Weekly Roundup: September 13-19

The Weekly Roundup by GWCD is a collaboration between members of the news & blog committee to compile three main headlines from the week. As one of the goals of the committee is to keep our GWCD community updated on current events, the Weekly Roundup is intended as an easy way for members to read up on the highlights from each week in addition to the articles published regularly by our members.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Justice and Gender Equality Advocate, Dies At 87

By Abby Osborne

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, one of the nation's most prominent gender equality advocates and the second woman appointed to the Supreme Court, died Friday, September 18. At 87, she died of complications deriving from metastatic pancreatic cancer.

The life of Justice Ginsburg didn’t begin in 1993, the year following The Year of Women, when President Bill Clinton appointed her to the Supreme Court. Graduating at the top of her law class at Columbia—all while caring for her husband, Marty, who had cancer, and her child, which included helping complete a lot of her husband’s law schooling as well—Ginsburg secured a clerkship with Judge Edmund Palmieri in 1959 after numerous “no’s” despite high academic achievement.

Read full piece here.

NYT poll finds GOP senators falling behind in key states

By Abby Osborne

A new New York Times/Siena College poll reveals GOP senators facing reelection in key states might not be faring as well as they hoped—Democrats in Arizona, Maine, and North Carolina are beating Republican incumbents by at least five points.

In Arizona, Mark Kelly, astronaut and husband of former representative Gabby Giffords, leads Republican incumbent Senator Martha McSalley by eight points. Undecided likely voters made up 7% of the poll.

In Maine, Sara Gideon, Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, leads Republican incumbent Senator Susan Collins by five points. Undecided likely voters made up 6% of the poll.

In North Carolina, Cal Cunningham, former legislator and veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, leads Republican incumbent Senator Thom Tillis also by five points. Undecided likely voters made up 16% of the poll.

ICE Detainees Allegedly Experience Forced Sterilizations

By Oliver Kline

According to a recent whistleblower report, an ICE-run immigration detention center in Georgia is fraught with maltreatment and malpractice. Dawn Wooten, a licensed nurse, alleged that the facility perpetrated hysterectomies on female detainees without their clear consent, many of whom likely did not understand what they were being asked. This report also mirrors similar complaints that ICE-run facilities across the country are treating COVID-19 patients with over-the-counter cold medicine and aren’t maintaining social distancing.

Wooten reported that “Everybody [the doctor] sees has a hysterectomy — just about everybody… he’s even taken out the wrong ovary on a young lady.” While these allegations have yet to be fully validated, the picture they paint is horrifying. If the report is true, Immigration and Customs Enforcement is using tax-payer dollars to commit human rights abuses against the most vulnerable populations of immigrants.

Congressional leaders and ICE alike are calling for serious investigation, and only time will tell if—and in how many facilities—these practices are commonplace. Though it is surprising to many, it is important to recognize that forced sterilization of the vulnerable is a long-standing part of our history. This is not just the work of autocrats and dictators, it happens right here on American soil.

Covid-19 cases continue to rise going into the fall

By Manuel Wallick

Now only a few weeks into the school year, many universities and school districts are already seeing their semesters disrupted by COVID-19. This week New York City, the largest school district in the country, once more delayed in-person teaching due to the virus and the concerns of teachers. Meanwhile, COVID-19 cases not only continue to rise in the United States but have greatly increased at several college campuses around the country, predominantly in the south. Schools in Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina have all seen cases spike since the start of the semester. This comes as the nation totals nearly 200,000 deaths from the virus and over 6 million total cases.

The United States is not the only country struggling with the virus as we move into the fall. Israel is now the first country to reinstate a full lockdown over an increase in virus cases, a fact that was not welcomed by many in the country. Many nations in Europe have also seen cases go up and have implemented various measures to fight the virus in the coming weeks and months. Spain, one of the world’s initial hotspots, has reimposed several restrictions on Madrid as the city sees cases increase.