, lack of shelter, poor medical attention and abuse from agents. We need more than an investigation, children ought to be protected. CBP needs to hire child welfare and medical professionals to humanely receive and process all arriving families.”

More migrants, especially families are travelling to the United States as refugees. As of Monday, 998 family units were being held in ICE custody. Just two weeks ago, there were 49,000 migrants in custody compared to the over 52,000 in custody today. Congress gave ICE a capacity limit of 45,000 individuals, a limit that ICE has repeatedly ignored.

Sarah Pierce, a policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute stated that “this new record continues ICE’s now historical habit of ignoring congressional limitations on its budget and unilaterally increasing its detention bed space. The fact that ICE has rather brazenly now exceeded 52,000 individuals in custody should raise red flags in Congress. This is a threat to Congress’s power of the purse.”

“This is an avoidable humanitarian crisis manufactured by the Trump administration’s harsh policies, which are driven by the president’s extreme rhetoric and distorted assessments of the migrant population,” stated Kevin Landy, the former head of ICE’s Office of Detention Policy and Planning under President Obama.

Media Resources: Buzzfeed News 5/20/19; 5/21/19