Category: Politics, Government and Law

Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic over a year ago, we have repeatedly heard the same cliché that “we are all in the same boat.” Yet, the truth is that some of us have faced a much greater risk the whole time. One such group is pregnant women. Studies from around the world have shown that pregnant women, and especially pregnant women of color, are at higher risk of illness and death than the wider population.

Now that a reformist administration is on the verge of being inaugurated in D.C., we can anticipate that some of the most urgent changes in national voting laws will have a chance of being implemented. During the last Congress, two bills, H.R. 1, For the People’s Act and H.R.4, The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act were passed by the House of Representatives, but never taken up for consideration in the Senate. With some modifications to address the problems that occurred during the 2020 Election, we know that both bills will be re-introduced during the 117th Congress.

On July 30, 2020, when the iconic civil rights leader Representative John Lewis was laid to rest, his final message to the American people was conveyed in a letter published in the New York Times. It included this advice and caution: “The vote is the most powerful nonviolent change agent you have in a democratic society. You must use it because it is not guaranteed. You can lose it.” Representative Lewis knew all too well of what he spoke.