As the Pandemic Raged, Abortion Access Nearly Flickered Out (The Nation) 

Amy Littlefield explores COVID-19’s impact on abortion access: “Abortion access was in crisis in the United States before the Covid-19 pandemic. In many states, getting an abortion can involve waiting periods of up to three days, unnecessary visits to a clinic, counseling sessions rife with false information, trips of hundreds of miles, and bans that force patients to raise hundreds of dollars. When Covid and the ensuing economic recession hit, each unnecessary trip or encounter with staff became an additional infection risk, and many patients faced these barriers with fewer financial resources than ever.” Read more.

Tender Judging Care: #TransCrowdFund and the Politics of Desire (Bitch Media) 

Oliver Haug writes about trans crowd funding and desirability: “GoFundMe is perhaps the epitome of the late-stage capitalist solution to a fundamental healthcare problem—a solution patched with rosy stock photos of beautiful people, a cutesy Band-Aid on a gaping wound that’s suffered worst by those who are already existing at the intersection of multiple oppressions. Operating at the crossroads of social media and money, it represents salvation for the small percentage of its users who meet their goals—but offers a dangerous pitfall by linking survival to social capital.” Read more.

After mass closures, too little support, post-pandemic child care options will be scarce (The Hechinger Report) 

Lillian Mongeau focuses on child care during and after the pandemic: “Among child care centers that have remained open, 81 percent enroll fewer kids today—half as many in some states—than they did pre-pandemic, according to a survey of more than 6,000 providers conducted by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), a professional organization for early educators. [...] To survive with fewer tuition-paying families and expensive new pandemic safety guidelines, 42 percent of child care providers surveyed by NAEYC in November had taken on personal debt, often on credit cards. Providers say they don’t know how long they can hold on.” Read more.

Biden’s Plan to End Long-Term Migrant Detention Does Not End Family Detention (Truthout) 

José Luis Granados Ceja argues that Biden plan to end long-term migrant detention will not end family detention: “The Biden administration’s plan to rebrand family detention facilities as “reception centers” as part of sweeping changes to the United States immigration system is drawing a mixed response. Migrant justice organizations welcomed the efforts to end long-term detention but warned that without making the policy permanent, a shift in political winds could mean the eventual return of family detention.” Read more.

Emergency Contraception Is Having Its Moment (Rewire News Group) 

Jessica Sanders shares information about a new form of emergency contraception: “It’s been over a decade since I’ve needed to navigate the economic, logistical, and stigmatizing barriers to access emergency contraception. Today, a better option is finally available—one that I wished for when I was in my 20s. It is my hope that this new information will reach the people who might need it and empower them to ask about the hormonal IUD for emergency contraception.” Read more.

The Fight for Free Time Is a Feminist Issue (Jacobin) 

Margaret Lee and Jamie McCallum write about caregiving work: “The work of caregiving is invaluable—and so we simply do not value it at all. Caregiving is indispensable to society. Without it, ‘the economy’ as it is typically conceived, would cease to exist. The labor of health care workers, hospice aids, and day care and childcare workers, has allowed more of us to stay alive this past year and go to work. Yet capitalism’s drive to undermine those who do essential care work—both paid and unpaid—is constant.” Read more.

Education in Prison: Remote Learning During COVID-19 Has Failed Students (Teen Vogue)

Mary Retta writes about education in prisons during COVID-19: “The coronavirus pandemic has upended education in schools across the country as many students have been forced to learn remotely, sometimes without access to reliable internet or adequate technology. These conditions have made it much harder for all students to effectively learn, but one population has been hit especially hard: young people taking classes inside prisons. According to laws on the books in most states, young people learning inside juvenile facilities are entitled to the same quality of education as their non-incarcerated peers. But in practice, this is rarely the case.” Read more.