Women's Rights

In late June, Trump nominated another dangerous individual to lead an important government position charged with protecting and defending a segment of the U.S. population.  Eric Dreiband has been nominated to lead the Department of Justice's Civil Rights division.  Dreiband has represented corporations defending themselves against civil rights and employment discrimination accusations.  He is the exact opposite of the person that should be leading the Civil Rights division which handles voting rights, policing and discrimination cases among other things.

As expected, the White House reinstated the “Mexico City policy” which blocks federal funding for charities that provide abortion services. But Trump was not satisfied with just following in the footsteps of President Reagan, who first imposed this policy, or Presidents George H.W. Bush and Georgia W. Bush, who also enforced it during their time in office. Instead he made it even worse:

In Smart Dissent's Budget Cuts Series, we are examining the White House proposed budget cuts to learn what's hidden beneath the surface and later update based on Congressional budget proposals and actions.  This post focuses on proposed significant cuts to medical research and healthcare that we must Be Smart about and Actively Dissent.

This election continues to place terrible individuals in positions of real, tangible power who are spending every hour of every day implementing destructive policies.  Smart Dissent will continue to provide examples of those in power who you need to stay informed about so you can share this knowledge and together we can Be Smart and Actively Dissent.

In this case, we look at new leadership of the Department of Health and Human Services which is getting two anti-abortion crusaders in key positions and many more after them.

To start the month of May off as poorly as every month of this administration, Trump issued a memo immediately eliminating the "Let Girls Learn" program operated by the Peace Corps.  This is a continued public and intentional campaign to eliminate as many beneficial programs started under President Obama.  There's no justification besides ideological hatred and an incredible lack of intelligence to explain how a group of individuals would use to their power to harm children and our society as a whole.

Continuing to demonstrate a mind-numbing lack of understanding about the mission of and services provided by Planned Parenthood, Trump signed a bill into law in private on April 13th that allows states to withhold federal money from organizations that provide abortion services, including Planned Parenthood.

In late March with little notice, Trump signed an executive order to revoke the 2014 Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces order President Obama put in place to ensure that companies with federal contracts comply with 14 labor and civil rights laws.  The 2014 order was an attempt to keep the worst violators from receiving taxpayer dollars