"How did we miss this for so long?"
Vol 4, Issue 6: June 2024
Welcome back to the Lighthouse! Juneteenth has now passed, and we are closing out Pride Month. As always, I have some related readings I’d like to share. From Truthout, Juneteenth Reminds Us That “Black Freedom” Is an Ongoing Project brings us an interview with poet and Ph.D. student in philosophy E. Hughes to explore the complexities of celebrating Juneteenth while continuing the fight for full freedom (and grapple with what freedom really means). Capital B digs into a topic the previous article touches on, which is the mainstreaming of Juneteenth and how people should engage with it, from various perspectives. From the 19th, two of their LGBTQ+ reporters share their thoughts on what is giving them hope this year. And just because I think they’re all good reads for any time of the year, I’m also recommending an article about why the freedom to change sex is a fundamental part of trans liberation, an article from Jules Gill-Peterson offering a thought-provoking take on the concept of “being cisgender,” and an article looking at the (surprisingly recent) history of gender.
On the COVID-19 front, the People’s CDC has been covering the attempts by Republicans — and some Democrats — to criminalize wearing a mask. Aside from providing a thorough background on what is happening and how we got here, they also offer a list of action items depending on if you’re in a state where these bans are being introduced or not. As COVID rates start to climb back up, especially in the West and South, it continues to be important to mask up and help keep each other safe. Despite all of the information we have on Long COVID, it can still be incredibly hard to receive care for it (or even have your symptoms taken seriously). And while there doesn’t seem to be much coverage yet, we are now also facing the risk of H5N1 (aka bird flu) — which is already becoming widespread in cows — spreading to humans more rapidly if it continues to spread freely and adapt.
Now, onto the newsletter!
‘How did we miss this for so long?’: The link between extreme heat and preterm birth
“As human-caused climate change continues, the number, intensity and duration of heat waves will only get worse. Without intervention, those heat waves will cause millions of babies around the world to be born preterm. Higher temperatures will also have knock-on impacts to gestational and fetal health. As temperatures rise, so does drought and air pollution, which also increases the risk of preterm birth or low birthweight babies.”
I often hear people talk generally about environmental racism and the connections between reproductive justice and climate/environmental justice. But I don’t often see explanations on the specifics of how these things function, which can make it hard for us to really understand the tangible impacts that are already happening. And if we don’t understand the specific overlaps and causes/effects, how can we adequately address them? Thankfully, reporters from publications such as the 19th have been tackling these topics with the depth we need.
I really appreciate how this article explains these connections, such as how the redlining of the past has led to predominantly Black neighborhoods being impacted by rising temperatures and pollution the most, for a variety of connected but unique reasons. As they explain:
Today, those redlined areas have more industrial facilities, excessive truck traffic, and a heavier pollution burden — and often, the least shade or green space. Areas dominated by concrete, asphalt, and buildings experience hotter temperatures due to the urban heat island effect, the phenomenon in which gray infrastructure absorbs and holds more heat than forests or waterways.
The article goes on to detail how these factors — the lack of green spaces, the pollution given off by industrial plants, the heat dangers of working in factories or outdoors, etc. — specifically impact pregnant people, whose bodies are already more susceptible to higher temperatures. Beyond just this article, they’ve also done great reporting on other research about heat exposure (both short and long term) and life-threatening delivery complications. And aside from pregnancy itself, they’ve also looked at how extreme heat can impact the effectiveness of both birth control and pregnancy tests.
All of this reporting can help us better understand what factors are playing a role so that while we think about how to tackle climate change overall (which can feel really overwhelming!), we can also focus on what we can do right now to make hotter times of year safer for people in the most affected communities. Think: creating more green spaces to counteract the heat island effect, ensuring there are public cooled places for people to take shelter, building worker power and community infrastructure so pregnant people aren’t forced to sell their labor at jobs that put them in constant high heat environments, and stopping pollution from degrading the air & water. These impacts on pregnancies are entirely preventable. We just need to act on them.
In the mean time, the 19th also provides guidance on how pregnant people can prepare for high heat in a 2022 article, How pregnant people can prepare for a summer of heat waves. Deceleration News, an environmental justice news organization focused on South Texas, has also shared a general Extreme Heat Survival Guide that’s chock full of vital information and resources for dealing with high temps that we should all know and share. While we have tools to stop climate change, it’s an uphill battle to use them, so we need to learn how to care for ourselves — and each other — as temperatures continue to rise.
See also: This article is part of a series on climate change’s effect on reproductive health, and you can find the other articles via Grist.
What's Happening at Lakeshore Liberation?
Nothing new to share this time!
