Health Care Access

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services allows unchecked discrimination in grant programs

On November 1, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that it would no longer enforce regulations that bar HHS-funded programs from discriminating against people because of their gender identity or sexual orientation. HHS awards more than $500 billion in grants and contracts every year. The change could impact millions of people’s ability to access and receive services from programs, including foster care and adoption services, STI and HIV testing and prevention programs, supportive housing services, reproductive health care services, and more.

HHS followed the announcement with a proposed rule on November 19. In 2016, the Obama Administration issued regulations to make it clear that if a potential grantee was going to discriminate based on, for example, someone’s age, disability, sex, race, religion, gender identity, or sexual orientation, they would be denied a grant. It’s simple: No federal taxpayer dollars if you’re not going to treat everyone equally. This new proposed rule would eliminate those explicit protections, inviting grantees to discriminate across every type of service and program offered by HHS. There are a patchwork of federal laws that prohibit some of the forms of discrimination; however the change would end full and explicit protection against sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination. Look out for more from PWN-USA about commenting on the proposed rule.

Economic Justice

Philadelphia City Council unanimously passes Domestic Workers Bill of Rights

The Philadelphia City Council voted to pass landmark legislation to protect the rights of domestic workers, who are predominantly women of color and immigrants. If the bill is signed into law by Mayor Jim Kenney, Philadelphia will become the largest city in the U.S. to establish a Domestic Workers Bill of Rights and could impact more than 16,000 workers in Philadelphia.

Currently, domestic workers are excluded from most common workplace rights and protections. The new legislation would require employers to provide nannie, house cleaners and home care workers with a written contract detailing job responsibilities, pay, work schedules, paid time off, and more. It also would codify non-discrimination protections, require employers to give domestic workers meal and rest breaks, and create the first portable paid time off system – allowing workers to accrue and use benefits when working for multiple employees – in the U.S. Mayor Jim Kenney is expected to sign the bill into law.

Ending Criminalization

A resolution to transform the U.S. criminal legal system is introduced in House

Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) introduced H.R. 702, The People’s Justice Guarantee, in the U.S. House of Representatives this month. The resolution was created in coalition with over 20 grassroots organizations and people, including the National Immigration Law Center, UndocuBlack Network and United We Dream.

It creates a framework to transform the U.S. criminal legal system using five core principles: shared power, freedom, equality, safety, and dignity. “Shared power,” for example, requires including communities most impacted by mass incarceration and police surveillance in the effort to overhaul the criminal legal system; “equality” includes eliminating corporate profiteering by, for example, abolishing private prisons, jails, immigrant detention contracts and other prison profit-making mechanisms.

The resolution includes ambitious demands, such as repealing Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 and the failed “War on Drugs” policies; demilitarizing policy departments; abolishing the death sentence and life sentences without parole; capping sentences for all crimes; decriminalizing consensual sex work and low-level offenses that tend to punish poverty.

The U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments in lawsuit challenging DACA termination

On November 12, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in a case that could change the lives of hundreds of thousands of young people in the U.S.

The case involves the Trump Administration’s decision to abruptly end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. DACA was created by President Barack Obama in 2012 to protect young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. before 2007 at age 15 or younger.

The program gives people who have grown up here without documentation the chance to work, apply for some forms of identification, and build a life without fear of deportation. The protections only last two years, after which time recipients must apply to renew their status.

In September 2019, the Trump Administration announced that it would end DACA and stop accepting new and renewal applications. This threw DACA recipients into a legal limbo. Three court orders forced the U.S. government to continue processing renewal applications, but the U.S. Supreme Court could reverse those decisions, allowing the program to end, leaving DACA recipients at risk of losing protected status once again. More information and resources on the fight for DACA are available on the Home is Here Coalition’s website.

LGBTQ Rights, Safety and Justice

Texas lawmakers threaten to introduce transphobic bills in wake of child custody battle

A dangerous, transphobic legislative trend has been cropping up in several states in the wake of a child custody case in Texas. The 7-year old child at the center of the custody battle is a transgender girl named Luna. She has consistently and persistently identified as a girl according to the people who know her best — family members, school staff, and physicians. Luna’s mother respects her daughter’s gender identity. Her father does not, insisting that she is not transgender and that he needs to “save” Luna from the “harms” of transitioning. A jury ruled in favor of Luna’s mother, recommending she get sole custody and conservatorship. However, the judge in the case rejected that decision and ordered that the parents share joint custody.

Evidence-based and widely-used clinical guidelines from organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association support the use of interventions for transgender children that have been appropriately assessed.

Generally, transition-related activities for a 7-year old would help the child live as their authentic gender identity and expression, for example, by supporting aspects of a social transition like changing clothes, hairstyles, or pronouns.

Nevertheless, conservative lawmakers have used the case to justify introducing anti-transgender legislation. Texas Governor Greg Abbott tweeted that the Attorney General’s Office and the state Department of Family and Protective Services would look into the case. Lawmakers in South Carolina, Georgia and Kentucky have drafted bills to make it illegal for trans children to receive gender-affirming medical care. Matt Krause, a Republic state lawmaker, also announced that he would introduce a bill to prohibit people under 18 from using puberty blockers.

Such bills attempt to criminalize people who care for transgender children, devalues well-established medical protocols, and traffic in misinformation about gender affirming care.

Other notable policy events that happened this month

  • The United States filed a patent infringement lawsuit against one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, Gilead Sciences, Inc., for allegedly violating the U.S. government’s patent rights for oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention. Read more here.
  • Two federal courts strike down a Trump administration rule that would have allowed health care providers to refuse health care to patients based on their personal beliefs. Read more here.
  • Lawmakers around the nation threaten to introduce dangerous, transphobic legislation in wake of a child custody battle in Texas. Read more here.
  • Socialist incumbent, Kshama Sawant, won re-election for Seattle City Council on a progressive platform that included citywide rent control, free public transit, and increased police accountability to end police violence and racial profiling. Read more here.
  • Former public defender, Chesa Boudin, won the San Francisco District Attorney race on a platform that included ending racial disparities and mass incarceration in San Francisco, ending cash bail, and dismantling the war on drugs. Read more here.
  • In the largest single-day commutation in U.S. history, the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole board unanimously voted to free 527 people serving low-level drug, non-violent offenses. Read more here.
  • The Department of Homeland Security reported plans to have DNA, face, fingerprint, and iris scans of at least 259 million people traveling in and out of the U.S. in its biometric database by the year 2022. Read more here.