Facing a strong primary challenge from pro-choice Jessica Cisneros, anti-abortion Democrat Henry Cuellar secured crucial campaign support from at least 18 Democratic incumbents.
Democratic political leaders are expressing outrage and sadness today after the Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision and eliminated federal protections for abortion access.
“The Republicans are plotting a nationwide abortion ban,” Speaker Pelosi said in her morning press conference following the release of the decision. “They can not be allowed to have a majority in Congress to do that.”
However, Pelosi donated $4,000 in 2021 to support the re-election of anti-abortion Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), who earlier this week was declared the winner of an extremely tight run-off primary election against progressive, pro-choice candidate Jessica Cisneros. Cuellar won by just 289 votes.
Cuellar is the only House Democrat to vote last year against the Women’s Health Protection Act, a bill to codify federal abortion protections, indicating that he is likely to vote with Republicans on restricting access to abortion. Pelosi made her donations to Cuellar two months after he took that vote.
Pelosi is far from alone among Democrats who have backed Cuellar. This year’s primary is the second cycle in a row that he has faced Cisneros, and both contests were nail-biters. In the 2020 and 2022 election cycles, at least 18 Democratic House and Senate members have donated to Cuellar through their campaigns or leadership PACs, offering him crucial support as he sought to fend off his pro-choice challenger.
Congressional Democrats Donating to Henry Cuellar
Donations by campaigns and leadership PACs or Democratic members of Congress to Henry Cuellar’s campaigns, Jan. 1, 2019 through March 31, 2022.
Table with 3 columns and 19 rows. Currently displaying rows 1 to 19. Sorted descending by column “Amount”
Donating Democrat
▼ Amount
Official name of donor entity
Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.)
$5,500
THREE RIVERS POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.)
$5,000
JOBS, EDUCATION, & FAMILIES FIRST JEFF PAC
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)
$4,000
NANCY PELOSI FOR CONGRESS
Sen. Joe Manchin (W-W,V.)
$2,500
COUNTRY ROADS PAC
Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.)
$2,500
PROGRESSIVE MAJORITY PAC
Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif.)
$2,500
VALLEY FIRST LEADERSHIP PAC
Rep. Ed Case (D-Hawaii)
$2,000
CASE FOR CONGRESS
Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.)
$2,000
MADISON PAC; THE
Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.)
$2,000
PETE AGUILAR FOR CONGRESS
Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.)
$2,000
SYNERGY PAC
Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.)
$2,000
TED LIEU FOR CONGRESS
Rep. Rosa Delauro (D-Conn.)
$1,250
FRIENDS OF ROSA DELAURO
Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.)
$1,000
BRIDGE THE GAP PAC
Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.)
$1,000
BUTTERFIELD FOR CONGRESS
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.)
$1,000
DEMOCRATS WIN SEATS (DWS PAC)
Rep. Vincente Gonzalez (D-Texas)
$1,000
FIGHTING FOR SOUTH TEXAS PAC
Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio)
$1,000
KAPTUR FOR CONGRESS
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.)
$1,000
REVIVING AMERICAN JOBS AGAIN PAC
Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.)
$1,000
SMART SOLUTIONS PAC
In addition to these donors, Cuellar got endorsements from powerful Democratic House leadership members Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) and Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.). “We’re a diverse party and we have diverse opinions,” Hoyer told reporters in May as he defended his endorsement of Cuellar. “Our platform says we’re a pro-choice party… that does not mean that there’s not room in our party for alternative voices.”
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Michael E., we have all been taken aback by the events of the last 48 hours, and we know that November 8 might look far away on the calendar right now. But with the amount of work we have to do between now and then to elect candidates who will stand up for abortion rights and fight for working families, Election Day is practically around the corner.
We know these kinds of end-of-quarter filing goals can sound arbitrary, but they are real — and whether or not we meet them has a real impact.
Our on-the-ground and digital organizing has already been key to primary victories for WFP candidates this cycle like Summer Lee, Greg Casar, and Jamie McLeod-Skinner. When corporate interests and Republican dark money PACs poured money into defeating them, we were able to fight back and win because we had dedicated supporters like you on our side.
Training organizers, building WFP state and local chapters, and meeting voters where they are at is how we defeat Republicans and corporate-backed Democrats and change the status quo.
And now that the Supreme Court has stripped women and people seeking abortions of their long-held rights to control their bodies, the stakes of this year’s elections are becoming that much higher.
Here’s the problem: the costs of organizing and reaching voters in all of these races can add up really quickly. In the coming days and weeks, WFP champions like Delia Ramirez and Mandela Barnes are coming down the home stretch in their own competitive primaries.
And while we mobilize in the streets, we need to be ramping up our organizing efforts to help WFP candidates win these important races at the same time, not slowing down.
After troubling decisions from the Supreme Court followed by historic victory for gun safety in Congress, we’re ready to take this fight to the ballot box.
We’ve got some serious grassroots power, and we’re ready to use it.
Michael, this was a life-or-death Supreme Court term. In the span of 24 hours, six justices chose to endanger lives by striking down a gun safety law and taking away the right to safe and legal abortion.
