To honor Patty’s legacy & build our collective power, Health Justice Commons is hosting a special political education series, Patty Taught Us: Dreaming Disability Justice Futures. More info in the link in our bio and images below!

Patty’s legacy lives in every act of care, movement for justice, and story told with love. Join us for Patty Taught Us: Dreaming Disability Justice Futures, a two-part series, Oct 23: workshop. Oct 30: panel. ASL, captions & Spanish interpretation provided. Link in bio for more details.

Disability Justice is a lifeline in these times. We honor Patty Berne (1967–2025), co-founder of Sins Invalid and dear comrade, whose brilliance and vision shaped this movement. Join Health Justice Commons’ series: Patty Taught Us, this Oct 23 & 30. Link in bio.

Mask up NOW “A new COVID variant, known as NB.1.8.1, has made landfall in the United States, and it's more transmissible than other variants.” www.huffpost.com/entry/the-mo...

Cutting $20 billion to NIH over 25 years may save $500 billion on paper, but it’d end up costing $8.2 trillion in lost human health. But NIH isn't the only thing being cut. The budget also slashes all NSF-funded science by 73 percent. NASA faces “the biggest single-year cut to NASA in history."

The House passed a bill this morning that makes massive cuts to Medicaid. Now, it goes to the Senate. Medicaid provides vital, lifesaving care to millions of people with disabilities nationwide. Tell Congress: Protect Medicaid.

Five years ago today my dear friend Stacey Park Milbern died. To learn more about her life & disability justice activism: disabilityvisibilityproject.com/2020/05/19/l... And here’s a syllabus of her writings and talks: disabilityvisibilityproject.com/2020/05/23/s...

Our access to COVID vaccines is under attack. It’s more important than ever to make our voices heard by making public comment to the FDA by May 23 at 11:59 PM EST. Use our template available on our substack at peoplescdc.substack.com/p/vaccine-ac...

Join us in our campaign to stop Medicaid cuts!

How often do you read Indigenous stories by Indigenous authors? #TheMagazine shares bold journalism, art & insights from Indigenous voices worldwide–on traditions, reproductive justice, gender issues, language & more. Subscribe today here: crushingcolonialism.org/subscribe/

New: Abortion bans are disproportionately hurting LGBTQ+ people. “The attacks on gender-affirming care, the attacks on LGBT rights are about bodily autonomy in the same way that anti-choice efforts are attacks on our bodily autonomy," Caleb Smith, from @americanprogress.bsky.social told me.

Remember, cuts to Medicaid will not hurt all people equally - kids and people of color will be more likely to lose care. We must protect Medicaid! www.epi.org/blog/medicai...

We are fighting for funding for the ME/CFS Research Roadmap. We have a letter urging Dr. Bhattacharya to allocate $50 million to fund the ME/CFS Research Roadmap. Sign our new letter now: bit.ly/MEcfsRoadmap The more signatures we gather, the louder our call for action. #PwME #MECFS #NIH

“Without HICPAC’s public meetings, there is no longer any public access to the process for drafting CDC guidance on infection control for health care settings. This further undermines safety for patients, nurses, and other health care workers.”

the HHS report on gender dysphoria in youth is out. i'll be taking a closer look and will likely have deeper analysis out early next week but a cursory look shows 12 new york times citations in this report justifying banning puberty blockers. opa.hhs.gov/gender-dysph...

There are few things as cost effective as Narcan, especially in a country where (entirely preventable) opioid overdoses have been a leading cause of death for years. For every 6 kits distributed 1 OD is prevented. The $56M in this grant trained >66K people and distributed >282,500 kits in 2024 alone

‼️ Mohsen Mahdawi has been freed: "Mohsen Mahdawi has walked out of immigration detention after a federal judge in Vermont ordered his release." www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

The fascists are actively killing marginalized people. And this is only the beginning. I fear things will become much worse before they become better. We need to organize as communities to fight for our right not to live, but to thrive. We are all that we have & there is power & beauty in unity.

"There are at least two concerning Project 2025 recommendations that we have yet to see play out. The playbook recommends rescinding Medicare coverage for gender-affirming surgery ... and suggests classifying trans-affirming educators as 'sex offenders.'"

Two disability-focused state organizations, Disability Rights New Jersey and Disability Rights Arkansas, have paused services due to not receiving federal funds. New from me at @motherjones.com. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Check out DREDF's explainer on Texas v. Becerra, how it can harm Section 504, and how you can help! dredf.org/protect-504/

Health Justice Commons @hjcommons.bsky.social

"As authoritarian forces try to separate our communities, we must act to defend each other, knowing that our fights — and our collective survival — are intertwined." [email protected], Toby Beauchamp, Damian Vergara Bracamontes truthout.org/articles/saf...

@crushcolonialism.bsky.social needs your support. “Crushing Colonialism, itself a Two-Spirit, Trans, and Gender-Nonconforming led organization, is being directly targeted by these anti-trans, anti-Indigenous attacks. But we will not be erased. We will not comply." 📢 Please amplify and support!

