– THE COLLECTION –
Another Pro-Life Failure
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Original subscribers may have noticed that I tweaked the format when I rebooted this newsletter in February. I’m tweaking it back. The earlier format of links grouped by category and then topic makes it easier to get a feel for right women’s range of opinions, which is the basic purpose of this newsletter. Consider my tweaking experiment tried — and I do like to experiment often — but found wanting. Back to the old way I go.
Also, while I aim to send the collection out on the first day of the month, I now have another newsletter gig, which has a hard send date of the 1st of each month, so this collection will arrive in the unspecified beginning of each month.
Then, there is the issue of "Events, dear reader. Events." Much of what I had prepped back around May 20th was no longer particularly relevant (2020 is moving though big events at quite a clip), and right women writers who I highlight here are not writing hot takes. Thus, while I found lots of commentary on the four week old Title IX rules, I held this edition so I could catch some of the early commentary related to George Floyd and the protests, which only started popping up later on the 2nd.
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Pro-life advocates are not all supporters of the pro-life movement. All sides — and really, there are sides here — agree on the major point that abortion ends a life, but focus and tactics look very different for each group. Ultimately, the pro-life movement focuses on prohibition of abortion, however it may be achieved, by the nation's legislatures or the courts. This leaves the pro-life advocates who prefer to focus on persuading the public against abortion alienated from the established movement.
The latest example of this duality in pro-life advocacy comes from Destiny Heredon-de la Rosa, in an article about how the pro-life movement failed Norma McCorvey, the Jane Roe of Roe v. Wade, in part by using her as a fundraising prop. (Actually, both sides used McCorvey, but we are supposed to be the side with compassion for life, especially lives that cannot defend themselves.) Destiny is probably the de facto leader of the pro-life persuasionists and regularly appears in the Dallas Morning News.
There is another rift among pro-life advocates that is also set for a reckoning this summer. It concerns political party capture that neither reflects nor serves the pro-life cause. For examples of this argument, see Kimberly Ross, Nicole Russell, and Gracy Olmstead. The US Supreme Court is set to issue an opinion this month that will indicate how wise or foolish the movement's political bargain was. I have more on that in The Briefcase section, below.
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#imwithher - The Libertarian Party nominated Dr. Jo Jorgensen for president. As the female presidential candidate this cycle, the old 2016 hashtag has been repurposed. Unlike the Libertarian candidate from 2016, who went for actual votes (sort of), Jorgensen aims to increase awareness of LP positions and expand the party base. (And if she can work even one televised debate with the two red and blue candidates, she can probably hit that goal.)
#believewomen - Another recent hashtag is getting repurposed. #Believeallwomen is now #believewomen, and some right women think that is a gaslight job. Related, Biden's veepstakes is likely all about women.
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Title IX - Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, released highly anticipated rulings on Title IX, a 1972 law that originally sought to end discrimination based on sex in higher education. For decades, it primarily functioned though college sports as schools of the era had quickly complied with accepting women in equal number (which I cynically note happened because there was big, federally backed money in expanding the student body) but men still received most athletic scholarships because there were more men's athletic programs. Title IX spent many years "fixing" that imbalance. (I'll leave the reason for the scare quotes around "fixing" for another time.) President Obama's Department of Education released new guidelines for Title IX, which re-defined "sex" to mean something other than biological sex. That fact got the most mainstream attention, but the purpose of those guidelines was to strengthen Title IX in rooting out sex discrimination on campus. And strengthen the rules the guidelines did, to the point of trashing basic due process rights on campus. The Obama era guidelines were greeted with expert opposition, most famously the Harvard Law faculty, and ended with a long streak of lawsuit losses for institutions of higher education. In short, those guidelines were a disaster. New rules have been anticipated since the start of the Trump Presidency.
The new rules dropped in May, and have since been vindicated in court. This report by Ella Whelan should probably go in my crossover section, but it fit here and underscores the general support for the reforms. Not everyone agrees, however. First, there are many misunderstandings circulating. Then, other commentators, notably Rachel Denhollander and Sarah Isgur, worry that the reforms have gone too far. I lean to David French's counter to Sarah (the previous link is to their podcast discussion) that the root problem for the universities is regulations that make them become courts. Universities are meant to teach ideas, not sit as judges and juries. Forcing them to do so has exacerbated already difficult situations.
