Feminist Newswire, Author at Feminist Majority Foundation

Trump Administration Removes Healthcare Protections for Transgender People

Posted on June 15, 2020 by Feminist Newswire

On Friday, June 12, the Trump administration rolled back rules that protected transgender people from being discriminated against in healthcare. The regulation was initially implemented by the Obama Administration as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

The ACA prevents healthcare institutions that receive federal funding from discriminating on the basis of sex. Under the Obama Administration, a rule was put forth that clarified “on the basis of sex” to specifically include gender identity.

Now, the Department of Health and Human Services is reversing that regulation. The department defines “on the basis of sex” as referring to “male or female as determined by biology.”

This announcement took place on the fourth anniversary of the Pulse Nightclub shooting, during Pride month, amidst a pandemic. Pulse Orlando is an LGBTQIA+ club, and the shooting was the deadliest mass shooting in United States history. 49 people were killed in the shooting, who were primarily Latinx, Puerto Rican, and LGBTQIA+. Pride month celebrates the anniversary of the Stonewall riots and the LGBTQIA+ rights movement which started by Black transgender people as a response to police brutality and harassment. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused over 100,000 deaths in the United States, and disproportionately impacts Black and other marginalized communities.

Healthcare professionals noted that this move could prevent transgender people from receiving life-saving care related to COVID-19, as well as procedures and care necessary to combatting gender dysmorphia.

14 transgender or gender non-conforming people have been killed this year, but the real numbers may be even higher than that. Just last week, two Black trans women—Dominique “Rem’Mie” Fells and Riah Milton—were murdered, and according to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), “over the past several years, more than 150 transgender people have been killed in the United States, nearly all of them Black transgender women.”

The Trump administration has a history of targeting transgender people. During Trump’s term, the executive branch has implemented policies that are harmful to transgender employees, students, and houseless people.

Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, Deputy Executive Director for the National Center for Transgender Equality, stated, “It’s really, really horrendous to not only gut nondiscrimination protections, but to gut nondiscrimination protections in the middle of a pandemic… this rule opens a door for a medical provider to turn someone away for a Covid-19 test just because they happen to be transgender.”

Sources: New York Times 06/15, Washington Post 06/15, ProPublica 06/15, Chicago Tribune 06/15, Associated Press 06/15, PBS 06/15, CDC 06/15, Human Rights Campaign 06/15, CNN 06/15

Governor Newsom Called On to Release Elderly Incarcerated Women

Posted on June 12, 2020 by Feminist Newswire

The Governor of California, Gavin Newsom, is facing pressure to release elderly and vulnerable incarcerated women amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

As of May 2020, 3,200 incarcerated people have tested positive for coronavirus, and 16 incarcerated people have died. LA County recently reported the first death of a pregnant woman related to the virus. The county has also confirmed at least 228 COVID-19 cases amongst pregnant women incarcerated in its jails.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the United States could experience up to 100,000 more deaths due to mass incarceration – citing issues with overcrowding and sanitation. The director of the ACLU’s justice division, Udi Ofer, states: “When it comes to Covid-19 deaths, mass incarceration is our Achilles’ heel… the two things the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] recommends for Americans to fight the virus – social distancing and personal hygiene – are both impossible in jails.”

Since the pandemic started, California has released 3,500 people convicted of nonviolent offenses early, and counties are working to reduce jail populations and increase testing.

The Governor now faces pleas to include elderly and vulnerable women convicted of serious and violent offenses amongst those released. These women are at a high risk of death if they contract coronavirus due to age and underlying health concerns—many of which they contracted after becoming incarcerated. Conditions at these facilities are only causing cases to escalate.

Fiona Ma, state treasurer of California, is one of the people calling for their release. On May 1 she gave Governor Newsom a list of 25 women with active commutation requests who are elderly and vulnerable. He has yet to grant any of them. “I’m very concerned for all of them… some of these older women have been in for 45 years. Certainly these women are not violent” states Ma.

The California carceral system is one of the largest in the world. The total number of people incarcerated is about 190,000, with 115,000 people in prisons and 73,548 people in jails. The state incarcerates more people than the entire country of England, which has a total prison population of 80,002.

As of June 2018, of the 35 prisons run by the state, only 2 operated below 100% capacity, with 20 operating between 100%-137.5%, 12 operating between 137.6%-175.0%, and one operating between 175.1%-200.0%.

Sources: The Guardian 06/03, Los Angeles Times 06/03, BBC 06/03, Public Policy Institute of California 06/03

Sybrina Fulton, Mother of Trayvon Martin, Qualifies to Run for Public Office

Posted on June 11, 2020 by Feminist Newswire

Trayvon Martin’s mother, Sybrina Fulton, has officially qualified to run for public office in Florida. On Monday, she announced her qualification to run for Miami Dade County Commissioner for District 1.

Fulton lost her 17-year-old son to racial violence in 2012, when he was shot and killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer. She has since been an active advocate for gun control, forming the Trayvon Martin Foundation and Circle of Mothers, to empower and bring together mothers who have lost children to gun violence. Fulton has traveled the country, delivering powerful speeches about the injustices faced by the Black community and has been a leading voice on gun violence prevention.

Fulton is a part of Mothers of the Movement, a group of women whose African American children have been killed by gun violence. She joins two fellow mothers in running for public office. Both Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA) and Lesley McSpadden, mother of Michael Brown, ran for office after they lost their sons to racially motivated gun violence.

