Today's Agenda: Trump's conservative Supreme Court pick raises concerns for women

Today’s Agenda: Trump’s conservative Supreme Court pick raises concerns for women

Brett Kavanaugh
Latest hits, misses, launches and appointments for women. 

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Conservative picked. 

Trump has nominated conservative Brett Kavanaugh to be the next Supreme Court justice.

Kavanaugh has worked for the Bush administration and for Ken Starr, the lawyer who led the investigation into Bill Clinton in the 1990s. He’s a self described proud member of the Catholic community, and a Yale graduate.

Vox has described him as a ‘veteran of every conservative fight from the Clinton impeachment to the fight against Obamacare’ and he’s expected to fall to the right of the man he’s replacing, Anthony Kennedy.

But some conservative groups claim he may not be conservative enough.

Although Kavanaugh’s stance on abortion is somewhat complicated, Trump had always  promised a nominee who would overturn Roe V. Wade, and so women’s rights groups are concerned.

“Whether he’s attempting to defund Planned Parenthood, reinstating the global gag rule, rolling back the contraception mandate, or appointing a wave of anti-choice judges to lifetime appointments, Trump has made it clear that he keeps his promises to slash women’s rights and access to health care.” wrote Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILY’s List on the appointment.

Dawn Laguens from Planned Parenthood Federation of America called on the Senate to oppose the nomination of Kavanaugh.

“There’s no way to sugarcoat it: with this nomination, the constitutional right to access safe, legal abortion in this country is on the line,” she said.

“We take Trump at his word that Brett Kavanaugh would overturn Roe v. Wade and get rid of the Affordable Care Act. The balance of the Supreme Court is at stake — we cannot allow it to be tilted against the constitutional right to access abortion. Generations of women, especially women of color, will be affected. And generations of people have grown up only knowing a country where they have the right to access safe, legal abortion. We cannot allow our children and grandchildren to have fewer rights than we do today.”

Meanwhile, the White House’s own statement on support for the nomination features 34 male members of Congress quoted, but not one woman.

Appointed: Two female board directors at Advance. 

Congratulations to Tracy Colgan and Louise Thurgood Phillips, who have both been appointed to the board of Advance, a network for global Australians.

Tracy is fluent in Mandarin and has 25 years experience working in China, with deep expertise in strategy development and client engagement across the Asia Pacific region.

Louise has 25 years experience in complex, fast-growing global companies across the banking, finance and infrastructure sectors.

The Advance board is more than 50% female, with seven of its 13 board directors women.

Great read for NAIDOC Week.

This piece from the ABC features a number of Indigenous people explaining how that, ‘Because of Her, I can’.
We loved this especially: 

“She has lived through some really hard times, she has borne 10 children, and she worked very hard to keep her children clothed and fed in a time when it wasn’t safe to be Aboriginal.”
– Jill Gallagher AO, speaking about her 91-year-old mother Frances Gallagher, a Gunditjmara woman from western Victoria.

Don’t Miss: 

Our podcast with Cyan Ta’eed! She’s the co founder of Envato and now Hey Tiger, with a lot to say about productivity, life, death and getting stuff done.

Question of the Day: What happens when the harasser is a client? 

That’s a question posed in this piece from the Wall Street Journal, and we’re keen to hear your repose.

Get in touch with us your own experiences (anonymously or not) and let us know if you have any advice to share.

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