2022’s Dobbs decision by the Supreme Court cast a long shadow over 2023. Over and over, we saw that “exceptions” to anti-abortion laws weren’t real, even ones that were supposed to protect a woman’s life. And Dobbs was likely a large part of the reason that Democrats outperformed the polls in one election after another. Support for choice is at an all-time high, and growing. Women are standing up and fighting, and we’re taking this energy into 2024.
As always, this diary is a group effort. Thanks to elenacarlena, mettle fatigue, and the WOW crew for links and discussion.
Reproductive Rights:
The19thNews: As maternal care in Wyoming dwindles, tribal clinics are building up resources for support.
AlJazeera ‘Dying every two hours’: * Afghanistan is among the worst countries in the world for deaths in childbirth, with one woman dying every two hours.
AlJazeera ‘We barely make ends meet’: In Italy, some women are postponing motherhood. Women cite that low salaries, precarious employment and poor childcare options.
CommonDreams.org Opinion: Keep Church and State Separate to Preserve Reproductive Justice.
Fuller Project co-published with Scroll India has made remarkable progress cutting maternal deaths. Could climate change pose a threat?
Jezebel: Wyoming clinic arsonist sentenced to 5 years and $300K fine.
Jezebel: Demand for abortion increased under Florida’s ban. Anti-choice activists think another ban will fix this.
WomensAgenda.com Powerful Leaders are crying (literally) for women to have more babies.
ThomsonReutersFndn/Context Abortion in 2024: Where are the global hotspots?
And please check out this piece by Meteor Blades on the deceptive practices of “crisis pregnancy centers.”
Workplace Issues:
The19thNews: Education doesn’t solve the gender pay gap. Experts say they’re not surprised.
TheConversation Ghana’s shea industry is not taking care of the women behind its growth.
Violence:
FullerProject co-published with ForeignPolicy The Middle East Has a ‘Sextortion’ Problem. The region’s social stigmas are deterring women from reporting online sexual abuse.
Niani Finlayson called police to report domestic violence. She wound up being shot by police.
Health Care:
Al-Monitor Menstrual periods are an ordeal, health risk for Gaza women and girls. [paywall, sorry. Here's an exerpt]
Women and girls getting their periods in Gaza face humiliating conditions and infections, forced to use diapers or scraps of cloth after more than two months of war. Food, water and sanitary items are in desperately short supply [for the approx] 80 percent of its 2.4 million people displaced by the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Politics:
Rutgers Univ Ctr for American Women and Politics/CAWP Rethinking Women’s Political Power. [CAWP] has issued a new report on women’s political power within diverse state political ecosystems ... in Georgia, Illinois, Nevada, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania to illustrate that increasing women’s political power is a multi-site, multiracial, and bipartisan endeavor.
Media:
Alliance of Women Film Journalists Writer-director Julia Verdin’s human trafficking drama ‘Maya’ due in theaters in January.
HipLatina.com “Real Woman Have Curves” Makes its Musical Debut.
Uncategorizable:
Put functional pockets in women’s clothes, already!!
Good News:
5 Ways Women Made a Difference in 2023: Amid rising conflict, these people and organizations fought for peace and justice.
Smithsonian American Women Quarters™ Program 2025 Honorees: Ida B. Wells, Investigative journalist, suffragist, and civil rights activist; Juliette Gordon Low, Founder of the Girl Scouts organization; Dr. Vera Rubin, Astronomer who pioneered work on galaxy rotation; Stacey Park Milbern, Activist for people with disabilities; Althea Gibson, Multi-sport athlete and first Black athlete to break the color barrier at the highest level in tennis.