During her campaign launch in 2019, Fulton’s campaign manager shared her plan to prioritize gun violence prevention. Other focuses will include economic opportunity, housing affordability, and transportation, according to her campaign website.

She has already received some high-profile endorsements, including from Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Fulton received fundraising help from Clinton, who recently held a virtual fundraiser for her.

Fulton is running against her hometown mayor, Oliver G. Gilbert III. The commissioner seat will become vacant this year, as term limits require the current commissioner to step down. Fulton’s campaign manager said the vacancy comes at the right time and gives Fulton the opportunity to merge her skills as a county employee and advocate for justice.

Sources: The Hill 6/10/20; HuffPost 6/9/20; Washington Post 5/20/19; Sybrina Fulton for Miami-Dade County Commission 2020

Federal Judge Dismisses a Challenge to the Trump Administration’s Title X Rules

Posted on June 11, 2020 by Feminist Newswire

On Tuesday, a federal judge dismissed a challenge to the reformed Title X rules, also known as the Trump administration’s “gag rule”, that puts limits on what federally funded health care providers can tell patients about accessing abortion services.

Title X is a “federal grant program created in 1970 to provide comprehensive and confidential family planning services and preventive health services. Services provided include contraception counseling and provision, breast and cervical cancer screenings, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, and pregnancy diagnosis and counseling,” according to Physicians for Reproductive Health.

The Trump administration’s gag rule “bans doctors in the Title X program across the country from telling women how they can safely and legally access abortion,” making it “impossible for patients in the program to get birth control at places like Planned Parenthood,” even if those patients specifically ask about abortion services. Additionally, the “separation” rule would require that “abortion services be separated physically from other reproductive health care services,” according to Bangor Daily News.

In Maine, there is only one recipient of Title X funds: Maine Family Planning. They provide “high-quality, affordable reproductive health care” and “comprehensive sexual health education.” In March of 2019, they sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in U.S. District Court in Bangor. Maine Family Planning claimed that this rule violated the free speech clause of the First Amendment. It would also force the nearly 20 Title X facilities in Maine to get rid of on-site abortion services, meaning that there would only be three publicly accessible abortion providers.

Judge Lance Walker, a Trump appointee, disagreed with this claim, saying that the “rule authorizes nondirective counseling, including abortion counseling; it only prohibits an abortion referral,” which is not a violation of the First Amendment. It is the second time that Judge Walker allowed the rule to remain in place.

The Center for Reproductive Rights, who is representing Maine Family Planning, said that they may appeal this decision to the First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Emily Nestler, a senior staff attorney at this center, stated “we are disappointed that the judge did not recognize the very real harms this rule creates, not to mention the federal government’s utter disregard for how its actions will injure millions of people.” She went on, saying “this rule has dismantled the Title X program — a program that has been critical in helping low-income Mainers access contraception and other reproductive health care.”

Title X recipients that violated these new rules could lose their federal funds. Last year, Maine Family Planning said that it would operate without Title X funds if these rules remained in place.

Media Sources: Bangor News Daily: 06/10/2020, Maine Public 06/10/2020, American Medical Association 06/10/2020

Minneapolis City Council Votes to Dismantle Police

Posted on June 10, 2020 by Feminist Newswire

On Sunday, June 7, the Minneapolis City Council voted to dismantle the city’s police department. The council members pledged to replace the department with a community built public safety system, citing an inability to reform the force – which has long been accused of racism. A total of nine council members voted in favor of the initiative (out of 12 total), a majority that could override a potential veto by Mayor Jacob Frey. It is important to note that this is something Black activists from organizations like MPD 150 and Reclaim the Block have spent years advocating for.

As of Tuesday, June 9, the protests have lasted over two weeks. The demonstrators are protesting against the long-standing history of anti-Black racism and police brutality in the US, catalyzed by the recent murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahumaud Arbery, Nina Pop, Sean Reed, and Tony McDade. The actions have sparked movements across the country to redefine what public safety looks like.

Many government officials across the country have called for police reforms—initiatives and legislation that work to hold departments accountable. On Monday, Congressional Democrats introduced a reform bill called the Justice in Policing Act. The act would ban no-knock warrants and chokeholds, and increase police oversight. Many activists, on the other hand, have called for the defunding, dismantling, and the abolition of policing as we currently understand it. Public commenters at a Los Angeles budget committee hearing demanded the city enact the People’s Budget, a budget plan supported by Black Lives Matter Los Angeles that would divest from policing and invest in “housing, mental health and wellness, and public health and healthcare.”

The Minneapolis Police Department has a history of racism. Black people make up 20 percent of the city’s population but were the victims of over 60 percent of the city’s police shootings between the end of 2009 and May 2019. In Minneapolis, Black people are also more likely than white people to be arrested or pulled over. The force is predominantly white, and the majority of officers do not live in the city they police.

What Minneapolis will institute in place of the police force is still being brainstormed, but the city is no stranger to community-based public safety. During the protests, people banded together to protect a Black-owned business targeted by white supremacists, and members of the American Indian Movement patrolled streets to keep a Native American community safe.

Kenza Hadj-Moussa of TakeAction Minnesota states: “No one feels safe calling the police, period….they’re not doing their basic function of public safety.”

Sources: New York Times 06/09, Washington Post 06/09, MPR News 06/10, NBC News 06/10, Los Angeles Times 06/10, StarTribune 06/10.

