Ventura County Reproductive Rights Network
Newsletter: The Best (and Worst) Stories
If you rely on our Events Calendar to keep track of future happenings, this Newsletter will keep you abreast of what's happened in the recent past! Here, you'll get timely intelligence from the frontlines of Ventura County's progressive movement, along with commentary powered by our expertise and experience as advocates.
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1 to 15 November 2023 🍂
Thank you to all who attended JFAVC's Pints for Justice event. We were thrilled with the turnout, and we've even posted pictures! If you missed the event and would still like to donate to JFAVC's Youth Scholarship Fund, you can do so via PayPal. In other news from our partners...
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Chumash History Presentation: Chumash elder Julie Tumamait-Stenslie will share all about the history and stories of the Chumash people. Sponsored by the Friends of the Camarillo Library.
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Yes I Am Movie Screening: Yes I Am: The Ric Weiland Story will be screening for a special night event at the Diversity Collective Community Resource Center in Ventura. Ric Weiland was an original founder of Microsoft and an unknown queer pioneer. His giving changed the world and has made an impact on our lives.
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🍁 16 to 31 October 2023
Last Saturday, Oxnard hosted Diversity Collective VC's AIDS Walk Ventura for the first time, raising both awareness and funds for Ventura County's HIV-AIDS Education & Prevention Program! We have 40 event photos to share, as well as the latest from the frontlines of reproductive justice...
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Colorado cannot ban unproven abortion pill reversal treatment, judge says: Shocker: A Trump-appointed judge sided with "fake clinics" that want to LIE to women about how abortion can be magically "reversed".
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If Michigan Abortion Patients Screw Up Printing a Form, Their Appointment Gets Canceled: The worst part: Conservative Democrats are the ones imposing this paperwork rule, which has led to HUNDREDS of cancellations every month.
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Scholastic Bows to Book Ban Pressure, Allows Schools to Exclude Diverse Titles from Fairs: Caving to the far right, Scholastic now allows schools to ban ANY book on Black Americans from its book fairs.
🍁 1 to 15 October 2023
Did you know Diversity Collective VC works with the county to fill service gaps and make a local impact on HIV-AIDS? AIDS Walk Ventura is just one way Diversity Collective raises funds for its HIV-AIDS Education & Prevention Program! The link and info are in our Events Calendar, but first...
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The Coming Supreme Court Power Grab: The Supreme Court's far-right majority is prepping to hear three cases that will enable it to seize even more rights from women.
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A Woman Was Denied Medication for Being of ‘Childbearing Age.’ She Just Sued the Hospital: She was denied her OWN medication since it might harm a "hypothetical fetus", owing to her "childbearing age". Luckily she's fighting back!
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GOP dudes are big mad at Taylor Swift for reminding them the ladies don't like them: Republicans have stepped up their harassment of Taylor Swift, for refusing to date men who've "bragged about sexually assaulting women". 🤦
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New Doctors Avoiding States With Abortion Bans, Threatening More Maternal Care Deserts: Most OBGYNs are women. Those living in anti-choice states are EIGHT TIMES likelier to move out, to protect their own reproductive safety. 😥
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Anti-Abortion Lawyer Wants Names of People Who Donated to 9 Texas Abortion Funds: Gosh, the "pro-life" movement is so "pro-women" that it wants to threaten, intimidate and jail women who support women's rights. 🙄
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Joe Manchin Sides With GOP in Battle Over Military Veterans’ Abortion Policy: The GOP keeps BLOCKING VA nominees because Biden legalized abortion for raped veterans. Now Democratic traitors are joining.
16 to 30 September 2023 🌦
Diversity Collective VC is holding its annual AIDS Walk Ventura later this month, while the League of Women Voters of Ventura County is hosting its RUMBLE or Vote seminar later this week! You'll find links to both in our Events Calendar, but first...
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The Clarence Thomas Corruption Saga Just Got Even Worse: Judge Thomas didn't simply befriend far-right donors who then brought Supreme Court cases. He used the Federalist Society to cover it up. 😮
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Nebraska Mom Gets 2 Years in Prison After Buying Abortion Pills for Her Teen Daughter: "Here’s the audacity: Self-managed abortion is not even a crime in f***ing Nebraska", the Repro Legal Defense Fund's director pointed out!
