Good morning, it’s Monday.
I’m not usually thrilled about Monday. But to be honest, I’m more than eager to leave last week in the rearview mirror of time.
Personally, it was a struggle because I had Covid. First time. Somehow I made it almost three years without an infection – even while living in very close proximity with someone who had one this past fall.
I guess I was due. I was lucky, because it was relatively a mild case, but it still wasn’t fun. And I’m about a month away from qualifying for my next booster, which strikes me as sort of ironic.
I am thankful for my support system and for the fact that I did not infect anyone I love.
The most significant residual effect so far is mental. No, not the dreaded Covid fog. That never materialized, thankfully. But I’m a lot less interested in going back out in the world and exposing myself to this again, and again, and again.
Because the way we’re going, that’s the reality for the foreseeable future, as many people seem to cling to the idea that science is bad and taking responsibility to protect other people is not something that we all need to do, collectively.
What I don’t get is the idea that so many people are fighting for the right to control what goes into their bodies, railing against the idea of a Covid vaccine – of any vaccine, in some cases – and then turning around and celebrating the fact that 51 percent of the population just got told they don’t have the right to make decisions about their own sexual reproduction.
Yes, adding to my angst was the double whammy of U.S. Supreme Court rulings – first wiping out a New York gun control law, and then overturning Roe. Both of these were expected, but they still stung – the second one in particular for me.
No matter which side of the abortion debate you’re on, you can’t deny that we’re now entering an uncertain time – the post-Roe era. And none of us have any real idea of what that’s going to look like in the long term. Right now, it doesn’t look good.
It’s also, for better or worse, an historic time, which is unsettling, to say the least. The fact that a whole slew of issues – from same-sex marriage to contraception – might be ripe for reconsideration and similar treatment by the high court is a very real possibility.
There were some flashes of hope over the weekend.
President Biden signed into law a bipartisan gun control bill – the most significant measure to make it through Congress in decades, though it certainly was a compromise and not nearly as restrictive as many advocates had hoped.
Also, the Roe ruling sparked widespread public outcry, with people taking to the streets to express their views – both for and against the decision. People exercising their First Amendment rights (peacefully, yet loudly) and organizing makes me feel just a hair less despondent about the future of our nation, even though I am downright terrified for what lies ahead.
I spent a lot of time, (since I had it on my hands, being Covid positive and all), reading coverage about the Roe decision – the fallout of closing clinics, the personal stories of women, some of them barely old enough to menstruate, getting stuck bringing into the world a child they did not want, or maybe are unable to afford, because they didn’t make it under the wire to get an abortion before the door was slammed in their faces.
I will not be linking to all these stories, some of them, yes, but not all. It’s just too overwhelming and too heartbreaking. But to those who have been angry enough, and brave enough, and – most importantly – healthy enough to share your own stories publicly and to demonstrate on behalf of those who are unable to do so, I salute you.
One more thing worth noting when it comes to female fortitude in the face of great challenges: Google over the weekend marked the 75th anniversary of the first publishing of Anne Frank’s diary, in which she described the two years she and her family hid from the Nazi regime. If you didn’t have a chance to check out that Doodle, it really is worth a look.
I know that this is a lot, and a kind of heavy way to start your week. If you’re really in need of a pick-me-up, perhaps consider going straight to dessert this morning – because really, with so much in life hanging in the balance right now, why bother with rules? It’s National Ice Cream Cake Day, and Fudgie the Whale is calling my name. Thanks goodness that some things never change.
After a blisteringly hot weekend, we’re getting a reprieve in the form of rain in the morning, followed by cloudy skies in the afternoon. Temperatures will be in the high 70s.
In the headlines…
President Joe Biden stepped back onto the world stage looking to rally the world’s most powerful free nations against a common foe. But turmoil back home has raised questions about the health of his own democracy and political standing.
Biden’s approval ratings are still dropping — and the effects of that plunge are reverberating across the House map.
Biden urged Americans to elect more members of Congress in November’s midterm elections who will support legislation protecting abortion access.
After the majority of justices dealt a fatal blow to Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that guaranteed the right to elective abortion, the president assailed the court as being captured by rightward extremism.
But Biden still does not support Democrats pushing to expand the Supreme Court, the White House announced.
The future of abortion rights dominated the national political conversation over the weekend, with a new poll showing more than half of Americans disapproved of Roe v. Wade being overturned.
Abortion providers across the country halted services or moved through appointments before more state bans take effect following the Supreme Court’s decision.
Tensions erupted between police and demonstrators during protests over the weekend in response to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the constitutional right to abortions.
At churches and Pride festivals, Americans responded with a range of emotions after Friday’s Supreme Court ruling.
Abortion is now banned in at least nine states, with trigger bans in several more set to take effect in the coming days.
Abortion pills, already used in more than half of recent abortions in the U.S., are becoming even more sought-after in the aftermath of Roe v. Wade being overturned, and they will likely be at the center of the legal battles expected to unfold in the coming months.
Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York responded on Friday morning to the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade by declaring her state a “safe harbor” for those seeking abortions and reaffirming her commitment to abortion rights.
“This was a fight of my mother’s generation, my generation,” Hochul said. “I have a brand-new granddaughter. I did not think that it will be the fight in her generation.”
Hochul said she has already earmarked $35 million to abortion providers to beef up their services in anticipation of a flood of people coming to New York to receive abortions.
Despite the city’s reputation as a bastion of abortion rights, crisis pregnancy centers, which encourage women to give birth, have existed in New York for years and outnumber abortion clinics.
