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A Shuttering Week To Be A Woman

There are dozens of platforms that are discussing women’s rights this week.

In today’s world, it appears as though history doesn’t just repeat itself, but it regresses with a vengeance.

Iowa just passed the most restrictive abortion bill to date, and it is terrifyingly likely that Governor Kim Reynolds will sign it into law.

This bill will ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, and keep in mind that most women don’t know they are pregnant until four to seven weeks after conception.

That means that this bill will practically stop the majority of women from having legal, safe abortions.

This doesn’t even begin to recognize the tremendous difficulty that comes with choosing whether or not to have a child.

But this bill removes a woman’s right to really think about what she wants.

In a lot of cases, it will give her a week at most to make an incredibly overwhelming choice.

But I suppose that’s the point, to prevent her from having said choice.

This bill is a direct attack on Roe v Wade and on the well-being and freedoms of women.

Let’s be perfectly clear, access to a safe abortion is being taken away, but abortions are going to happen one way or the other.

As I sat in my living room and read the news, I thought of Alan Sillitoe’s Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1958).

It is a British novel written when abortions were still illegal prior to the Abortion Act of 1967, which legalized the practice in the United Kingdom.

There is a character in the story, Brenda who ends up terminating her pregnancy by sitting in boiling water and drinking an entire bottle of gin.

I read this book during my semester abroad in London, and couldn’t help but scoff at how crazy it is that this character had to do something like this instead of receiving medical help.

But this wasn’t just a plot line in a novel, this really happened to women.

Pro-life advocates would argue that she should have brought the pregnancy to term.

But what they wont tell you, is that as soon as that child is born it really doesn’t matter to them what its quality of life will be.

I know that’s a biting accusation, but lets specify that statement with some statistics.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 16.9 million women lived in poverty in 2015.

Now, let’s look at the children: “14.5 million kids lived in poverty in 2015”, and guess what, 1 in 3 single mother families lived in poverty in 2015.

So now that we have focused in on the issue, let’s back up to this bill today.

Anti-abortionists think terminating pregnancy is immoral, but somehow, an inability for women to care for a child doesn’t influence the debate at all.

Those are the numbers with legal abortions, do we really want to see what happens if this bill passes?

This is a law for Iowa, so let’s just look at their numbers.

The Iowa Data Center published that in 2016, 36.6 percent of single women with children under the age of 18 live below the poverty line, and that their median annual income sits around $26,532.

The average child in a lower class home costs $12,350.

So every year, a single mother is allotted $14,182 to spend on astronomically high health insurance costs, rent, food, clothes, transportation, etc.

And that is if she only has one child.

This is not a bill fighting for human rights and morals, if it were the solution would be clear, give women free and safe access to birth control, pay them more, and let them decide for themselves if they want to have a child.

Brenda, in Sillitoe’s novel takes dangerous measures to save herself and a future child from a life ridden with problems, and millions of women without access to safe abortions could die every year because they are trying to save two individuals from a horrible life and are not given access to medical abortions.

A life matters, we can all agree on that, but we need to reach a consensus on the part of the word ‘life’ we are protecting here.

Measuring life by a heartbeat causes millions of children in one of the largest economies in the world to go starving on a daily basis.

Measuring life based on a family’s ability to provide for everyone in a healthy and livable way determines whether or not we are a country of immense struggle, or one with a unified ideal to give each American a decent quality of living.

So let’s do like Brenda and toss this bill in some boiling water and drink a bottle of gin to forget that there are people out there who care more about a fetus than a walking, talking child.

Cover Photo Credit: Steve Rainwater

BREAKING: Ex-Dolphin Arrested After Threatening High School, NFL Players In Bizarre Instagram Post

UPDATED: 4:44 PM EST

What You Need To Know About This Story:


-Former Miami Dolphins player Jonathan Martin was arrested Friday after he allegedly posted a threatening message on Instagram that caused a Los Angeles High School to close.  

-Martin allegedly posted this message to his Instagram story: 

-The message references Harvard Westlake High School and shows a shotgun with multiple rounds of ammunition lying on a surface. It reads, “When you’re a bully victim & a coward, your options are suicide, or revenge.”

-The message also tags current NFL players Mike Pouncey and Richie Incognito. 

Incognito and Pouncey allegedly bullied Martin while they were all members of the Miami Dolphins. That incident became national news and resulted in an NFL investigation after Martin went public with the allegations. 

-Martin said in a message announcing his retirement from football in 2015 that he once attempted suicide during his NFL playing career. 

Harvard Westlake High School closed Friday as a precaution. LAPD said that the closure was because of actions by a “former student of the preparatory school [who] apparently used Instagram to say he wanted to seek revenge for alleged bullying he underwent when he attended one of the school.”

-In a statement obtained by the Los Angeles Times, Harvard Westlake said: “The safety of our students, faculty, and staff is always our primary concern. So, out of an abundance of caution, we made the decision to close school today,” the email read. “The school’s private security team is working with the Los Angeles Police Department, which is present on both campuses. With these precautions in place, we believe there is no imminent threat to our campuses or our school community.”

