Top Stories This Week

• What’s happening at Woodhull;
• Providing health care in post-Dobbs America;
• Over-the-counter birth control;
• Accessing banned books;
• Censorship faced by incarcerated people;
• Opposing the Kids Online Safety Act; and
• Woodhull’s take on criminalizing sex work in Maine.

August’s Censorship Series is Live! 

Join Woodhull President & CEO Ricci Levy as she welcomes two members of our powerhouse legal team, Bob Corn-Revere and Larry Walters. You can expect a spirited discussion of the consequences of age verification laws, social media regulation, and restrictions on adult entertainment. We’ll answer the question, “What does this mean for YOU?”

Registration is free, and ASL will be provided. 

Bad Internet Bills Week of Action Recap 

Last week, we partnered with our allies at Fight for the Future, Defending Rights & Dissent & the Electronic Frontier Foundation to make noise about a slate of bad internet bills making their way through Congress. Badinternetbills.com is the place to take action on all the bills we oppose, including the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), the EARN IT Act, and the Stop CSAM Act.

Because of support from folks like you, over 200,000 emails, calls, and signers took action last week! But the fight is not over yet. KOSA was voted out of the Senate Commerce Committee, which means it could go to the Senate floor for a vote when Congress reconvenes in September.

We must keep up the pressure! Keep calling, writing, and tagging your elected officials on social media. Need a little inspiration?
Check out our script and use it to send your own email or leave a voicemail for your Senator!

(Kaiti Sullivan)

The Hell of Providing Health Care in a Post-Dobbs America (Mother Jones) 

Ariel Ramchandani comments on providing health care in post-Dobbs America: “Pregnancy doesn’t happen in a vacuum. People who are pregnant get in automobile accidents. They have psychological disorders. They get heart disease and cancer. Before Dobbs, doctors may have told their patients in some of these situations that pregnancy could worsen whatever condition they may have and suggest the option to terminate. But because of Dobbs, abortion access all over the county has become limited and fraught with uncertainty for pregnant people and their doctors.” Read more.

(Rewire News Group Illustration)

FDA Makes History by Approving First Over-the-Counter Birth Control (Rewire News Group) 

Garnet Henderson writes about the FDA approval of over-the-counter birth control: “The Food and Drug Administration made history today when it approved Opill, a progestin-only birth control pill, for over-the-counter use. When Opill becomes available in pharmacies in early 2024, it will be the first nonprescription daily birth control pill in the United States. Opill’s OTC approval is a major victory for advocates and researchers who have pushed for this change for decades. It also catches the United States up to most of the rest of the world, where contraceptive pills have long been more accessible. Experts agree: It’s about time.” Read more.

(Digital Public Library of America)

Readers Can Now Access Books Banned in Their Area for Free With New App (Smithsonian Magazine) 

Christopher Parker writes about accessing banned books: “As book bans spike nationwide, access to particular texts varies tremendously depending on where readers are located. ‘If you’re after a particular title by Toni Morrison or Margaret Atwood,” writes Literary Hub’s Janet Manley, ‘you might find that it’s available in Georgia, and effectively banned next door in Florida.’ A new program aims to change that: Earlier [in July], the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) launched the Banned Book Club, which provides users with free access to titles pulled from the shelves of local libraries.” Read more.

(Ayo Walker/Truthout)

As Book Bans Sweep the US, Incarcerated People Face the Worst Censorship (Truthout) 

Emily Drabinski focuses on censorship faced by incarcerated people: “Organized pro-censorship activism has produced double-digit increases in documented censorship attempts in public and school libraries, prompted state and federal legislation aimed at restricting the right to read, and animated the presidential campaign as Ron DeSantis runs on the issue while Joe Biden looks to coordinate a federal response against book bans by naming a ‘book ban’ czar. For anti-carceral activists and librarians working in prisons and jails, efforts by the state to limit access to information are old news. Incarcerated people are subject to severe forms of censorship that include bans on maps, images or books in foreign languages.” Read more.

(Electronic Frontier Foundation)

Young People Should Oppose the Kids Online Safety Act (Electronic Frontier Foundation) 

Jason Kelley notes opposition to the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA): “Young TikTok users have been rallying one another to call and email legislators to push back on the bill, and videos describing what’s wrong with KOSA have received hundreds of thousands of views. The common sentiment on TikTok, which is primarily used by young people, is that the bill would be disastrous, leading to privacy invasions, account deletions, and even suicides.” Read more.

(Erik McGregor/Pacific Press)

Woodhull’s Take: Criminalizing Sex Work in Maine (Woodhull’s Sex & Politics Blog) 

We at the Woodhull Freedom Foundation share our take on criminalizing sex work in Maine: “Unless Maine decriminalizes all people participating in the sex industry, sex workers will continue to be exposed to dangerous policing, including police violence. Sex workers will continue to face harmful stigmas about their labor. The continued  criminalization of clients, as in Maine’s law, represents a continued direct attack on sex workers’ livelihoods.” Read more.

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