Alejandra's Two Cents

This article is extremely recent, so if there is more chatter about it in the coming days I wouldn't be surprised, as I feel it is important. AP News just released a story discussing California's new abortion laws, intended to battle the anti-abortion laws that recent states such as Texas, Oklahoma, and Idaho have recently passed.  Now that abortion is illegal in a number of states, and they have made it dangerous for people to aid those wanting an abortion from a banned state and to seek help from others, California is working to protect these individuals both seeking help and seeking to help. Specifically, California laws are being put in place to serve as an obstacle in investigations from other states trying to penalize abortion providers.  As we quickly saw the placement of abortion bans around the country, it was easy to forget that governors of pro-choice states were actively keeping their promises to protect abortion. Governor Newsome providing some relief to his citi...

Currently, if you try to look up the current news concerning women's rights, stories covering the push for women's rights in Iran is what you will most likely find. In short, women in Iran are currently protesting the "morality police and demanding that the hijab dress code be ended" .  The protests incited as a result of the death of Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody, originally arrested for violating the hijab dress code. Coverage of the protests is flooding the media that it has overshadowed the news that the VA updated its medical benefits package, now authorizing VA medical facilities to provide access to abortions . For years the VA has provided women with reproductive healthcare services and has slowly added more services, including pregnancy and delivery care and infertility services. Unfortunately, there has been some opposition from Republicans as these actions do not coincide with their personal beliefs. Opposition like this can be frightening because...

Just this past week, the American Library Association celebrated their 40th anniversary of Banned Books Week. According to the ALA, the purpose of Banned Books Week is to " c elebrate the freedom to read and spotlight current and historical attempts to censor books in libraries and schools" . Over the course of the past couple of years, we have seen a number of books banned from public school curriculum and school libraries, books that often deal with "controversial" topics. This year's  theme for week was "Books Unite Us. Censorship Divides Us.". The theme's intention was to point out that books "reach across boundaries" while censorship creates them.  Opponents of Banned Books Week, such as Fox News  have denied that books are being banned, arguing that we are nothing like "Communist Russia". In opposition Nicole Solas, from Fox News, says Banned Books Week is not about censorship, but about power, specifically power to ...

I had heard about this story from a coworker, and this was the first I had really heard of this, even though it is a pretty big deal. While trying to look up more articles about this, I had some trouble trying to find recent articles that really covered everything. My same coworker (thankfully) sent me a link to a VICE News documentary that had a lot of really interesting information covering all of the details. The investigation has gone on for a number of years as women came forward, so I can't remember if I remember seeing the individual stories in the news, but when any new documentary about something major like this comes out, it usually receives a lot more coverage. The documentary revealed a number of women telling their stories about how they were sexually assaulted by Louisville Police Officers. These officers would take advantage of their victims in a number of ways. They would send unsolicited pictures of their genitalia and promise women that they would "get them ...

A story that I had not heard about until I went digging was the news that  MintPress News  had revealed that Bill Gates has donated a whopping $319 million to media outlets. But what relevance does this have exactly? Rich people are always making donations to their desired companies.  As I had not heard much about this story in the news, it was obvious that I did not understand its relevance at first. Reading further along I learned that a lot of the receivers of Gates' grants were media outlets, such as CNN , NBC , and even international organizations like The Daily Telegraph . However, the donations were not simply funding the organization, but they were used to push issues that were "close to Gateses hearts". From gender equality to education reform, Gates had the power to spotlight things he deemed newsworthy. As mentioned by the author of the original article, Alan Macleod, critics might see this as a billionaire being able to take advantage of the press and its audi...