Hi John,

Here at the National Women’s Law Center, we’ve spent much of the last few weeks anxiously refreshing the Supreme Court website as we awaited critical decisions. Apart from our own website, it’s probably the website I spend the most time on (though I am partial to our branding).

The decisions have been a mixed bag—but there were some surprise decisions, like on Title VII (protecting LGBTQ workers’ rights) and on DACA (and don’t worry, we’ll get to the birth control and abortion cases in like...two paragraphs!).
I started working in this field in 2015. So I had one good year, and then it’s been pretty much downhill ever since a certain day in November 2016. So it’s easy to forget what it feels like to win, and even easier to forget to celebrate. But celebrating wins, even if they’re partial wins, even if they’re temporary, even if they’re just not losing rights, is important. Because if my newsletter predecessor taught me anything, it’s that you need to seek out and create joy. That may seem hard to do right now, but that’s probably exactly why we need to do it now even more than usual. So take some time, John, and celebrate the wins in your life, in this work, and in this world.

THE SUPREME COURT’S RECORD THIS TERM ON REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
In summary: Oy vey.

There were two blockbuster cases on reproductive rights this term at the Supreme Court, one on abortion and one on birth control (and a surprise case that's super important but you may not have even heard about!).. Here’s a quick recap on both of them:
Abortion (aka June Medical Services L.L.C vs. Russo ): This case was super similar to a case the Supreme Court heard four years ago ( Whole Women’s Health ), but anti-abortion activists were hoping the changed composition of the court might lead to a different decision (good try!!). Instead, the court ruled 5-4 to overturn the restrictive abortion law at stake in the case and preserve abortion access in Louisiana thanks to Chief Justice John Roberts joining four other justices. Despite the fact that the case was widely declared a win in the media, it kind of felt to me like when my parents used to make me clean my room as a kid but instead I just threw everything into my closet. Like, sure, we didn’t *lose* any rights and my room didn’t get *messier*, but we didn’t really gain anything either? And the closet will probably explode the next time I go to open it (in case you somehow didn’t follow this extended metaphor, this translates to: even though the Court protected abortion access in Louisiana for now, Roberts’ concurring opinion makes it sound like that won’t always be the case, and there’s trouble on the horizon).

Read more: “June Medical Services v. Russo: When a ‘win’ is not a win” by our very own VP of Reproductive Rights and Health Gretchen Borchelt!
And then read a little more: “Winning June Medical Services, LLC v. Russo Won’t Stop Lawmakers From Coming for Your Reproductive Rights,” this time by our President & CEO Fatima Goss Graves!
Take action: We warded off this attack on abortion access in Louisiana at the highest court, but we need to proactively expand abortion access. Tell Congress to create a federal safeguard for abortion (the bill’s already in Congress—this is within reach y’all!).
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Birth control: …yikes. That’s my whole comment!
Okay, fine, a little more: At stake in this case were a set of truly baffling (AKA terrible) rules the Trump-Pence administration put into place that would allow virtually any employer or university to deny birth control coverage for...just about any reason!

Trump to anyone who wants birth control.

The exemptions these rules create for employers and universities are more like gaping holes that undermine the purpose of the birth control benefit: making sure people can get the birth control they need. This case also exemplifies a disturbing trend from the Trump administration: using religion as a weapon to discriminate. So, back to my original conclusion: yikes. The glimmer of hope: the cast isn’t over (it was “remanded” to the lower courts—lawyer-talk for sent back to) and the Pennsylvania Attorney General has promised to continue fighting—and so will we.

Read more: “SCOTUS’s Birth Control Ruling Will Devastate Communities That Already Face Discrimination Every Day,” again by our president (she’s been busy, y’all!).
Related: The Supreme Court was busy expanding religion as cover for discrimination this month! This time, in a case about workers’ rights at religious entities—namely, two schoolteachers at Catholic schools. The Court decided these two cases about something called the ministerial exemption, which in essence allows religious employers to discriminate against employees so long as the workers have some small amount of religion-related duties—even if their main job is as an elementary school teacher. In short: the Supreme Court made the exemption a whole lot bigger, so now employees at religious institutions are at much greater risk of sexual or racial harassment, pregnancy discrimination, unequal pay, and other forms of discrimination without any civil rights legal protections. This was a dangerous decision for all workers at religious entities—but particularly for women, who make up the majority of religious schoolteachers. That’s why we co-led a brief for the Supreme Court, on behalf of a total of 70 civil rights and public interest organizations committed to workers' civil rights.
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WATCH: We recently rallied around child care with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and Senators Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker (talk about an invite list!). Did you miss it because of, oh, I don’t know, having to take care of a CHILD? If that’s you, or you missed it for any reason, you can watch the recording here!
ALSO WATCH: Last month we launched Brick by Brick, a first-of-its-kind advocacy curriculum centering the histories and experiences of LGBTQ people of color, with an amazing discussion between advocates and students. Weren’t able to make the launch? We’ve got you covered!
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Must-Reads:
Our intern, Maddie Sells, is the author of our must-reads this week! I for one am completely ~sold~ on these articles!

Child care can’t be an afterthought in this country. Check out these recent pieces by USA Today and The Intelligencer discussing what it’s like for essential workers to balance child care during COVID-19.
Vice News reports on the pandemic’s impact on reproductive health care (spoiler alert: it’s not good): “While 29% of white women reported that the pandemic made it harder to access contraception and reproductive health care, 38% of Black women and 45% of Hispanic women said the same.”
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Feminist Moment of Joy:
I don’t know if y’all have been watching the National Women’s Soccer League tournament like I have, but if you haven’t, you may have missed something: at the start of every game, on pretty much every team, just about every player takes a knee as the National Anthem plays. And they’re far from the only women athletes who have been leading and amplifying calls for racial justice. Women athletes are ( and have been [[link removed]] ) demanding racial justice, and we’re here for it.

To no longer refreshing SCOTUSblog constantly until next term,
Hannah Finnie
she/her/hers
Senior Manager of Campaign and Digital Strategies
National Women’s Law Center
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