Pouncy is still on the Miami Dolphins while Incognito plays for the Buffalo Bills. 

This a developing story which we will update on a continuous basis. 


This story is from The Miami Monster, a new brand focused on telling the true stories of what life is like for a young person living in South Florida. Be sure to also follow our founder Joel Franco on Twitter to keep up to date with the latest breaking news in the area.  You can send news tips to [email protected]

Report: Trump Will Overturn Obama Cuba Thaw Reforms

A report in the Daily Caller indicates that President Donald Trump is planning a major repeal of Obama era measures designed to soften America’s hostile posture towards Cuba that has lasted for over 50 years.

From the Daily Caller:

“Two sources told TheDC that the development is due to the behind-the-scenes efforts of Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Democratic New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez and Republican Florida Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart.”

The report goes on to say that Trump plans to officially announce the changes in a June speech in Miami.

Rubio has previously spoken about his optimism that Trump would return American policy to a pre Obama posture.

He said in an interview with El Nuevo Herald, “We’ve been walking through all these issues with the president and his team, figuring out the right steps to take and when.”

NOW WATCH: This Is The Oldest Building In The Western Hemisphere. We Bet You’ve Never Heard Of It 

RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.

Cover Photo Credit: Pedro Szekely/ Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

Obama’s Photographer Just Roasted Trump For Running Over Montenegro’s PM

Pete Souza was one of the more quiet constant presciences of the Obama Administration.

He served as the official White House photographer for the entire length of Obama’s term and was in the room for nearly all of the most important moments of it.

But since the inauguration of Donald Trump, Souza has taken on another role: chief troll who keeps reminding the world how much better Obama was at his job than Trump.

He did it again yesterday when Trump bumped the Prime Minister of Montenegro in order to get to the head of the pack of NATO leaders.

It was not a great look to say the least.

Here’s Souza’s perfect response.

Laughter at the 2012 NATO Summit. No jostling involved.

A post shared by Pete Souza (@petesouza) on

“No jostling involved.”

This would almost be funny if it wasn’t so damn sad.

RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.

Mark Zuckerberg Calls For Universal Basic Income

Mark Zuckerberg called for the US to explore the idea of universal basic income in a speech to the graduating class of Harvard University on Thursday.

Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook dropped out of Harvard to focus on the company that would ultimately make him worth around $63 billion.

“We should have a society that measures progress not just by economic metrics like GDP, but by how many of us have a role we find meaningful,” Zuckerberg said in the speech, according to Business Insider. “We should explore ideas like universal basic income to make sure everyone has a cushion to try new ideas.”

Zuckerberg is in the middle of a 50 state tour of the United States and is considered by some to be a potential 2020 presidential candidate.

According to  Mic, universal basic income is “an allocated payment that’s provided to individual adults instead of households, regardless of other sources of income and with no requirement for work.”

While its a controversial idea, some economic heavy hitters have come out in support of the program including Elon Musk.

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Cover Photo Credit: Alessio Jacona/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)

WATCH: Sally Yates Bashes Trump In Harvard Law Commencement Speech

Former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates spoke to the graduating class of Harvard Law School this week and she touched upon the controversy that led to her firing.

“Defending the constitutionality of the travel ban would require the Department of Justice to argue that the executive order had nothing to do with religion, that it was not intended to disfavor Muslims,” Yates said in the speech. “Despite the numerous prior statements that had been made by the president and his surrogates regarding his intent to effectuate a Muslim ban.”

Yates went on.

“I believed then and I believe now that resigning would have protected my personal integrity, but it would not have protected the integrity of the Department of Justice.”

Watch her full speech:

RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.

Former GOP Florida Congressman: Trump Should Get “Accessory Charges” In Gianforte Case

Former Florida Republican Congressman David Jolly is not a big fan of Donald Trump.

Jolly lost re-election in a very close race to former Republican turned Independent turned Democrat Charlie Crist in large part due to anti-Trump backlash in his swing Tampa area district.

Since the election, Jolly has been a constant critic of the President on Twitter.

But after the news that Montana Republican congressional candidate Greg Gianforte body slammed a reporter, Jolly upped his anti-Trump ante.

Woah.

That is one mad Republican.

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“Walkabout Miami”: Go Inside The Oldest Building In The Western Hemisphere. And Yes It’s In Miami

Photo Credit: David Jolly/ Facebook

Barack Obama Is Basically Still US President For Europe, Sends Heartfelt Message To Manchester

Former President Barack Obama is still acting like the current President and many people around the world are totally cool with that.

Obama spoke earlier today to a crowd of over 70,000 people in Berlin where he shared a stage with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

He also filmed a video message to the people of Manchester with Merkel and it was everything the world needed to hear.

Meanwhile, his successor was having awkward handshakes with the French President.

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