Monthly Archives

May 2022

The top twenty worries new mums have about returning to work

by Narges Mohammadi May 31, 2022

When a new mum prepares to return to the workplace there is plenty to consider and for many it can seem overwhelming, as a new study has suggested. It takes five months for new mums to settle back into the workplace after having a baby, a study has found

A poll of 1,000 working mothers who have had a child in the past five years found a fifth dreaded the idea of having to go back to work over fears they had ‘forgotten what to do’. While 23 per cent worried about the changes that had happened within their job role or company during their maternity leave

Others had worries about the childcare juggling act and having to leave their child with someone else. But even when they did get back to the workplace, it took the average mum more than six months to get used to the commute

As many as four in 10 also felt they had to ‘prove’ themselves to their colleagues and bosses, with 34 per cent worried they were no longer good enough. Despite this, 55 per cent said their company made them feel welcome upon their return and 53 per cent felt their change in priorities were acknowledged and accepted

The findings come as Maltesers launches a new social media campaign, #TheMaternityReturn, looking at the importance of support when returning to the workplace after maternity leave. Leah Dyckes, from Maltesers, said: “There is no single experience for women going back to work after becoming a new mum

“While many women relish the return to work and welcome the variety it brings to new family life, it can also be overwhelming and a real struggle to make it work. “For some, the result can even be worsening mental health

The study also found nearly four in 10 felt nervous before going back to work while a third were overwhelmed and self-conscious. For 48 per cent, the length of time it took them to settle back in came as a surprise as it was longer than expected

Despite a quarter of mums feeling organized and a further quarter happy, the top emotions of working mums when returning to their day job were found to be tired (30 per cent), overwhelmed (28 per cent) and guilty (26 per cent)

The study, conducted by OnePoll, also revealed 72 per cent stayed in touch with office peers while on maternity leave, with 76 per cent believing this helped them settle back in quicker

Earning money (50 per cent), being able to go to the toilet in peace (35 per cent) and seeing colleagues again (34 per cent) were the top things mums most looked forward to about going back to work

Of those with more than one child, 71 per cent felt it was more difficult going back the first time round because it was something they hadn’t experienced before. And 51 per cent admitted they waited longer than expected to have another child due to their previous experience of returning to their job

Leah Dyckes added: “Our #TheMaternityReturn campaign [www.maltesers.co.uk/maternity-return] will aim to give a platform to working mums to share the ups, the downs, the difficulties, and challenges of returning to work

“This is alongside urging the colleagues, friends and family of mothers to do what they can do to support the mums in their lives as they return to work – all because we know that it’s one mother of a job

Top 20 worries mums have when returning back to work

Leaving their baby/child with someone else

Juggling childcare

Having to take time off work when their baby/ child is ill

Having to be more organized to get everything ready for work/ nursery/ school

Dealing with changes that happened with the job/ company while they were on maternity leave

Paying for childcare

Fitting back into the job and knowing the role

Fitting back into the team when their life had changed so much

Forgetting what to do

Feeling like they are still just as competent now as they were before the baby

Change in finances when going part-time

Not being up to date with the changes in the industry

Colleagues not understanding the pressures of having a child

Not being able to work late/come in early when everyone else does

Nursery/childminder calling during work

Dealing with the physical effects of having had a child when returning to the workplace e.g. potential incontinence, recovering from C-sections

Having to navigate conversations around not being able to socialize as much

That colleagues will see them in a different light

Not wanting to socialize as much as everyone else

Not understanding the in-jokes after having time away

May 31, 2022 0 comment

Health North America

If I’d lived in a post-Roe world, my son might not be here, says a university professor

by Narges Mohammadi May 31, 2022

According to JahanBanou, having in mind all the protests that are happening in this country regarding abortion, a female university decides to share her maternal experience on social media. Lets see what her story is

Since the moment of his birth, my 5-year-old son has been a near unalloyed joy, but the long journey to that moment was anything but joyous. My husband and I started trying for a child in 2013, and I quickly became pregnant. At 10 weeks, I had an unexplained miscarriage. I was rushed to the emergency room where I ultimately had a dilation and curettage, or D&C, to clear my womb of the self-aborted pregnancy

