As the United States continues to suffer from the ongoing pandemic of COVID-19, President Donald Trump announced yesterday that he was going to issue an executive order suspending all immigration into the United States for an indefinite amount of time. In yet another tweet sent out by the president yesterday, he said, “In light of […]
COVID-19 Job Losses Wipe out Insurance Access for Millions of Americans
As millions file for unemployment, many are now dealing with a pandemic-related ripple effect: a massive loss of employment-dependent health and dental insurance across America. It’s difficult to count just how many Americans have lost insurance. Since Mid-March, about 22 million workers have filed unemployment claims. As the pandemic continues and state workforce offices slowly […]
Women Are The Majority of America’s Essential Workforce
Nearly one in three jobs held by women are officially considered essential work, meaning women are the majority of those on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a new report by The New York Times, nearly 52 percent of all essential workers are women. This includes 77 percent of the health care worker, […]
Judge Blocks Tennessee’s Coronavirus Abortion Ban
A federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order blocking Tennessee Governor Bill Lee’s halt on procedural abortions during the coronavirus pandemic. This decision is another victory for reproductive rights advocates fighting abortion bans across the United States, including in Texas, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman ruled Friday that Tennessee cannot […]
Millions of Low-Income Individuals Waiting for Relief Payments That May Never Arrive
Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced that more than 80 million Americans have received their COVID-19 relief payments via direct deposit. However, millions of people are still waiting, or may never receive their payments. The key challenge for the IRS is getting payments to individuals who are not typically required to file tax returns–largely low-income […]
Deportations Continue, Threaten Other Countries’ Health Security Amid Crisis
The Trump administration has continued the deportation of detainees, despite the global pandemic. The Trump administration has been deporting thousands to their home country including many infected persons, despite the threat of COVID-19. Specifically, in Guatemala dozens have tested positive for the coronavirus after returning from the United States through Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). […]
Seven Midwest States Announce Their Plan to Partner on Reopening
On Thursday, governors from seven Midwestern states announced that they will coordinate on reopening the Midwest regional economy. The Midwest pact joins the Northeast and West Coast in an effort to coordinate amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Midwest bipartisan effort includes Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Kentucky. In the governors’ collaboration, they announced […]
Polish Parliament Postpones Vote on Restrictive Abortion Bill
The Polish parliament has indefinitely delayed a final vote on a controversial bill that would almost completely ban abortion in the country. Poland’s current abortion laws, some of the strictest in Europe, only allow abortions in cases of rape or incest, danger to the pregnant person’s life, or severe fetal impairment. The proposed bill would […]
The Afghan Girls Robotics Team Makes Ventilator Out of Toyota Parts
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, five girls from Afghanistan who are a part of the Afghan Girls Robotics Team have designed a cheap ventilator powered by a Toyota Corolla. In a report by Ashleigh Stewart at The National, Roya Mahboob, tech entrepreneur and one of the first female chief executives in Afghanistan, started the […]
Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Arkansas Coronavirus Abortion Ban
In a victory for reproductive rights advocates, U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker has issued a temporary restraining order to prevent enforcement of Arkansas’ ban on abortions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Like several other states, Arkansas attempted to stop all but emergency abortions during the pandemic, supposedly to preserve resources for COVID-19 care and reduce the […]
San Francisco Supervisors Order Mayor to House Homeless in Hotels
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a pandemic-driven emergency ordinance giving the Mayor 12 days to secure 7,000 hotel rooms to house the city’s homeless population and an additional 1,250 rooms to house the city’s frontline workers. During a Tuesday video conference, the Board rebuked Mayor London Breed’s more moderate strategy to place only […]
Trump Administration Asks for Census Delay
The Trump administration has moved to delay deadlines for the 2020 United States Census due to concerns over COVID-19. The changes, requested by Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham and Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, would delay the deadline for delivering state population counts for apportionment from December 2020 to April 2021 and for giving states […]
Abortion Services Allowed to Continue in Oklahoma After Appeals Court Ruling
The decision by a lower court to overturn the Oklahoma governor’s ban on abortion has been upheld by a federal appeals court. Yesterday, a three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals made a unanimous ruling to allow abortions to continue in Oklahoma, overturning Gov. Kevin Stitt’s (R) ban on abortion as part […]
Judge Affirms Abortion Access in Alabama During Coronavirus Pandemic
A federal judge has ruled that Alabama cannot ban abortions during the coronavirus pandemic. District Judge Myron Thompson decided that the state must allow abortion providers to exercise “reasonable medical judgment” in deciding whether a procedure can wait until after the COVID-19 crisis. Alabama, like many other states, ordered a halt on non-essential medical procedures […]
Virginia Governor Signs Abortion Protections and Gun Reform Into Law
On Friday, Governor Ralph Northam signed bills into law that roll back state abortion restrictions, specifically the state’s TRAP (Targeted Restrictions on Abortion Providers) laws. The removal of abortion restrictions comes at a time when reproductive rights are being restricted under the current administration and during the COVID-19 crisis. Northam’s spokeswoman Alena Yarmosky stated that […]
Federal Appeals Court Reinstates Texas Coronavirus Abortion Ban
A federal appeals court upheld Texas’s ban on abortion services during the coronavirus crisis less than 24 hours after a district judge struck down parts of the ban. This latest decision blocks medication abortions but allows abortions for those who would be past Texas’s legal gestational limit at the end of the ban. In late […]
Insurance Companies Say Action Must Be Taken to Avoid Collapse of Insurance Industry
Representatives of the insurance industry took action and wrote a letter to some congressional lawmakers in California, revealing that insurance companies do not have the foundations necessary to withstand the COVID-19 pandemic. “Insurance coverage works by spreading risk, but that model simply cannot account for a situation in which losses are catastrophic and nearly universal,” […]
Medical Professionals Ask For Advance Medicare Payments During Pandemic
For many healthcare professionals who own medical practices during the coronavirus outbreak, concerns have grown over how to pay rent. Private practices, hospitals, and other healthcare facilities have faced a massive influx of patients, though revenue has dropped because appointments are now generally over the phone or computer. This loss of revenue makes it difficult to pay […]
Abortion Providers in Texas Turn to District Courts for Abortion Ban Exemptions
Texas abortion providers asked a district judge for limited relief from an executive order restricting abortion during the pandemic, rather than taking the case to the Supreme Court. The move by the providers to seek help from a district judge was made in response to an order from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the […]
Northern Irelanders Must Travel to England for Abortion Care During Pandemic
Despite the recent legalization of abortion in Northern Ireland, it remains inaccessible there, forcing patients to take an 8-hour ferry ride to England to receive abortion care. Last year, the British parliament overturned Northern Ireland’s restrictive abortion laws to bring it into line with the rest of the United Kingdom, but the regional government continues […]