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avs.bsky.social
ashlee, mph
@avs.bsky.social
ABD in public health (pregnancy and work, work-family policies) that was a former primatologist and union steward (she/her/hers)
Pinned
hi! i wrote something for @rewirenewsgroup.com’s campus dispatch about student worker unions and repro justice!

it would make me very happy if you could read it and let me know what you think or, the greatest sign it was good: share it with others!
Analysis: Student Worker Unions Are a Force for Reproductive Justice
In the post-Roe era, student unions are increasingly helping student workers secure access to reproductive health care.
rewirenewsgroup.com
Reposted by ashlee, mph
I had a friend go visit her and she’s in solitary and scared- she is at the Three Forks Regional Jail in Beattyville and you can put money on her books
Kentucky State Police charged a woman with "fetal homicide" after she allegedly used abortion pills bought online—despite the fact that the statute explicitly exempts pregnant people from charges. But her mugshot is all over the internet including People fucking magazine
www.wkyt.com/2026/01/02/k...
Anti-abortion advocates: our bans exempt women from prosecution

Cops: oh we have other laws we can charge them under, and we’ll call fetuses “infants”
www.fox10tv.com/2026/01/02/w... h/t @kelciemmorris.bsky.social
January 5, 2026 at 8:30 AM
Reposted by ashlee, mph
I heard this in union work all the time “we can’t keep filing grievances,” yes THE FUCK we can for the same logic that is outlined below.
“Well… we can’t just keep filing impeachment articles all the time.”

Yes you can! If the man is committing impeachable offenses on the regular, you’re acquiescing to a standard that raises the bar for impeachable offense to absurd levels.
How are voters meant to understand how serious things are if in lieu of shouting fire AND going into building with hoses, you're simply posting fire safety suggestions on social media?
Not introducing articles of impeachment is a message that Trump hasn't committed impeachable offenses.
January 4, 2026 at 2:25 AM
Reposted by ashlee, mph
Candid answer - as someone who handled constituent affairs calls for years - while they’re not checking the phone right now, the urgency of the moment is important.

Show them you care enough to make the weekend call, and be counted that way. Staffers will clock and report this upstream.
Is there actually a benefit to leaving a VM now vs getting a staffer on Monday? Can do both but just curious
January 3, 2026 at 4:03 PM
Reposted by ashlee, mph
Very important in these media times to distinguish between independent journalists who do real reporting, and newsfluencers who repackage others’ work. It’s right to direct people to seek reporters with frontline sources, and wrong to smear independent journalists ly lumping us in with pretenders
Believe it or not, independent journalists can get our own frontline sources.
It’s old-fashioned to defend mainstream journalism these days but some of the most reliable reporting from people actually on the ground will be the AP and Reuters the next 24 hours. Your Substack journalist writing takes will be using frontline reporting from them.
January 3, 2026 at 6:01 PM
Reposted by ashlee, mph
Every reaction from any Democrat that stops short of impeachment is utterly disqualifying.
January 3, 2026 at 3:30 PM
Reposted by ashlee, mph
Is anyone shocked that Tammy Duckworth has stopped short of calling for impeachment?

Illinois needs better representation.
Donald Trump’s reckless and unconstitutional operations in Venezuela—including this morning’s arrest of a foreign leader—are not about enforcing law and order.

If they were, he wouldn’t hide them from Congress.
January 3, 2026 at 4:54 PM
Reposted by ashlee, mph
People are going to try and lure you into debates about whether Maduro was a good guy or not and the thing is, it doesn’t matter for the purposes of discussing whether violent kidnappings and extrajudicial murders by the US government are ok. No, they aren’t! End of convo.
January 3, 2026 at 2:01 PM
i don’t think it’s asking for much at this point to have It happen and tout suite
January 3, 2026 at 4:27 PM
Reposted by ashlee, mph
Mississippi’s State Employees Paid Parental Leave Act takes effect today! Now, more than 32,000 state government employees in Mississippi have the right to take paid parental leave for the birth or adoption of their child. www.abetterbalance.org/paid-parenta...
www.abetterbalance.org
January 1, 2026 at 6:01 PM
my goal is to be done with my dissertation by the end of 2026 so i can hopefully be off most social media platforms