It took us over a year of trying before I became pregnant again. This time, I made it to the sonogram at the end of my first trimester, when doctors told us our baby had a condition that meant that he would likely die in utero. If he survived, he would only live for at most a few years, in a life spent in and out of the hospital. Ultimately, after extended soul-searching, I decided to abort the pregnancy, for the sake of both my existing family and my unborn son, a heart-wrenching decision I have written about elsewhere

In the painful aftermath of these two losses, we turned toward in vitro fertilization, in the hopes that IVF would finally give us the baby we both longed for. We were extremely fortunate that I became pregnant following our first IVF attempt

It is widely expected that the Supreme Court will, in its anticipated decision in a case of a Mississippi abortion-restriction law, overturn the protection of abortion rights codified in Roe v. Wade. In a post-Roe world, it is possible that each of these steps on my parenting journey could be rendered illegal or practically prohibited in many states across the South and Midwest

May 31, 2022 0 comment

Culture Europe

Cannes Film Festival red carpet protest highlights murders of women

by Narges Mohammadi May 31, 2022

According to JahanBanou, a group of female protesters has staged a protest on the Cannes Film Festival red carpet, unfurling a banner to highlight violence against women

The group set off smoke flares and held their fists in the air as they carried the banner, showing the names of 129 women they say have been murdered in France since the last Cannes festival

It came two days after another red-carpet protest against sexual violence. At the premiere of Three Thousand Years of Longing on Friday, a woman took off her clothes to reveal the message “stop raping us” on her body next to the colors of the Ukraine flag, with red paint on her underwear

The protests have grabbed headlines at the festival, which hosts some of the world’s leading filmmakers and actors. This year’s event has seen screenings of films including Tom Cruise’s Top Gun sequel and Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Presley biopic

It is very interesting how these festivals have recently turned out to be a place of protest and appeal. Cannes Film Festival is absolutely important to the hosts and guests, however, we are witnessing in a country that claims women have freedom and safety; women come out in front of all these cameras and paparazzi shout their demands

Last year, at Met Gala Fashion show, women would attend the show with outfits that had political quotes on them that each was demanding something

May 31, 2022 0 comment

North America Society

‘No idea this was goodbye’: Texas mothers grieve on social media

by Narges Mohammadi May 31, 2022

Alexandria Aniyah Rubio, a fourth grader at Robb Elementary, was beaming with pride on Tuesday in a family photo posted on Facebook by her mother showing the girl holding an “A” Honor Roll certificate she earned for excellent school grades

Hours after the photo was taken, a gunman burst into Alexandria’s classroom and killed her, 18 other children and two teachers in the deadliest U.S. school shooting in nearly a decade

“We told her we loved her and would pick her up after school,” said Alexandria’s mother Kimberly Mata-RuMata-Rubio was one of many who shared memories of their murdered relatives and friends on social media. The posts were heart-breaking to read

“My baby you didn’t deserve this,” Veronica Luevanos, the mother of fourth grader Jailah Silguero, wrote on Facebook on Wednesday. The post also mourned the girl’s classmates, teachers and cousin Jayce Carmelo Luevanos, who also were killed in the shooting

When thinking back on her deceased sister Tess Mata, Faith Mata said she mostly remembers the fun times they had together

“Sissy I miss you so much,” Faith wrote on Facebook. “I just want to hold you and tell you how pretty you are, I want to take you outside and practice softball, I want to go on one last family vacation, I want to hear your contagious laugh, and I want you to hear me tell you how much I love you

Alexandria Aniyah Rubio, one of the victims of the mass shooting Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, is seen in this undated photo obtained from social media. Courtesy of Alexandria Aniyah Rubio’s Family/via REUTERS

The Texas rampage was the deadliest school shooting since December 2012 when a gunman killed 26 people, including 20 children, at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut

Uvalde, deep in the Texas Hill Country region about 80 miles (130 km) west of San Antonio, has about 16,000 residents, nearly 80% of them Hispanic or Latino, according to U.S. Census data. Like Newtown, it is a close-knit community of strong family connections and friendships