We want to be able to keep ourselves and our communities safe. These decisions from the Court are extreme and show a complete disregard for saving lives.
Our nearly 10 million gun safety supporters have seen their fair share of victories and setbacks over the years. But win or lose, we don’t rest on our laurels and we don’t get discouraged.
Over the past decade, we’ve gone toe to toe with the gun lobby in state houses, city halls, and Congress. We’ve passed lifesaving laws in dozens of states while facing opposition, threats, and federal inaction. Our Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action volunteers have proven time and again that they are a force to be reckoned with.
That’s why, after the massive activation of grassroots supporters over the past few weeks, Democrats and Republicans worked together to pass the first significant gun safety legislation in 26 years, which President Biden just signed into law. This is HUGE.
Now we get to work. We vote. And we have a plan.
We’re going to knock doors, make calls, and organize in our communities to register voters and elect candidates who will put public safety first— when they’re passing laws, and when they’re nominating and confirming judges.
With volunteers in all 50 states and DC, we will get out the vote for candidates up and down the ballot, across the country, who will govern with gun safety in mind. And if any of our leaders in office don’t have the guts to stand up to the gun lobby and protect public safety, we’ll replace them with leaders who will.
Thank you for being with us. Now let’s get to work.
Everytown for Gun Safety Victory Fund
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The Supreme Court has ruled that reproductive health care is no longer federally protected and will now be decided by the individual states.
In Texas, Greg Abbott has already signed a “trigger law” that criminalizes all abortion — with no exception for rape or incest — and goes into effect 30 days following Friday’s decision.
That means that in a matter of weeks, no woman will have control over her body in Texas, a state that already struggles to ensure proper medical care for women and girls and which leads much of the developed world in the rate of maternal mortality. More women face this unprecedented attack on their freedom and their health in Texas than in any other state in America.
So it’s on us to respond and to act. That means standing up to Abbott and fighting for Texas women by winning this election for governor.
Imagine the impact that will have not only in Texas, but across the country.
The state that came up with this “trigger law,” the state that has been leading the attack on a woman’s right to choose for over a decade, and the state that promised bounty hunters $10,000 to turn in those who helped women get an abortion can be the state that elects a governor who will work to ensure that every woman makes her own decisions about her own body and her own future.
Let’s use these next days — between Friday’s decision and the implementation of Abbott’s total abortion ban — to assemble the volunteers and raise the resources we need to win political power. Do not succumb to the temptation to despair or give up in the face of this attack. Turn your anger into action and focus on what will do the greatest good.
The only way to overcome this attack on women and reproductive freedom is to win this election.
The only way to win this election is with your help.
Friday’s news about Roe v. Wade was expected, but that didn’t make it any easier to hear. If what you need right now is to connect with loved ones, be in nature, or anything that will help you process your feelings — stop reading this email and take care of yourself. If what you need right now are some concrete actions to respond to this moment, read on below. We are in this for a long haul, and we get through this together — every one of us should step forward and back as we need to so we can keep our movement strong.
Friday was the day we’ve been dreading: The Republican Supreme Court officially overturned Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. This is where the last 50 years of right-wing mobilization against abortion rights has led us. And the extremists on the Court have told us in their own words where they’re headed next: “In future cases, we should reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell.”
In other words: They are coming for contraceptive access, same-sex marriage and relationships, and every other civil right we’ve fought for through decades of struggle.
There’s never been a more important time for us to take our future into our own hands. On Friday, thousands of people did just that by gathering at hundreds of events across the country to show that we won’t go back. We have the people on our side, and we’ll need to keep up that kind of energy to fight back against MAGA extremists and their radical, reactionary agenda.
Now that the wave of initial mobilizations is complete, we take care of each other, build sustained pressure, and make sure the GOP regrets this forever:
Fine and donate to an abortion fund — especially one local to you or located in a state with a “trigger law” where abortion is now illegal. People may now need to be traveling great distances to access the care they need, and we can provide resources to make that possible while we fight to correct this barbaric injustice.
Sign up to volunteer with Give No Ground. The MAGA extremist platform is out in the open: roll back our fundamental civil rights and further entrench their patriarchal, white supremacist, conservative agenda. We have to stop them this November by electing pro-choice champions who’ll do what it takes (like voting to codify abortion access, expand the Supreme Court, and more).
Give $10 to fund Give No Ground. We just went live with a new round of ads to recruit more activists for this fight; we’re spending hundreds of thousands on texts and calls in key races; we’re building out more tools and resources for the Give No Ground website; and so much more. Grassroots funding is what makes it possible.
Above all, we urge you to find your community and work together to fight for a future where the lives of pregnant people and the LGBTQ+ community are valued and protected instead of subordinated to the whims of a far-right extremist minority. We’re with you in this moment.
In solidarity, Indivisible Team
If you’re like us, the past 48 hours have been a cycle of emotions: fear, confusion, grief — rage.