Georgia Primary Marred By Voting Delays

Posted on June 10, 2020 by Feminist Newswire

Voting in Georgia’s primary elections Tuesday was plagued with technical difficulties and hours-long lines that disproportionally affected urban areas and communities of color.

Delays with voting in the state occurred because of poll workers’ inadequate training on the new voting machines, precincts being closed because of the pandemic, and social distancing and disinfecting practices. Areas with more Black voters reported the worst problems with voting.

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, sent absentee ballot applications to nearly seven million voters, and more than one million Georgians voted by absentee ballot.

However, many people were unable to vote absentee, including 2018 gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, who lost by a thin margin in an election many criticized for voter suppression. Abrams also later founded Fair Fight, a voting rights group.

Abrams said she requested an absentee ballot in May but the return envelope was sealed. She could not steam it open to return her ballot by mail. A significant number of voters also reported that their ballot never arrived despite Raffensperger’s office’s claim that 96% of ballots requested were delivered.

The voting problems were preventable, according to Abrams.

“It is a disaster that was preventable,” Abrams said. “It is emblematic of the deep systemic issues we have here in Georgia. One of the reasons we are so insistent upon better operations is that you can have good laws, but if you have incompetent management and malfeasance, voters get hurt, and that’s what we see happening in Georgia today.”

Critics across the political spectrum blame the problems on the Georgia Secretary of State’s use of new machines, which had a $107 million price tag. The conservative group FreedomWorks and the ACLU of Georgia had warned long before the pandemic hit that the new voting system was difficult to set up and training for poll workers was inadequate.

Polling sites issued provisional ballots for those unable to vote on the machines but those ballots quickly ran out amid high voter turnout.

Raffensperger accepts no responsibility for the voting problems and blames issues on poll workers but local officials say otherwise. In DeKalb County, Atlanta, CEO Michael Thurmond said it was the Secretary of State’s duty to ensure staff was adequately trained for the new machines.

“If there was a failure of leadership, it starts where the buck should stop, at the top. The eradication of any ‘learning curve’ rests squarely at the feet of the Georgia secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, and his office,” Thurmond said. “It is the Secretary of State’s responsibility to train, prepare and equip election staff throughout the state to ensure fair and equal access to the ballot box.”

Sources: The New York Times 06/09/20; The New York Times 06/09/20; The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 06/09/20; The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 06/08/20; CNN 06/09/20

Colorado To Vote on Late-Term Abortion Ban in November

Posted on June 9, 2020 by Feminist Newswire

An initiative to ban abortions after 22 weeks has made it onto the November ballot in Colorado after collecting 153,204 signatures, according to the Colorado Secretary of State.

The initiative, backed by the group Due Date Too Late, proposes to make it illegal to perform abortions at 22 weeks or later. This includes cases where a doctor has determined the fetus will not survive after birth. Unless considered a life-saving procedure where the pregnant person’s life is endangered, performing an abortion after 22 weeks would be classified as a misdemeanor for medical providers. Pregnant individuals would not face criminal penalties.

Gaining signatures on Initiative 120 was complicated for the group. Due Date Too Late’s initial signature submission fell short of the required number by nearly 10,000. They were granted additional time to collect signatures after legal disputes with Governor Jared Polis.

In response to the sweeping COVID-19 pandemic, the governor issued an executive order in May that allowed signatures to be collected via mail and email. Prior to this order, signatures were collected face-to-face. Initiative 120 was originally excluded from this, however a Denver District Court judge later granted the group an extension of time in which they were able to collect a sufficient number of signatures.

Colorado is currently one of few states in the country that does not limit when or why individuals can get an abortion. Because of this, it has become an important destination for those seeking reproductive healthcare. The Colorado Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice Coalition has spoken out against the initiative, stating, “Any restriction on access to comprehensive reproductive health care, including abortion care, is out of line with our shared Colorado values.”

In the past, Colorado voters have rejected other measures restricting abortion access. Most notably, in 2014, voters rejected the initiative to define a fetus as a person in the state constitution by a wide margin. This measure has been on the ballot three times within the recent past and has been defeated every time.

Initiative 120 seeks to amend Colorado law, but not the state constitution. Therefore, the state legislature would have the power to overturn it if passed in November.

Sources: The Colorado Sun 6/8/20; CBS Denver 6/8/20; Feminist Majority Foundation 5/29/20; Colorado Public Radio 6/8/20; Denver Post 11/4/14

House Unveils Justice in Policing Act Amid National Protests

Posted on June 8, 2020 by Feminist Newswire

Democratic leadership in the House and the Senate unveiled legislation today to overhaul policing standards in response to nationwide protests against anti-Black racism and police brutality.

The Justice in Policing Act, led by Chairwoman Congresswoman Karen Bass (D-Calif.) and members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), seeks to increase accountability in police brutality cases and bans certain abusive practices. Measures in the bill echo many demands in an earlier letter sent to Congress from The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, which Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF) co-signed.

The bill includes provisions that bans and criminalizes the use of chokeholds and “no-knock” warrants in drug cases, practices that killed George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, respectively. It also establishes a national registry of police misconduct, limits the transfer of federal military-grade weapons to local and state police, limits qualified immunity protections for police officers, and lowers the requirements necessary for the prosecution of police officers in brutality cases. A training program about racial bias and the duty to intervene will also be created. The bill does not provide funding for policing, but instead provides funds for community services.

