Yay, women aren’t facing loss of health care rights due to dismantling the ACA. But the process of deciding how to take the ACA apart emphasized what we already know about Republican men’s plans for all women. They claim the AHCA would make health care better.
This weekly roundup is always a group effort. Many thanks to Besame, elenacarlena, ramara, officebss, and the rest of the WOW crew for links & discussion. I’ll be out and about this evening, so hosting will be a de facto group effort as well. And Avila, get well soon!
Reproductive Rights
The Exclusive Men’s Club. No Girls Allowed. Republican men don’t want their medical insurance payments put into the pool and used for women’s health issues. Since men have no male-specific medical needs that women’s premiums would cover (I’m sure they are removing Viagra and prostrate cancer monitoring to be fair), why should men’s premiums pay for women’s health needs? 52% of men say they’ve not benefited from affordable birth control. (Virgins are they?) And mammograms or pregnancy? Nope. Not their problem. (Senator Pat Roberts deeply regrets being caught saying snide remarks about how unimportant mammograms are to him. After all, he has a mother, a wife, and a daughter. But he still doesn’t think this coverage should be required.)
What’s wrong with this picture? Here’s the group photo of those making decisions for Americans, including whether or not mammograms and maternity care are essential treatments that all plans under the AHCA should cover.
Rhetorical question: do we really need to take these guys seriously? (Yes and no.)
Here’s a better image:
Anti-abortion group accused of scamming the state of Pennsylvania out of $900,000.
They only wanted to make the world better.
Women in “handmaid” outfits fill the gallery as Texas votes on anti-abortion bill. Thank you Margaret Atwood.
Reminder: this is not an instruction manual, it is a warning.
Our Bodies Our Selves
A program that teaches troubled teenage girls to chart their menstrual cycles as part of comprehensive menstrual health curriculum has been found to empower them. Another argument for real sexual health education. naturalwomanhood.org/…
Violence & Harassment
Under planned reforms, United Kingdom rape victims may no longer need to testify in court, but rather via videotape.
Meanwhile, in the US:
A British woman told police that her abusive ex was stalking her, got penalized for "wasting their time with false claims." Now he's on trial for her murder. Remind me again why abuse victims don't go to police? When they handle it themselves, they are arrested as criminals for fighting back. Remember Marissa Alexander?
A teen was sexually assaulted by multiple attackers while the attack was live-streamed on Facebook. Approximately 40 people watched it online — and none of them called the police.
In India, it’s become a thing for some men to dial random numbers looking for women to harass.
This news item is both anti-abortion/choice and violence against women. What a double treat Oklahoma has for women.
House Bill 1549—penned by state Republican Rep. George Faught and state Sen. Nathan Dahm—is one of those “you cannot have an abortion no matter what the condition of the fetus inside of you” is bills, with zero mentions of “exceptions.” [..]
State Rep. Faught, when asked by state Rep. Cory Williams (D) what was the difference in ending a pregnancy early and letting a baby be born only to take that baby off of life support moments later:
“It is very simple to me,” Faught said. “One is killing the child. The other is the Lord decided to end the child’s life. The Bible (says) only God knows the number of our days. You can’t play God.”
This is the unfortunate reality according Faught’s interpretation of the Bible.
In Tunisia, a rapist can escape prosecution for their crime - by marrying their victim, many of whom are underage. Women protesters trying to change the law have met with a wall of indifference, but a play depicting the plight of an underage rape-victim/bride has gone viral.
Workplace Issues
SCOTUS nominee Gorusch failed to validate women’s rights to not be sexually harassed at work. He believes employers are not required to provide birth control because a corporation’s religious beliefs are more important. He also validates the right of employers to question female job applicants about their plans to have children (he just knows women take advantage of employer-provided health insurance to fuel their frenzied desire to be handmaids, uh, baby-makers).
Gains in pay equity have slowed.
But for women with their own businesses, a new study finds that, "Women entrepreneurs are more ambitious and successful than men.”
Thoughtful NYT Opinion piece on 'Fearless Girl' statue. So we'll have to wait for ANOTHER generation to grow up before they'll start putting more women on Wall Street Boards and in CEO chairs?
Crafty women creating jobs and increasing retail sales.
The week before the Women’s March on Jan. 21 in cities across the United States, protesters who were making signs helped fuel increased sales of poster boards by 33 percent and foam boards by 42 percent compared with the same week last year, the consumer research group NPD reported recently. Poster and foam board sales from Jan. 15 to 21 totaled $4.1 million.
More than 6.5 million poster boards were sold in January, with nearly one-third sold during the week of the march. Sales of easel pads and flip charts grew by 28 percent, Leen Nsouli, an office supplies industry analyst at NPD, said in a blog post.
Miscellaneous
Unfortunately, despite the overwhelmingly favorable prospects of advancing women’s leadership in the public and private sector, patriarchy continues to be firmly rooted in our societal consciousness. Historically, men have been the main arbiters on issues that directly affect women and even ones that exclusively affect women. Women’s participation is an affront to the distribution of resources that men have typically allocated for themselves in a vertical hierarchy, and therein lies the reason for the strong resistance towards more women’s participation in business and government despite the unequivocal data supporting it. To overcome the gross underrepresentation of women in decision-making bodies, a coordinated effort at all levels of society is required.
One floor of the NY Historical Society’s building will be devoted to American Women’s History.
Woo hoo — 35 years after the ratification deadline passed, Nevada approves the ERA.
Gender differences in clothing begin at birth, and involve quality and function as much as pictures.
www.parent.co/...
Climate Change and Environmental Issues
Besame wants to remind everyone that women are on the frontlines of climate change and environmental degradation. But we also are on the frontlines of addressing climate disruption. Women are change-makers and innovators who must be involved in planning solutions.
After the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the death rate for women soared upwards of three times greater than for men in some areas. After Hurricane Katrina, increased reports of sexual assault exacted low-income communities struggling to respond to severe disaster. Women account for more than 75 percent of climate-related displacement since 2010 — a staggering disparity driven by the fact that women own less than 2 percent of the land and make up over 70 percent of the world’s poor.
Indigenous women from Standing Rock and allies will travel to Norway to speak to the divestment delegation and . . .
. . . share on-the-ground experiences from Standing Rock and other traditional territories, as Indigenous women who are living in communities directly impacted by fossil fuel development and infrastructure.
Despite the termination of the Environmental Impact Statement for the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) by the U.S. Trump administration, Indigenous women remain undeterred in their quest for justice and healing regarding the violations of Indigenous rights and human rights related to the on-going construction of DAPL and other fossil fuel projects.
From March 25th to April 2nd, 2017 the ‘Indigenous Women’s Divestment Delegation to Norway: Experiences from Standing Rock’ will engage with financial institutions and public officials, civil society groups and public forums, and press and media to share their experiences, concerns and calls for international solidarity and justice.
All of the Delegates have been engaged on the frontline of the Standing Rock resistance effort and other work to oppose extractive developments in their homelands and to protect the natural systems of life and Indigenous rights.
Ending with Small Victories and Art
This weekly list is not just about women’s issues, but is compiled by two women: Peace is Loud — Small Victories. Here’s one of the 12 items listed this week.
The Iron Workers are the first building trade union to announce paid maternity leave for their members, and real-life Rosie the Riveters are getting a national day of recognition
Each week wow republishes stories on women’s issues from daily kos writers to our group blog. if you want these stories to be added to your stream, go to wow’s profile page and click on “follow” at the top of page.