Each of these are a reasonable response to the unprecedented overturning of a fundamental right which has been upheld time and again over the last 49 years. The Supreme Court isn’t just on the wrong side of history — it’s on the wrong side of the present. 80% percent of this country supports Roe.
Just who the hell are these justices representing, Michael?
In the country that already has the highest maternal mortality rate in the developed world, no paid maternity leave, no universal subsidized child care, and no living wage to help parents afford the costs of raising kids, it is no exaggeration to say: women will die because of this decision.
They want the dust to settle. They want us to think we have no recourse left. They are wrong, and we are ready to show them just what a force we are, when we rise in rage.
Furiously, Women’s March
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This month, I fully intended to write about Sierra Club California’s frustrations with the governor’s energy budget package. But recent events compel me to leave that for another day.
On Friday June 24, the U.S. The Supreme Court issued their decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, in which the court formally overruled Roe v. Wade and reversed nearly 50 years of precedent and end federal constitutional protections for abortion. You can find Sierra Club’s official statement on the decision here.
This long-awaited decision comes just one day after more than 200 people, including Sierra Club staff and volunteers (I was there!), rallied outside the California Environmental Protection Agency to pressure the state to plan for a healthy, breathable future for California communities. A future in which ALL Californians can thrive, and make the choices necessary to do so.
But unfortunately with this Supreme Court decision, many people across the country will have their futures decided for them because their constitutional rights have been struck down.
Some of you may be wondering “why does the Sierra Club care about reproductive rights?” To answer that question, I direct you to this blog post by Sierra Club’s Managing Director, Eva Hernandez-Simmons (seriously, read it). As Eva correctly points out, environmental justice is a key part of reproductive justice.
In California, we’re fortunate enough to live in a state that defends reproductive rights. Since the draft decision was released in early May, the Governor and legislature have committed to ramping up legal protection for abortion providers and increasing resources that expand access to clinics and services. Legislative leaders are also working to enshrine a right to abortion in the state constitution.
Despite knowing those protections are in place here in the Golden State, my heart aches for the millions who can’t and won’t be able to exercise their bodily autonomy. Twenty-six states across the country either have so-called ‘trigger laws’ that automatically ban abortion upon the decision, or will move quickly to ban abortion.
We can’t take the fact that we live in California for granted. We must stay vigilant and exercise our solidarity as we work to ensure that everyone has the power and freedom to make their own personal decisions. How? By working together to defend reproductive justice as we do environmental justice. By rising to the opportunity we have as Californians to model what progressive values look like and work in solidarity with other states. And by building power in our local communities to secure a future where everyone has the power and freedom to make the choices that are right for them.
Personally, while I may have been born and identify as male, my own identity will never compromise my commitment to fighting for the day where reproductive justice will be restored to all.
While Sierra Club may not be a reproductive rights organization, we will follow the lead of those who are. So if you haven’t already and are comfortable doing so, I urge you to mobilize and make your voice heard. You can find a link to a map of events here.
The overturning of Roe will open the door to further criminalization of Black people. As we continue our fight for freedom, it’s beyond necessary that we have full access to reliable abortion services for all Black people.
Here’s the thing, Michael E.: The Supreme Court has a long history of diminishing the humanity of Black people. This Roe decision is an extension of that.
When the Court makes the argument that certain rights are illegitimate because they are not explicitly named in the Constitution, they are asserting that only white male property owners’ rights are legitimate. We are clear: It is the Supreme Court that is illegitimate. It is the Court that is advancing a deeply regressive view of freedom.
We are infuriated. We are in pain. But we will not be disheartened or deterred from the fight. Here’s what we’re fighting for in response to the decision:
Expanding the Court
Impeaching illegitimate and racist justices
Ending the Filibuster
President Biden to sign an immediate executive action defending reproductive freedom
Congress to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act
They will attempt to divide us, and they’ll damn sure call us radical – but these things are not radical. They are necessary to protect and affirm Black people’s right to thrive.
There are actions we can take to support our communities immediately:
Provide a safe harbor to vulnerable people impacted by this decision
With this ruling, twenty-six states in the country have trigger laws or abortion bans that will likely go into effect or are already in effect. Our communities already struggle to survive police violence, surveillance, and criminalization from the criminal legal system – this decision will only exacerbate those enduring harms. Collectively, our communities navigate unfair targeting, sentencing, and punishment daily.
Knowing that liberation will never come from this Court, we must push forward and continue the work we’ve been doing, together.