“This moment of national anguish is being transformed into a movement of national action as Americans from across the country peacefully protest to demand an end to injustice. Today, with the Justice in Policing Act, Congress is standing with those fighting for justice and taking action,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi emphasized at a press conference this morning announcing the introduction of this potentially transformative legislation.

While the Democrat-led House is likely to pass the bill, Republicans were not involved in the bill’s crafting and the GOP-led Senate’s response to the bill is unclear.

The bill is necessary to protect citizens’ rights, according to Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), who is leading the Senate bill along with Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.).

“These are commonsense changes that, frankly, will create a far greater level of accountability for those police officers who violate the law, who violate our rights and who violate our common community standards,” Booker said in an interview with NPR.

National racial justice organization leaders Melanie L. Campbell, president and CEO, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, Convener, Black Women’s Roundtable, Kristen Clarke, president and executive director, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Vanita Gupta, president and CEO, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., Derrick Johnson, president and CEO, NAACP, Marc H. Morial, president and CEO, National Urban League, Reverend Al Sharpton, president and founder, National Action Network issued a joint statement supporting the new legislation stating, “We express appreciation to Speaker Pelosi, Leader Schumer, Congressional Black Caucus Chair Bass, Chairman Nadler, and Senators Booker and Harris, for their leadership to quickly and substantively meet this moment and address this pressing issue. If Congress truly represents the will of the people, they must take action swiftly to ensure equality and justice for all.”

Sources: NPR 06/07/20; The Hill 06/08/20; NBC News 06/08/20; Feminist Newswire 06/01/20

Wisconsin Teachers Union Demands Police Be Removed from Public Schools

Posted on June 8, 2020 by Feminist Newswire

The Madison, Wisconsin teacher’s union, Madison Teachers Inc. (MTI), has changed its stance on school-based police officers and is now advocating for police to be taken out of the city’s main high schools and replaced with thirty-three additional support staff.

This is the first time that Madison Teachers Inc. has demanded the removal of police officers, but it is not the first organization to do this. For four years, Freedom Inc., an organization that “engages low- to no-income communities of color,” and others have advocated for the Madison School Board to end its contract with the Madison Police Department. They claimed that the presence of the officers negatively affects students of color, especially when looking at the rates of citation and disproportionate arrests.

Although there have been efforts to take police out of Madison schools for four years, these efforts have not been successful. The School Board renewed its’ contract with school resource officers on a vote of 4-3 last June. Yet, the new three-year contract gives the school district the option to reduce the number of officers employed. Additionally, by Wednesday, the board can decide to vote to reduce the number of officers from four to three and by September 15 they can decide if they want to cancel the third year of the contract.

In a statement, the Madison Teachers Inc. said that they “see the systematic racism that exists in our current structures and join the voices of our students and our community in calling for dramatic change in how we educate and interact with all of our students, especially those most marginalized in our schools and society.” Considering the protests against systemic racism and police brutality, MTI claimed that their change in opinion centers their “students’ needs.”

Although MTI has historically supported police at their schools, they have come to the conclusion that “the benefits of having police officers stationed inside our schools is outweighed by the racialized trauma experienced by some of our community members of color.”

Yet, MTI will only support the removal of these officers if certain other positions are staffed. Their demands come from the recommendations by the American Civil Liberties Union. This would mean that schools would be required to hire:

One counselor, one nurse, one psychologist and four social workers for East.
One counselor, one nurse, one psychologist and five social workers for La Follette.
Two counselors, one nurse, one psychologist and five social workers for Memorial.
One counselor, one nurse and seven social workers for West

MTI, in their reasoning, said that if they remove “police officers from our schools, but do not adequately staff those same schools with social workers, nurses, counselors, and psychologists, we are perpetuating harm upon our most vulnerable young people.”

Adding these thirty-three new staff positions could be a challenge though, as budgets continue to shrink and the state may cut funds for school aid due to COVID-19.

MTI is also demanding that the district also provide crisis intervention training and commit to a “social-emotional learning that is culturally relevant to the needs of our children and not a canned curriculum geared towards compliance.”

Sources: Wisconsin State Journal 06/08/20, American Civil Liberties Union 06/08/20

D.C. Mayor Renames Intersection Near White House “Black Lives Matter Plaza”

Posted on June 5, 2020 by Feminist Newswire

On Friday, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser renamed an intersection in front of the White House “Black Lives Matter Plaza” to honor the demonstrators that have flooded D.C. streets in the last several days. 16^th Street NW, between K and H streets, has been painted with the slogan “Black Lives Matter” in enormous yellow letters. The lettering stretches for two blocks.

Demonstrations calling for an end to police brutality and racial violence have taken place across the nation after the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, by a police officer in Minneapolis. The section of the renamed street is located in front of Lafayette Park and has been the scene of such demonstrations. On Monday, protestors were forcibly removed by police from the area in order to make room for President Trump’s photo op.

Mayor Bowser has been at odds with the Trump administration’s proposed D.C. police takeover and wanted to make a statement about who D.C. truly belongs to. On Friday morning, she requested that President Trump remove federal troops, believing their presence to be inflammatory. On Twitter, Bowser’s chief of staff, John Falcicchio, wrote, “There was a dispute this week about whose street this is. Mayor Bowser wanted to make it abundantly clear that this is DC’s street and to honor demonstrators who peacefully protested on Monday evening.”

Not all have reacted positively to the painting. Black Lives Matter D.C. has criticized the mayor’s actions, calling them “performative and a distraction from her active counter organizing to our demands.” There is a push for Bowser to cut funding for the police department as well as support demonstrators.

