Lauren Nelson is an advocate and aspiring ally focused on intersectional justice. When she's not gabbing on social media or chasing after her precocious seven year old, you'll find her researching and writing extensively on the subjects of politics, policy, culture, neurodiversity, and faith for The Friendly Atheist and Rethink the Rant.
We already knew that many Republicans were unabashedly displaying their xenophobic, bigoted worldview in the wake of the Paris attacks and the face of a burgeoning refugee crisis. But perhaps the most unbelievable comment about the situation came not from Donald Trump or Ted Cruz or their brethren, but a Virginia Democrat. Yesterday, Mayor David Bowers of Roanoke, Virginia issued a public statement that set the Internet aflame. See if you can catch the passage that set everyone off: Read more
It happened quietly, flying under the radar in the face of crisis-driven federal governance and partisan squabbling. Over the course of a decade, conservatives have, for the most part, expanded their hold on state government in traditionally red states while making substantial gains in traditionally blue and purple states. The results have been dismal on a number of issues (see: misguided welfare policies, the utter gutting of school resources, etc.), but things have been especially terrifying in the realm of women’s reproductive healthcare. Recent announcements from the Supreme Court, however, may offer some hope to those appalled by state legislatures hell bent on setting us back a century. In the coming session, they’ll be hearing two specific cases relevant to reproductive rights. One, as we previously covered, is utterly asinine. Another, however, could have repercussions that impact generations to come. Welcome to Whole Woman’s Health v. Cole. You have questions. That’s understandable — this case and all of its variables and possible outcomes and potential implications is incredibly complex. Luckily, we have answers. Let’s break it down. Read more
The brutal ISIS attacks in Paris last week paired with another gruesome suicide bombing in Beirut shook the global community to its core, and with good reason. Images and accounts from the ground were the stuff of nightmares — nightmares that people in countries where ISIS strikes like this on the regular live out everyday. But for others, it was a stark reminder that this kind of violence often seen in the Middle East is not confined to the region, and that there is always the potential for such attacks to take place, no matter how safe or comfortable we think we are. For some, this was motivation for their own form of extremism. Many of the GOP presidential contenders began banging the war drum early and loud. Donald Trump, in particular, proclaimed that he would “bomb the shit out of” countries where ISIS is active… innocents be damned. Read more
People opposed to abortion have long made their objective apparent: they want to set us back by more than 40 years by making the medical procedure illegal. Many activists have seen that as an unlikely scenario in the courts, so they have resorted to getting legislators to regulate the practice out of existence. For some reason, they have this weird idea that making access to legal abortions impossible will mean no more abortions in America. But new studies show just how wrong these ideologues are. Groundbreaking research from the Texas Policy Evaluation Project (TxPEP) took an in-depth look at the rate of self-induced abortions in Texas in the wake of the implementation of some of the most restrictive abortion regulations in the nation, and the results were stunning. Read more
There are a lot of issues relevant to contraception that could and should be evaluated by the Supreme Court. Little Sisters of the Poor Home for the Aged v. Burwell is not one of them. The crux of the case is a follow-up question to the Court’s cringe-inducing decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, the case that decided whether or not secular organizations could seek religious exemptions from the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that companies provide healthcare coverage for birth control. In an extension of the Citizens United case, the Court came to the catastrophic conclusion that Hobby Lobby could indeed claim a religious exemption because corporations are people, my friend. Because logic. So religious organizations are exempt from the law. For-profit companies are exempt from the law. What about non-profits? They want a shot at exemption, too. Read more