In a tweet, state Attorney General Tish James stated, “Make no mistake: While other states strip away the fundamental right to choose, New York will always be a safe haven for anyone seeking an abortion.”
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said he wouldn’t be mayor if his former partner hadn’t gotten an abortion when they were teenagers.
Adams revealed that as a troubled teenager his then-girlfriend opted to have an abortion after his arrest, offering the example as he also called for court packing to expand the US Supreme Court.
Singer Lizzo pledged $500,000 to support Planned Parenthood and abortion rights organizations, and concert promoter Live Nation promised to match that with an additional $500,000, bringing their joint pledge to $1 million.
Two Pfizer and BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine boosters updated to target the Omicron variant show a substantially higher immune response than the current Covid-19 vaccine, the companies said.
Places including U.S. states that have legalized cannabis appear to have increased its regular use, while COVID lockdowns had a similar effect, raising the risk of depression and suicide, a U.N. report said.
Germany will start charging for rapid COVID-19 tests that were previously free, though vulnerable groups will be exempt from the fee.
Novak Djokovic has no plans to get the Covid-19 vaccine ahead of the U.S. Open and as of now wouldn’t be eligible to enter the U.S. for the final Grand Slam of the year.
Older adults have received little attention as they grapple with long Covid, even though research suggests seniors are more likely to develop the poorly understood condition than younger or middle-aged adults.
New York State is being urged to boost supplies of monkeypox vaccine after all the city’s vaccination appointments were quickly booked last week.
The race for the Democratic Party’s nomination for lieutenant governor is the latest round in the struggle between the party’s progressive and moderate wings, and should be the closest contest in tomorrow’s state primary, political observers said.
New York voters in the know will decide only certain state elections tomorrow – including State Assembly races and spirited Democratic and Republican primaries for the governor’s office. Senate and congressional primaries are Aug. 23.
A redistricting debacle and long-standing intra-party squabbles have upended New York’s congressional primaries, which were supposed to take place on June 28.
Hochul, who had already collected roughly $34 million in political donations as of Thursday, has set a target of raising a total of $50 million to $70 million by Election Day, according to three Democrats familiar with her plans.
Hochul is seeking more time to fulfill promises she has made throughout her many months in office thus far and as she asks New Yorkers for their votes.
Just five days before the primary election, Hochul told a room full of schmoozing real estate professionals that her administration would push for measures to help them.
The Supreme Court’s gun and abortion rulings jolted the race for governor of New York, as Democrats and Republicans made final pitches to an electorate that found itself at the center of renewed national debates over guns and abortion rights.
Most of the Republican candidates for governor are embracing conservative stances as the primary nears, but that may turn off moderate voters in November.
A vandal scrawled threatening and anti-Semitic graffiti on a Long Island lawn sign supporting GOP gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin, the pol’s camp said, just days before his party’s primary election.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was attacked by an employee at a Staten Island ShopRite while on the campaign trail for his son Andrew Giuliani’s gubernatorial campaign.
The employee disparaged the former mayor, slapped his back, then made an apparent reference to abortion. He was taken into custody.
Upstart progressive insurgents challenging longtime Democratic Assembly members are seeing strength in numbers ahead of tomorrow’s primary.
Two political action committees bankrolled by New York business interests are waging a hard-hitting $1 million counteroffensive to defeat “defund the police” state Assembly candidates running in the primary races.
Disgraced ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo is finally putting his sizable campaign coffers to use — giving a last-minute financial boost to a veteran New York state lawmaker, Assemblywoman Vivian Cook, who is facing a primary challenger from the left.
New York state lawmakers will return to Albany at noon on Thursday (June 30) to take up a series of gun-control bills in response to a Supreme Court decision making it easier to legally carry a firearm in public.
Queens Councilman James Gennaro ripped Hochul for declining to enact a slew of public safety measures by the end of the legislative session in Albany, demanding that she and state politicians return to the Capitol and get them done.
Business owners around Penn Station are racked with worry over Hochul’s plan to seize and raze properties in the area in order to make way for 10 new skyscrapers.
The latest in a string of traffic crashes that have injured or killed pedestrians on New York City streets has Adams blaming a “bad criminal justice system
Trains will run faster on some of the city’s busiest subway lines starting today as the MTA implements the biggest shake-ups to its schedules in four years.
A popular transit discount program, Fair Fares, could lend a hand to 500,000 more New Yorkers — but the city’s new budget didn’t carve out money to give all of them the savings, according to economists.
The shutdown of NYC public swim programs due to a lifeguard shortage is threatening to reduce access for families who don’t have access to private lessons — and worsen longstanding disparities in swimming ability and water safety.
Coney Island’s legendary Cyclone rollercoaster celebrated its 95th birthday yesterday, as fans lined up in the blazing heat for a free ride to mark the anniversary.
A federal class-action suit charges that the state DOH and OPWDD violate the rights of hundreds of New Yorkers with developmental disabilities each year by keeping them in restrictive institutional settings unnecessarily.
The speed limit could be reduced to 25 miles per hour in the City of Schenectady if Hochul signs legislation that has reached her desk.
Two Warren County brothers allege Gary Mercure, an ex-priest in their childhood parish convicted of raping young boys in Massachusetts, sexually abused them on multiple occasions and ex-Albany Bishop Howard J. Hubbard took part in some assaults.
The Colorado Avalanche took the lead in the second period to win their first Stanley Cup title since 2001 and end the Tampa Lightning’s bid for a third consecutive title. They did it convincingly, never facing elimination.
