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ACLU Testifies Before Congress on State Abortion Bans
The American Civil Liberties Union Reproductive Freedom Project Director Jennifer Dalven testified today before the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, on the recent nationwide attacks on abortion care and reproductive rights.
WASHINGTON
The American Civil Liberties Union Reproductive Freedom Project Director Jennifer Dalven testified today before the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, on the recent nationwide attacks on abortion care and reproductive rights.
"The Supreme Court doesn't have to overturn Roe v. Wade in order for states to push abortion entirely out of reach," Dalven said. "These bans are a culmination of a decades-long strategy to pile restriction on top of restriction in order to make it nearly impossible for people to get an abortion."
Dr. Yashica Robinson, an OB/GYN, abortion provider, owner of Alabama Women's Center, and Physicians for Reproductive Health board member also testified today. Dr. Robinson is a plaintiff in the ACLU's lawsuit against the abortion ban in Alabama. Robinson said, "By attempting to criminalize practitioners who provide abortion care, we will have the unintended consequence of endangering women and harming communities that are already suffering from lack of health care providers."
Seven states, emboldened by the Trump administration's appointment of two justices to the Supreme Court, have passed legislation banning abortion this year. In addition to its lawsuit in Alabama, the ACLU has challenged bans in Kentucky and Ohio, and has announced intentions to file suit challenging the Georgia law. No abortion ban is currently in effect and abortion remains legal in all 50 states.
Actress Busy Philipps also provided testimony at today's hearing. Her remarks come after she went public with her own abortion story earlier this year, and partnered with the ACLU in a national television advertising campaign on the recent attacks on abortion rights. Philipps said, "No bill that criminalizes abortion will stop anyone from making this incredibly personal decision. These bans will not stop abortion from happening. But they will drive women and girls into the shadows. Which is what this has always been about. Shaming and controlling women's bodies."
This surge of bans follows years of politicians passing hundreds of restrictions designed to shut down clinics and push abortion care out of reach.
Dalven's testimony highlights that the strategy to erode abortion access began after Roe v. Wade with the initial passage of the Hyde Amendment, which bans coverage for abortion for people insured through Medicaid. After that, state legislatures followed suit. Since the 2010 elections, states have quietly passed 479 medically unnecessary and politically motivated abortion restrictions.
"These restrictions have so severely eroded access to care that already for many people the right to abortion is more theoretical than real," Dalven said. "This is particularly true for people who face multiple barriers to accessing quality health care, including people with low incomes, who are more likely to be people of color, as well as young people and LGBTQ people."
The ACLU is currently challenging more than 30 restrictions in 14 states, including Kentucky, one of six states with only one remaining abortion clinic.
The American Civil Liberties Union was founded in 1920 and is our nation's guardian of liberty. The ACLU works in the courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.
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As US Celebrates Thanksgiving, Israel-Imposed Starvation and Suffering in Gaza Intensifies
"There is no military necessity or justification under international law that permits the prevention of basic necessities from reaching a civilian population."
Nov 27, 2024
As millions prepared to celebrate Thanksgiving in the United States on Wednesday, human rights advocates provided dispatches from nearly 6,000 miles away in Gaza, where the Biden administration has continued to provide political and military support for Israel's onslaught despite public disapproval for the war among Americans.
Palestinians in Gaza are now facing their second winter amid Israel's bombardment and near-total blockade on humanitarian aid, which began in October 2023.
The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said in a statement that Israel's blocking of deliveries including blankets, shoes, and clothing has left Gaza's 2.3 million—nearly half of whom are children—vulnerable to the elements, especially since at least 70% of homes in the enclave have been destroyed in the last 13 months.
"Euro-Med Monitor notes that Israel restricts the entry of such items as part of its efforts to impose harsh living conditions on the Palestinian people that will ultimately lead to their actual destruction, as part of the comprehensive crime of genocide it is committing in the Gaza Strip," said the group. "There is no military necessity or justification under international law that permits the prevention of basic necessities from reaching a civilian population."
At least 1.9 million people in Gaza are internally displaced, and as Euro-Med Monitor said, "the vast majority of displaced people in the Gaza Strip continue to live in tents that do not provide adequate protection from the cold and rain."
"The war in Gaza is a war on children. There is no plainer way to illustrate this than to look at the people who make up the death figures—over 4 in every 10 people verified killed in Gaza are children."
Hundreds of thousands of people, including women, children, and elderly people, have been left without appropriate clothing for harsh weather—and at greater risk of contracting respiratory infections and other illnesses, which health authorities in the enclave are poorly equipped to treat due to Israel's blockade.
