SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 2022
Weekend Reading
Thank you to everyone who donated to our matching gift opportunity this week! Your gifts helped us secure an additional $25,000 to help migrants at every stage of their journey—and advocate for humane migration policies. We’re so grateful for your support!
Here are this week’s picks to inform and support your activism.
Tell Congress: Enact federal abortion protections today!: The U.S. Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, ending federal protection of reproductive rights. This concerns us all. AFSC unequivocally supports reproductive freedom—and has for decades. No one should be forced to bear an unwanted child. Read our response. [link removed] Now we must pressure Congress to take immediate action to codify Roe and protect abortion rights. Sign our petition with Daily Kos today! [link removed]
Standing with all people in Ethiopia: Last weekend, witnesses in Ethiopia reported that more than 200 people, mostly ethnic Amhara, were killed and many others wounded in the Oromia region. Similar incidents have occurred in other regions, leading the U.N. to report that the war is marred by “extreme brutality.” AFSC condemns this heinous attack and is deeply concerned about the ongoing loss of life. [link removed]
Read our 2021 annual report: Over the last year, AFSC staff, partners, and volunteers responded to the urgent challenges of our times. Read highlights from our work together in our new annual report. [link removed]
‘Revolting’: Senate panel raises Biden’s bloated military budget by $45 billion: Recently the Senate Armed Services Committee voted to increase the president’s already unprecedented military spending request, bringing the total proposed budget for the coming fiscal year to $857.6 billion. That’s even though most U.S. adults support cuts to the Pentagon budget. “If Congress truly wants to keep people safe, they must start by rejecting this increase and investing taxpayer dollars in human wellbeing, instead,” says AFSC’s Tori Bateman. (Truthout)
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The Biden administration must recommit to restoring asylum before more lives are lost: For the past two years, Title 42 has stopped migrants from crossing the U.S.-Mexico border to apply for asylum. This inhumane policy has also forced more migrants to take dangerous routes—through mountains, deserts, and the ocean—to seek asylum. Many face violence, kidnappings, and even death. Today it’s time for President Biden to recommit to ending Title 42 to save lives, writes AFSC’s Pedro Rios. (The San Diego Union-Tribune)
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My take: Your childhood mistakes should not define who you become as an adult: Across the U.S. tens of thousands of people are serving life sentences without the chance of parole, including people sentenced as children. But there are many examples that people can change and should have the opportunity to come home to their communities, writes Chuck Warpehoski of Michigan Collaborative to End Mass Incarceration, a partner of AFSC. (Holland Sentinel) [link removed]
Be well and take care
American Friends Service Committee
1501 Cherry Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102
United States
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