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☆ How a Sugar Industry Stamp of Approval Hid Coerced Hysterectomies
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-30 | by ( Megha Rajagopalan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Bags of sugar that leave the Dalmia Bharat Sugar mill in the western Indian city of Kolhapur come with an industry guarantee: It was harvested humanely, in fields free of child labor, debt bondage and abuse. The mill is certified by a group called Bonsucro, which sets the industry standard for sugar production. But a New York Times investigation found that Bonsucro’s inspections were all but guaranteed not to find problems. Internal documents and interviews with sugar mill executives, experts and Bonsucro contractors show that mills retain tremendous control over what auditors see and whom they can talk to. Even the auditor who said she inspected the Dalmia mill said turning up problems was extremely rare.

Persons: General Mills Organizations: Brands, Cola, PepsiCo, Unilever, General, New York Times Locations: Indian, Kolhapur

☆ Labor Abuses Abroad
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-30 | by ( Megha Rajagopalan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In the 1990s, more U.S. companies began manufacturing abroad, where labor was cheaper. Journalists, consumers and human rights groups noticed that, away from the eyes of American unions and regulators, these multinationals sometimes used brutal cost-saving measures, such as sweat shops and child labor. Companies would hire outside inspectors to scrutinize their supply chains. These inspectors would visit their suppliers’ factories, investigate abuses and determine whether everyone was following the rules. Major companies signed on, sending a message that they could clean up their own supply chains.

Persons: —, Saumya Khandelwal Organizations: Journalists, Times Locations: India, Maharashtra

The Biden administration said this week that it opposed gender-affirming surgery for minors, the most explicit statement to date on the subject from a president who has been a staunch supporter of transgender rights. The draft guidelines would have lowered the age minimums to 14 for hormonal treatments, 15 for mastectomies, 16 for breast augmentation or facial surgeries, and 17 for genital surgeries or hysterectomies. The final guidelines, released in 2022, removed the age-based recommendations altogether. Levine shared her view with her staff that publishing the proposed lower ages for gender transition surgeries was not supported by science or research, and could lead to an onslaught of attacks on the transgender community,” an H.H.S. spokesman said in a statement on Friday evening.

Persons: Biden, Rachel Levine, “ Adm, Levine Organizations: The New York Times, Department of Health, Human Services

☆ Bloomberg: Supreme Court appears to side with Biden admin in abortion case, according to draft briefly posted on website
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-26 | by ( John Fritze | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The release was a stunning development at the Supreme Court, which usually safeguards the release of its opinions. The abortion case was considered among the most significant of the current term that is winding down ahead of the July 4 holiday. A Supreme Court spokeswoman confirmed that a “document” was “inadvertently and briefly uploaded” to the court’s website. The decision came days after the Supreme Court unanimously rejected an effort by anti-abortion groups to limit access to the abortion pill mifepristone. In January, the Supreme Court agreed to decide the case and allowed the law to take effect while it did so.

Persons: Roe, Wade –, Biden, ”, “, Patricia McCabe, Elena Kagan, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, wouldn’t, Steve Vladeck, Case, Reagan, Elizabeth Prelogar, Prelogar, Amy Coney Barrett, Joshua Turner, Weeks Organizations: CNN, Bloomberg News, Bloomberg, Supreme, Politico, US, Justice, University of Texas School of Law, of Justice, White, Justice Department, Idaho, Labor, Biden, Republican Locations: Idaho

☆ Biden Officials Pushed to Remove Age Limits for Trans Surgery, Documents Show
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-25 | by ( Azeen Ghorayshi | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Health officials in the Biden administration pressed an international group of medical experts to remove age limits for adolescent surgeries from guidelines for care of transgender minors, according to newly unsealed court documents. Age minimums, officials feared, could fuel growing political opposition to such treatments. If and when teenagers should be allowed to undergo transgender treatments and surgeries has become a raging debate within the political world. In the United States, setting age limits was controversial from the start. The draft guidelines, released in late 2021, recommended lowering the age minimums to 14 for hormonal treatments, 15 for mastectomies, 16 for breast augmentation or facial surgeries, and 17 for genital surgeries or hysterectomies.

Persons: Biden, Rachel Levine Organizations: World Professional Association for Transgender Health, Department of Health, Human Services Locations: United States

☆ Japan Makes It Very Hard to Be Sterilized. These Women Demand Change.
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-21 | by ( Motoko Rich | Kiuko Notoya | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ms. Tatsuta, now a 24-year-old model in Tokyo, recoiled at the assumption that she would someday give birth. As her body began to develop feminine traits, Ms. Tatsuta took to extreme diet and exercise to forestall the changes. “To be seen as a uterus that can give birth before being seen as a person, I did not like this,” she said. Yet in Japan, women who seek sterilization procedures like tubal ligation or hysterectomies must meet conditions that are among the most onerous in the world. That makes such surgeries difficult to obtain for many women, and all but impossible for single, childless women like Ms. Tatsuta.

