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.
As ISIS takes credit for today’s attacks in Belgium, American political figures have rushed to offer their thoughts to the public. Statements from Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders were pretty standard sounding, and John Kasich’s was thoughtful as well. Donald Trump and Ted Cruz? Not so much. Read more
Republicans across the country have been heavily invested in passing what they often call “religious freedom” laws. The name might imply something harmless, but as we’ve seen time and time again, they’re usually just an effort to allow business owners to discriminate against members of the LGBTQ community. Such was the case with West Virginia’s HB 4012. But the bill just got rejected… Read more
Republicans have long been adept at embarrassing themselves. From shutting down the government over funding initiatives they’d already voted for to more than 60 fruitless attempts to repeal Obamacare to a fraud-backed crusade to defund Planned Parenthood, they’ve been tilting at windmills for years. Some may look at Donald Trump’s ascent as the culmination of this nonsensical devolution, but in reality, he’s just the beginning. His ascent is setting the scene for more Donalds to come bubbling to the top. And this is not theoretical. It’s already happening in Texas. Read more
There is a mountain of evidence showing that abstinence-only sex education does not work. That might be part of the reason President Obama’s budget recently eliminated funding for such programs. But the problem extends beyond the reality that telling kids not to have sex is like spitting into the wind. And it goes beyond the fact that so many of these programs tell outright lies about safe sex. Though these are good reasons to eliminate abstinence-only education, there’s another one that rarely gets the attention it deserves: these programs are constructed to shame kids who may experience sexual feelings and often rely on religion to do so. Take, for example, the state of Ohio. Read more
The past several years have seen an onslaught of anti-choice policies being pushed through state legislatures. Much has been written of them, with many more words to come. But a recent bill in Alabama, HB 183, is so chock-full of obscenities, it deserves a particularly thorough smackdown. For starters, it’s called the “Ultrasound Access Bill,” which is almost funny, because it has nothing to do with providing access and everything to do with mandating participation. Should the bill become law, any woman would be required to receive a sonogram with accompanying description of the location of the amniotic fluid sac, features of the fetus, and the presence of a heartbeat. Alabama apparently does not care that the Supreme Court has already held that such practices are unconstitutional, as it amounts to forced government speech that is completely medically unnecessary. Read more