USSC - The United States Supreme Court issues big opinions toward the end of the term in June. Sarah Isgur has a summary of the big decisions expected this month, including the Louisiana abortion requirements case mentioned above. Basically, if this court does not uphold Louisiana's requirement that abortionists have admitting privileges at a hospital within a certain radius, then the pro-life movement's strategy of seeking prohibition of the procedure though the judicial branch will appear to have been for naught. That realization might finally crumple the rationale for voting for any Republican for their probable judicial appointments. The rationale has already taken a beating over the years, but if it doesn't work now, after the Trump appointments including the replacement of swing-voter Justice Kennedy, then it isn't likely to ever work. It is time for a new strategy.
There is also a lot of attention for the Little Sisters of the Poor v. Pennsylvania. See here and here.
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In general, right leaning women lean toward easing current restrictions in most of the country. Why? We have grown less concerned (less, not "not concerned") with Coronavirus and more concerned with the typical consequences of unemployment and the unintended consequences of lockdowns, although one of those typically cited consequences may be more assumption than fact. Then, there is the worry about a potential repeat lockdown, which brings us to schooling recommendations for homeschooling, K-12 and higher ed.
The lockdowns also "Exposed a Need for Better Paid Leave Policies," but not necessarily universal child care.
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The Atlantic has two excellent thought pieces on the class of 2020, I Didn't Get to Graduate Either and The 2020 Commencement Speech You'll Never Hear. I highly recommend both.
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She Wrote Fake News for Cosmo but Regrets Misleading Women Kelsey Bolar interviews Sue Ellen Browder
Browder's book, Subverted: How I Helped the Sexual Revolution Hijack the Women's Movement is one of my highly recommended reads on Second Wave Feminism. She was there.
The Uses and Abuses of War Language in a Pandemic by Debra Erickson
Editors and experienced writers try to avoid clichés, but somehow that hasn't stopped overuse of war analogies, which often ends up creating more stress than already tense problems need.
A Resurrection Story by Heather Morton
Heather tells the story of her Great Aunt Anne's escape from Soviet Ukraine after WWII.
What You Need to Know About Trump's Social Media Executive Order a podcast interview by Kristina Trinko
Jenny presented by the Independent Women's Forum as part of their series, Champion Women
IWF has also started a Chasing Work series "Hear the real stories of workers impacted by job-killing regulations".
My Recipe Binder by Elizabeth C. Corey
This is a simple and sweet piece — or so one might think. Take the same concept of the recipe binder (and I have one, too) to the web and you'd better have a "jump to recipe" button. Maybe it was Facebook's notorious search hacking abilities, but within hours of this piece arriving in my inbox, I found the jump-to curmudgeon piece and a handful of comments including a Princess Bride "Skip to the end" meme. There are some strong feelings about storytelling cooking blogs.
Hulu's Stylish Hatchet Job on Phyllis Schlafly by Abagail Shrier
Told you we wouldn't like it. Apparently her daughter didn't like it either.
The Timeless Charm of Elizabeth Enright by Sarah Schutte
Some summer reading inspiration from an illustrator turned writer.
Charlotte Pence Bond on News for Kids, Growing Up Pence, and Marriage by Virginia Allen
Creativity Flourishes Even Amid a Pandemic by Veronique De Rugy
The One Act of Heroism We Never Acknowledge is the Nuclear Family by Kira Davis
Trump's Bible Stunt: How Christians Feel by Emma Green
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It's Time for an Honest Conversation About Race in America. Virginia Allen interviews author Sophia Nelson. And for starting that conversation, readers could investigate starting circle with The Policy Circle.
Megan McArdle on race relations, lockdowns, and asymmetric Information
Persuasion 193 on Releasing Control in a Viral Age is part of a six-series podcast from Hannah Anderson and Erin Straza at Christ and Pop Culture.
This one is for the kiddos. US history to have ready for when school goes sideways again. Or just for fun.
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The Femsplainers podcast moves to YouTube with a Zoom-style video discussion about Joe Biden. Is he "Caught in His Own Sex Trap?"
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Tiger King: Our Own Private China by Katya Rapoport Sedgwick
Not a hot take, and probably not like any other take on the tiger show.
On the new Little Women
The Thirteenth Doctor is the New Sixth Doctor
I have to agree:
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Crossover Commentary, and other links of interest
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The Collection of published works mostly by right of center women is curated by Leslie Loftis as an extracurricular labor of love. The backstory is here. Leslie also teaches life administration, as in the stuff that we do not notice until it does not get done. Those podcasts and videos may be found at lifeadministration.com.
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Banner photo by Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash.
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Until July,
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