In love and solidarity,
Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation
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June 24, 2022 Dear health justice advocate, Today, the Supreme Court announced its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which effectively ends all federal protections for abortion care. As a result, a majority of states will like restrict or fully ban abortion care. Besides robbing women of our fundamental right to autonomy and self-determination, criminalizing abortion will unleash a once-in-a-generation public health crisis. Abortion care is necessary health care, and banning it will cause unecessary suffering and death, especially for our most vulnurable patients. In states that criminalize abortion, PNHP estimates that maternal mortality will increase up to 15% overall, and up to 33% for people of color. The evidence is clear: In one study, states that enacted abortion restrictions based on gestational age saw maternal mortality increase by 38%. Yet another study found that states that enacted the most restrictive abortion laws saw their maternal mortality rates nearly double compared to states that protected abortion access. It’s no coincidence that after decades of improvement, American maternal mortality rates started going up at the same time that many states began restricting access to abortion. Today, the rate of pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. has nearly tripled compared to 30 years ago, with Black women nearly three times as likely to die from pregnancy and childbirth than whites. PNHP believes that abortion is essential health care, and should be available to all women regardless of income or location. As physicians and health justice advocates, we cannot sit on the sidelines while patients are denied essential medical services, forced to give birth, or compelled to risk their lives and health obtaining illegal abortion care. Today we must fight for state and national legislation protecting every person’s right to abortion care, including overturning the Hyde Amendment. And, we must fight even harder for a future where all health care — including reproductive care and abortion — is provided without cost or legal barriers to every single person living in the U.S. We must also support the organizations who are at the forefront of these struggles, especially those providing essential abortion care where it is needed most (I’ve provided a list of these organizations at the end of this message). Health care decisions should be made between a patient and their doctor, and nobody else. Please join me in the fight to protect the choice for all women to be able to access essential abortion care in this country. In solidarity,
Susan Rogers, M.D. President PNHP
Abortion access organizations to support: Whole Womans’ Health Alliance: A nonprofit organization committed to providing holistic reproductive care, including abortion care and advocacy to eradicate abortion stigma. WWHA believes every person deserves the compassion, respect, and dignity of being able to safely and legally end a pregnancy. DONATE HERE The Miscarriage and Abortion Hotline: A nonprofit organization where volunteer physicians, PAs, NPs, and midwives answer medical calls about self-managed abortion or miscarriage. DONATE HERE West Fund: A nonprofit organization formed to serve individuals in the West Texas area. West Fund works to make abortions accessible to individuals who need them, including paying for telemedicine abortion. DONATE HERE Plan C: A research-based educational resource for learning about how people in the U.S. can access abortion pills and safely manage their own abortions. DONATE HERE
We are furious. Today, the Supreme Court announced its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson, overruling Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Given the current composition of the court and the leaked opinion early last month, we all knew today’s decision was possible. And still, it is sickening, devastating, and enraging to witness this gutting of bodily autonomy, women’s rights, and human rights. Layidua Salazar, SFF Program Associate and former Board Chair, ACCESS Reproductive Justice, says: “For me, fighting for reproductive justice is personal, and it is central to my beliefs and to our self-determination. This is the time to show up for communities who will be disproportionally impacted by this decision and to uplift the voices of these communities – young people, low-income, BIPOC, immigrant (both documented and undocumented), and trans and gender-expansive communities. In order to create the compassionate communities, we deserve, all of us have to step up and demonstrate the path forward.” Reproductive rights are essential to racial equity and the ability for everyone to thrive. “Contrary to widely held beliefs, most people who have abortions are already parents. They are mostly women of color, and most are living in poverty,” says Dr. Gretchen Sisson, an SFF donor, sociologist, author, and activist who helped us create our Give Guide: Reproductive Health and Rights. “The freedom to determine if/when you have children, and with whom, is essential to shaping the rest of our lives.” SFF has supported reproductive rights for nearly 60 years, and we will continue to fight. Channel your anger and sadness – support nonprofits organizing communities and providing direct services at this critical moment. GIVE GUIDE: REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
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2022-06-24 When Roe fell, this is what Rep. Jim Clyburn, 3rd ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives had to say:
Dylan Wells Verified @dylanewells
Just asked Whip Clyburn about the Dobbs decision: “It’s a little anticlimactic, I think we all expected this. And I’m hopeful, you know I have to read the decision to see exactly the extent to which we can move legislatively to respond to it.”
This ain’t it, Jim.
For the second straight day, a stolen Supreme Court made us all less free. It’s as big of a threat to democracy as January 6th, and we need leaders who will act like it. Clyburn and Pelosi led us into this mess. They’re not going to lead us out of it.
Make a donation to If/When/How’s Repro Legal Defense Fund, to defend abortion seekers who are criminalized by this new decision. 100% of your donation will go immediately and directly to the Repro Legal Defense Fund. The People United hello@thepeopleunited.org
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2022-06-24 Today the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, immediately, severely, and unnecessarily stripping away the rights of millions of people.
It’s shocking, but not surprising. In fact, it’s a logical next step to decades of work that began when the Helms and Hyde amendments were passed post-Roe to deny the right to abortion to poor people, people of color, immigrants, young people, refugees, disabled people — both here in the United States and abroad.
The decision in Dobbs v. Jackson is a distressing development that should put people everywhere on notice that we must do more to defend and advance basic human rights — and luckily there are several ways you can take action right now:
We deserve better than this cruel attempt to curtail our rights. And if we truly mean it when we say we want to win without war, Michael, we must push the United States to advance policies that defend and support human rights. That includes basic access to reproductive healthcare — and that includes abortion.
For too long, U.S. policy has been dictated by an unaccountable, out of touch, largely white, largely male, elite minority — at the expense of everyday people. Make no mistake, this ruling puts the lives of millions of people in danger.
