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 […]
Majority of COVID-19 Related Job Loss Falls on Women and Minorities
The U.S. Labor Department reports that 701,000 workers were laid off in March due to COVID-19, with almost 60 percent of those being women. Earlier this year, women had overtaken men to make up the majority of the national workforce, but layoffs have put them back in the minority. Stay-at-home orders and mandatory business closures have […]
ACLU Sues for Release of ICE Detainees Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued for the release of high-risk detainees at two detention centers in California as a rising number of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees nationally are testing positive for COVID-19. Lawyers are arguing on the ground of humanitarian rights noting the over-populated facilities and poor health conditions of the […]
Lawyers Working Nonstop During COVID-19 Pandemic to Protect LGBTQ+ Rights
Despite courts being closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, lawyers at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have been writing lawsuits challenging new anti-LGBTQ+ legislation across the country. In Idaho, there has been two pieces of legislation passed into law that ban transgender women and girls from playing on high school and college teams and prevents […]
Judge Blocks Oklahoma Abortion Restrictions During COVID-19 Outbreak
Oklahoma US District Judge Charles Goodwin has just blocked a state executive order that limits abortion access during the coronavirus pandemic. Judge Goodwin believes that Oklahoma’s ban would cause “irreparable harm” to individuals unable to receive abortion care. In response to Oklahoma’s state executive order, Goodwin also remarked, “that while the current public health emergency […]
Coronavirus Hampers Access to Menstrual Products for Low-Income People and Shelters
Low-income individuals and social service organizations are struggling to find menstrual products amid the coronavirus outbreak. Along with other essentials like toilet paper, menstrual products have become difficult to find in stores or online due to consumers stocking up at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Panic shopping in March left many grocery stores, pharmacies, […]
Study Reports Texas Women Will Have to Travel 20 Times Farther to Obtain Abortion Care
Due to Texas’ new abortion ban, women in the state must now travel 20 times farther to obtain an abortion as reported in an analysis of anti-abortion measures implemented in some states due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a study by the Guttmacher Institute, the average distance a woman will have to travel one-way […]
Coronavirus Forces Activists to Innovate New Ways of Organizing
From Hong Kong to Chile, coronavirus has shut down public demonstrations for social and political change. With the threat of high fines, jail time, police brutality, and now illness looming, activists are adapting and innovating to continue building movements in an unprecedented era of social distancing. Activist networks, grown over months of organizing to plug […]
How Ordinary Afghans are Helping to Combat COVID-19
Waiving rents, making masks, distributing food supplies, and raising awareness about the deadly virus are some of the things that ordinary Afghans have been contributing to flatten the curve of this virus in Afghanistan. Afghans have been fighting for their lives daily and this health crisis is yet another test of survival in Afghanistan. However, […]
Diabetes Patients Struggle To Find Essential Supplies During Pandemic
As many Americans have scoured the shelves at local stores for disinfectant supplies and toilet paper, people with diabetes have been desperately searching for rubbing alcohol or alcohol swaps which are commonly used to manage diabetes care. These necessary diabetic care supplies have been among cleaning supplies which have been mass-purchased by members of the public who […]
Wisconsin Republicans Push Health Officials to Close Abortion Clinics
Wisconsin Republicans argued in a letter that state health officials should temporarily close abortion clinics for safety, and to ensure that they are not utilizing medical resources that are needed elsewhere during the COVID-19 pandemic. Governor Tony Evers’ “Safer at Home” order given last week did not specifically mention abortion clinics as essential business; however, […]
Senators, LGBTQ Advocates Demand Lift on Federal Blood Donation Ban to Address COVID-19 Shortages
Senators and LGBTQ rights groups are urging the federal Food and Drug Administration to allow gay and bisexual men to donate blood and plasma to address supply shortages during the coronavirus pandemic. Current FDA guidelines prohibit men who have had sex with men in the last 12 months from donating blood. Activists argue that this […]
France Unveils Plan to Combat Heightened Risk of Domestic Violence During COVID-19 Crisis
This week, France’s Secretary of State for Equality Between Women and Men, Marlène Schiappa, announced a plan to address the increased risk of domestic violence during the COVID-19 crisis. Schiappa pledged to provide 20,000 hotel bookings for victims of domestic violence, send 1 million euros to organizations specializing in domestic violence relief, and establish assistance […]
Democrats and Civil Rights Groups Demand Delay of New Title IX Rule
The Education Department’s new proposed Title IX rules have already been cleared by the White House and are scheduled to be implemented in the coming weeks. Three senators signed on to a letter—along with multiple civil rights’ and human rights’ organizations—calling for the delay of these rules until the COVID-19 crisis is under control. The […]
UN Report: Women Face Barriers When Consenting to Sex, Accessing Healthcare
According to the United Nations, only around half of the world’s women are able to make their own decisions regarding sexual consent and healthcare, limiting gender equality for millions. A study by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) reported that women’s rights are actually on the decline in some countries, and one in four women […]
California Special Needs Students Left Behind Amidst COVID-19 Education Changes
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act guarantees disabled students access to equal, high-quality, and free public education. However, as California nears its third week of physical school closures amidst the Coronavirus pandemic, special needs students are being left behind in the struggle to navigate the uncharted territory of distance learning. Approximately 800,000 California students receive […]
Reproductive Rights Groups Sue to Stop Oklahoma’s COVID-19 Abortion Ban
The Center for Reproductive Rights and Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) have filed an emergency lawsuit to nullify Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt’s ban on abortion procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Last week, Stitt issued an executive order temporarily halting elective surgeries, which he later specified includes all abortions not deemed “necessary to prevent serious […]
U.S. Appeals Court Rules in Favor of COVID-19 Texas Abortion Ban
On Tuesday, March 31, a United States appeals court ruled to allow Texas to continue enforcing limits on people’s ability to obtain safe and legal abortions due to the state’s policy to postpone “non-essential” procedures in lieu of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a New York Times release by Reuters, “Texas and other states that […]
Equal Pay Day: Healthcare Workers Deserve Equal Pay (And Then Some)
Women in healthcare are on the frontlines of the response to COVID-19 and are risking their safety every day to save the lives of those who are critically ill right now. Women make up 78% of the healthcare field overall, but consistently make less than their male counterparts across the board. This national Equal Pay Day we […]
Instacart, Amazon Workers Strike for Coronavirus Protections
Workers at Instacart and Amazon struck yesterday and today, critiquing the companies for not prioritizing their safety in response to coronavirus. Instacart, an app-based delivery service, employs gig workers to go into grocery stores, pick up orders and deliver orders to homes. The company wrote in an official statement, “As the crisis unfolds, our teams […]
