Top Stories This Week

• What’s happening at Woodhull;
• Paused enforcement of an anti-sex work ordinance in Dallas;
• Banning pornography;
• Overriding federal law on emergency abortions;
• Age verification and artists’ freedom of expression;
• Anti-porn laws; and
• Woodhull’s take on abortion as an LGBTQ+ issue.

Our June Censorship series is too big for just one hour!

Our epic discussion is now THREE parts—each packed with bold stories, fierce art, and unfiltered conversations about activism, free expression, and fighting censorship. Witness how artists, writers, and advocates are breaking barriers and amplifying voices for sexual freedom.

Get inspired. Get involved. Get LOUD.

Secure your spot—register on Eventbrite! 

Host a Free Documentary Screening About Ethical Non-Monogamy

"Open: A Journey Through Love" seeks to destigmatize ethical non-monogamy and examine the positive effects it can have on individuals and relationships AND it features Ricci & Mandy from Woodhull!

Pre-release screenings are available July-Sept 2025 in your community - complete toolkit provided.

View the documentary trailer.

(Liza Evseeva/NBC News)

Banning Pornography Will Not Stop the Distribution of Nonconsensual Sexual Images (Woodhull’s Fact Checked)

Would banning pornography stop the distribution of nonconsensual sexual images? Nope. Allison Grossman PhD for the Woodhull Freedom Foundation’s Fact Checked writes: “Anti-porn advocates have argued that pornography websites increase the prevalence of nonconsensual intimate images (NCII), including what is referred to as ‘revenge porn,’ from being distributed online. However, there is limited reliable research to suggest general pornography sites increase the distribution of such material. In fact, most NCII is shared privately through text messaging or in other private networks and not on social media or pornographic sites.1, 2” Read more.

(Elissa Darlene/Shutterstock)

What Is EMTALA? How Trump Just Overrode Federal Law on Emergency Abortions (Rewire News Group)

The Trump administration overrode federal law on emergency abortions. Imani Gandy, Catesby Holmes, and Jessica Mason Pieklo write: “Hospitals in the United States are no longer obligated to perform emergency abortions to prevent organ loss, severe hemorrhaging, and other serious complications in pregnant patients, according to new federal guidance. On June 3, 2025, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced it would rescind a Biden-era directive that emergency room doctors have a legal duty to provide emergency abortion care when necessary to stabilize patients’ medical conditions under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, or EMTALA.” Read more.

(Traci Hahn/Shutterstock)

US digital age verification laws are threatening artists’ freedom of expression (The Art Newspaper)

Age verification (AV) laws endanger many of the rights we hold most dear, including the right to freedom of expression. But we can and should fight back. Emma Shapiro writes: “Historically, rushed internet regulations intended to protect vulnerable communities have often backfired, sending bad actors deeper into darker parts of the internet and increasing harm through censorship. As such, those who are most at risk from the bad effects of legislation such as AV laws are rightfully skeptical of the intentions and wary of the effects. [...] ‘We can turn the tide,’ says Ricci Levy, the president and chief executive of the Woodhull Freedom Foundation. We must be loud and make our concerns known with these local bills to keep them from scaling nationally.’” Read more.

(Leah Schrager)

The Egg Yolk Principle: Human Sexuality Will Always Outsmart Prudish Algorithms and Hateful Politicians (404 Media)

Anti-porn laws are threatening our right to free speech. Samantha Cole writes: “Much like anti-abortion laws don’t end abortion, and the so-called war on drugs didn’t ‘win’ over drugs, anti-porn laws don’t end the adult industry. They only serve to shift power from people—sex workers, adult content creators, consumers of porn and anyone who wants to access sexual speech online without overly-burdensome barriers—to politicians like Senator Mike Lee, who is currently pushing to criminalize porn at the federal level. [...] ‘[W]e’re living in an era when censorship of sexual content is broadly censored online, and the promises written in Project 2025 are coming true,’ Ricci Levy, president of the Woodhull Freedom Foundation, told me. ‘Banning pornography may not concern those who object to its existence, but any attempt by the government to ban and censor protected speech is a threat to the First Amendment rights we all treasure.’” Read more.

(Claudio Schwarz)

Woodhull’s Take: Abortion is an LGBTQ+ Issue (Woodhull’s Sex & Politics Blog)

What does abortion have to do with gay rights? Many might assume that pregnancy isn’t much of an issue in the LGBTQ+ community, but they’d be wrong. We at the Woodhull Freedom Foundation share our take: “A recent peer-reviewed study published in JAMA Network Open, provides recent data that underscores the experiences LGBTQ+ people may have with abortion. In the study spanning 65 years, researchers considered over 235,000 pregnancies in nurses, their offspring, and nursing students. Each participant shared information about their pregnancy history and sexual orientation. The conclusion? As Cameron Oakes summarizes, people who identified as a ‘sexual minority’ (i.e., LGBTQ+) were nearly twice as likely to have a pregnancy that ended in abortion than their strictly heterosexual peers.” Read more.

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