A woman named Ruba told the humanitarian group Save the Children that in northern Gaza, where Israel began an offensive in early October, she has been "trapped with [her] children under relentless bombs, rockets, and bullets, with nowhere to run."
"My mother is paralyzed, and I cannot leave her behind. My brother has been killed, my husband was taken, and I don't know if he's alive. Our home was destroyed over our heads, and we survived by a miracle," Ruba said.
"With no food, no clean water, and constant fear, both my children have developed rashes, and my daughter is passing blood, but there is no medicine, no help, and absolutely nothing I can do," she continued. "They cry and ask me why we can't just leave, why their father isn't with us, why we can't go back to a normal life.”
Humanitarian workers with the group have observed children barefoot in streets littered with sewage and debris from Israeli attacks, sometimes walking "in the rain while wearing only light, shabby clothing."
"Children who lack shoes are more likely to sustain wounds and injuries, leaving them susceptible to infection in an environment devoid of medical supplies and medications because of the strict blockade," said Euro-Med Monitor.
"Israel's continuous and severe deprivation of the fundamental necessities of life is an act of genocide, as it seeks to strip the Palestinian population of the most basic means of protection, with the aim of physically erasing their existence," said the group. "Children and other vulnerable groups are specifically targeted by Israel as they are more affected by this deprivation, which exacerbates their suffering and raises the death rates among them; due to the lack of refuge from winter weather, these rates will undoubtedly spike without international intervention."
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) warned Wednesday that severe food shortages are also set to worsen without immediate international intervention and a cease-fire.
The groups' warnings come two weeks after the passing of a U.S.-imposed deadline for Israel to significantly ramp up humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza. The Biden administration in October ordered Israel to allow at least 350 aid trucks into Gaza per day, or else it would invoke U.S. laws that prohibit the government from providing military aid to countries that block U.S. humanitarian relief.
But even as experts said Israel was continuing its blockade and failing to meet the Biden administration's terms, the U.S. took no action to end its support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israel Defense Forces.
"The war in Gaza is a war on children," said Jeremy Stoner, regional director of Save the Children. "There is no plainer way to illustrate this than to look at the people who make up the death figures—over 4 in every 10 people verified killed in Gaza are children."
"Safe humanitarian access must be granted immediately to allow food, water, winter supplies, and medical assistance to reach those who are trapped in the death zone in the north," added Stoner. "The international community must step up and make sure that happens, in line with their obligations. Without access and a cease-fire, we are condemning children to perish in hell on Earth."
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Ohio Governor Signs 'Harmful' Anti-Trans Bathroom Bill
"It's really not about the bathrooms. It's about demonizing and frightening people," said one Ohio lawmaker.
Nov 27, 2024
Pro-LGBTQ+ voices panned an Ohio bill signed by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine Wednesday that will bar transgender students in public and private Ohio schools from using "multi-occupancy facility"—bathrooms, as well as locker rooms, changing room, or shower rooms—that match their gender identity.
"We made it clear to Gov. DeWine and Ohio legislators that S.B. 104 does nothing to make trans students safer in schools, and in fact makes life more dangerous for trans kids in Ohio," said Equality Ohio executive director Dwayne Steward in a statement.
"We are deeply disappointed that Gov.DeWine has allowed this dangerous bill to become law that puts vulnerable trans youth at risk for abuse and harassment. Equality Ohio will continue to stand in solidarity with our transgender communities and their families, and we will always fight for fairness in Ohio," Steward added.
The ACLU of Ohio said on social media that "transgender people are part of the fabric of Ohio; our families, our workplaces, and our neighborhoods. We remain steadfast in our commitment to the LGBTQ+ community and are closely considering next steps."
In a statement published after the legislation passed in the Ohio Senate, Jocelyn Rosnick, policy director for the ACLU of Ohio, said that "this bill ignores the material reality that transgender people endure higher rates of sexual violence and assaults, particularly while using public restrooms, than people who are not transgender."
According to Mother Jones, Ohio Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio (D-23), the first openly LGBTQ+ person elected to the Ohio Legislature, said during a floor debate on the bill: "It's really not about the bathrooms. It's about demonizing and frightening people."
The law applies to K-12 and higher education institutions and schools are not allowed to offer gender-neutral multi-stall facilities; however, the bill doesn't prevent schools from establishing "a policy providing accommodation such as single-occupancy facilities or controlled use of faculty facilities at the request of a student due to special circumstances."
But Mallory Golski, civic engagement and advocacy manager at the queer youth support organization Kaleidoscope Youth Center, expressed skepticism that providing access through single-occupancy facilities would really help gender expansive students in an interview with Mother Jones. "I just don't foresee a scenario in which schools that are already historically underfunded are going to be able to drop everything and build new bathrooms," she said. "It's just not possible."