U.S. regulations like the Mexico City Policy (global gag rule), and the Helms amendment have long infringed upon the rights of millions to access reproductive healthcare and live with dignity worldwide. Today’s decision brings our domestic policy more clearly in line with an undemocratic foreign policy that prioritizes profit and power over the preferences and needs of the people, whether here or abroad.
Supporting people to make the choices that work for themselves and their communities is what winning looks like — without harm, without violence, without war.
We hope you’ll join us in this work today.
Amy, Shayna, Sara, and the Win Without War team
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Message from National NOW President Christian F. Nunes 2022-06-24 Dear Feminists, We’ve been ready for this. We knew that with the new conservative majority on the Supreme Court, abortion rights were hanging by a thread. Today, that thread—that lifeline—has been cut. The Supreme Court’s ruling endangers women and pregnant persons with low-incomes, women and pregnant persons of color, women and pregnant persons living in poverty, and women and pregnant persons from disenfranchised communities. Historically, these communities have faced barriers to reproductive health care and have experienced worse health outcomes because of systemic oppressions in the health care system. Sadly, these barriers and this racial trauma continue in our present-day experience. As clinics close and new restrictions that keep quality, affordable reproductive health care are voted into law, the burden of access is exacerbated. Dozens of states will now pass or enact the “trigger laws” already signed into law to make abortion illegal. These laws have nothing to do with women’s health and everything to do with political power, and control over women’s bodily autonomy. But this is only the beginning. Extremists who have pushed for decades to undo abortion rights have announced that they are coming after marriage equality next. And we’ve already seen how determined they are to restrict voting rights and to seize control of how elections are administered. Their attempts to seize control over constitutional rights are boundless. NOW members have always been ready to fight for women’s lives. We’ve marched, lobbied, organized and worked for feminist candidates at every level. In 2022, we must vote for women’s lives—to keep the feminist majority in the House of Representatives—and elect an abortion rights majority, abortion rights majority in the Senate. What’s more, we must flip the key governors’ races and state legislative contests that will determine where abortion rights are protected, and where they are taken away. NOW members will be active wherever grassroots grow—in our communities, through NOW’s state and local chapters, in every election at every level. Please log onto the We Won’t Go Back website to learn how you can take action in your community. In solidarity, Christian
In solidarity, Christian F. Nunes President
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2022-06-24 This morning’s Supreme Court decision is an outrageous attack on the rights of women across this country. It will destroy lives, and it will put countless women in danger.
But it is important — as your governor — I make it clear that in California we are going to protect a woman’s right to access an abortion no matter what the Supreme Court ruled.
This November, Californians will vote to enshrine that right into our state constitution. Because if we cannot trust the Supreme Court to protect the right to an abortion, we will do it ourselves.
Women WILL remain protected here.
We WILL get this passed.
So while I know today is an impossible day, if you are looking for an action you can take to protect women in California, here’s my ask:
By now, you know that the United States Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade.
Abortion instantly became, or will likely soon become, illegal or *severely* restricted in 24 states — nearly half the country!
Senator Elizabeth Warren and others in Congress are urging President Joe Biden to do everything in his power to protect access to reproductive health services.
President Biden could take these steps (among others):
Provide federal support — such as travel vouchers and child care — to those who must now travel outside of their home state for abortion care.
Use federal property and resources to provide reproductive health services in states where abortion is or becomes illegal.
Consider giving federal employees ample paid time off to access abortion care and reimbursement for related expenses.
Direct federal agencies to make information about medication abortion more accessible and increase access to the treatment.
The Supreme Court’s ruling has triggered a denial of health care to women and pregnant people across the nation. President Biden must do everything in his power to mitigate this damage and to protect access to abortion care.
Just a few hours ago, news broke that the GOP-packed Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. This devastating news means that in the coming days, at least 26 states will ban abortion, and many others will further restrict access to abortion.1
If you are outraged and heartbroken, you are not alone. Together, we can mourn, and then, when we’re ready, turn our grief and rage into fuel for the fight ahead. Millions of people across the country will feel the effects of this decision. Many will feel it today.
Right now is a time that calls for bold action. And President Biden can step up to protect abortion, too—starting by declaring a public health and national emergency around abortion and by hiring federal abortion providers and dispatching them across the country.2 All of us must come together now, in solidarity with everyone who seeks abortions, especially our siblings in the 26 states that will ban and further restrict their bodily autonomy and access to abortion.
This will impact so many of us. This will harm and criminalize people who get abortions: women, trans people, and nonbinary people. And it will disproportionately impact Black people, Indigenous people, brown people, poor people, immigrants, disabled people, and young people who have historically been marginalized and faced with structural barriers, even when abortion was legal. That’s why, as a community, we have to stick together as we continue to fight for bodily autonomy and universal health care for all.
Add your name to tell President Biden: Declare a public health and national emergency around abortion, and hire federal abortion providers to guarantee abortion access!
