Relevant to this soft-glam fascist's comments today, there's a bill in Florida to ban prescribing birth control to minors—or even giving teens information about it—without parental consent. It's called HB 173 The attacks on contraception are, and have been, in motion

Remember when Trump yanked funds from Mississippi after learning that the state's welfare chief had directed millions in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funds to sports celebrities, including not only Brett Favre, but the Million Dollar man and his two pro-wrestler sons? Wait. He didn't.

Kansas is sending letters to trans people telling them that their licenses will be revoked as of tomorrow and that they risk arrest for driving on a suspended license. This is pure cruelty. www.erininthemorning.com/p/kansas-sen...

People Magazine again doing some important work!

Black Americans have wider family networks than other U.S. adults, and more often include non-relatives, like close friends and play cousins. 🧵👇

I'll be teaching again for Barcelona Summer School of Demography, "Demography with R" 6-10 July: ced.cat/en/bcn4seaso... You can do this program in person or online. Sign up, it's fun to do demography! @cedemografia.bsky.social

New work w/ @kbroussard.bsky.social in @prpr-journal.bsky.social! We find that women with reproductive health conditions (like fibroids or endometriosis) are *more* likely to want a child but, conditional on wanting a child, *less* likely to intend to have one. 1/2 rdcu.be/e5BE6

This summary of Means' position on contraception is helpful. She says contraception is bad because women, like soil, must submit to specific cyclical processes to achieve our purpose - fertility. 1/2

Abortion was phase I, trans healthcare was phase II, birth control is phase III

That thin line between "please tell me ahead of time" and "if you tell me too soon, I'll forget about it when it's time."

Some of you like dogs, in which case you may appreciate that guide dogs of Team GB for the Paralympics get official photos

This is racist

Casey Means’ Surgeon General confirmation hearing is tomorrow. Means holds a number of extremely disturbing views, including that hormonal birth control is “disrespect for life”. She isn’t a “fringe” or “alternative” healthcare provider. She is a person who blithely ignores scientific facts.

Congrats to @uncpopcenter.bsky.social Fellow Lauren Valentino!

Or, hear me out, no, they don't.

The real “state of the union” isn’t the stock or crypto markets — it’s the state of care. If families can’t afford child care or take paid leave, our economy isn’t working. Read more 👇 #SOTU https://familyvaluesatwork.org/the-state-of-the-union-is-the-state-of-care/

Louisiana's governor is asking the federal government to investigate all of the state's public colleges over increasing the number of underrepresented minority students as a strategic priority. That's a new strategy that goes beyond filing sympathetic lawsuits.

The other part is that there’s tons of cascading problems that require systemic solutions, most notably, getting people economic support who haven’t been able to work for the past two (or more) months because the federal government was trying to ethnically cleanse them. Rent is due this week.

The Epstein files document what many women researchers have long experienced but rarely seen laid bare so starkly: exclusion operating behind closed doors, shaping who gets funded, invited, mentored, and taken seriously. How many of these networks, norms, and gatekeepers remain in place?

Your zip code should not determine your birth control options. But new data show it does. Medicaid expansion boosted access to more effective contraception in the most disadvantaged communities — yet many are in states that still haven't expanded Medicaid. Read more 👉 tinyurl.com/bdfkvecw

in public, the men's hockey team has been supportive of the women's team, going to games, cheering them on, saying they were inspired by the OT golden goal must be gutting to feel that support and then get first-hand evidence that behind closed doors, when it's just The Boys, they're laughing at you

I revised the analysis of occupation gender composition and birth rates with new data. Results a little weaker but same direction: Women in more female-dominated occupations more likely to have had a birth last year. Writeup, with data and code: familyinequality.wordpress.com/2025/02/23/o...

Will undergraduate college students in my courses ever stop sending me emails addressed to Mrs. Guzzo?

I've read many stories about the number of adult Catholic baptisms. For perspective, it may be helpful to keep in mind how many have shed religious identity. In the US, there are 8.4 former Catholics for every 1 new Catholic. Globally, there are 3.1 former Christians for every 1 new Christian.

New from @pamherd.bsky.social at Can We Still Govern?: The SAVE Act is a truly extreme voter suppression bill, but in ways that might surprise you. White Christian Nationalism is driving the bill more than a cynical focus on maximizing GOP vote share. 🧵 donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-save-a...

