| | | | |  | | By Katelyn Fossett | | | | 
Courtesy of Sisters of Service; Top Right: Scott Goldsmith | Happy Friday, rulers! Ketanji Brown Jackson was confirmed as Supreme Court justice this week, making her the first Black woman on the bench. Here is the inside story of how Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer strategized to get her confirmed. Thank you to Maya Parthasarathy for reading interesting things and then sending them to us. The Afghan all-woman platoon that served a vital function for American troops in Afghanistan is being resettled in the U.S. — but what comes next is anything but clear. In a piece published early this morning on POLITICO Magazine, writer Amanda Ripley takes us inside the Platoon, their harrowing journey out of Afghanistan as Kabul fell and their surreal resettlement in the United States, where the 39 Afghan women rent apartments, take MMA classes and hold jobs at Chick-Fil-As and daycare centers. The story is a glimpse into the challenges of resettling the 76,000 Afghan evacuees living in America and a reminder that ordinary-seeming people often have unbelievable stories to tell. The beginning of the all-female platoon: The Female Tactical Platoon was set up by the U.S. military in 2011, and more than 70 women have passed through it. At first, many in the military were skeptical of the idea. "If I'm being honest, I wasn't sure it would work," U.S. Army Major Laura Peters told Ripley. Male soldiers were already resentful about giving up helicopter seats to a group of American female soldiers that was embedded with U.S. Special Operations forces to interact with women and children in their missions. But those women were vital: They were the only ones able to search and talk with local women. If the U.S. were to ever withdraw, Peters and her colleagues knew, American female soldiers would need to be replaced by Afghan women. Peters and her team selected a dozen recruits for the first cohort of the Female Tactical Platoon. The recruits, who faced pushback from family members, had trouble finding reliable transportation and even had difficulty getting paid, soon surprised their critics with their excitement about their new jobs. "This is just my opinion, but a lot of their lives they'd been taught to be silent," Peters said, "and I think, in a setting where they were together and encouraged to be a badass, it just brought up so much glee, to be perfectly blunt." They were also great at their jobs, locating and fighting the Taliban with precision and power. Soon, male commandos were asking for assistance from the Platoon. Over the 10 years of its existence, the Platoon members went on some 2000 missions; none died in combat, though two were seriously injured. The day everything changed: When it became clear in mid-August 2021 that Kabul would fall imminently, the Platoon members got rid of their awards and uniforms and headed for the Kabul airport. Via WhatsApp, American soldiers told them how to get on a plane. "Push faster please. Fight hard to get close," one soldier wrote. "It's the only way we can help you." The women eventually made it to the U.S. What does the future hold for the women? The Platoon members were able to come to the United States through a program known as humanitarian parole, which means they can stay in America for up to two years. They were resettled in cities across the United States, from New Jersey to Alaska. They are also entitled to Social Security numbers and work authorization papers. (Since these women were employed by the Afghan Army, and not the U.S. Army, they don't qualify for Special immigrant Visas.) But the women have had different experiences with the program so far. Some women have already received their social security numbers and work authorization papers; others' documents seem to be stuck somewhere. The cases vary so much because they are being handled by a host of uncoordinated refugee resettlement agencies. Those agencies are more overwhelmed than ever since a third of them closed during the Donald Trump administration because refugee numbers dwindled so drastically. Most of the women have also applied for a Priority 1 visa, which is designed for refugees facing significant threats in their home countries. In the months to come, the Platoon members may need to apply for asylum — which is anything but a safe option given the state of the United States' asylum system, which has over 400,000 cases sitting in a backlog. But still, they're still hopeful. One woman, who is identified as Mahtab in the story, wants to return to Afghanistan and maybe open an orphanage. Another former Platoon member, Nafisa, wants to join the U.S. military one day, and until then, she is taking English classes and going running almost every day.
| | | | A message from PhRMA: Certain diseases affect women differently than men, and their treatment options should reflect that. That's why there are now over 600 medicines in development by America's biopharmaceutical research companies aiming to address the disparities caused by gender bias in health care. With women being 3 out of 4 people who experience migraines and 2x more likely to have depression, women need treatments tailored to their health. Learn more about the R&D pipeline for women here. | | | | | | | 
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik | "From judge to justice in 6 weeks: How Schumer got Jackson confirmed," by POLITICO's Marianne LeVine and Burgess Everett: "Chuck Schumer and Dick Durbin knew exactly when Ketanji Brown Jackson would be confirmed, even weeks before President Joe Biden made his choice: by April 8. "With a fragile 50-50 Democratic majority and an unpredictable pandemic, the majority leader and Judiciary Committee chair mapped out a strategy that went from nomination to confirmation in a six-week sprint, with zero breaks and a specific target date that they decided upon way back in late January. It's rare for Senate leaders to meet self-prescribed deadlines for huge votes, but Jackson's historic ascension to become the first Black female Supreme Court justice essentially went through without a hitch. "During the selection process, Schumer even suggested to White House chief of staff Ron Klain that Jackson would be the best option to get confirmed over the other names on Biden's short list, according to a source familiar with the conversation." "'We called [Biden] early on and said, "We've got to get a nominee quickly, the longer we wait, the tougher it's going to be,"' Schumer recalled in an interview." " Whitmer sues over abortion law as governors prepare for state policy free-for-all," by Zach Montellaro and Alice Miranda Ollstein for POLITICO: "Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging her state's 1931 law banning abortion — the latest move in a flurry of state activity preparing for the possible overturning of Roe v. Wade in a few months. "The Michigan law bans abortion at any stage of pregnancy, with an exception for the health of a woman but not for cases of rape or incest. It has remained on the books for decades despite the 1973 Roe decision rendering it unenforceable and establishing the right to abortion nationally. "But with the Supreme Court expected to rule this summer on Mississippi's ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, both sides of the abortion debate anticipate that the justices will either completely reverse or significantly roll back Roe. That would allow pre-Roe bans in Michigan and a swath of other states to go back into effect and give states a green light to pass new ones, causing abortion access to vary dramatically from state to state. "In preparation for that moment, and with a closely divided Congress unable to pass new federal abortion legislation, the battle over the procedure is already being fought in the states. Blue states are rushing to shore up protections for people terminating a pregnancy, while red states are pushing a new wave of restrictions." " Biden to nominate first woman to lead a military service," by Samuel Benson for POLITICO: "President Joe Biden plans to nominate Adm. Linda Fagan to be the next commandant of the Coast Guard. If confirmed, she would be the first woman to lead a military service branch. "Since June 2021, Fagan has served as the vice commandant, the service's No. 2 position. At the time, she became the first woman to become a four-star admiral in the Coast Guard. USNI News first reported that Fagan will be nominated for the top job. Members of the Senate Commerce Committee later confirmed the news. "'Admiral Fagan's nomination will inspire generations of American women to strive to serve at the highest level in the Armed Forces,' Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, said in a tweet."