Protests have taken place for seven nights straight in D.C. and are anticipated to grow in size. D.C Police Department Chief Peter Newsham predicts Saturday’s demonstration to be one of the largest that the city has seen.

Sources: Washington Post 6/5/20; NBC Washington 6/5/20; The New York Times 6/2/20; CNN 6/5/20; WJLA 6/4/20

Civil Rights Groups Sue Trump Administration for Violence Against Protesters

Posted on June 5, 2020 by Feminist Newswire

Civil right groups are representing Black Lives Matter D.C. and individual protesters in a lawsuit against the Trump administration for violently dispelling peaceful protesters for President Donald Trump’s photo op on Monday.

The lawyers, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, say the violence against protesters violated their constitutional rights to peacefully assemble. Plaintiffs are seeking an order to prohibit future unlawful activity from the administration and damages for plaintiffs who were injured.

On Monday, while Trump was holding a press conference, police and military forces at the White House deployed tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse peaceful protesters well before the city’s 7 p.m. curfew that night. Trump then walked across the street so St. John’s Church where he posed with a Bible for a brief photo op.

Trump cannot legally dispel protesters for his photo op, according to court documents.

“Defendants professed purpose – to clear the area to permit the President to walk to a photo opportunity at a nearby church – was a wholly illegal reason for abridging the constitutional rights of Plaintiffs and the others assembled in Lafayette Square,” the suit reads.

Protests across all 50 states and Washington, D.C. come after Minneapolis police killed George Floyd. The violence against protesters violates their fundamental rights but the movement will persist, April Goggans, Core Organizer of Black Lives Matter D.C., said.

“What happened to our members Monday evening, here in the nation’s capital, was an affront to all our rights,” Goggans said. “The death of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of police officers has reignited the rage, pain, and deep sadness our community has suffered for generations. We won’t be silenced by tear gas and rubber bullets. Now is our time to be heard.”

The use of force by law enforcement has also been recorded in protests across the country, with videos showing police attacking peaceful protesters and other pedestrians unprovoked. The ACLU plans to file further suits against police brutality.

The First Amendment right to free speech must be protected, Ben Wizner, director of the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, said.

“Across the country, law enforcement armed with military weaponry are responding with violence to people who are protesting police brutality,” Wizner said. “The First Amendment right to protest is under attack, and we will not let this go unanswered.”

Sources: NPR 06/04/20; ACLU 06/04/20; Washingtonian 06/04/20; The Washington Post 06/04/20

New Jersey Becomes First State to Include Climate Change in Curriculum

Posted on June 4, 2020 by Feminist Newswire

New Jersey public schools will become the first in the nation to incorporate climate change education into the K-12 curriculum. The 2020 New Jersey Student Learning Standards were adopted on June 3.

The new standards will allow students to not only understand what climate change is, but also to explore necessary solutions. By implementing climate change education, the administration and the New Jersey Department of Education hope to prepare future leaders to tackle the climate change crisis. Former President Al Gore applauded the curriculum, saying, “This initiative is vitally important to our students as they are the leaders of tomorrow, and we will depend on their leadership and knowledge to combat this crisis.”

The curriculum is designed to be broadly implemented across seven core subject areas: Career Readiness, Life Literacies, and Key Skills; Comprehensive Health and Physical Education; Science; Social Studies; Technology; Visual and Performing Arts, and World Languages. Standards in English Language Arts and Mathematics are not set to be under review until 2021.

First Lady Tammy Murphy helped lead the charge for the new standards, alongside 130 educators and representatives from various fields. Murphy said, “The adoption of these standards is much more than an added educational requirement; it is a symbol of a partnership between generations.” Knowing that climate change will increasingly affect younger generations, Murphy believes the new education standards will properly prepare tomorrow’s leaders of the climate change crisis.

Governor Phil Murphy hopes these new education standards will help New Jersey solidify its standing as a role model and leader for the discussion surrounding climate change in the United States. The announcement of the climate change curriculum comes a few months after the governor’s Energy Master Plan unveiling in January. The plan outlines strategies to reach 100 percent clean energy by 2050. “The adoption of these standards across our K-12 schools is an important step forward that will strengthen the future of New Jersey’s green energy economy,” said the governor.

The curriculum is set to be incorporated beginning September 2021 in four of the subject areas, with the other three being implemented in September 2022.

Sources: Patch 6/3/20; NJ.com 6/3/20; North Jersey 6/3/20, NJ.gov 1/27/20

Homeland Security Agencies Join Law Enforcement in Response to Protests

Posted on June 3, 2020 by Feminist Newswire

Immigrant and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have committed to aiding law enforcement responding to protests across the country. The demonstrators are protesting against the long-standing history of anti-Black racism and police brutality in the US, catalyzed by the recent murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahumaud Arbery, Sean Reed, and Tony McDade.

George Floyd was killed on Monday, May 25 by a white police officer named Derek Chauvin. In a video, Chauvin was seen kneeling on Floyd’s neck while Floyd yelled “I can’t breathe.” On Tuesday, May 26, the video was spread on social media and protests began in Minneapolis, MN. Soon demonstrations were sparked in all fifty states. By Thursday, May 28, the Governor of Minnesota had sent the National Guard to Minneapolis. Over 5,600 people have been arrested during the protests nationwide. All four officers that participated in George Floyd’s death have been fired, but only Derek Chauvin has been arrested on charges of third-degree manslaughter and murder. The other three officers are under investigation.

