It’s time once again for news and views that you can peruse! It’s another edition of your Weekly Reader! Found a cool blog post? Got a must-read story from your local newspaper? Ran across a website that rocks? Drop a link in the comments!
The other abortion ban (from the Washington Post): “This fear doesn’t surprise me. Medication abortion is one of the safest procedures out there; it’s less risky than wisdom-tooth extraction (which requires anesthesia). But doctors and nurses in Arkansas are so afraid of abortions — and the attendant politics — that it’s almost impossible to learn about them as a medical student, let alone administer them. Where I grew up, in the River Valley of western Arkansas, nobody said the word “abortion” out loud. When I went to medical school at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in Little Rock, that censorious silence didn’t relent. Over four years, the most exposure we got to the topic was a half-hour guest lecture. (At that time, 17 percent of medical schools offered no formal abortion education, according to a national survey published by the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.)”
The New Authoritarians Are Waging War on Women (from the Atlantic): “The problem with both American-born story lines is that authoritarian nationalism is rising in a diverse set of countries. Some are mired in recession; others are booming. Some are consumed by fears of immigration; others are not. But besides their hostility to liberal democracy, the right-wing autocrats taking power across the world share one big thing, which often goes unrecognized in the U.S.: They all want to subordinate women.”
The “Woke” Men Who Still Want Housewives (from Medium): “It’s no longer socially acceptable to believe that women are somehow less than — especially not during a time when feminism is wielding so much cultural power. But arguing that women are just naturally better at caretaking or domestic work has become a clever way to shirk living up to progressive values while claiming you are simply complimenting women on their stellar ironing skills.”
Where The Idea Of Donald Trump’s Wall Came From (from Forbes): “Donald Trump’s plan to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border did not come from security analysts following years of study or through evidence that a wall would reduce illegal immigration. Amazingly, for something so central to the current U.S. president, the wall came about as a “mnemonic device” thought up by a pair of political consultants to remind Donald Trump to talk about illegal immigration.”
What Actually Happens When a Trans Athlete Transitions (from Vice): “”All the talk of advantage or disadvantage held by trans women misses the most important point,” says Harper, who published the first-ever performance study of transgender athletes in 2015. “The most crucial question to ask is this: Should trans women and cisgender women compete in the same category? All available research says yes, assuming that trans women have been through an appropriate course of HRT,” or hormone replacement therapy. Fears of trans women taking over women’s sports simply doesn’t match up with the reality of the effects that transitioning and HRT have on an athlete’s body. No one knows that better than Natalie.”
WikiLeaks tells reporters 140 things not to say about Julian Assange (from Reuters): “It was not immediately clear what prompted the advice to media organizations, but WikiLeaks singled out Britain’s Guardian newspaper for publishing what it said was a false report about Assange. The Guardian did not immediately respond late on Sunday to a Reuters request for comment.”
Trans Woman Was Beaten in ICE Custody Before Death, Autopsy Finds (from the Daily Beast): “Sperry’s autopsy, the second conducted on Hernández Rodriguez’s body following her death, also found evidence of physical abuse, with “deep bruising” on her hands and abdomen, evidence of blunt-force trauma “indicative of blows, and/or kicks, and possible strikes with blunt object.” An accompanying diagram illustrated long, thin bruises along Hernández Rodriguez’s back and sides, as well as extensive hemorrhaging on Hernández Rodriguez’s right and left wrists, which Dr. Sperry found were “typical of handcuff injuries.””
And that brings this week to a close. We’ll be back again next week with other stories you didn’t know you had to read. Until then.
Iacon East 