Hello! I may have missed the chance to write a newsletter focused on International Women's Month in March. But there's no time like the present. Today's focus is on fights over women's reproductive rights in the United States, where the Supreme Court is set to consider South Carolina's bid to strip Planned Parenthood of funding under the Medicaid program, and Alabama's federal judge ruled that it cannot prosecute people and organizations who help residents of the state travel elsewhere to get abortions. But it's not just the U.S. facing growing concerns around women's health and safety this week. Watercoolers – or perhaps, Teams chats – have been swarmed with people talking about a gripping British television drama, "Adolescence", which focuses on a boy charged over the killing of a female classmate. The series has sparked a national conversation about the dangers of misogynist social media influencers on boys. But before we dive into that, let's get into the U.S. lawsuits on reproductive health. Also on my radar today: |
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Activists demonstrate outside the U.S. Supreme Court as judges hear lawsuit to cut off public funding to Planned Parenthood, in Washington, D.C., U.S. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno |
Planned Parenthood under attack |
First up is the Supreme Court case that could boost efforts by Republican-led states to stop reproductive healthcare and abortion providers from using public money. The case centers on whether recipients of Medicaid, a joint federal and state health insurance program for low-income people, may sue to enforce a requirement under U.S. law that they can get medical assistance from any qualified and willing provider. Since the Supreme Court in 2022 overturned its landmark Roe v. Wade ruling that had legalized abortion nationwide, 12 states have implemented near-total bans, while four states, including South Carolina, outlaw abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic operates clinics in the South Carolina cities of Charleston and Columbia, where it serves hundreds of Medicaid patients each year, providing physical examinations, screenings for cancer and diabetes, pregnancy testing, contraception and other services. It is the third time that the South Carolina Planned Parenthood defunding dispute has reached the Supreme Court, which in 2020 rejected the state's appeal at an earlier stage of the case. |
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| Over in Alabama, U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson in Montgomery found that the state cannot interfere with the basic constitutional right to travel, and that prosecuting doctors or organizations for helping patients would violate their right to free speech under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The ruling is a victory for healthcare provider West Alabama Women's Center and doctor Yashica Robinson, as well as for the Yellowhammer Fund, a group that helps people raise money to access abortion. They had sued Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall to block him from prosecuting them after he said in a 2022 radio interview that those who help state residents travel for abortion could be prosecuted as accomplices to a crime. Americans' right to travel to other states for abortion, and to help others do so, has come into question since the overturning of Roe v. Wade on abortion rights, allowing states to criminalize the procedure. The Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion rights research group, found that travel for abortion more than doubled in the first half of 2023 compared with the first half of 2020. |
And over in Britain, Prime Minister Keir Starmer met the creators of the Netflix show, "Adolescence", which highlighted the growing crisis of toxic masculinity and incel culture that can drive hatred towards women and girls. The four-part show explores how the ideas of online influencers such as self-described misogynist Andrew Tate can shape the views of children hooked on smartphones and drive them to violence. Starmer said he backed Netflix's decision to make the "groundbreaking" series available to watch for free in schools across the country. "As a father, watching this show with my teenage son and daughter, I can tell you - it hit home hard," he said after meeting "Adolescence" co-writer Jack Thorne, charities and young people at his Downing Street office. |
A migrant worker from Myanmar reacts while he waits for news about his brother, as search and rescue operations continue in Bangkok, Thailand. REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa |
- Myanmar earthquake: Shelter, clean water and medicine are in short supply following the earthquake in Myanmar that has caused significant structural damage and had a devastating human toll, the United Nations' Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said. The 7.7 magnitude earthquake has killed more than 3,000 people, left more than 4,715 injured, 341 missing, and severely damaged critical infrastructure.
- Kuwait power cuts: Oil-rich Kuwait temporarily cut electricity in some industrial and agricultural areas as demand for power surged due to hot weather, outstripping generating capacity that had been restricted by maintenance at power plants. Last summer, Kuwait resorted to programmed load-shedding for the first time in years amid rising demand, urban expansion and plant maintenance delays.
- Gaza U.N. workers: United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric said it is reducing its international staff numbers in Gaza by about a third after Israeli strikes in the enclave that have killed hundreds of civilians, including United Nations personnel. The move was taken for security and operational reasons and would involve the withdrawal of about 30 of the 100 or so international staff currently in Gaza, said Dujarric.
- U.S. universities crisis: Some universities have been in the line of fire from the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services and the U.S. General Services Administration this week. Harvard's $255.6 million in contracts between its affiliates and the federal government were being reviewed, along with $8.7 billion in multi-year grant commitments. Trump's administration also said it had canceled grants and contracts worth about $400 million to Columbia University.
- U.S. social security lawsuit: Five disability rights groups and seven social security beneficiaries filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration and billionaire Elon Musk over firing about 7,000 employees in the U.S. Social Security Administration. The lawsuit says that the SSA cuts have disproportionately impacted beneficiaries with disabilities and violated their rights under the U.S. Constitution.
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U.S. President Donald Trump has imposed sweeping tariffs on allies and rivals alike, which has sparked threats of retaliation on Thursday, intensifying a global trade war that threatens to stoke inflation and raising fears of recession. Trump said he would impose a 10% baseline tariff on all U.S. imports and higher duties on some of the country's biggest trading partners. Click here for more on the story and click here to sign up to the Reuters Tariff Watch newsletter to keep up with the latest tariff news. |
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Sustainable Switch was edited by Andrew Heavens. |
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