May 31, 2022 1 comment

Europe Politics

How can women get equality? Strike

by Narges Mohammadi May 31, 2022

The domestic burden – heavier in lockdown – falls mainly on female shoulders, yet Iceland’s housewives showed change is possible

On 24 October 1975, 75,000 women in Iceland left their jobs, children and homes and took to the streets for a general strike that was billed “Women’s Day Off”. In Reykjavik, 30,000 women marched up the Laugavegur (wash road), as a women’s brass band played the marching tune from Shoulder to Shoulder, a British TV series about the suffragettes which had recently aired in this small Nordic nation. Flyers fluttered against clear autumn skies: “We march because it is commonly said about a housewife: ‘She is not working, she is just keeping house’,” they read. “We march because the work experience of a housewife is not considered of any value in the labour market

For Icelandic men, this day became known as the “Long Friday”. With no women to staff desks and tills, banks, factories and many shops were forced to close, as were schools and nurseries – leaving many fathers with no choice but to take their children to work. There were reports of men arming themselves with sweets and colouring crayons to entertain the swarms of children in their workplaces, or bribing older children to look after their siblings. Sausages (easy to cook, of course, and a hit with children the world over) were in such demand that shops sold out; children could be heard giggling in the background while male newsreaders reported the day’s events on the radio

Many of the greatest successes of feminism have come in moments when boots were on the ground; and our bodies elsewhere to the posts ascribed to women by patriarchal capitalism. In the UK, public reaction to the sexual violence meted out against the 300 women who marched to parliament demanding women’s suffrage on 18 November 1910, Black Friday, was instrumental in gaining the vote for women. The 1968 strike by Ford’s women sewing machinists at Dagenham, which was followed by 1970 strikes by women clothing workers in Leeds, were landmark labour-relations dispute that triggered the passing of the Equal Pay Act 1970

Yet domestic labour has always been a tricky injustice to protest against. It takes place in the privacy of the home, making it difficult for women to see each other doing this work and to collectively acknowledge that men do not share equally in its burden (and they don’t: the average British woman still contributes 60% more washing, wiping and childcare a week than the average British man, even as the pandemic has increased this work to around nine hours per day). And there can also be dire consequences if we withdraw this labour: children uncared for and vulnerable relatives unfed

Striking female machinists from the Ford plant in Dagenham attend a women’s conference on equal rights in industry at Friends House, Euston, 28th June 1968

“A women’s strike is impossible; that is why it is necessary,” claims Women’s Strike Assembly (WSA), an activist alliance that, to mark last week’s International Women’s Day, called for a series of banner memorials to be erected around the UK to declare why #westrike as women (or, just as importantly, why we can’t). In a manifesto published in November, WSA wrote: “We strike because we are tired of our labour being taken for granted. We strike because we now have to do a triple shift: our paid work, our unpaid domestic labour and educating our children during the pandemic

In Liverpool, Bristol and Edinburgh women gathered, last Monday, in socially distanced clusters toting their banner memorials. “#we strike because we are tired. Very, very tired,” a banner in Liverpool read and a memorial painted by Bristol Sisterhood stated, simply: “Fuck macho bullshit, women on fire.” Many of the social media protests, however, indicated why last Monday saw no wholesale abandonment of women’s posts. “I am a freelancer and I would not get paid (or lose my client!). But I’m striking with my compañeras in mind and spirit,” one IWD banner read, and another: “I cannot strike but I lit a candle in solidarity

Recent years have seen a flowering of strikes against gendered labour in Spain and South America. In 2018, six million women joined Spain’s 2018 “Día Sin Mujeres’ (day without women), including Madrid’s Manuela Carmina and actress Penelope Cruz, as “feminist men in solidarity” staffed a network of collective nurseries. Old-fashioned mother’s aprons, the symbol of the strikes, were stitched in solidarity workshops and strung from balconies. But, in Britain, women’s general labour strikes have been conspicuously absent