The signing of the anti-trans legislation Wednesday runs counter to a move by DeWine last year. The governor chose to veto a bill that blocked gender-affirming care for trans youth and prevented transgender athletes from playing women's sports (lawmakers later overrode his veto).
Ohio is one of 14 states that have implemented some sort of restriction on transgender people's use of bathroom or facilities consistent with their gender identity, according to the think tank the Movement Advancement Project. Some of those states also have restrictions in place on some government buildings.
The recently signed bill in Ohio comes days after Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace of South Carolina introduced a resolution seeking to prevent trans women employees and members of the House of Representatives from using the women's bathrooms at the U.S. Capitol. Though Mace did not initially name any member of Congress specifically, she later admitted the measure was "absolutely" aimed at incoming Democratic Rep. Sarah McBride of Delaware, the first openly trans person elected to Congress.
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The Biggest Delegation at Plastic Treaty Talks? Plastic Industry Lobbyists
"Allowing fossil fuel and petrochemical companies to exert their influence in these negotiations is like letting foxes guard the henhouse," said one campaigner.
Nov 27, 2024
At the fifth and final session of the United Nations Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to finalize a global plastics treaty in Busan, South Korea, one anti-pollution campaigner noted on Wednesday that "waste pickers, Indigenous peoples, youth leaders, and frontline community members have left their families to travel thousands of miles to be here, not to protect their business interests, but because they are fighting for survival."
But a new analysis from the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) raises questions about how marginalized communities fighting plastic pollution will ensure their voices aren't drowned out by the fossil fuel and chemical industry lobbyists in attendance.
"The fact that they are forced to compete for the ear of their representatives with the very industry that is poisoning their communities is a serious injustice," said Ana Rocha, director of the global plastics program at the Global Alliance for Incinerators Alternatives.
CIEL's analysis finds that more lobbyists with a vested interest in continuing plastic production are attending the talks, with 220 fossil fuel and chemical lobbyists represented.
That number makes the industries the biggest delegation at the negotiations, where advocates are pushing for a final treaty that includes legally binding caps on plastic production—not just provisions dictating plastic waste management, which the industry has promoted.
Under the status quo, plastic production is set to triple by 2060. Approximately 460 million tonnes of plastics are currently produced each year.
From 2000-19, plastic waste more than doubled to 353 million tonnes, and only 9% was recycled, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
According to more than 900 independent scientists who signed a declaration demanding an ambitious plastics treaty aimed at ending plastic pollution by 2040, improvements in waste management alone cannot protect the planet and public health from pollution.
But in Busan, industry lobbyists outnumber representatives of the Scientists' Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty by 3-to-1.
Only 89 delegates represent the Pacific small island developing states, where the average waste generation per person is 48% higher than the global average due to heavy reliance on packaged imports.
The entire Latin American and Caribbean region has only 165 delegates, and the European Union and its member states combined sent 191 delegates.
Sixteen countries—China, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Finland, Iran, Kazakhstan, and Malaysia—have included plastic industry lobbyists within their official delegations.
"Allowing fossil fuel and petrochemical companies to exert their influence in these negotiations is like letting foxes guard the henhouse," said Von Hernandez, global coordinator for Break Free From Plastic. "Their oversized presence threatens to turn a critical environmental agreement into a charade, undermining serious efforts to curb plastic production and pollution. Government negotiators must stand firm and ensure these talks are not hijacked by those with vested interests in maintaining the status quo."
CIEL noted that with each Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee meeting, it has observed an increase in the number of fossil fuel and petrochemical industry lobbyists included in the talks. Environmental scientists have reported intimidation and harassment by lobbyists at the meetings.
The oil and gas industry watchdog group Fieldnotes published a report last week showing that in addition to sending lobbyists to Busan, the National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR) has embarked on a yearslong campaign to mislead consumers about the recyclability of disposable plastic products. The coordinated effort has included an infomercial hosted by actor Dennis Quaid and paid deals with TikTok influencers who repeat industry talking points in their videos.
"We have watched industry lobbyists surrounding the negotiations with sadly well-known tactics of obstruction, distraction, intimidation, and misinformation," said Delphine Levi Alvares, global petrochemical campaign coordinator at CIEL, on Wednesday. "Their strategy—lifted straight from the climate negotiations playbook—is designed to preserve the financial interests of countries and companies who are putting their fossil-fueled profits above human health, human rights, and the future of the planet."
"The mandate for this treaty is very clear: ending plastic pollution. Ever-growing evidence from independent scientists, frontline communities, and Indigenous peoples clearly shows that this won't be achieved without reducing plastic production," she added. "The choice is clear: our lives or their bottom line."
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