And overturning Roe v. Wade is just the tip of the iceberg. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas (whose wife played an active role in the January 6 insurrection), wrote a concurring opinion that Obergefell, Griswold, and Lawrence should be revisited, too. These are the rulings that protect contraception, same-sex relationships, and marriage equality for the LGBTQ+ community.3 It is so scary.
Republicans, who have won the presidential popular vote only once in the last 34 years, have engaged in a concerted effort to pack the Supreme Court with right-wing extremist judges, who have stripped us of our rights over and over again. In just the last few weeks, these extremist judges have ruled: that states are required to fund private religious schools; to strike down a gun violence prevention law in New York; that if police fail to inform us of our Miranda rights, we can’t sue them; and that border patrol agents can enter any home within 100 miles of the border with no consequences.4,5,6,7
And it’s not just the Supreme Court. The GOP’s latest all-out attacks, from reproductive freedom, to bans on trans athletes, to bans on abortion at fertilization, to bans on gender-affirming care, are all about bodily autonomy–and are fundamentally connected. And Republicans have no intention of slowing down these attacks, so we have to lean into collectivism and fight back together.
There are so many ways to take action right now. And in addition to donating to organizations doing reproductive justice work on the ground, attending protests, volunteering for and voting for progressive Democrats up and down the ballot in local and national elections, we can demand that President Biden use all of his power by declaring a public health and national emergency around abortion and hiring federal abortion providers and dispatching them across the country.
Now is the time to make sure that our elected officials receive our message loud and clear: We won’t go back.
Reclaim The Net accepts no advertising and is funded entirely by the community. If you support free speech, the eradication of cancel culture, and restoring privacy and civil liberties, please become a supporter here. Thank you. SUPPORTERSHow the US government uses data brokers to spy on citizens Location data that users of mobile devices willingly surrender to a plethora of apps that request it is ending up in some places that a majority of those users are fully unaware of.
And yet their every move can be retraced or monitored in this way, revealing their activities, inclinations, and personalities: where they live, work, what religious sites they visit, and which protests they take part in.
But rather than being confined to the apps themselves to enable their functionality – which is how the need to harvest location data is explained in the first place – this information is sold and shared, changing hands from app developers to data brokers to advertisers, and lately more and more often with US law enforcement, including the military, and spy agencies.
The “Googled” results are carefully curated by Google, and almost every other search engine, which these days give prominence to ads over information, and then further algorithmically promote or downrank sites based on a variety of criteria, some of them highly controversial.
Brave looks to fix this problem by allowing users to curate their own search results, instead of allowing the Big Tech behemoth and others to do it for them.
Brave calls the new feature “Goggles” and says that its goal is to put users in charge. According to Brave Chief of Search Josep M. Pujol, cited in a blog post on the company’s site, using Goggles is a way to “open” search ranking and filtering. Goggles allows anyone to create rules and filters that “constrain the searchable space” and can also be used to change the ordering of results. “Anyone could then choose to apply a Goggle – or extend it – to their view of Brave Search results. Essentially, Goggles will act as a re-ranking option on top of the Brave Search index,” Brave announced.
Providing the opportunity to create multiple rankings instead of a single one is the point of the exercise here, doing away with bias – including that of political nature – that is present in Google, and also in Microsoft’s Bing, etc. One example shown in the post is creating a Goggle that will return results only from bloggers; and the same can be done to filter results coming from any site or media, as well as covering any specific topic.
Goggles is still in its beta testing phase, and is used in Brave Search (included in the Brave browser, and accessible in others via search.brave.com) and then clicking the Goggles tab in the search results page.
The code for this feature is available on GitHub (Goggles themselves must be hosted on GitHub or GitLab), and Brave says that any users can write their own or use Goggles created by others. Several examples are included as demos, showing the feature’s functionality and explaining how Goggles are created.
Brave Search launched in June 2021. It started with 8.1 million searches and had 411.7 million searches in May 2022, a 5,000% growth. The company believes the search engine has been more talked about than DuckDuckGo because of the popularity of its browser. Brave Search users receive 92% of their searches directly from Brave’s search index, not Google and Bing indexes. DuckDuckGo controversially uses Bing.
“Search engines that depend too much or exclusively on Big Tech are subject to censorship, biases, and editorial decisions,” explains Brave in the blog post.
“Brave Search is committed to openness in search. It does not manipulate its algorithm to bias, filter, or down-rank results (unless it’s compelled by law to do so).”
The company has also introduced some features to customize searches. For instance, it introduced Discussions in April. The feature compiles results from forums. Reclaim The Net accepts no advertising and is funded entirely by the community. If you support free speech, the eradication of cancel culture and restoring privacy and civil liberties, please become a supporter here.MORE CENSORSHIP DEMANDSNew York Times complains that Big Tech may censor less “election misinformation” during the 2022 midtermsThe New York Times isn’t happy that Meta and Twitter may be scaling back their censorship of “election misinformation” during the 2022 US midterm elections.