The two Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agencies are sending personnel and resources to cities that continue to experience protests. Within DHS, ICE heads deportation while CBP is in control of border protections.

Both agencies have stated that their presence at protests will differ from their typical work. CBP said their involvement is “not about carrying out CBP’s immigration enforcement mission” while ICE limits enforcement at protests, “except when there is an imminent public safety or national security threat.” It is unclear how that threat is defined.

Despite the agency’s words, the threat of deportation remains. For DACA recipients, an arrest could mean losing their eligibility – potentially leading to deportation. For people with undocumented family members, an arrest could mean their loved one’s deportation. Due to a history of abuses and lack of accountability by these agencies, the presence of ICE and CBP could keep Latinx people home out of fear for their safety.

The use of deportation as a threat to silence Latinx voices has been a theme of the current administration. In 2018, the Commerce Department announced it would add a citizenship question to the Census. According to officials at the Census Beau, the addition of the question would result in an extreme undercount of minorities and therefore a lack of funding to minority communities. In July 2019, after a long legal battle and a Supreme Court ruling, the administration abandoned their quest and the question was not added. But when coupled with President Trump’s continued threat of ICE raids, the damage was already done – many Latinx people would not be counted due to fear of deportation.

Greisa Martínez Rosas is the deputy director of United We Dream, and a Dreamer. Martínez Rosas states: “There is no trust that this administration is not going to use every and any opportunity to detain and deport you….we’ve seen cases of DACA recipients that it really doesn’t matter what’s in your history. Once you come into contact with ICE and CBP, they’re moving forward with your deportation.”

Sources: LA Times 06/02, Roll Call 06/02, NY Times 06/03, The Hill 06/02, Washington Post 06/02, Associated Press 06/02

U.S. Court Ruling Defines “Fairness” in Title IX Cases

Posted on June 3, 2020 by Feminist Newswire

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit Court decided on May 29 that “fairness” defined in several colleges’s investigations of sexual harassment means that students must be given a live hearing and cross-examination process.

The decision, written by Judge David Porter, stated that if a college’s policy under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 promises a “fair” process, the college must allow both parties to participate in “some form of cross-examination and a live, adversarial hearing during which he or she can put on a defense and challenge evidence against him or her.”

The Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is a “comprehensive federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any federally funded education program or activity.” This law mandated that schools that receive federal funding must address issues of sexual harassment on their campuses. This requirement, of live cross-examinations and hearings is a new policy and a major critique of the new Title IX regulations issued by the U.S. Department of Education last month. As explained by Forbes, “being cross-examined might re-traumatize a sexual assault victim and the prospects of such cross-exams might discourage reporting.”

The lawsuit that led to this decision was filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against the University of the Sciences. A male student, John Doe, claimed that this private institution in Philadelphia discriminated against him because of his sex. In 2018, USciences found Doe responsible for the sexual assault of two female students and expelled him. According to the lawsuit, in one of the incidents both Doe and the female student were intoxicated and the university held only Doe accountable due to his initiation of sexual activity. Doe felt that this was unfair, as he insisted that they were comparably drunk.

Doe also claimed that the university breached its contract with him. In the USciences student handbook, it says that the college will provide a process that is “adequate, reliable, impartial, prompt, fair and equitable” , which Doe did not feel as though he received. As the handbook does not define “fairness,” the 3-judge panel interpreted it based on previous Pennsylvania court opinions, which “determined that fairness includes the chance to cross-examine witnesses and the ability to participate in a live, adversarial hearing.” Thus, “the panel reversed the district court’s decision to dismiss the lawsuit against USciences and ordered the lower court to proceed with the lawsuit and apply its new opinion,” according to Insider Higher Ed.

This is not the first time that live hearings and cross-examinations have been mandated, the First Circuit in the Northeast and Sixth Circuit in the Midwestern U.S. both have ruled that these must be provided in “he said/she said” cases. The courts came to this decision because colleges and universities are subject to the due process clause.

This new decision applies this same standard to private institutions in different parts of Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

Sources: Forbes 05/06/20; Insider High Ed 06/02/20

Colorado Group Says It Has The Signatures for Late-Term Abortion Ban Ballot Initiative

Posted on May 29, 2020 by Feminist Newswire

A Colorado advocacy group seeking to ban abortion after 22 weeks said yesterday it has collected enough signatures for the issue to appear on the November ballot.

The ballot measure Initiative 120, which is supported by the Due Date Too Late group, seeks to ban all abortions after 22 weeks, with an exception only if the pregnant person’s life is endangered. The signatures still have to be verified by the Secretary of State before the issue is put on the ballot.

The campaign first submitted its petition in March but fell short of the necessary 124,632 valid signatures required by the state. The group had a 15-day “cure” period, beginning May 15, during which it could collect additional signatures.

Colorado is currently one of few states that do not have gestational age restrictions on abortion. The proposed law, if passed, will ban abortions after 22 weeks even if a pregnancy harms the patient’s health or is the result of rape or incest. Abortions would only be allowed if it were essential to save someone’s life.

The signature-collecting process also saw legal disputes earlier when Due Date Too Late sued the governor over new campaigning rules during the pandemic. Gov. Jared Polis issued an executive order earlier this month allowing signatures to be collected via mail and email, and eased filing period restrictions because of the pandemic. Initiative 120 was the only campaign in the “cure” period and was excluded from the executive order. The lawsuit is still pending.