| | | | 
| Read more here.
| | | | 
An NFT, or nonfungible token, is displayed on a billboard in Time Square, New York, Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021. | AP Photo/Seth Wenig | "Famous women join the crypto hustle, but it could cost their fans," by Nitasha Tiku in the Washington Post: "From start-up capital to investment opportunities, women have long had limited access to tech riches, a pattern that is now repeating itself in crypto spaces. Twice as many men invest in cryptocurrency as women, according to a 2021 CNBC poll . A Quinnipiac University poll from March found that 43 percent of women had heard of NFTs, compared with 61 percent of men, while 20 percent of women said they heard or read a lot about cryptocurrency, compared with 38 percent of men. …"NFT projects promoting gender diversity in crypto, several donating some profits, have won social media followers, Hollywood deals, corporate sponsors and celebrity fans. Boss Beauties, an NFT collection of 'beautifully diverse, empowered women' has deals with Barbie and Neiman Marcus. Eva Longoria bought two NFTs from the CryptoChicks collection, which celebrates 'the unique, diverse beauty of all women around the world.' World of Women, an NFT collection devoted to 'representation, inclusivity, and equal opportunities for all,' partnered with Reese Witherspoon to develop the characters for movies or TV. "Critics, however, see in some NFT projects the revival of the girlboss, an archetype of self-serving feminism from the 2010s, personified by start-up founders who positioned their ability to break into the boys' club as progress for the greater good. Despite the upbeat rhetoric from celebrity investors, some people say efforts marketed as financial inclusion are replicating the same power structures that kept marginalized women from making real money off the last tech boom." "'These projects are very clearly centering mostly White women or mostly women who already come from a lot of privilege,' said Adrienne Young, a social media strategist who helps women of color learn about crypto and NFTs. "It felt like buzzwords for people to eat up so they felt good about supporting a women-led project.'" " 'Leaving victims with the bill': Sexual assault survivors are often charged hundreds of dollars for rape kits," by Orion Rummler for The 19th: "$347. That was the average out-of-pocket cost for sexual assault survivors who received forensic exam services as part of a rape kit from 2016 to 2018, the Kaiser Family Foundation found. "Under federal law, they weren't supposed to pay anything at all. "The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) — reauthorized last month as part of Congress' omnibus spending bill — requires states to bear full out-of-pocket costs of forensic medical exams to receive federal funds for law enforcement agencies, courts and victim services. Even if victims are fully reimbursed later, states that allow hospitals to charge patients are still violating the requirements laid out for them by the Justice Department to access those funds. "But not everyone who interacts with survivors, including hospital and emergency department staff, knows that. As a result, a patchwork of state laws and a nationwide shortage of specially trained and trauma-informed examiners has led to sexual assault survivors often being billed for forensic exams that should be free, experts tell The 19th. "It's one more burden placed on people who are already dealing with the trauma of not just assault, but also the repercussions that can come with seeking help."
| | | | 
| Read more here.
| | | | A message from PhRMA: Differing biological, environmental and social experiences of women may not always be considered in treatments for diseases disproportionately affecting them. Nearly 40% of women will be diagnosed with a chronic disease, compared to 30% of men. Heart disease alone is the leading cause of death in women, with more than 300,000 deaths in 2019. Women are also more likely to be diagnosed with autoimmune diseases, and women represent 3 out of 4 people who experience migraine and are 2x more likely to have depression.
This disparity demands tailored treatments that meet the needs of women, adapted to their unique experiences with disease. To address the need for effective treatments options for women, America's biopharmaceutical research companies are developing over 600 medicines that will help bridge gender disparity in disease treatment. Learn more about what's in development by the biopharmaceutical industry here. | | | | | | Biden is nominating Adm. Linda Fagan to head the Coast Guard — a role that would make her, if confirmed, the first woman ever to lead a U.S. military service, USNI News' Sam LaGrone reported. ... Christina Kanmaz is now a foreign service officer at the State Department. She previously was a director of communications and public affairs at Global Strategy Group. … Anastasia Dellaccio is now director of public policy and stakeholder engagement for Core Scientific. She previously was a senior manager of community impact and philanthropy corporate affairs at Booz Allen Hamilton. (h/t Playbook) … Janet Hyojeong Kim is joining Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati's newly launched strategic risk and crisis management group as partner. Kim previously was associate counsel to the president in the Office of the White House Counsel. … Miriam Smallman is joining the Atlantic Council as associate director of media relations at the Atlantic Council. She most recently was chief comms officer for trade and economics at the British Embassy. (h/t Playbook) | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
Comments
Post a Comment