Selma James, the cofounder of 70s Marxist activist project Wages for Housework, has a theory to account for this lack. She points out that as the power of unions dwindles, the climate in Anglo-Saxon countries is less hospitable to gestures of withdrawn labour, even as feminist identity marches gain broader support. Without union protection, British and north American women who strike from paid work risk losing their jobs; to the single mum on the breadline in a pandemic, strikes, in this context, seem the preserve of privileged white feminists

For all this, calling political attention to the pandemic’s third shift is an urgent project. Only 36% of British women have been able to continue working full time alongside their caring responsibilities during the pandemic, compared to 66% of men, and mothers are more likely to have quit or lost their job. As the pandemic recedes over a nation of shattered women, there will be opportunities for direct action. Women’s March, Pregnant Then Screwed and Women’s Strike Assembly, among others, are calling for protests and marches to highlight the structural sexism that’s left women bearing the brunt of reproductive labour during this year of crisis

James, in the meantime, advocates a daily constellation of “small resistances”: banging pots and pans at your window; stringing up a banner and apron; radically lowering domestic standards

Forty-five years after the Women’s Day Off, Iceland has ranked top in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report – an index that examines educational opportunities, life expectancy, pay equity and the average time spent on housework – in 13 of the past 16 years. Yes, it’s impossible for many women to strike; but can we afford not to

May 31, 2022 0 comment

Health North America

Hugs help women face stress, a study says

by Narges Mohammadi May 31, 2022

You have a big test, a difficult conversation, or a stressful day ahead — how much of a difference could a hug from your partner make on your state of mind

A hug can make a big difference for women, according to a new study. Unfortunately, the effect is not as powerful when it comes to men

Researchers analyzed how 76 people responded to stress after a hug from a romantic partner in a study published Wednesday in the journal PLOS One. Women who got to hug their significant other showed a decrease in the production of cortisol — a stress hormone — compared with those who did not

Cortisol can have an impact on memory recall, which could make the stressful task ahead even more difficult, said senior study author Julian Packheiser, a postdoctoral researcher with the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience .Men didn’t seem to get that same perk, according to the study

The study had a small sample size, but it’s expertly done and adds to a solid body of science, said Kory Floyd, professor of communication at The University of Arizona. Floyd was not involved in the study. It’s no surprise that touch helps with the body’s regulation, Packheiser said

Affection with someone you love releases a neurotransmitter called oxytocin often called the “love hormone,” which reduces cortisol levels. This response, paired with social support, buffers against stress, according to the study

And other studies have looked at the benefits of longer contact, like a massage, on physical stress responses from the endocrine system, which regulates the release of hormones, and the sympathetic nervous system, which drives the body’s quick “fight-or-flight” response to stressful situations. But this research offers scientific evidence of a more immediately gratifying option

A massage is not always feasible. “A hug on the other hand is quickly applied and can thus help in buffering against future stressors,” he wrote in an email

Now that some of the restrictions of the pandemic have lifted in much of the world, it’s helpful to know that we have another tool at the ready to help defend against the stressors of the world, he added. Why don’t men see the same cortisol decrease? It’s hard to say, researchers acknowledged

It could be a social factor, where many of the men might not have felt as good about the hugs because they are societally perceived as unusual or awkward for men, Packheiser said. It could also have to do with the difference in touch receptors in men’s and women’s biology, he added

The result difference was unexpected and is not necessarily the final word on the matter, he said

Just because we did not find the effect in men, (doesn’t mean) that it is not there, Packheiser wrote in an email. The effect could simply be smaller and was just undetected

Protecting with affection

“A simple advice would be to hug your partner, relatives or friends if you know that they are confronted with stressful situations soon,” Packheiser said. If they want the hug, of course

This most recent study builds on the knowledge that has already existed in the field pointing to how protective affection from a loved one is against the negative effects of stress on the body, Floyd said

Another study in 2018 showed that hugs after a conflict or negative event helped people feel better. And good physical contact is known to soothe the nervous system, said Lisa Damour, an Ohio-based clinical psychologist specializing in the development of teenage girls