Before the 2020 US presidential election, Big Tech platforms deployed unprecedented levels of censorship by censoring then-President Donald Trump numeroustimes, banning popular pro-Trump groups, and more. Post-election, this mass censorship continued with President Trump being permanently banned by all the majortechplatforms, discussions of “widespread fraud or errors” changing the 2020 US presidential election outcome being banned, free speech platform Parler (which many users had flocked to in an attempt to escape Big Tech’s censorship) being deplatformed by the tech giants, and more.
The mainstream media and Big Tech used the vague, subjective term “election misinformation” to justify this silencing of a sitting US President and the mass censorship of election-related speech.
But according to The New York Times, Meta’s election team, which censors election misinformation and had more than 300 people in 2020, has now been slashed to around 60 people. Additionally, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg met with the team regularly in 2020 but now the team meets with Meta’s President of Global Affairs, Nick Clegg instead of Zuckerberg.
And civil rights groups complained to The New York Times that Zuckerberg no longer discusses efforts to thwart election misinformation with them like he did in 2020.
“I’m concerned,” President of the NAACP Derrick Johnson told The Times. “It appears to be out of sight, out of mind.”
In its article, The New York Times claims that this potential reduction in censorship at Meta “could have far-reaching consequences as faith in the U.S. electoral system reaches a brittle point” and laments that dozens of political candidates who are running for election in 2022 and believe that President Trump was robbed of the 2020 election are reaching American voters through social media platforms.
The Times also takes issue with the viral Dinesh D’Souza documentary “2000 Mules” reportedly getting more than 430,000 interactions Facebook and Instagram. These 430,000 interactions represent a fraction of the total views and interactions 2000 Mules has received on the alternative free speech platforms Rumble and Locals which hosted and provided censorship protection to the documentary. However, The Times points to these interactions as an example of election misinformation being “rampant online.”
While The New York Times fears that users and political candidates could be allowed to speak more freely about elections on Big Tech platforms in the run-up to the 2022 midterms, Meta has responded by insisting that there will still be lots of censorship.
Meta spokesman Tom Reynolds disputed The Times’ assertion that 60 people focused on election integrity and said hundreds of people across more than 40 teams focus on election work. He added that with each election, Meta is “building teams and technologies and developing partnerships to take down manipulation campaigns, limit the spread of misinformation and maintain industry-leading transparency around political ads and pages.”
Twitter spokesman Trenton Kennedy also insisted that the company was continuing its efforts to “protect the integrity of election conversation” and noted that Twitter has labeled the accounts of political candidates for the midterms. BRAZIL IS CHALLENGING FREE SPEECHTwitter complies with order to ban Brazil’s Workers’ Cause PartyTwitter on Wednesday blocked the account of Brazil’s PCO (“Workers’ Cause Party”), implementing the decision of the country’s Supreme Federal Court (TSE) Justice Alexandre de Moraes issued earlier this June.
The same order to censor PCO has been given to Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, Telegram, and YouTube. Thus far, only Twitter and TikTok complied, according to the Brazilian press.
The party has been accused of taking part in spreading “fake news,” but PCO leader Rui Costa Pimenta rejected this, and accused the current authorities of behaving worse than military dictatorships have done in the past in this South American country.
Some of the posts that earned the party the ire of the Supreme Court referred to Moraes as having fervor for dictatorship, being “a skinhead in a toga,” and, “a fascist toucan.” In addition, PCO called for the Court to be dissolved and accused the Superior Electoral Court of preparing to rig the general election in case former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva wins. Brazilians will head to the polls this October.
Moraes, meanwhile, is in charge of the Court’s battle against “fake news” and reporting about entities that allegedly engage in the practice, and these reports have so far mostly targeted allies of President Jair Bolsonaro’s government. Moraes is a fierce critic of Bolsonaro and is considered his political rival.
But after being called “a skinhead in a toga” and “a fascist toucan,” the jurist wrote in his order that he saw indications PCO was spreading “criminal statements” using the party infrastructure, as well as being behind “widespread repeated attacks on democratic institutions.”
According to Pimenta, who was posting on Twitter from his own account, censorship used to be applied to individual news articles, but these days access to entire media sites is being blocked.
He also warned that freedom of speech in Brazil is increasingly under attack. It is unclear if PCO’s Twitter account is blocked only in Brazil or globally. Reports out of this country say that TikTok, although accepting the decision made by Moraes, sent a protest note to the Supreme Court, arguing that it PCO is a legal political party and that blocking it “severely violates constitutional guarantees of freedom of expression and access to information.” IRONICEven Meta pushes back against the UK’s online surveillance and censorship billIn a submission published Wednesday, Facebook, and WhatsApp owner Meta warned that the UK Online Safety Bill “risks people’s private messages being constantly surveilled and censored.”
Meta noted that the draft bill proposes that social media companies and search engines should shield users from “legal but harmful content” on their user-to-user services. The Big Tech company argued that the definition does not differentiate platforms from messaging services, and would mean “scanning all private messaging.”
We obtained a copy of Meta’s statements here. Meta has already been the target of criticism for its censorship policies and the UK bill would force even more.
