President & CEO, Ricci Levy and COO Mandy Salley attended a reception in Washington, DC for the book release of The First Amendment Lives On: Conversations Commemorating Hugh M. Hefner's Legacy of Enduring Free Speech and Free Press Values by Stuart N. Brotman . The reception was hosted by Christie Hefner and featured one of the contributors, and a Summit Speakers, Bob Corn Revere. The book speaks to the importance of free speech - a topic we’ll be discussing during our Human Rights Commission at the Summit.
Join us for the Commission on August 4th.

Self-Determination Has Been Wrenched Away From Half the US Population (Truthout) 

Marjorie Cohn writes: “Since the day Roe v. Wade was decided nearly 50 years ago, its opponents have executed a methodical campaign to overturn it. There is no reason, in fact or in law, to erase the constitutional right to abortion. The Constitution still protects abortion, and there have been no factual changes since 1973 that would support abolishing it. The only thing that has changed is the composition of the court. It is now packed with radical Christian fanatics who have no qualms about imposing their religious beliefs on the bodies of women and trans people, notwithstanding the Constitution’s unequivocal separation of church and state.” Read more.

What the Supreme Court’s Anti-Roe Ruling Means for LGBTQ+ Americans’ Bodily Autonomy (them.) 

Samantha Riedel writes about what the Dobbs ruling means for LGBTQIA+ folks: “In reality, the actual damage from the Court’s decision will be borne by the people who are in desperate need of abortions and related reproductive care — not only heterosexual women, but queer and trans people of many genders, too. [...] [The] time when LGBTQ+ people could hope for the law to reliably protect them is swiftly drawing to a close. When the nation’s highest court, which has no functional oversight, decides to hew to the far right and crack down on bodily autonomy on specious grounds, ‘working within the system’ holds precious little moral or material weight.” Read more.

The brewing fight to keep abortion info online (The Verge) 

Adi Robertson comments on the fight to keep abortion info online: “Understandably, abortion advocates have focused on surveillance issues in the immediate aftermath of the ruling, concerned about states using online records for criminal prosecutions. But there’s also a fight brewing over how and where advocates will be able to share abortion information online. If a procedure is illegal, then states could claim content enabling that procedure is illegal too — raising thorny questions for platforms and activists alike.” Read more.

The Fresh Hell of Depending on Your Employer for Abortion Access (In These Times) 

Sarah Lazare explores the danger of relying on your employer for abortion access: “To think of having to add protection of one’s ability to get an abortion to the list of things employers provide, and can therefore take away, is terrifying. First, no one should ever be in the position of having to talk to an employer about their need to travel out of state for an abortion. But secondly, some of the companies that are publicly claiming they will protect abortion rights are among the most viciously anti-union employers of our time. How will they use this new form of leverage to crack down on workers’ rights to demand better conditions?” Read more.

A Love Note to People in This Moment Who Are Having and Had Abortions (Rewire News Group) 

We Testify shares a love note to people who are having and had abortions: “We deserve a moment to cry, scream, yell, and catch our breath. We deserve a moment to be furious with a nation that prides itself on freedom, yet took ours in an instant. We deserve a moment to be angry with people who built careers off depicting our abortion decisions with disgust and frivolity. We deserve a moment to wail in agony because this is one more attack on our decisions alongside the ongoing genocides of our communities by white supremacists, politicians, and police officers. This nightmare is too much for any of us to hold. We deserve a moment to process this pain.” Read more.

Tess’ Take: Decriminalizing Sex Work in Vermont (Woodhull’s Sex & Politics Blog) 

Aboriton and sex work are both tied to our right to bodily autonomy. Tess Joseph writes about efforts to decriminlize sex work in Vermont: “The case for decriminalizing sex work has been made, over and over and over. The criminalization of sex work facilitates the policing and surveillance of women, people of color, immigrants, and LGBTQIA+ folks; it endangers sex workers’ health.”
Read more.