Extra, extra, Democrats finally do something

After several weeks of twiddling their thumbs, reciting poems, and breaking out into song, the Democrats have finally done something halfway useful about the rightwing assault on reproductive rights. On Friday Joe Biden signed an executive order safeguarding access to abortion, abortion pills and contraception. The executive order obviously doesn’t restore the nationwide right to an abortion (the president alone doesn’t have the power to do that), but it does set out a plan of action. Of particular note is a provision that would seem to protect women who travel out of state to get the procedure done.

It’s great to see the White House finally do something tangible to try and protect reproductive rights, but why has it taken them this long? Roe was overturned two weeks ago. The draft opinion overruling Roe v Wade was leaked more than two months ago. The Biden administration knew what was coming; they were gifted time to prepare and they squandered it. They should have been ready to spring into action the moment Roe was overturned – instead, it seemed like they were taken by surprise by the whole thing. There have been a lot of entreaties by Democrats over the last couple of weeks to “vote!” but not much else.

Well, actually, that’s not entirely true. Some top establishment Democrats, including Nancy Pelosi, have been very busy throwing their weight behind Henry Cuellar, the last anti-choice House Democrat, in the primary for Texas’s 28th congressional district. I’m not sure exactly what makes the gun-loving, abortion-hating Cuellar a Democrat, because he seems to have basically all the same policy positions as a Republican, but he has a (D) next to his name. Even when they knew Roe was on the verge of being overturned, top House Democrats chose to help Cuellar – the incumbent – fend off a challenge from Jessica Cisneros, a pro-choice progressive. In the end Cuellar won by just 289 votes. The Democrats have the gall to send out fundraising emails demanding people vote for them so they can safeguard our reproductive rights while simultaneously spending donor money to help prop up an anti-choice Democrat. It truly beggars belief. As Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez stated on Twitter, Democrats rallying for “a pro-NRA, anti-choice incumbent … was an utter failure of leadership”.

Ocasio-Cortez gets a lot of flak for calling out members of her own party. Progressives, in general, are frequently told to shut up and fall in line if they don’t want to imperil the Democrats’ chance of success at the next election. But do you think Biden would have signed an executive order on Friday if the Democrats hadn’t been facing a lot of criticism for doing nothing? Of course not. Democracy isn’t just about turning up to the polls every couple of years, it’s about constantly pushing your representatives and leaders to do better; it’s about constantly holding them to account.

AOC is not perfect by any means, but she is one of the few Democrats to actually show the leadership we need for this political and cultural moment. We are in a crisis and we need fighters– we need people with energy and ideas. After Roe was overturned, Ocasio-Cortez was one of the only Democrats who actually spoke up with concrete ideas about what to do next. “We can at least TRY,” she tweeted. And that, I think, is the key point here. We are well aware that restoring nationwide access to abortions is not going to be easy but we need leaders who will at least TRY.

Women accused of illegal abortions in the UK after miscarriages and stillbirths

If you’re in the UK and looking on at what is happening in the US with horror, it’s worth remembering that abortion rights aren’t set in stone in the UK either; abortion still technically hasn’t been decriminalised in England and Wales. Indeed, dozens of investigations into illegal abortions have been launched by the police during the past decade into suspected breaches of an 1861 law, which says is unlawful to procure a miscarriage using “poison”, “an instrument” or “other means whatsoever.” In one case, a 15-year-old girl who had an unexplained stillbirth was subjected to a year-long criminal investigation before the coroner concluded the pregnancy ended because of natural causes.

A male demographer wants to tax the childfree

The UK should fix its declining birth rates by introducing “a ‘negative child benefit’ tax for those who do not have offspring,” an Oxford academic recently opined. This did not go down well for obvious reasons.

Antigua ban on same-sex acts ruled unconstitutional

There are hopes that the high court ruling could spur change in neighbouring islands.

Steakhouse defends Kavanaugh’s ‘right to eat dinner’

On Wednesday supreme court justice Brett Kavanaugh enjoyed dinner (and, one imagines, a few beers) at Morton’s Steakhouse in DC Protesters gathered outside forcing Kavanaugh – you’re never going to believe how awful this is – to exit through a backdoor. I’m not sure how he will ever recover from the trauma of this but at least he’s got Morton’s to help him through it. The steakhouse issued a statement saying that politics “should not trample the freedom at play of the right to congregate and eat dinner.”

Upside-down bikinis are a trend now, apparently

Searches for the style rose 203% within the last month.

How police reforms improved the way officers treat women in India

About four women in ten in India experience intimate-partner violence – and the police are often less than helpful thanks to institutional misogyny. However, a new analysis of criminal justice reforms found that putting dedicated women’s help desks in police stations results in the police taking violence against women more seriously.

The week in penguinarchy

Inflation is hurting everyone, even penguins. A zoo in Japan has started feeding its penguins budget fish because the fancy mackerel they were previously fed has gone up by 30%. The animals are not impressed and are quite literally turning their noses up at it. I had no idea penguins had such so-fish-ticated palates.

• Arwa Mahdawi’s new book, Strong Female Lead, is available for order