A spokesperson for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport, in a statement, focused only on the child abuse aspects, ignoring other concerns and said: “Tech firms have failed to tackle child abuse and end-to-end encryption could blind them to it on their sites while hampering efforts to catch the perpetrators. As a last resort, Ofcom has the power to make private messaging apps use technology to identify child sexual abuse material – this can only be used when proportionate and with strict legal privacy safeguards in place.”
Meta’s submission is the latest in a long list of complaints about the draft bill that was first published in March.
Twitter expressed concerns that the bill will hurt freedom of expression. The microblogging platform also noted that the bill’s journalism exemption could be exploited by “bad faith actors.”
Google’s parent company Alphabet warned that the bill promotes “automated general monitoring, and over-removal, of content.” PRIVACY INVASIONAdelaide considers major facial recognition CCTV systemEven though collection and use of biometric data of citizens including through facial recognition is largely unregulated and has increasingly been raising privacy alarms in Australia, law enforcement in one of its states, South Australia, plans to deploy precisely this technology.
Current privacy laws are viewed by experts as insufficient to properly cover this topic. For this reason, large retailers are among those using facial recognition without even needing to inform those subjected to this type of monitoring.
And the police in Adelaide does not appear to share any of the concerns as it prepares to receive funding for a public 360-degree CCTV camera system with facial and number plate recognition capabilities.
The City Council was last year opposed this, asking the police to delay the project until proper legal safeguards have been put in place.
Now Councilor Phil Martin is the most vocal in pointing out that systems that carry with them such privacy concerns should only be used with clear rules in place.
ABC News is reporting about this, noting that other members of the community are also against the plan, including because identification accuracy based on AI-processed biometrics drops when it comes to persons with darker skin.
However, the police seem determined to go ahead with the scheme regardless.
Martin’s position was cited by a statement issued by Monash University, which will on June 27 organize a public debate on facial recognition that will bring together academics, and government and industry representatives, where the school’s main argument is that the field needs consistent regulation.
Adelaide City Council should vote on the proposal to fund the new surveillance system only a day later. If approved, it will cost city $2.1 million. Meanwhile, Adelaide Deputy Mayor Arman Abrahimzadeh is quoted as saying that the city is “comfortable” funding CCTV camera system upgrade as something necessary for public safety.
Abrahimzadeh also revealed that Adelaide asked the South Australia Police to provide assurances they will “not turn on” the new system until proper legislation is there to regulate its use.
But it appears no such assurance has yet arrived, or is about to. “There is no legislative restriction on the use of facial recognition technology in South Australia for investigations,” the the state’s police told ABC News, adding:
“Should a facial recognition capability be available, investigators will consider the seriousness of the matter and evidentiary value when determining if it is appropriate to use the technology.” FIRST OF ITS KINDUS House subcommittee passes online privacy billA House Energy and Commerce subcommittee has passed a bipartisan bill addressing online privacy. The bill aims at limiting social media companies’ collection of personal data.
The legislation would require tech companies to only collect the personal data that is required to provide their services. Sensitive information like Social Security numbers would also be required to have extra security when being stored and processed.
We obtained a copy of the draft bill for you here.
The subcommittee passed the bill and will now proceed to the full committee for review. The bill was sponsored by Democrat Reps. Jan Schakowsky and Frank Pallone and Republican Reps. Gus Bilirakis and McMorris Rodgers. “Today’s markup is another milestone towards our ultimate goal of enacting meaningful national privacy legislation,” said Pallone.
Previous efforts to pass online privacy laws have been unsuccessful due to lobbying from tech companies, which insist that the cost of their free services is data collection for advertising.
There is also the issue of whether federal laws would fall short of state laws, which are often stronger. Additionally, there is debate on whether users would be empowered to sue companies for privacy violations. Reclaim The Net exists because of readers like you. Keep us going and become a supporter.
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The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that guarantees equal legal rights for all American citizens, without regard to sex or gender.
The ERA was passed by Congress with well over the required 2/3 majority vote and sent to the states in 1972. Virginia became the 38th – and last needed – state to meet the three-quarter state ratification requirement in 2020. The ERA has satisfied all requirements to be added to the Constitution as the 28th Amendment.
And still, it has yet to be added to our Constitution. Recognizing the ERA as the 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution would influence the legal tone and decisions regarding gender equal rights, protecting gender equality in discrimination cases brought forth over time. The ERA is needed to constitutionally ensure that the foundations and freedoms of our democracy apply equally to all genders. In just 24 words, it reads: “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.”
On March 17, 2021, with bipartisan support, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass H.J. Res 17, removing a time limit on the ERA ratification process. Now, it is up to the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Schumer has yet to schedule a vote on SJ Res 1 – the Senate version of the resolution passed in the House.
The arbitrary time limit in the amendment’s introductory clause remains an obstacle standing in the way of recognizing gender equality in the Constitution, and the Senate can vote to remove this obstruction.
Join us in demanding Leader Schumer stop holding up progress and schedule a vote on the resolution. The ERA has met the requirements for becoming the 28th Amendment, now it’s time to officially add it to the Constitution.
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