But affection is not one-size-fits-all

“It’s important to remember that there is individual variation in how people respond to hugging,” Floyd said. “For some, a hug is a welcome expression of warmth that can alleviate stress, reduce pain, and promote intimacy. For others, hugging feels invasive or unnatural and can even elevate stress, rather than alleviate it

Romantic partners often have a good sense of how their loved ones feel about physical affection, but the best hugs are ones that are offered with the recipient’s feelings in mind, Damour said. Make sure you check in with what your partner needs rather than assume they need an embrace

May 31, 2022 0 comment

Europe Health

I might live rurally, but the last thing I wants is to feel is disconnected

by Narges Mohammadi May 31, 2022

Having high-speed internet means our columnist can still stay in touch with her old life

Let’s read the story of Katie, an English woman who decides to live rurally but still wants connection with the 21st century technology

Once, people moved to the countryside to escape. Wild cliffs, wide valleys and mountains were places you went to lose yourself. People ran to the hills to be isolated. I suppose that’s why I first came to the countryside. It seemed like a way to free myself from everything and everyone (not to mention a marriage). But if I came to the countryside harboring fantasies of living alone on a cliff, now that I’ve actually settled here it turns out the last thing I want is to be isolated. What’s the point in having all these nice feature fireplaces and views if I can’t share my #cottagecore on Instagram

Country life was perhaps once synonymous with living off-grid, a hippy idyll for people who wanted to opt out of the system. But for my generation of digital natives, living in nature doesn’t mean dropping out. It can be quite the opposite. For many of us, leaving the city isn’t a way to shun work but to focus on it, as US tech entrepreneurs in their ranches suggest

I am part of a generation who entered the workforce when remote working was already the norm. We were used to freelancing from our beds in our PJs, running a remote office from our homes using Slack, Teams and Zoom long before the pandemic made such platforms widespread

Many of the people who come to stay with me in Somerset to help do up my cottage – people I found on the Workaway website where travelers exchange labor for accommodation – are subsidizing their journeys by working online, and were doing so long before Covid19 appeared. Those staying in my caravan have so far included a woman working in online book marketing, a freelance illustrator and a man trading cryptocurrencies

The internet hasn’t just revolutionized the workplace but changed every aspect of our lives, and this has never been so apparent in the country. Here, being able to access high-speed internet means, in some ways, my life still resembles the one I left behind in the city

I still go on dates via Tinder. Even if I discovered at Land’s End there were so few local matches I could “complete” it. I still sell my old clothes on eBay, although now I have to drive to the Post Office awkwardly handing over my packages to the same postman every time who remarks on what I’m doing. I still make friends through Instagram and enemies through Twitter. As I write this column my flat-mates are watching Netflix, live-streaming the Johnny Depp trial, and flicking through Hinge

A friend who used to sometimes write a weekend round-up for a news desk, who lives in a rural location, likes to describe the mad morning drive he used to take, as the sun was rising, to get the papers from a newsagent in the nearest village, miles away. Now, I read the latest headlines at the same time as everyone else, on my phone in bed, while the cows move around the fields next to me

I find that some social media is used even more enthusiastically here in the countryside than in cities: Local Facebook groups are a hive of gossip and fights. And apps such as Next Door are full of advice on where to find a plumber or someone to drain your well. Online communities are meeting points where people go to share veg box delivery information and the pub’s opening hours

Now decent phone reception and high-speed internet are prerequisites to country life. If only the real world had caught up. I’m lucky where I live. After an initial hump with BT, I got onto my Wi-Fi network and was delighted to find it runs quicker than my internet connection in London ever did, where I was competing with thousands of other networks. I may live down an unmarked dirt track, surrounded by cows, but I’ve never been more connected

Some rural areas are less fortunate. According to Ofcom there are currently more than 600,000 properties in the UK that are unable to access reliable broadband service from either fixed or fixed wireless networks. As part of its levelling-up ambitions, the Government has pledged £22 million to make the country better connected