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California sues anti-abortion organizations for unproven treatment to reverse medication abortions: Heartbeat International and RealOptions falsely and illegally advertise the treatment as a valid and successful option, and do not alert patients to possible side effects, such as the risk of severe bleeding.
1 to 15 September 2023 🌦
It's finally here: the Planned Parenthood Annual Book Sale. All proceeds go to PP Central Coast, so if you love books, puzzles, vinyl records and more, come and take a look before September 24! But first, let's see what's new in the news...
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'Corrupt' Ohio Secretary of State using deceit to stop birth control, abortion: Ohio voters are likely to enshrine abortion rights in Ohio's constitution. The state GOP's response: It's "exploring a ban on contraception". 🤨
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Indiana Hospitals Sound Afraid to Give Abortions to Rape Victims: Due to bad press, Indiana finally passed an abortion rape "exception"... but REFUSED to create a way for rape victims to access it. 😢
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Clarence Thomas Really Just Blamed Abortion for His Undisclosed Private Jet Travel: LOL, Clarence claims the reason he unethically accepted $500,000 in private jet travel was that he needed "security" after overturning Roe. 😂
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Highways are the next antiabortion target. One Texas town is resisting: No joke. Texas is passing laws to CRIMINALIZE women driving highways if the destination is an abortion clinic. 🙄
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Georgia School District Canceled an Author’s Talks After He Said ‘Gay’: Georgia banned this author for discussing gay historical figures. Officials claimed "gay" was as inappropriate a topic as... "the Holocaust". 😮
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Amy Coney Barrett Thinks People Have 'Misimpressions' of the Supreme Court: Aw, Judge Amy "Handmaid" Barrett is upset at people knowing she turned the Supreme Court of the United States into a scandal-ridden, bribe-prone MAGA cult. 🙄
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Alabama attorney general says he has right to prosecute out-of-state abortions: The filing got the attention of California Governor Gavin Newsom, who wrote on Twitter, “California will NOT cooperate with any state that attempts to prosecute women or doctors for receiving or providing reproductive care.”
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Texas Supreme Court allows ban on gender-affirming care for most minors to take effect: With the Texas move to restrict gender-affirming care, Canada issued a new advisory, warning its LGBTQ citizens from traveling to the United States.
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California is suing to stop schools from outing trans kids to their parents: An entire school district is trying to OUT vulnerable trans kids to their abusive parents. Luckily California's courts are fighting back!
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🍎 16 to 31 August 2023
This month we helped PP Central Coast with tabling at VC Pride: Ventura Dreamin', in solidarity with our local LGBTQ community! That means we have 36 Pride photos to share with you, along with details about PP's upcoming Annual Book Sale. But first, the latest news...
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Almost half of LGBTQ+ youth feel unsafe at school, research finds: This is no surprise, given how fanatical today's conservatives are in smearing vulnerable queer people as "groomers", "mutants" and "demons". 😢
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Abortion Clinic Near California-Arizona Border Burns Down, a Major Blow to Regional Access: As violence against clinics rises, the ONLY abortion provider in the entire (heavily Latino) Imperial County has been destroyed.
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California woman killed 'for hanging LGBT pride flag in her store': Less than 24 hours after Ventura County Pride, this woman (and grandmother) was GUNNED DOWN for being an LGBTQ ally. 😢
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Appeals court embraces abortion-pill limits, sets up Supreme Court review: A far-right appeals court ruled to BAN abortion pills for women past 7 weeks of pregnancy. Now the case goes to an anti-choice Supreme Court.
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Clarence Thomas’ 38 Vacations: The Other Billionaires Who Have Treated the Supreme Court Justice to Luxury Travel: The scope of Thomas's legalized bribery is STAGGERING: "I don’t remember ever seeing this degree of largesse given to anybody." 😮
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Judge Reminds Anti-Abortion Attorneys That No Women Helped Draft Utah's Constitution: After Utah's AG argued that abortion bans from the 1800s must be obeyed, the judge pointed out ZERO women helped in drafting those bans.