📢 Call for Papers! We invite you to submit your research for the Wittgenstein Centre Conference on "Demography and Human Capital", taking place from Dec 1-2, 2026 at @oeaw.bsky.social in Vienna. 📆 Deadline: April 30, 2026 🔗 www.oeaw.ac.at/vid/news-eve... #demography

This piece by @jeneeninterlandi.bsky.social is one for the ages. The damage Donald Trump (under the guidance of Russell Vought) has done to biomedical research is profound and will be long-lasting. It is a national tragedy to be measured in the sick and the dead. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/23/o...

Hope you did your patriotic duty today to celebrate National Margarita Day! #legokaren

Got my 2nd shingles dose + pneumococcal pneumonia vaccine on Friday. A few body aches, but nothing OTC pain meds couldn't handle. Get vaccinated, or risk getting really sick, folks!

New reporting shows Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, and Tesla collectively received $51 billion in tax breaks following last year’s corporate tax cuts — paying an effective federal tax rate of just 4.9%. TAX THE RICH FAIRLY! https://seiu.co/4qRJulh

SCOOP: Naval Academy leaders sent an email to faculty this week that teaching about “divisive concepts” such as systemic racism + sexism is no longer permitted. Faculty also can’t talk about environmental justice or gender ideology. Our exclusive: www.thebaltimorebanner.com/education/hi...

Open-access scholarly piece in @jhppl.bsky.social about RFK's assault on public health institutions by @pamherd.bsky.social read.dukeupress.edu/jhppl/articl...

“The level of fear mongering is at a fever pitch,” said Lina-Marie Murillo, a professor in reproductive health. “They’re going to lose a deeply engaged and educated citizenry, but I think that’s what they want.” 💯 www.statesman.com/news/educati...

As of the second quarter of 2025, White Americans hold 83.5% of the country’s wealth, while Black Americans hold 3.4%, despite representing 57.5% and 13.7% of the population, respectively.

When the Fair Housing Act was signed into law in 1968, prohibiting discrimination in renting, buying, or securing financing for housing, 41% of Black households owned their homes. In 2024, the Black homeownership rate across the 50 largest metros was 43.6% (70.3% for White households).

This administration is forcefully detransitioning incarcerated trans people after removing protections from rape. They are absolutely determined to torture trans people in their custody.

Last weekend. This weekend. @washingtonpost.com www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

In contrast, Bezos’s ex-wife gave away $7.2b in 2025, the most given by anyone in a single year since Fortune began tracking this in 2012 - and more than Bezos has given in his whole lifetime.

"Purdue has since warned faculty against speaking with the media."

Now THAT's a headline. "The U.S. spent $30 billion to ditch textbooks for laptops and tablets: The result is the first generation less cognitively capable than their parents" fortune.com/2026/02/21/l...

Thanks to the OBBB, Amazon’s tax bill for 2025 is $1.2 billion, down from $9 billion the year before despite a 45% jump in profits.

Named after Charlie Kirk and, I kid you not, “CHARLIE” is an acronym for “Countering Hate And Revolutionary Leftist Indoctrination in Education.”

"Show me your budget & I'll show you your values"

As universities are scrapping gender studies departments and courses, the “boys” in the Trump administration see their main job as engaging in performative masculinity and in naturalizing a particular form of what it means to be a man. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/20/u...

Did you know that Texas Tech recently canceled an abortion provider’s speech because of a TPUSA campaign? Medical students in the state say this censorship harms not only their education, but their patients’ health:

Contemporary US pronatalism, of which the Heritage Foundation is the most powerful player, is blatantly sexist and racist and fueled by Christian Nationalism. This isn’t an exaggeration - it’s explicitly spelled out in their plan to “save America by saving the family.”

No real IRB approval *and* it was “routed straight from the director’s office to grant management officials who approved it, a process that took only 10 days. An ordinary grant review process can take upward of a year.”

There’s been an alarming trend in colleges and universities just deciding NOT to make tenure decisions.

Eligible voters of North Carolina! Voter registration for this year's statewide primary election ends Saturday, Feb. 28 at early voting sites, where you can register and cast a ballot on the same day. You can find the links you need to register and check your registration status at npr.org/vote

Trump admin plans to temporarily stop issuing work permits to asylum seekers — a pause that could last decades. www.notus.org/immigration/...