i am only keeping most of my social media stuff because that’s how i am doing dissertation recruitment but once that’s done i will very likely be done here and most other places
January 1, 2026 at 12:11 AM
Reposted by ashlee, mph
This just in: Our final news roundup of 2025.
VA Bans Abortion, States Sue Over Hospital Extortion, and More: December 29 News Roundup
Plus, final days to make a tax-deductible gift to Autonomy News!
www.autonomynews.co
December 29, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Reposted by ashlee, mph
ICYMI during the shutdown, here’s the announcement for the governors public health alliance (GPHA?)
December 24, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Reposted by ashlee, mph
I see there’s a post about microplastics going around with a photo of drinking straws, so here is my semi-regular reminder that the 3 biggest sources of microplastics are tires (45%), synthetic clothing particles (35%) and paint (~10%).
Lay article attached:
One of the biggest microplastic pollution sources isn’t straws or grocery bags – it’s your tires
Every few years, the tires on your car wear thin and need to be replaced. But where does that lost tire material go? The answer, unfortunately, is often waterways, where the tiny microplastic particle...
www.pbs.org
December 24, 2025 at 4:49 AM
nothing like reading an article that isn’t good (but also not that bad) by people outside your niche to really get you spitefully fired up to get back to work
December 19, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Reposted by ashlee, mph
📰 IRLE's Weekly Labor Reads delivers a digest of labor news straight to your inbox.

For our last letter of 2025, we're sharing developments to look out for in the new year: www.epi.org/blog/over-8-...

Read the digest here: conta.cc/4j2fMHK
Subscribe at: bit.ly/IRLE_LaborReads
Over 8.3 million workers will benefit from minimum wage increases on January 1: Nineteen states will raise their minimum wages. Here’s where.
Nineteen states will increase their minimum wages on January 1, boosting earnings for more than 8.3 million workers by a total of $5 billion. In addition, 47 cities and counties will raise their minim...
www.epi.org
December 19, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Reposted by ashlee, mph
Earlier this year, ProPublica found that the sepsis rate in second-trimester pregnancy loss hospitalizations increased by more than 50% under Texas’ abortion ban.

Here’s how we did our analysis.

(Published Feb. 2025)
Texas Won’t Study How Its Abortion Ban Impacts Women, So We Did
Since Texas banned abortion, no one has studied the statewide effects on pregnant women experiencing complications. Here’s how we sifted through data on millions of pregnancy hospitalizations and anal...
www.propublica.org
December 17, 2025 at 4:00 AM
Reposted by ashlee, mph
New preprint alert! 🚨

“Let Them Eat Large Language Models: Artificial Intelligence and Austerity in the Neoliberal University”
October 25, 2025 at 5:05 PM
saw my first raw milk vendor at a farmers market here 🤢
December 13, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Reposted by ashlee, mph
My sisters and I went to elementary/middle school with a chiropractor’s kids - they’d get sent home for contagious stuff like strep throat and then show up later that day or the next morning, saying, “oh, I got an adjustment, I’m fine now!” 😒 They gave an entire girl scout troop lice at one point.
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” - Upton Sinclair

www.politico.com/news/magazin...
How Chiropractors Became the Backbone of MAHA
Why they love Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — and he loves them.
www.politico.com
December 8, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Reposted by ashlee, mph
There are so many terms that I'm convinced exist solely on the internet that articles to use to avoid saying "people are working multiple jobs because they can't afford to live on one."
December 8, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Reposted by ashlee, mph
Throw our whole healthcare system away.
December 8, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Reposted by ashlee, mph
Relatedly, I'd love to talk to experts & researchers who could speak to how economic pressure is a factor here for workers of all ages. Hearing from early-career workers that 1) finding a job feels impossible, 2) one source of income doesn't feel like enough to live on. Please get in touch!
For a story: I'm looking to speak to earlyish-career workers about their experiences working multiple jobs, whether it's multiple part-time/gig jobs, side hustles on top of full-time jobs, etc. Email rainesford.alexandra@gmail.com, Signal rstauff.20, DMs open.
December 4, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Reposted by ashlee, mph
We’re proud to be in such excellent company on this list, alongside many of the publications that inspired us to take the leap! Thanks for including us, @marisakabas.bsky.social
NEW — I put together a list of independent journalism subscriptions that would make great holiday gifts. From music to politics, astronomy to alcohol, tech to social justice, there’s something for [almost] everyone. Support indie media *and* surprise and delight your loved ones!

My guide:
Giving the gift of independent journalism: a guide
The Handbasket has subscription suggestions for almost everyone on your list.
www.thehandbasket.co
December 6, 2025 at 4:37 PM
FREE FROM IRB HELL
back in IRB hell
December 5, 2025 at 10:49 PM