Supporters of the campaign had argued that banning late-term abortions was necessary because they allowed discrimination against disabled fetuses. Anti-abortion activists and politicians have falsely claimed that a quarter of late-term abortions at a Colorado clinic that provides the service were the result of a Downs Syndrome diagnosis. The clinic explains that fetal diagnosis related abortions at the clinic increased from 1992 to 2012 because of changing clinic policy and the lack of options elsewhere.

The proposed abortion ban is only using disability as a pretext, according to Robyn Powell, an attorney and researcher at the Lurie Institute for Disability Policy at Brandeis University.

“I don’t see this as a disability rights issue. This is an opportunity for anti-choice individuals to use disability as their pawn,” Powell said.

Situations surrounding late-term abortions are unique and the choice needs to be left to the patient, according to Warren Hern, founder of the Boulder Abortion Clinic, which provides late-term abortion are.

“There are outer limits to what they can do with their lives, and they need to be able to end a pregnancy, and under those circumstances they should be able to do that without any interference from others who have a political agenda,” Hern said. “These are all personal situations that can’t be generalized, and women need to be able to make their own decisions.”

Sources: The Colorado Sun 05/28/20; Colorado Times Recorder 05/21/20; The Denver Post 05/19/20.

Immigrant Woman Sues Over Sexual Assault in Detention Center

Posted on May 29, 2020 by Feminist Newswire

On Wednesday, an immigrant woman formerly in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody in Houston sued a private prison company, CoreCivic, after she was raped in 2018 in a dark, isolated cell along with two other women the day before she was deported to Mexico.

The woman, Jane Doe, became pregnant as a result of the rape and has suffered great ongoing physical and emotional trauma and stress from the incident. She is suing so that this trauma does not happen to people going forward.

A report by CoreCivic for the U.S. government showed that there were at least eight allegations of sexual assault made against employees at the Houston Processing Center in 2017. However, many incidents go unreported and even when a report is made, very few allegations against the Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE, are actually investigated by U.S. officials.

Incarcerated and detained people are not only stripped of their liberty, family, and friends, but also are made vulnerable to the plethora of abuses that run rampant within the system. Sexual abuse of detainees is one of the most pressing problems to emerge in recent years.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), there have been 200 allegations of abuse made since 2007. The ACLU points out that such abuse goes widely unreported, so the reported number of incidents likely does not come closes to the actual number.

Sexual abuse against incarcerated and detained people is known to occur at centers all across the country. However, the Department of Justice put forth a rule that excludes immigration detention centers from being covered by the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA). Without PREA, detained immigrants are left extremely vulnerable to abuse.

Sources: Buzzfeed News 05/27/20, ACLU 2020

Medical Groups Sue FDA Over Abortion Pill Restrictions During Pandemic

Posted on May 28, 2020 by Feminist Newswire

Medical experts and reproductive rights advocates sued federal agencies yesterday, asking it to allow people to obtain abortion pills remotely during the pandemic.

The suit accuses the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) of endangering public safety by disallowing doctors from distributing abortion pills through telemedicine during the pandemic.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is representing the plaintiffs, which include the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, among other groups.

The Trump administration has urged healthcare providers to use telemedicine as much as possible to limit the spread of COVID-19. The FDA has eased regulations on other medication to allow remote distribution. Mifepristone, the drug used in 39% of abortions in the United States, is the only drug that patients must still pick up in-person but can self-administer at their chosen location.

Even before the pandemic, many women, especially women of color, had struggled to access quality reproductive healthcare. The situation is exacerbated by the coronavirus.

“Women of color have faced enormous disparities across every form of healthcare. Reproductive healthcare is no exception,” SisterSong Executive Director Monica Simpson said.

The ACLU had previously sued to ease restrictions on mifepristone in 2017. The case is still pending. The current suit is narrower in scope and would only lift restriction during the pandemic if it succeeds.

Previous to the pandemic, some doctors have started distributing Mifepristone by mail. Plan C, a reproductive advocacy group, started assembling a network of doctors who are sending pills by mail. Aid Access, a group founded by a Dutch physician, has helped patients obtain pills from India over the internet.

The unnecessary restrictions on abortion pills is contradictory to the federal government’s own efforts to curb the coronavirus, the ACLU wrote in the lawsuit.

“[The agencies] have singled out mifepristone prescribers and patients for a special barrier to telehealth care during the COVID-19 pandemic that impedes clinicians’ medical judgment; subjects patients, clinicians, and other health care staff to unnecessary medical risks; serves no rational or legitimate government purpose; and conflicts with [the agencies’] own efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19,” the ACLU wrote.

Sources: Vice News 05/27/20; NPR 05/27/20; The New York Times 05/12/20

Celebrate Legendary Activist Dolores Huerta’s 90th Birthday!

Posted on May 28, 2020 by Feminist Newswire

Legendary activist, organizer, and Feminist Majority Foundation board member Dolores Huerta is turning 90! Join the Dolores Huerta Foundation and special guests to celebrate her life and legacy.

From The Dolores Huerta Foundation via Facebook:

¡SI SE PUEDE AT 90!

April 10th, 2020 marks Dolores Huerta’s 90th Birthday. As president, she has led Dolores Huerta Foundation (DHF) to successfully organize politically disempowered, low income, immigrant, and farmworker communities for over 15 years, affecting policy and forcing equitable structural transformation. DHF is uniquely positioned to address the needs of the most vulnerable families in this COVID-19 crisis.

