Moira Donegan has a piece about new House Speaker Mike Johnson, and more broadly, about how the Republican Party is trying to rebuild itself on extremist ideas about sex & gender:
Gender conservatism does not tend to attract as much notice as the other pillars of the far-right ideology: it is less distinct than the far right’s avowed white supremacy, less flashy than its hostility to democracy. But the convictions shared by Johnson – about women’s inferiority and men’s right to control them, about gay people’s moral transgression, and about the ways that the sexed body at birth can, and must, be used to determine the outcomes of a person’s life – have become the foundation upon which the Republican party’s warring factions are set to unite.
Fortunately, this week’s elections showed how we push back. Ohio enshrined reproductive rights in the state’s constitution. Virginia’s Democrats held onto the the senate and flipped the state house blue, after Gov. Younkin made clear he’d use a trifecta to push through an abortion ban. And Moms for Book-Banning lost school board races across the country.
As always, this diary is a group effort. Thanks to elenacarlena, mettle fatigue, Angmar, and the WOW crew for links & discussion.
Reproductive Rights:
England has been prosecuting more women recently for abortions past 24 weeks — under a law from 1861.
From RNS In wake of Ohio abortion victory, some clergy rejoice, others mourn: "‘The fight is well from over,” said Catholics for Choice Ohio field organizer Nicole Morino, who mobilized Catholics in the state supporting abortion rights ahead of the vote.
The Conversation: “As Ohio and other states decide on abortion, anti-abortion activists look to rebrand themselves as not religious.”
Plan C is a new documentary about the organization providing abortion pills by mail to every state.
Predictably, Republicans in Ohio are still scrambling to find undemocratic ways to undermine this week’s victory for abortion rights.
Violence:
Five Black women are suing the Kansas City, Kansas police department for what they are calling “government-sanctioned terrorism.” The suit also names three former police chiefs and several officers — including Det. Roger Golubski, who is currently facing multiple charges for kidnapping and rape, with at least 70 alleged victims.
15 survivors have reached an undisclosed settlement with Baylor University for its “deliberately indifferent” response to sexual assault on campus. Previous lawsuits around the same issue resulted in the removal of Ken Starr as university president.
France is debating the harms of the porn industry.
UK police report domestic abuse victims to immigration.
A mother’s run for mayor raises the question: how does Uvalde move forward after the infamous school massacre? (The article was written before the election; Kimberly Mata-Rubio lost to former mayor Cody Smith.)
Work:
From The19thNews The Women’s Bureau has spent 100 years improving work for women — but the House wants to eliminate it. "For the first time in at least a decade, the House of Representatives has put forward a funding bill that includes no money for the only federal agency to “represent the needs and interests of working women.”
Media:
G/O Media has “suspended” Jezebel, an feminist online site where I frequently find articles for WOW diaries. The staff has been laid off, but they’re calling it “suspended” rather than “shut down” because they’re trying to find a buyer for it.
Variety: ‘The Noble Guardian’ Documentary on Afghan Activist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Mahbouba Seraj — a possible Oscar contender.
The19thNews: New book explores the influences behind the life and work of bell hooks. "An excerpt from ‘bell hooks’ Spiritual Vision’ by The 19th’s Nadra Nittle examines the late feminist's views on the role of religion in women’s liberation."
New biopic about Diana Nyad, the only person to swim from Cuba to Florida with out a shark cage.
Health care:
A study suggests that taking hormonal birth control may make women more prone to fear and anxiety. (I note that the headline makes it even more scary-sounding by saying it “impairs women’s brains,” and it’s Newsweek, which was bought out by a right-wing owner some years back, so it’s fair to take this with a grain of salt.)
From Reuters: Postpartum depression affects one mother in seven after giving birth. Biogen-Sage Therapeutics postpartum depression pill Zurzuvae is priced at $15,900 (!) for the 14 day course of treatment.
Millions of women get put on thyroid hormone at some point in their lives. Medscape reports on research published in JAMA finding that this can be associated with increased risk for dementia and other cognitive problems, particularly for women.
Medscape: Why Aren't Doctors Managing Pain During Gynecologic Procedures?
...a 2014 secondary analysis of a clinical trial compared how patients rated their pain after an IUD procedure to the amount of pain physicians perceived the procedure to cause. [The research] found that the average pain scores patients reported were nearly twice as high as clinician expectations were….
Final word about this week’s election:
From Jessica Valenti:
I wish I was the kind of person who wins gracefully. Really, I do. But when you spend a year writing about raped children being denied care and women forced to carry doomed pregnancies to term, you tend to lose your magnanimity.
So to every Republican politician who tried to keep voters from having a say on abortion, and to every anti-choice activist who worked to keep women under the government’s thumb:
Fuck you, we win.