Persons: Hisui Tatsuta, Tatsuta, ” Locations: Tokyo, recoiled, Japan, Tatsuta

Young girls are pushed into illegal child marriages so they can work alongside their husbands cutting and gathering sugar cane. Labor brokers loan money for the surgeries, even to resolve ailments as routine as heavy, painful periods. Hysterectomies keep them working, undistracted by doctor visits or the hardship of menstruating in a field with no access to running water, toilets or shelter. But for many sugar laborers, the operation has a particularly grim outcome: Borrowing against future wages plunges them further into debt, ensuring that they return to the fields next season and beyond. Workers’ rights groups and the United Nations labor agency have defined such arrangements as forced labor.

Persons: Young, Hysterectomies Organizations: New York Times, Fuller, Labor, Workers, United Nations Locations: Maharashtra

☆ We Spent Months With India’s Sugar Cutters. Here’s What We Found.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-24 | by ( Megha Rajagopalan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Women who cut sugar cane in the Indian state of Maharashtra are getting unnecessary hysterectomies, often as a way to keep working, undistracted by periods, pregnancies or gynecological checkups. My colleagues and I traveled across the impoverished district of Beed, which is home to many migrant sugar-cane workers. We visited tiny villages and met laborers in their homes. We talked to their employers, visited sugar mills, interviewed doctors and reviewed medical records. We interviewed women who cut sugar cane for companies that supply household brands including Coca-Cola and a major franchisee of PepsiCo, which have helped make the state a powerhouse for sugar, one of India’s most important industries.

Organizations: PepsiCo Locations: Indian, Maharashtra, Beed

☆ Texas AG Ken Paxton is using his power to tell Texas courts to halt an abortion for a pregnant woman diagnosed with a fetal anomaly
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-09 | by ( Katie Balevic | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

He appealed the court order, which has been stayed, throwing Kate Cox's abortion in flux. Hours later, Paxton swooped in with an appeal to the Texas Supreme Court and an ominous threat to prosecute any doctor that provides an abortion to Cox. On Friday, the Texas Supreme Court put a temporary hold on the Travis County judge's order, preventing Cox's doctors from proceeding with the abortion. The Texas Supreme Court has yet to issue a ruling on the case. The Center for Reproductive Rights, which is representing Cox, released a statement saying they hope the Texas Supreme Court ultimately rules in Cox's favor.

Persons: Ken Paxton, Kate Cox's, —, Kate Cox, Cox, Paxton swooped, Kate, Molly Duane, Paxton, Debbie McNabb, McNabb, — hysterectomies Organizations: Service, Texas, Texas Supreme, Reproductive Rights, Center for Reproductive Rights, National Institute of Health, for Reproductive, NIH Locations: Texas, Travis

___Their recommendations include securing land rights for women, promoting women's cooperatives and encouraging women to lead on developing climate policy. The link between phenomena like uterine prolapse and climate change is indirect but significant, said Seema Bhaskaran, who tracks gender issues for the nonprofit Transform Rural India Foundation. “It must prioritize awareness programs that emphasize the specific health challenges women face in the wake of climate change as a critical step towards increasing public knowledge. These efforts will also serve as a call to action for governments, institutions, and communities to prioritize women’s health and well-being as a central component of their climate initiatives,” she added. “Definitely there is a very clear recognition that climate has a health impact and health needs to be considered more seriously,” she said.

Persons: Manju Devi, Devi, hadn’t, ___, Seema Bhaskaran, Bhaskaran, Savita Singh, Singh's, Singh, ”, Babita Kumari, Kumari, Poonam, COP28, Anjal Prakash, Shweta Narayan Organizations: DELHI, India Climate Journalism, Associated Press, Stanley Center for Peace, Security, Press Trust of India, India's, Transform Rural, Foundation, Climate Central, Population Foundation of India, Bharat Institute of Public, Indian School of Business, United Nations, Health, AP Locations: Delhi, Dubai, India, New Delhi, Syaraul, Uttar Pradesh, Nanu, U.S

☆ After the Colorado Springs attack, LGBTQ people are furious at the rhetoric targeting them
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Jo Yurcaba | Jo Yurcaba Is A Reporter For Nbc Out. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

And she’s angry with people who have spread anti-LGBTQ rhetoric online — some for years — leading up to the shooting. Courtesy Elizabeth Pixie / Snapchat“They can call it religion, they can call it politics, they can call it saving people,” Pixie, who lives in Colorado Springs, said. The suspect was apprehended by police after being injured in the attack and is in the hospital. James Davis said the attack at Club Q was a result of "cause and effect." Parker Grey used to be a regular at Club Q but stopped going out of safety concerns.

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