What’s Going on in Reproductive Justice
The US Supreme Court dismissed the case brought to them that would have limited access to mifepristone, one of the medications that can be used for medication abortions, meaning that access to it (especially via telemedicine) remains unchanged. But as many have quickly pointed out, the battle to protect abortion pill access is far from over. The dismissal came only from the fact that the Court didn’t believe these particular plaintiffs had a right to sue, so nothing relating to merit of the case itself. And the GOP has made clear they aren’t done trying to restrict this access despite having no actual medical reason to do so. This is in line with their on-going attempts to limit contraception access while claiming there isn’t an issue with access in the first place despite having a clear history of trying to change that. And a related article I want to share here even though it’s only tangential to this specific news: Criminalizing Drugs—Including Misoprostol and Mifepristone—Is a Bad Idea.
Prism recently reported on a shocking discovery they made, summarized in their headline: Why does Planned Parenthood contract with the arms manufacturer Raytheon? They break down all of the ways that Raytheon is profiting from the on-going genocide of Palestinians and providing weapons & technology that allow it to happen, as well as why Planned Parenthood has been using them for cybersecurity, before grappling with why those cybersecurity needs — while important — shouldn’t excuse or justify working with them.
The Educated Birth shared a handy Instagram post explaining the let-down reflex in their usual easy-to-understand way that I absolutely love. Their illustrations and explanations are always so helpful!
After the 19th reported on a Planned Parenthood location that started offering sedation for IUD insertions, they surveyed readers from all over about their experiences with being offered sedation or other options. As someone who has gotten an IUD multiple times, I know firsthand how incredibly painful the experience can be and am frustrated with how this pain is minimized and not taken seriously. I hope we can change that!
Thanks in part to ProPublica’s reporting, a bill has passed Congress that would expand the use of existing federal money to help fund stillbirth research and prevention efforts. While it doesn’t include new funding, it’s a good first step that will hopefully be followed up by the Stillbirth Health Improvement and Education (SHINE) for Autumn Act, which, “proposes $45 million over the next five years for improving data collection, stillbirth research, awareness and education, as well as supporting training for fetal autopsies.”
What’s Going on in Wisconsin
Here in Sheboygan, Safe Harbor shared about their domestic violence support group, New Beginnings, which is a free group that gathers on Tuesday evenings.
The ACLU of Wisconsin filed a lawsuit against the Wisconsin Department of Corrections for failing to fully implement a decades-old law that is meant to help incarcerated mothers maintain physical custody of their infants, such as through prison nurseries that allow for mothers to be with their children.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court has unanimously decided that free speech apparently matters more than the threatening harassment of a Planned Parenthood nurse, because I guess telling someone repeatedly that “bad things will happen to them,” like them getting hit by a drunk driver, if they don’t do what you say isn’t a direct enough threat?
What I've Been Reading
Fat Rose put out a wonderful guide on Collective Care, Access, and Disability Solidarity in Organizing that is a great reference when both putting on and going to events and actions.
Devon Price’s recent piece, A Nation of Settler Militias, is another example of his ability to distill information from books (this time, An Indigenous People's History of the United States) into an easier-to-digest format.
Also from Devon Price, When You Live Your Values Every Day, There's No Need for Activist Guilt is a great read for anyone who struggles with feeling like they are doing “enough,” through the lens of a couple of reader questions. I hope it invigorates you as much as it did me!
What I'm Watching
I’ve been on a Criminal Minds kick lately, starting back from the beginning after not watching it for quite a few years. I’ve always has some mixed feelings about the show, often referring to it as a “guilty pleasure” show, and I’m able to unpack that a bit more each time I watch it. The biggest thing I’m thinking about this time is how shows like this operate as copaganda and feeds into a lot of misinformation about the policing system (and the prevalence of serial killers). It led me to an article that talks through some of these aspects, and it’s given me even more to think about as I continue my rewatch.
What I'm Listening To
CodeSwitch’s recent episodes on the usefulness of term “felon” in light of Trump’s conviction and their talk with Jules Gill-Peterson about her recent book A Short History of Trans Misogyny (which I also highly recommend!) are both fantastic listens!
Throughline brought back a great episode from 2020 about how the A.D.A. came to be and the powerful disability activism that made it happen (as well as what is still needed today).
Reveal put out a new podcast series called 40 Acres and a Lie that explores how over a thousand formerly enslaved people were given land, only to have it returned to their enslavers soon after. I’ve only listened to part one (and part of part two) so far, but I can already say the series is an in-depth and important one.
Places to Donate To & Actions to Take
Gaza Funds collects and shares crowdfunding campaigns for individuals and families from Gaza, showing a random campaign each time you load their home page. While they keep it mostly randomized so that all campaigns are seen, they do prioritize those that are close to meeting their goal and campaigns for people who are sick or injured to help those get pushed through to the end.
A disabled trans parent is raising funds to help them and their child leave their current household and move to a more supportive and stable environment.
Help fund Grammy’s Place, a project by a trans woman who is opening her home to support and house Black transgender/femme/queer/GNB folks.
Reproaction is petitioning to keep anti-abortion propaganda out of public schools.
Questions? Comments? Suggestions?
Feel free to share them below or contact me directly.