IT WAS A COLD, BLUSTERY weekend in February when Neesha Davé opened the door to her Austin, Texas, home and found a process server standing on her front step. She felt sympathy for the woman waiting in the morning wind and rain, even after she awkwardly handed Davé a 30-page document they both knew was bad news. For months, Davé had prepared for the possibility that this day might come. She read through the document, then scanned each page with her phone, and sent it to her lawyers.
The document was a request to depose Davé because, as the deputy director of Lilith Fund, she helps pregnant people in Texas obtain abortions. Beginning on September 1, 2021, abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy were banned in Texas under a law known as Senate Bill 8, or SB 8. At the time, abortions in roughly the first half of pregnancy were a constitutionally protected right under Roe v. Wade. SB 8 sought to outflank Roe by placing the task of enforcing its ban on individuals rather than the state of Texas. Under the new law, any individual can sue anyone they suspect of helping a pregnant person get an abortion in Texas after six weeks, for a minimum of $10,000 in damages. This vigilante scheme was meant to stop SB 8 from being overturned by courts, despite its blatant violation of Roe; if the state can't enforce its abortion ban, the law's proponents argue, then a court can't order them not to enforce it, either.
Denne historien er fra November/December 2022-utgaven av Mother Jones.
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Denne historien er fra November/December 2022-utgaven av Mother Jones.
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Data Blockers- Overturning Roe didn't just bludgeon abortion access. It sabotaged science, too.
Overturning Roe didn't just bludgeon abortion access. It sabotaged science, too. In early May 2022, reproductive health researcher Liz Mosley was at a dinner celebrating her first day as an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine when the news broke: A leaked draft of the Dobbs decision revealed the Supreme Court’s plan to gut abortion rights in the United States—the “worst-case scenario,” as one dinner guest put it.
Growing Pains - Why are governors rejecting funds for kids' summer meals?
The Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer Program for Children (EBT), the first new federal food aid initiative in decades, is a permanent extension of Congress’ Covid-era relief that sought to provide extra meals for more than 30 million school kids who qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. But more than 10 million children will miss out this summer, according to the USDA. Thirteen other states—Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming—also chose not to enroll. And they all have something else in common: Republican governors.
Mission from God. Church And Statehood– A new Puerto Rican political party puts faith before status.
A new Puerto Rican political party puts faith before status. Puerto Rico’s churches, which in recent decades were mostly confined to private life, are now reshaping political dynamics. Proyecto Dignidad is a reflection of a broader populist global trend, and it draws inspiration from the Trump playbook and other domestic right-wing currents that helped him win over significant numbers of Latino voters in 2020.
40 Acres and a Lie
We compiled Reconstruction-era documents to identify 1,250 formerly enslaved Black Americans given land-only to have it returned to their enslavers.
The Conversion Therapist Will See You Now
The counselors once discredited for their "ex-gay" theories have rebranded. And now they're coming after trans kids.
"I Hope My Hindsight Will Be Others' Foresight"
A decade after Elliot Rodger's horrific massacre, his mother is on a quest to help threat assessment experts-and other parents-prevent the next tragedy.
RAGING BULL DONALD TRUMP'S PUGILISTIC SPOKESMAN HAS TAKEN CAMPAIGNING TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL OF LOW.
IN late February, after Donald Trump had nearly vanquished the entirety of the Republican primary field, his spokesman, Steven Cheung, took aim at the one opponent still standing. \"Birdbrain, are you a liar or just plain stupid?\" he posted on X.
SAVED
Finding self-love after Christian conversion therapy
WHAT WE ARE OWED
Technology and genealogy have made the case for reparations specific-and undeniable.
PARADISE STOLEN
Black families were cheated out of their land on Skidaway Island. Now it's a wealthy white enclave