The UK Gigabit Voucher scheme, introduced in 2018, entitles eligible rural homes to a £1,500 voucher to upgrade their network – though in some remote areas the internet’s so awful this won’t even touch the sides of what it would cost to actually upgrade to a decent signal

One homeowner in Buxton, Derbyshire, was quoted £40,000 by BT to improve his internet connection. BT got me online but I hadn’t accounted for the other Wi-Fi issues I’d face. I didn’t think about the fact that the half-meter thick walls of my ancient cottage would block the signal from travelling from one side of the house to the other. Or the fact that I’d have an Argentinian staying in my caravan trading Bitcoin who needed a fast connection

Still, I did find a solution. Orbi Mesh routers are big white boxes I plug around my house, which do something miraculous so now the internet works in all corners of the cottage, right across the garden and even in the caravan. Which is how right now my flat-mates are watching rugby and chatting on Facebook in the house while the Argentinian is in the caravan checking his investments online, and I have Taylor Swift blaring from YouTube while I upload shots of my pink kitchen to Instagram, where people in America, London and Cornwall reply to tell me what they think

The people I know who’ve chosen to live rurally aren’t necessarily trying to escape. They don’t want to avoid modern life, many of us are just trying to find another way to be part of it. I might be living in an ancient cottage but I don’t actually want to live in the 17th century

May 31, 2022 0 comment

North America Politics

Abortion Chaos in the cradle of Democracy©

by Narges Mohammadi May 30, 2022

For decades or it is better if we say for centuries “abortion” has always been an important matter of political disputes and big legislation challenges; however, going back in time leaders and then politicians didn’t outlaw abortion in America until the mid-1800s

At current, among the ones who are fighting over this issue, there are two groups of people. We have “Pro-choice” who support women’s right to choose and decide for their bodies, and we also have “Pro-life” who support the ban on abortion; both of these groups have their fair share of supporters as well

The Rise of Laws Banning Abortion in the U.S

Starting around the time of the Civil War, a coalition of male doctors — with the support of the Catholic Church and others who wanted to control women’s bodies — led a movement to push state governments to outlaw abortion across the board. The male-dominated medical profession wanted to take authority from the female-dominated profession of midwives, including the authority to provide abortion. Let’s go through a short timeline of the status of abortion throughout American history

The formation of the American Medical Association in 1847

An association where its members believed they should have the power to decide when an abortion could be legally performed

The 1880s: Criminalization and Vilification

By 1880, all states had laws to restrict abortion — with exceptions in some states if a doctor said the abortion was needed to save the life or health of the patient, or for therapeutic reasons. As abortion became criminalized, the stigma surrounding it grew

Abortion Bans Nationwide

By 1910, abortion was not only restricted but outright illegal at every stage of pregnancy in every state in the country. These abortion bans had some exceptions in instances to save the patient’s life — a decision that only doctors, 95% of whom were men, had the power to make

1964: Association for the Study of Abortion (ASA)

In 1964, abortion law reform activists registered their first national group: the Association for the Study of Abortion (ASA). Planned Parenthood joined doctors and laypeople leading the ASA in advocating for abortion law reforms and for studies that would advance abortion procedure safety

1969 NARAL Established in

The National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws (NARAL) was established in Chicago at the First National Conference on Abortion Laws. It was the first national group created solely to campaign for the legalization of abortion, marking the start of direct action to repeal abortion bans

The late 1960s and early 1970s: Abortion Reform

By the late 1960s, a nationwide effort was underway to reform abortion laws in nearly every state

Abortion legalized in New York in 1970

In 1970, New York was the first state that legalized abortion

1973, Roe v. Wade

In a landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the due process clause of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution protects the right to abortion. Roe v. Wade protected the right to abortion in all 50 states, making abortion services safer and more accessible throughout the country

Roe v. Wade, (1973), was a verdict of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protects a pregnant woman’s liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction. The decision struck down many U.S. federal and state abortion laws. Roe fueled an ongoing abortion debate in the United States about whether, or to what extent, abortion should be legal, who should decide the legality of abortion and the role of moral and religious views in the political sphere. It also shaped debate concerning which methods the Supreme Court should use in constitutional adjudication.

