The Week in Women
Sinead O'Connor's death, protests in Poland, and Putin outlaws gender-affirming care
Hi readers, and welcome to The Week in Women, a rundown of this week’s major women’s rights stories from around the world. Here we go!
Irish singer and activist Sinead O’Connor died at age 56 this week. O’Connor fought for women’s rights through her music and global advocacy.
The US Senate passed its annual defense bill without restrictions on abortion and gender-affirming care. The House previously passed its own version of the bill with an amendment that would reverse the Defense Department’s recent abortion travel policy.
The Iowa state supreme court agreed to hear the Republican Governor’s appeal of a currently blocked six-week abortion ban.
Ohio voters will vote on a constitutional amendment to restore abortion rights in the state this November, after state officials declared that enough signatures had been gathered to put the measure on the ballot.
Canada’s women’s soccer team came to an interim pay agreement with the country’s sports governing body, however the team expressed their disappointment in not reaching a long-term deal to secure equal pay.
Women in Poland are protesting against police hostility and harassment of a woman who took abortion pills. After being admitted to a hospital, the woman was surrounded by police and strip-searched.
Italy’s conservative lower house of parliament approved a bill that could impose prison sentences on parents who use surrogates to have children. Surrogacy has been illegal in Italy for 20 years, but the bill goes further to criminalize and impose fines of up to 1 million euros on people who use surrogacy.
Putin enacted a law putting the final steps in place to outlaw gender-affirming care procedures in Russia.
More than 100 trans men entered the Miss Italy pageant in protest after the organization announced trans women were not allowed to compete.
…and that’s it for now. Have a great week ahead!
xx Tamar + Jill
The Week in Women comes to you thanks to research from Tamar Eisen (she/her/hers), an advocate for reproductive justice and gender equity. She lives in New York City where she works for the Center for Reproductive Rights and teaches yoga.