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Even after Planned Parenthood stopped performing abortions, Texas is still trying to shut it down: The state filed a lawsuit claiming Planned Parenthood improperly billed Medicaid for $10 million. Texas is seeking more than $1.8 BILLION in reimbursement.
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Abortion setback in Ohio alarms GOP, as Democrats see a 'roadmap for 2024': Ohio's GOP claims they did "a pitiful job" of explaining its attempted abortion ban. No, they did a great job! Voters simply felt it was horrific.
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🍎 1 to 15 August 2023
Last week we attended Long Beach Pride in solidarity with Los Angeles... so we have 40 photos to share from Pride! Plus we have details on upcoming events like VC Pride: Ventura Dreamin' and Politics, Sex & Cocktails. First, here are August's weirdest news stories so far...
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Hell Yes, Pennsylvania Finally Ends State Funding for Crisis Pregnancy Centers: Pennsylvania's GOP forced the state to give $100 MILLION to crisis pregnancy centers, i.e. "fake clinics". This week, the insanity ended. 🥳
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Fatal Stabbing of Gay Man in Brooklyn Is Being Investigated As Hate Crime: Amidst skyrocketing rates of hate crimes, as well as conservatives demonizing gay people as "groomers", this LGBT activist was murdered in cold blood.
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‘After prayerful consideration,’ KC-area Catholic school kicks boy out to punish his mom: After a Catholic school's teacher claimed that girls who wear leggings are "whores", one mom objected. The priest retaliated by EXPELLING her son.
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Largest School District in Texas Eliminates Libraries, Converts Them to Disciplinary Centers: To stop Texas students from reading about black and female achievements, this district adopted the logical solution: eliminate libraries!
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Anti-Abortion Activist Caught on Camera Detailing Plan to Keep Abortion Off Missouri Ballot: "Pro-life" leaders admit that "direct democracy" is a DIRECT THREAT to abortion bans. So glad they say the quiet parts aloud now. 😏
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All-Male Anti-Abortion Panel Calls for Death Penalty: Remember when anti-choice leaders claimed they just wanted to "help women"? Turns out it was code for wanting to EXECUTE women.
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Alabama Anti-Abortion Leader Indicted on Child Sexual Abuse Charges: A pro-life leader who tried to force rape survivors to bear their rapists' children is HIMSELF an accused child sexual abuser.
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Teen Sentenced to Jail After Abortion Said She Didn't Want Child With Abusive Partner: Nebraska JAILED her for abortion pills, but Celeste Burgess is blunt about why she did it: She did NOT want a misogynist abuser's child.
16 to 31 July 2023 📅
It's the last day to register for Sunday's In-Person Storytelling Workshop, at Santa Barbara's award-winning Hook & Press Donuts and sponsored by PP Central Coast! But first, get the scoop on the past week's stories about reproductive justice, plus next month's events...
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Italy erases names of gay mothers from children's birth certificates: America's SCOTUS isn't the only court that recently legalized antigay discrimination. Italy's new far-right government is doing the same. 😳
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Tennessee AG asserts right to out-of-state abortion, transgender care medical records: Republican AGs have gone beyond demanding access to out-of-state abortion records. They now want TRANS people's medical records too.
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Lawyers Who Argued Supreme Court Cases Sent Clarence Thomas' Assistant Payments via Venmo: Weird! Judge Clarence "Scandal" Thomas keeps ruling in favor of lawyers who... pay him? 🙄
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Pence would ban abortion in cases where pregnancy isn't viable: Mike "Hypocrite" Pence is so "pro-life" that he'd rather force women to bear stillborn, dying children, instead of allowing abortion access. 🤨
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1 to 15 July 2023 📅
Today is the last day to register for Sunday's Ice Cream Social, sponsored by our partner: the League of Women Voters Ventura County! But first, some news stories and a huge album of photos from PP Central Coast's recent Latinx Pride Picnic + Book Club Meeting...