The decision involved the case of Norma McCorvey—known by the legal pseudonym “Jane Roe”—who in 1969 became pregnant with her third child. McCorvey wanted an abortion but lived in Texas, where abortion was illegal except when necessary to save the mother’s life. Her attorneys, Sarah Weddington and Linda Coffee filed a lawsuit on her behalf in U.S. federal court against her local district attorney, Henry Wade, alleging that Texas’s abortion laws were unconstitutional. A three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas heard the case and ruled in her favor. Yet the District Court ruled against two others who were also represented by Weddington and Coffee alongside McCorvey. Weddington and Coffee appealed their partial loss to the U.S. Supreme Court, while at the same time Wade cross-appealed his partial loss to the Supreme Court

In January 1973, the Supreme Court issued a 7–2 decision in McCorvey’s favor ruling that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides a “right to privacy” that protects a pregnant woman’s right to choose whether to have an abortion

The Court resolved this balancing test by tying state regulation of abortion to the three trimesters of pregnancy: during the first trimester, governments could not prohibit abortions at all; during the second trimester, governments could require reasonable health regulations; during the third trimester, abortions could be prohibited entirely so long as the laws contained exceptions for cases when they were necessary to save the life or health of the mother

The Court classified the right to choose to have an abortion as “fundamental”, which required courts to evaluate challenged abortion laws under the “strict scrutiny” standard, which is the highest level of judicial review in the United States

Now, on May 2, 2022, Politico news agency obtained a leaked initial draft majority opinion penned by Justice Samuel Alito indicating that the Supreme Court is prepared to overturn Roe and Casey in a pending final decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, expected to be issued by June 2022. A press release from Chief Justice John Roberts the following day confirmed the authenticity of the leaked document, but stated that the draft “does not represent a decision by the Court or the final position of any member on the issues in the case

Research and studies show that from 2000 until now the opposition to abortion legalization has risen. As was mentioned above, according to “Roe.v.Wade” any woman has access to abortion within the first trimester, and then it gets limited in the second 3 months of pregnancy, any given way it is considered a constitutional right of an American woman. So by overturning this case, abortion will exit from being a constitutional and guaranteed right to first being banned in 22 states and then giving the choice of legalizing it to each state

Coming into politics, abortion has always been a matter of gaining more public support in elections. The American Democrats support “Abortion” and the Republicans oppose it. Furthermore, on May the 11^th the “Roe.v.Wade” decision was taken to the U.S. Senate and was voted against. This plan had previously been accepted in the U.S. Congress, however, the Democrats had failed to gain 60 votes out of 100 in favor of this deal. Since this, protests have been going on throughout America non-stop in appealing this decision and demanding a reconsideration for this issue

Not forget to mention that despite all these protests happening, on the 26^th of May the governor of Oklahoma state signed into law the strictest abortion ban in the US, making his state the first to in effect end all access to the procedure. The law prohibits abortions with exceptions to save the life of a woman or if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest reported to law enforcement. The law does not apply to the use of morning-after pills such as Plan B or any type of contraception

May 30, 2022 0 comment

Australia and Oceania Politics

Australian Liberal Party causes problems for female politicians

by Narges Mohammadi May 26, 2022

A former Liberal staffer who has publicly criticized the party for its treatment of women is considering nominating for pre-selection for the by-election in the South Australian state seat of Bragg, spurred on by the lack of women running

Chelsey Potter has spoken publicly about allegedly being sexually assaulted by another Liberal staffer while working in Canberra and has criticized the party for how it dealt with her case and others like it

It’s very clear to me that we have a serious problem when it comes to women in the Liberal Party,” Ms. Potter said today

“We’ve seen the failure to engage women, to bring women into the party, to listen to women play out in a really significant electoral sense on the weekend

“This is a line in the sand for the Liberal Party to make a choice that they’ll engage with women going forward

Nominations for the seat of Bragg — Adelaide’s eastern suburbs — close at 5pm today, after former deputy premier Vickie Chapman announced her resignation a month after the Liberals’ state election loss