The Trump administration recently canceled $11 billion in CDC grants to state and local health agencies. The Sick Times has identified specific #LongCOVID programs impacted, including state-level research, outreach, partnerships with community organizations, and more. bit.ly/4jjeAzi

I have really good news to announce to everyone. Because of our reporting and many readers contacting Planned Parenthood of Arizona, the organization will NOT over comply with Trump, and is restarting its trans adult care. Good work everyone.

Cuts to NIOSH may impact access to safe masks! NIOSH is the organization that oversees workplace safety and certifies safety equipment, including N95 masks and other similar respiratory safety equipment. www.ems1.com/public-healt...

"People w/chronic pain are already up against many difficulties in finding & receiving treatment. We are fighting to be believed in a hyper-capitalist society where health care is not a human right." @sfdirewolf.bsky.social on the many ways medicine fails to diagnose & treat pain. #IllnessPolitics

Here we go again… Texas mask ban in the works. Masks should never be criminalized. They’re an essential public health tool. They allow disabled people to safely access public spaces. Mask bans disproportionately harm the disabled, marginalized & people of colour. See below for ways to fight back

Nearly half of CDC's developmental disabilities and birth defects center is now off the job Secy Kennedy's layoffs included entire team working on sickle cell disease www.cbsnews.com/news/cdc-cut...

Where public health is concerned, what the U.S. chooses to do will impact the world. US reports 3rd death from measles & World Health Organization are saying an outbreak in Mexico can be traced back to Texas. The measles vaccine is effective & all but eradicated the disease. This is not normal:

April 10th is National Youth HIV & AIDS Awareness Day! Join Advocates for Youth for “#OurHIVPlan: Voices of Activists Living with HIV”, a virtual youth-led roundtable tomorrow Thursday, April 10th, from 5-6:30pm ET. #NYHAAD Register here: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

The Social Security Administration — already reeling from plunging customer service following a rapid downsizing under the Trump administration — is drafting plans to begin layoffs of potentially thousands more employees as soon as next week.

NEW: New York Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul is reviving her push to ban masks and is urging New York State lawmakers to include a mask ban in the upcoming state budget. This move endangers public health and threatens civil liberties.

🔥 Disability rights groups have sued 47's administration, along with Elon Musk, over DOGE’s cuts to the Social Security Administration, which they say have violated their constitutional rights. www.democracynow.org/2025/4/3/hea...

🚨 BREAKING: #LongCOVID research grants from the National Institutes of Health’s RECOVER program will be restored following news stories about their abrupt cancellations and advocacy to restore the funding, according to patient representatives in the initiative. bit.ly/3FO8LuQ

RECOVER grants for #LongCOVID pathobiology studies were among those rescinded under a new NIH directive this week. While other aspects of the NIH RECOVER program continue operating, scientists and advocates say Long COVID research is broadly under threat from the Trump administration. bit.ly/4hQXeYY

My weekly curated list of must-read articles and a breakdown of Trump's lawless use of deportation and rendition—and some thoughts on what those practices mean for us all.

If you enjoy my Disability Justice lens, much of it comes from the work of Health Justice Commons! Please follow @hjcommons.bsky.social & consider attending their upcoming training, which I participated in last year thanks to a full scholarship to attend: www.healthjusticecommons.org/understandin...

Rolling back Section 504 would have dire impacts on disabled communities, especially Disabled Communities of Color and Trans, Non-binary, and Intersex Disabled people.

The fight for abortion care and trans healthcare are inextricably linked, which is why many local funds provide funding for both! Oliver Hall, Director of Trans Health at Kentucky Health Justice Network, spoke to @theintercept.com about providing this care despite escalating attacks. nnaf.org/b

Medicaid is a lifeline for at least 73 million people in the US who rely on it to access healthcare and to be able to remain in community, to work and to live at home.

"The Trump administration is preparing to eliminate all federal funding for domestic HIV prevention programs, a move that health experts say will undo decades of progress in combating the epidemic."

Demonstrations for International Long COVID Awareness Day have sparked around the globe. We reached out to international organizers for photos from their actions to document the demonstrations and highlight their demands. bit.ly/4im6qFk

Rolling back Section 504 would have profound impacts on the disability community. A coalition of disability advocates, organizations and allies have launched nationwide petitions to defend 504: www.instagram.com/p/DGRteojtkH...

For folks looking for ways to defend #Medicaid @dredf.bsky.social has created a toolkit that includes actions you can take to prevent Medicaid from being cut: dredf.org/hands-off-ou...

My weekly curated list of must-reads and some thoughts about Trump's attacks on universities.

“With the constant attacks on civil rights and the rolling back of decades of progress, it is essential that we continue the fight for justice." www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

So my amazing colleague @dreanyc123.bsky.social has a free help desk now to support folks who are *resisting criminalization*. Check it out: www.interruptingcriminalization.com/resisting-cr...

"We don't talk to disabled people, as a society. We talk around disabled people." Fantastic interview with @imanibarbarin.bsky.social