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Nebraska mother pleads guilty to giving teen daughter abortion pills after Meta releases incriminating messages: Mark Zuckerberg ain't THAT much better than Elon. Facebook targeted a pro-choice mom by handing her private messages to police. 😮
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Domestic Abusers Are Using Abortion Bans to Control Their Victims: After Roe was overturned, women's shelters saw a 99 PERCENT rise in abusers assaulting their partners for trying to access abortion.
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Florida woman who shot Black neighbor through door won't face murder charge: She screamed racial slurs at black kids, stole their iPad, then killed their mother. But "pro-life" Florida won't charge her with murder. 🤨
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Donald Trump Fantasized About Having Sex With Ivanka, New Book Says: Ew. As the "Party of Life" smears LGBTQ people as "groomers", its leading candidate openly fantasizes sex with... his daughter. 🤢
🌈 16 to 30 June 2023
If you live near Santa Barbara, Planned Parenthood is having its next Book Club Meeting on Thursday night! We're finishing The Story of Jane, though reading the book isn't a requirement to come and mingle with pro-choice neighbors... and enjoy wine too. But first, recent news...
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Clarence Thomas Uses Immigration Case to Attack the Right to Birth Control: In ruling against immigrant rights, Clarence Thomas made clear that he thinks immigration is as criminal as... birth control? 🙄
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Moms for Liberty's Indiana Chapter Apologizes for Quoting Adolf Hitler in Newsletter: This "pro-life" group explained its opposition to trans students by... quoting a Nazi murderer? Guess they're saying the quiet parts aloud now!
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Republicans Quietly Move to Use the Budget to Ban Mailing Abortion Pills: GOP: "Abortion should be a state issue!" Also the GOP: "We want FEDERAL criminalization of anyone receiving abortion pills!"
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North Carolina's Party-Switching Abortion Traitor Now Says She Didn't Have an Abortion: Last year she ran on a pro-choice platform, citing her abortion story. Now that she's in the GOP, she claims "the media" made it up. 🙄
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House Republicans Vote to Ban Providing Life-Saving Abortions to Pregnant Vets: The GOP voted to ban abortion for female soldiers dying from miscarriage... AND ban veteran hospitals from flying Pride flags. 🤦
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'Genocidal': Transgender people begin to flee states with anti-LGBTQ laws: Why are red states treating an entire class of Americans as "mutants" and "demons", openly calling for their "eradication"? This is why.
🌈 1 to 15 June 2023
This month is already full of absurd anti-choice news, including multiple clinic vandalisms in deep-blue Illinois, and GOP efforts to make sure Space Force is based in an anti-choice state. On the bright side, we're having a local Latinx Pride Picnic soon, so keep reading!
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Nikki Haley Generously Proposes Not Executing Women Who Have Abortions: LOL, Nikki Haley claims she's actually a moderate since she doesn't support "executing" abortion patients. "Tepid applause followed." 😂
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Nikki Haley Blames Rising Teen Suicidal Ideations on Trans Girls in Locker Rooms: With suicide rates for LGBT teens rising in red states, this genius "pro-lifer" claims it's because of... the "transgenders"? 🙄
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Weeks After Man Plowed Into Illinois Abortion Clinic, a Vandal Tears Down Repairs: Think abortion's safe in blue states like Illinois? "Pro-lifers" are making sure it doesn't stay that way, thanks to a surge in anti-choice violence.
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Federal judge rips into Florida's ban on gender-affirming care for kids: Florida passed a bill accusing trans teens of being "MUTANTS" and "DEMONS". Luckily a judge just overruled it for being rather illegal. 😂
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Missouri hires an anti-abortion marketing agency: The GOP has hired a FAR-RIGHT tech company to flood Google searches in Missouri with anti-choice disinformation and lies. 😳
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Tennessee Woman Denied Abortion for Ectopic Pregnancy Was Left Infertile: Due to Tennessee's "NO EXCEPTIONS" abortion ban, this woman has been crippled for the rest of her life. Thanks, #SupremeCourt. 😒
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Biden admin may halt plans to move Space Command to Alabama over abortion law: Biden is sending a clear message: If your state treats women like second-class citizens, don't expect us to waste business on you.