Ms. Chapman’s departure will leave the party with only two women in the state’s lower house

So far, lawyer Jack Batty and former Democrats candidate and one-time Liberal staffer Sandy Biar have confirmed they’re nominating for pre-selection

“We’re now less than six hours out from close of nominations and I still haven’t seen a woman put their hand up,” Ms. Potter said

“That’s very concerning to me, particularly having seen what we saw in the federal campaign where women are looking to support the Liberal Party but they need the Liberal Party to come to them and to understand them and to represent them and it would be devastating if we didn’t have that in Bragg

‘Strong campaigner’ working with independents

Ms. Potter started her own non-partisan political consultancy firm, the Suffragette Group, to work with women hoping to enter politics

She worked on the campaign for independent Lou Nicholson, who came within 343 votes of winning the blue-ribbon Liberal seat of Finniss in the South Australian state election, and was also involved in the campaign of an independent candidate for the federal seat of Grey, Liz Habermann

But she said that work should not preclude her from becoming a Liberal candidate

“I think I’ve put a lot of noses out of joint in the work that I’ve done with clients that have engaged me, like a lawyer would be engaged by clients,” she said

“At the end of the day, I’m a strong campaigner — I’ve shown that the last few months — and I guess the Liberal Party has to ask themselves would they rather have women like me on their side or would they rather have women like me out in the community finding great candidates to run

Candidates need to get four party members’ signatures to run for pre-selection, and despite Ms Chapman’s early warning she was leaving, have only been given two days to nominate

“I am finding it difficult, and I don’t think that’s any lack of willingness on the part of the membership,” Ms. Potter said

“I think it’s a difficult thing for the party to bring women like me back in, but at the end of the day they’re going to have to start looking at that

May 26, 2022 1 comment

North America Politics

Judge: California’s women on boards law is unconstitutional

by Narges Mohammadi May 26, 2022

According to JahanBanou, a Los Angeles judge has ruled that California’s landmark law requiring women on corporate boards is unconstitutional. Superior Court Judge Maureen Duffy-Lewis said the law that would have required boards have up to three female directors by this year violated the right to equal treatment. The ruling was dated last week

The conservative legal group Judicial Watch had challenged the law, claiming it was illegal to use taxpayer funds to enforce a law that violates the equal protection clause of the California Constitution by mandating a gender-based quota

David Levine, a law professor at the University of California Hastings College of the Law, said he was not surprised by the verdict. Under state and federal law “mandating a quota like this was never going to fly,” Levine said. State Senate leader Toni Atkins, a Democrat from San Diego, said the ruling was disappointing and a reminder “that sometimes our legalities don’t match our realities

“More women on corporate boards means better decisions and businesses that outperform the competition,” Atkins said in a statement. “We believe this law remains important, despite the disheartening ruling

The decision comes just over a month after another Los Angeles judge found that a California law mandating that corporations diversify their boards with members from certain racial, ethnic or LGBT groups was unconstitutional. The corporate diversity legislation was a sequel to the law requiring women on corporate boards. The judge in the previous case ruled in favor of Judicial Watch and the same plaintiffs without holding a trial

The law voided Friday was on shaky ground from the get-go, with a legislative analysis saying it could be difficult to defend. Then-Gov. Jerry Brown signed it despite the potential for it to be overturned because he wanted to send a message during the #MeToo era. In the three years it has been on the books, it’s been credited with improving the standing of women in corporate boardrooms

The state defended the law as constitutional saying it was necessary to reverse a culture of discrimination that favored men and was put in place only after other measures failed. The state also said the law didn’t create a quota because boards could add seats for female directors without stripping men of their positions

Although the law carried potential hefty penalties for failing to file an annual report or comply with the law, a chief in the secretary of state’s office acknowledged during the trial that it was toothless

No fines have ever been levied and there was no intention to do so, Betsy Bogart testified. Further, a letter that surfaced during trial from former Secretary of State Alex Padilla warned Brown weeks before he signed the law that it was probably unenforceable

May 26, 2022 0 comment

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