Us in the U.S.

As a US citizen vacationing in France last week, I was asked by a number of French citizens whether the international news coverage of recent assaults on women's rights in the U.S. was actually true. When I told them it was, and provided them with additional facts of which they were previously unaware, they appeared shocked — not because they didn’t believe it, but because they didn’t want to believe it. “How could this happen in the USA?” a few responded, amidst looks of shock, horror and rage.

I suspect that the people of France aren’t the only ones living outside the U.S. who are similarly disbelieving, or simply unaware, of the rampant reversals to women's rights currently occurring on American soil. And since Women’s eNews’ audience spans the globe, I feel it necessary to ensure that our readers are well informed of these facts since, after all, Women’s eNews has always, and will forever, publish only the TRUTH.

As we come to the close of the month of June, therefore, below you will find a list of the major assaults on women’s rights that have occurred in the U.S. over the past two months. And, from this point on, Women’s eNews will continue to publish a weekly list (each Friday) of all new actions, policies and legislation that are being passed, as well as being proposed, that will impact women’s rights in the USA in our new ongoing series titled, ‘Us in the U.S.’

After the U.S. announced a stricter stance on illegal crossings at the Mexican border in May, 2018, requiring parents and children to be separated rather than kept together in detention centers, approximately 1,500 migrant children have gone missing. Many are concerned that some of these missing children may have fallen victim to smuggling or human trafficking, especially girls, who represent 75% of human trafficking victims in the U.S. Another concern is that others may take advantage of women’s fear of deportation while in the U.S., as was the case with an off-duty Bexar County Sheriff's Department deputy who has been arrested on a felony charge involving sexual assault of a child. Jose Nunez, 47, a detention deputy who's been with the department ten years, has been charged with super aggravated sexual assault — a charge applied when the victim is younger than six years old. Sheriff Javier Salazar says the victim's mother is an undocumented immigrant, and the suspect took advantage of the mother's fear of deportation, and that the victim, who is 4 years old, cried out for her mother after the assault. Salazar said Nunez touched the girl's genitals and hurt her. Investigators believe the abuse could go back months or even years. Nunez has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.
Last month, Arkansas became the first state to ban medication abortion, after the U.S. Supreme Court turned down a challenge to a restrictive Arkansas law that will now end the use of medication abortions in the state, and could close two of the state’s three remaining abortion clinics.
In late-May, Donald Trump proposed reviving a Reagan-era rule that targets the Title X family planning program, which would threaten Title X patients’ access to medically accurate information by restricting what providers can tell patients about abortion services — even when patients directly ask for that information. Second, it loosens Title X’s quality standards, making it easier for unqualified providers — like deceptive crisis pregnancy centers — to take part in the program.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration overturned asylum protections for domestic violence victims in a ruling that could potentially prevent tens of thousands of immigrants from getting protection in the U.S. Since most victims of domestic violence are women, this puts them in grave danger by potentially sending them back to their homelands.
On Tuesday, June 26, a Supreme Court decision blocked the California Law requiring crisis pregnancy centers to share information about abortion and contraception. The Supreme Court says a California law that forces anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers to provide information about abortion probably violates the Constitution. The California originally law took effect in 2016, when it required centers that are licensed by the State to tell clients about the availability of contraception, abortion and pre-natal care, at little or no cost. Centers that are unlicensed were also required to post a sign that said so. The court struck down that portion of the law, as some centers contended they were singled out and forced to deliver a message with which they disagreed.