This week, a leaked draft opinion confirmed that the Supreme Court’s right-wing members are ready to overturn Roe v. Wade — and with it, half a century of previously settled law.
This will be an extremely damaging ruling, Olivia Alperstein explains this week, and not only for people seeking abortion care. The rationale underpinning Roe, she points out, also protects the rights of Americans to use birth control and to love or marry who they choose, regardless of race or gender. Without urgent action to codify Roe into law, all of these rights will be at risk.
But just as freedom can collapse in one fell swoop, in other cases it can be restored in one. This week, Sa’iyda Shabazz shares her family’s story with student debt, which President Biden recently said he was considering forgiving at least some of. That would give significant relief to some 45 million Americans and their families.
Also this week, we offer a pair of moving personal reflections from two communities who happen to share an observance month in May.
Reflecting on the Passover feast for Jewish American Heritage Month, Sarah Gertler makes an urgent case for her fellow Jews to support Palestinian rights — and in so doing, to honor millennia of proud Jewish tradition. And writing for Asian American Heritage Month, second generation Indian immigrant Monica Grover offers a firsthand look at the complicated financial problems second-generation immigrants can inherit when the American Dream doesn’t quite work out for their parents.
Finally, Jim Hightower rats out the corporate executives who’ve been bragging, in their own words, about not only profiting from inflation, but causing it on purpose. And although Khalil Bendib is out this week. we’re happy to offer a prescient cartoon he published shortly after Justice Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed.
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New This Week…
Nothing Is More Personal Than the Right to Control Your Own Body | Olivia Alperstein
Roe doesn’t just protect abortion rights. It’s the keystone that keeps politicians out of the most intimate aspects of our lives.
With the Stroke of a Pen, Biden Could Set Millions of Americans Free | Sa’iyda Shabazz
Tens of millions of us are weighed down by crushing student debt. Debt relief would be a game changer.
Liberation Is Jewish History. Let’s Make It Our Future, Too. | Sarah Gertler
Jewish people should defend our heritage and stand up against violent injustices in our name.
For Second-Generation Immigrants, the American Dream Can Be a Nightmare | Monica Grover
As I take the care — and debts — of my elderly immigrant parents, I wonder how I’ll ever achieve my own success. Here’s what we can do about it.
What’s Behind Inflation? Greedy Corporate Executives | Jim Hightower
Don’t take my word for it — they’ll tell you themselves.
Injustice Barrett | Khalil Bendib
“Give me your Roe v. Wade, your wretched ACA…”
In Case You Missed It…
If Anti-Trans Lawmakers Got Their Way, I Might Not Be Alive Today | Sage Dolan-Sandrino
Over half of young trans people have contemplated suicide. Now up to a third of us could lose the care that’s been proven to prevent it.
Price Controls Could Tame Inflation | Wenonah Hauter
Corporate monopolies are already controlling prices — to keep them high. It’s time to do something about it.
How America’s Truckers Got Hijacked | Jim Hightower
Thanks to greedy corporate bosses, what was once a skilled, middle-class, union job is now a skilled poverty-wage job.
Democracy Needs You — Not Just at the Polls, But at Work Too | Erica Smiley and Sarita Gupta
The Americans organizing their workplaces aren’t simply fighting for themselves. They’re storm troops fighting for democracy.
