Dear friends,
Today is Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. It is a celebration and remembrance of those who have passed. This is one of the many things I learned from my students.
I like to use this space to celebrate and remember people who have needlessly lost their lives by improving policy. It may not sound spiritual; it is sacred anyway.
As the death toll in Palestine passes 9,000, including more than 3,500 children, President Biden has called on Netanyahu to pause the hostilities. Netanyahu has not responded.
The humanitarian crisis includes many hundreds of thousands of displaced persons. There are hundreds of people giving birth in Gaza without access to clean water.
Contact the President and share your thoughts. As always, you can adapt my letter to say exactly what you want.
Jessica Valenti has been reporting on the effects of the Dobbs decision and continued attacks on reproductive health care, which are endangering peoples’ lives. Last year, a woman in Louisiana who was just 16 weeks pregnant, went to a hospital when her water broke.
Because the hospital was concerned about violating the state’s laws, which ban abortion at all stages of pregnancy, the patient was denied a dilation and evacuation, a standard abortion procedure. Instead she was forced to spend hours delivering a nonviable fetus. When it also took hours to deliver the placenta, the woman hemorrhaged and lost close to a liter of blood.
A recent report, ”Where You Live Matters: Maternity Care Deserts and the Crisis of Access and Equity,” compiled data that shows that in the US,
more than 5.6 million women live in counties with no or limited access to maternity care services.
Take action with Moms Rising to demand that Congress ensures that people in rural areas have access to reproductive health care.
There is now a bill before the city council to require landlords to provide flood evacuation plans to tenants when they sign a lease. This is especially important because the city’s Emergency Preparedness Guide, which informs New Yorkers on what to do when all kinds of disasters strike, includes little information about safety precautions in the event of flash flooding.
The legislation would not necessarily address the problem of informing tenants in illegal basement apartments, since they often do not have leases. So, we are also calling on local leaders to ensure that the Emergency Preparedness Guide is improved and widely distributed.
Ask your council member to co-sponsor the bill to require that flood evacuation plans are provided to tenants.
I want to remind you to vote in every election. Local officials make consequential decisions about our lives. Please see my post from Monday 10/30 if you need information what’s on the ballot in New York.
A reader passed along this fascinating article about how judges get on the ballot.
Finally, I’d like to make a plug for a friend I’ve made through my organizing with the Caring Majority. Keith Gurgui is a first-time candidate for the Ulster County Legislature. His platform is to promote improved environmental protections and local public transportation as well as to ensure that there are effective treatment options for people with addiction and other mental health problems.
Tell your friends in Ulster County to vote for Keith!
with love,
L