DHF staff have been working from home to advocate for educational and economic resources such as food security and access to technology for low income students. DHF is advocating with a statewide coalition, End Childhood Poverty CA, for income support for impoverished families, regardless of immigration status, to make sure those most in need are covered by state and federal emergency funds. DHF continues outreach to hard-to-count communities to secure essential funding for public services for the next 10 years by getting everyone counted in the 2020 Census.

Dolores is raising funds to help communities who are in dire need and would be honored if you could celebrate her birthday with her and be a champion for these underserved populations.

Please join us on Saturday, May 30 for a
90th Birthday Celebration and
Live-Stream Benefit!

This remote-attendance party will feature a roster of special guests, including Jane Fonda, Cristela Alonzo and Tim Robbins, for a night of entertainment and activism. The goal is to raise funds for the Dolores Huerta Foundation’s (DHF) frontline efforts to mitigate the impact of the pandemic in the regions of California where politically disempowered, low income, immigrant, and farmworker communities are being severely impacted in these difficult times. Details coming soon! Donation link: https://bit.ly/90for90DH

RSVP for this unforgettable event here.

Guatemalan Immigrant Dies of Coronavirus in ICE Custody

Posted on May 27, 2020 by Feminist Newswire

A Guatemalan man died of COVID-19 on Sunday while in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), marking the second immigrant COVID-19 related death in ICE custody.

Santiago Baten-Oxlaj, 34, was first arrested in March for charges of driving under the influence. He was granted a voluntary departure to Guatemala and was awaiting the transfer in a Georgia facility. He was admitted to a hospital for treatment on April 17.

The first immigrant to die in ICE custody, Carlos Ernesto Escobar Mejía, passed away in California earlier this month. He was 57 and had lived in the United States since the 1980s.

As of May 16, 1,201 immigrants in ICE custody have tested positive for COVID-19, around half of the 2,394 total tested. The statistic has not been updated by the agency since then. At the facility where Baten-Oxlaj was detained, 16 people tested positive.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, immigration advocates and medical experts have warned that close quarters in detention centers make detainees vulnerable to the novel coronavirus. The agency has released more than 900 immigrants so far based on their age and pre-existing medical conditions. Federal judges have ordered the release of almost 400 immigrants.

As of last week, ICE still had more than 26,000 in detention, out of which more than 4,600 are asylum seekers who have shown a credible fear for persecution in their home countries.

Federal lawmakers have also called for more oversight in ICE facilities. Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Jamie Raskin of the House Oversight committee wrote a letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) criticizing ICE’s inadequate response to the pandemic.

“At each step of the way, the agency has waited rather than acted, prioritizing continued detention of thousands of non-violent detainees regardless of the life-and-death consequences for immigrants, employees, contractors, or their families,” the letter said.

Immigrants in detention facilities have been concerned about the spread of coronavirus for months. Since March, there have been at least 25 hunger strikes in detention centers across the country, the same number of strikes that would normally occur over a year.

A clash between immigrants and officers happened May 1 in a Massachusetts facility over the officers responded violently to immigrants’ request for COVID-19 testing, according to Iván Espinoza-Madrigal, executive director of Lawyers for Civil Rights who represents some of the detained immigrants. A message was left on a window that read “HELP US.”

Sources: Buzzfeed News 05/24/20; CBS News 05/25/20; Business Insider 05/25/20; CNN 05/22/20.

“Where Are the Women?”: Afghan Women Absent From Peace Talks

Posted on May 22, 2020August 18, 2021 by Feminist Newswire

In a series of high-profile meetings on the current situation in Afghanistan, as well as the ongoing so-called peace process, Afghan women were noticeably missing. Soon after the news of these meetings, Afghan women were quick to criticize the Afghan government for not including women in such high-profile meetings. These meetings included the signing of a power-sharing agreement between President Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, U.S. Special Envoy, Zalmai Khalilzad’s meeting with President Ghani and other leaders, and President Ghani and Abdullah’s meeting with other political leaders on the current situation in the country.

In an interview with Tolonews, Nilofar Ibrahimi, a Member of Parliament said, “Unfortunately, Afghan politicians are afraid of women’s sincerity, empathy and ability. They are talking about development in the country but they are ignoring the role of half of the society, who are women.”

Afghan women’s criticism comes at a time when there are five women on the peace negotiating team representing the Afghan government and the Afghan people. These meetings included talks about the peace process too. Yet, none of those women have been present in these meetings.

Manizah Ramezi, a lecture at Kabul University shared her concerns on the lack of the presence of women in these meetings and said, “This issue, from one view point, indicates that the Afghan government could be telling the Taliban that we have sidelined women’s role for now.”

Shaharzad Akbar, Chairperson of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission also criticized the move and tweeted, “It means that only men’s views are important on national and political matters in the current situation of the country.” She asked, “Where are the women?”

Spokesperson to Mr. Ghani defended the administration’s work on the empowerment of women and said they will remain “firm” on their work to improving the status of women. However, Afghan women have been clear that the little they have achieved in political participation is being endangered.

Afghan women leaders from across the country have been fighting for their rights and their inclusion in the peace process, as well as their role in deciding the direction of their country’s future. Their criticism is not limited to just this issue. These women have been raising their voices for their rights in Afghanistan and globally. They have been clear that they are worried that the little progress that the Afghan women have achieved will be lost.

Sources: Tolonews 5/22/20; Twitter 5/22/20