Hello, my chilled extremities (what I call my very good friends): We’ve entered “emerging from the seven-layer dip of blankets that you’ve constructed on your bed is actually physically uncomfortable” season. Pals, this means that it’s now … cuffing season.
For the blessedly uninformed, “cuffing season” refers to the time of year when the summer’s single folk realize that it’s unpleasant to leave the house, and being at home can be kind of boring and sad if you don’t have anyone there with you — ergo, it’s time to find a relationship. If this logic seems flawed to you, that’s OK! You shouldn’t jump into commitment just for the body heat (although, granted, many have done it for worse reasons.)
As always, there’s been plenty of reproductive rights news this week, much of it having to do with Planned Parenthood and none of it good: Domestic terrorism on Planned Parenthood clinics continues (and will hopefully be prosecuted as such), the Ohio Senate voted to defund Planned Parenthood, and Texas state investigators have undertaken an “unprecedented” witch hunt for Planned Parenthood wrongdoing in five years’ worth of Medicaid records.
But for those of you who would rather cuddle up with a nice long read about the reproductive rights battlefield, I wanted to share some really fantastic and eye-opening ones that came out this week — paired with my favorite songs about being single and really, really OK with it.
Curious why we’re writing about access to reproductive healthcare? Watch this video.
SHOT: MSNBC took an in-depth look into the closing of abortion clinics in conservative parts of the country. Read, watch, and listen to learn how that’s affected the lives of both the women who live there — and the doctors trying to serve them.
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SHOT: Broadly did a much-needed exploration into just how disingenuous the anti-abortion movement’s ostensible commitment to saving black lives really is — and how that false message is actively harming black women.
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SHOT: Conservatives have claimed that women seeking abortions and other reproductive healthcare services don’t actually need Planned Parenthood, because they can just go to other clinics, right? RH Reality Check provides plenty of damning evidence to show that that assumption is as dangerous as it is false.
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